TEA

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TEA Live Broadcast from Antarctica
12/16/03 with Andy Sajor of Peru Central
School Peru, NY
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Andy Sajor is working on a Vertebrate
Paleontology study of the Triassic to Jurassic
Sedimentary Sequence with Dr. William Hammer of
Augustana College
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We arrived at the Beardmore camp almost a week
late due to bad weather in McMurdo. Next we
encountered bad weather at the camp (as shown in
this image) putting us almost 2 weeks behind in
our mission.
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We spent the next day digging out from the storm.
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We finally get on the Mt. Kirkpatrick site to
begin work.
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Dr. Currie found this jaw of the Cryolophosaurus
while digging through the screen.
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Nate Smith points to a tooth in the jawbone. It
is the oval piece in the middle, the teeth of the
Cryolophosaurus would be up to 3 inches and were
knife like.
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Image of the bone that Peter Braddock found while
on a recon mission around the Mt. Kirkpatrick
site. Dr. Currie believes it could be the hip
portion of a Prosauropod. Then he added "Maybe
it's not, that's the beauty of Paleontology, you
never know!"
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The ribs of the Cryolophosaurus still in the
rock. We will need to blast the overburden in
order to use saws and jack hammers to remove
them. They are the taupe colored ovals in the
center of the image.
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One of two blasts to remove the overburden. We
expect to need at last one more blast to get at
the bone bed.
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Lenticular clouds form over Mt. Fallah, Mt.
Kirkpatrick (right) is in the clouds. Beautiful
weather at the Beardmore camp but we can not work
up on Kirkpatrick because the weather was
marginal for flying.
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Because we were shut out of the Kirkpatrick site
due to the weather, we went to an alternative
site in the Gordon Valley that has bedding planes
of mid Triassic reptiles. Here, Kevin Kruger,
uses a rock saw to remove an ulna of a sauropod.
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The block of sandstone that was cut by Kevin
that holds the ulna.
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A tree in the Gordon Valley about two layers
below the main bone bed we were working in.
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Making the best of bad weather, I read in my
tent to occupy some time when I am not working
on my journal in the comshack.
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The midnight sun at the Beardmore camp. The only
time we do not see the sun is when it is behind a
cloud.
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Andy Sajor
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TEALive is a production of the Teachers
Experiencing Antarctica and Arctic (TEA)
Program The TEA Program is sponsored by the
National Science Foundations Division of
Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education in
the Directorate of Education and Human Resources
and the Office of Polar Programs TEA is
facilitated by the American Museum of Natural
History, the Cold Regions Research and
Engineering Laboratory, and Rice
University TEALive would like to thank Mr. Steve
Stevenoski and the Wisconsin Rapids Public School
system for their support of this broadcast