A village tugged deep inside a canyon

While Gary, Jack and Li Qiang's team is busy excavating their quarry (see previous posts), the rest of the team led by Xiaoming is roaming the country side to find additional fossil sites. We stumbled upon a new road that lead to a canyon previously inaccessible. At the end of this road is a beautiful little village (named Duoxiang) next to a most lush patch of pasture in this part of the country. A lovely little pagoda stands at the foothill (photo) as well as some ancient ruins nearby. Unfortunately, we did not find any fossils in this canyon, but no regrets for such a lovely day.
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Days of our lives in the quarry

12 August 2010. The most awesome quarry in Tibet (the one and only)

The excavation crew (Qiang Li, Juan Liu, Fuqiao Shi, Gary Takeuchi, and Zhijie Jack Tseng) spent (so far) five working days in the quarry. We have recorded 100 specimens extracted in place so far, with more to excavate in the coming days.

This quarry is probably the first and most significant of its kind in Tibet to date; the fauna collected from a 6 by 6 feet hole in the ground so far composes 14 different vertebrate animals (six of which are brand new to the region). Among them are a bird, three kinds of rabbits, a zokor, a felid (an adult and a juvenile), etc.

We are simply overwhelmed by the sheer number of specimens in such a small areas; Gary is getting flashbacks of his days in the La Brea pits.

A few photos of our work area!
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Main street, breakfast

10 August 2010. Zhada, Tibet

We are authorized to continue our fieldwork. A slow morning with partly cloudy skies awaits us.

More excavation today; gotta get those 11 jaws outta there!
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Main street, breakfast

10 August 2010. Zhada, Tibet

We are authorized to continue our fieldwork. A slow morning with partly cloudy skies awaits us.

More excavation today; gotta get those 11 jaws outta there!
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A bump on the road

9 August 2010. Zhada, Tibet

 

We spent the whole day yesterday excavating ZD1001, the highly productive bonebed discovered by Juan Liu. In a day's work, we had uncovered 11 jaws of bovids and a mustelid. Among other elements were limb bones and axial elements of horses, rhinos, and more bovids.

 

Of course, among the most important finds are the small mammals; besides the two types of lagomorphs (rabbits and pikas), there were also squirrel teeth and post-cranial elements. Isolated teeth of these small mammals pop up everywhere as we carefully sort through the surface sediment with dental picks. We also collected bags of matrix to screen-wash for any missed microfossils.

 

Today, we are spending at least the morning (and potentially the entire day) dealing with the local police. We decided to check in at the police station last night after work, but the police shut down our operation by giving the reason that we are missing a piece of paperwork. More hurdles to jump, but hopefully things will work out.

 

It is overcast in Zhada today, with temperatures in the 60's degrees F. It has not rained so far today. There was a brief power outage this morning, but power is back on now.

 

[posted from Zhada's Internet Cafe]

Snapshot of Zhadan life

8 August 2010. Zhada, Tibet

Life happens a little slower in the desolate town of Zhada.

Cars waiting at the town's only gas station are outnumbered by pigs, chickens, and geese.

The town sits quietly above the Sutlej River, watching every cloud that passes by, many of which bring rain and snow even on a cozy August day.

The excitement and stress of our fieldwork are greeted by a more peaceful way of living in this tiny town.

A toast to the badlands!
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