Dinosaur Blackout (21 page)

“Yeah, he was an awesome person,” Todd added, his expression sombre, his face blotchy red. “He saw the good in everyone.”

Daniel glanced at Todd, feeling a jolt of guilt. “Unlike me,” he said.

“Yeah, I thought you suspected I was involved in the theft,” said Todd.

“You were acting pretty suspicious,” Daniel said in self-defence. “You took off right after it happened.”

“I suppose that’s the way it might have looked,” said Todd. “But you know I’ve changed. You should have trusted me.”

Daniel hung his head for a moment and then looked back up at Todd. “You’re right. I apologize.” Daniel spoke quietly. “I hope we can still be friends.”

Todd stared at Daniel for a split second and then nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.” He reached out and shook Daniel’s hand. “But next time, just ask.” Although his voice was as gruff as usual, his face held a hint of a smile.

“Okay,” Daniel said, smiling back.

“Good,” said Craig, breaking into a relieved chuckle. “Well, I guess we’d better get home. We’ll come back later to help you with the chores, if that’s okay?”

Daniel smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that,” he said.

As they turned to go, Daniel said, “Uh, just one more thing. I was wondering if I could ask you something. It’s kind of personal, so you don’t have to answer.”

The boys looked at him expectantly.

“Go ahead,” said Todd at last.

“So where was your dad, anyway?”

Todd grimaced, a little embarrassed. “He was over with one of his bachelor drinking buddies on a longer binge than usual. He just lost track of time.”

“At least that mystery is solved,” said Daniel. “Thanks for telling me.”

All at once, Dr. Roost emerged from her truck camper and called to them. When they walked over to her, Daniel could see her eyes were red-rimmed and her face flushed and reddened.

“Boys, how would you like to go out prospecting Saturday morning?”

Surprised, they looked at one another, not sure what to say.

With a small smile, Daniel said, “Yes, I’d like to do that. I’m sure that’s what Mr. Pederson would have wanted us to do.”

“I say yes too,” said Craig.

“Count me in,” added Todd, shuffling his feet. There was silence for a moment and then he added, “I’m sure going to miss him.”

“We all are,” said Dr. Roost. “But I think this will be a nice way to remember him.”

“I do too,” said Daniel.

The brothers agreed.

“Okay, then, see you Saturday morning after chores,” said Dr. Roost, before returning to her truck.

A moment later, she called back, “Oh, and see if Jed and Lucy or anyone else wants to come too. Everyone’s welcome. We’ll walk to the quarry and start from there. Maybe everyone should bring a lunch so we can make a day of it.”

Craig and Todd left then and Daniel took the opportunity to grab the backpacks from Dr. Roost’s truck.

After he’d safely stowed them in his bedroom, he examined his clothing and other gear to make sure there were no remnants attached anywhere from prehistoric time. He doubted he would ever have found the courage to go on another adventure to the Cretaceous Period, and he was relieved that nothing was left and he had absolutely no way to go again.

He stared out of his bedroom window across the pasture, drying under the autumn sun. Recollections of Ole Pederson and the times they shared flooded into his mind. For a brief moment, when the clouds obscured the sun and cast shadows over the landscape, he thought he saw his special friend striding across the hills. Then he was gone.

Daniel knew he would never let the memory of Ole Pederson or his work die. Every time he found a fossil or did any paleontology work, he’d remember him and their amazing connection. That meant he’d be thinking about Mr. Pederson a lot, because Daniel was sure there were plenty of other fascinating fossils buried in the surrounding hilly countryside. He would use the knowledge and wisdom Mr. Pederson had taught him and follow his guiding hand to find something spectacular that would have made his old friend proud.

VOCABULARY/DESCRIPTIONS

T
he material about paleontology found throughout this novel comes mostly from the Cretaceous Period. A brief description of some of the terms used follows, with their pronunciations. The Frenchman River Valley, where this story takes place, is located in the southwest area of Saskatchewan.

TERMS

cretaceous period
(cree-TAY-shus):

The Cretaceous Period, 146 to 65 million years ago, was the latter part of the Mesozoic era when great dinosaurs roamed the land and huge flying reptiles ruled the skies. A variety of smaller mammals and creatures also populated the earth and seas. The world was one of tropical temperatures all year round. Flowering plants and trees made their first widespread appearance, creating bright, beautiful places with their reds, yellows, and purples. Before that time, there were only the browns and greens of trees and ferns and the blues of the skies and seas.

Note
:
Creta is the Latin word for chalk. The Cretaceous Period is named for the chalky rock from southeastern England that was the first Cretaceous Period sediment studied.

global warming:

Global warming is the term used to describe the increase in the average temperature of the earth’s near-surface air in recent decades and its projected continuation. This is caused by trapping too much of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

greenhouse effect:

The greenhouse effect was first discovered in 1824 by Joseph Fournier and studied more fully in 1896 by Svante Arrhenius. It is the process in which emissions of infrared radiation warm a planet’s surface. Infrared radiation occurs when the sunlight creates energy or heat and it is reflected back into space. The greenhouse effect occurs when some of these emissions are trapped by greenhouse gases.

greenhouse gases:

These are a group of gases in the atmosphere that help stop the sun’s infrared radiation (heat) from escaping into space, which is called the greenhouse effect. Some of these greenhouses gases are necessary to keep the earth warm enough to live on.

There are two major types of greenhouse gases. Those that occur naturally and those which result from gases emitted as a result of human activities. When too much of the man-made greenhouse gases are unable to escape to space, this causes global warming.

iridium:
Iridium is a rare element on earth, but is found abundantly in meteors. Deposits of iridium left in craters have helped to identify the gouges as made by meteors hitting the earth.

k-t mass extinction:

K-T stands for Cretaceous-Tertiary. “K” is for Kreide – a German word meaning chalk, the sediment layer from that time. “T” is for Tertiary, the geological period that followed the Cretaceous Period. About 65 million years ago, it is believed that all land animals over 25 kg (55 pounds) went extinct, as well as many smaller organisms. This included the obliteration of the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, large sea creatures like the plesiosaurs and mosasaurs, as well as ammonites, some bird families, and various fishes and other marine species. There are many theories as to why this mass extinction occurred, but many scientists favour the one of an extraterrestrial body, a meteor, or asteroid hitting the earth.

During the K-T extinction, it has been estimated that 80-90% of marine species, about 50% of the marine genera, and about 15% of the marine families went extinct. For land animals, about 85% of the species, about 25% of the families, and about 56% of the genera died out. Larger animals (over about 55 pounds = 25 kg) were all wiped out.

meteorite craters:

There are many meteorite craters all over the earth. Those over 100 km in diameter had significant effects on the extinction of the species. Some of the biggest craters include one in the Yucatan province of Mexico; the Barringer Meteorite Crater near Flagstaff, Arizona, and others in Australia, Europe and North America. In Canada there are several in Quebec and some in Ontario, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Saskat-chewan. The most famous in Saskatchewan is the Carswell Crater by Cluff Lake in the northern part of the province.

palentology
(PAY-lee-on-TALL-o-gee):

Paleontology is the branch of geology and biology that deals with the prehistoric forms of life through the study of plant and animal fossils.

phytoplankton
(FEE-toe-PLANK-ton):

Phytoplankton are minute, free-floating aquatic plants.

photosynthesis
(FOE-toe-SIN-the-sis)
(photo=light, synthesis=putting together):

In order for plants to make food for themselves, they use a method called photosynthesis. The “green” part of the leaves (chlorophyll) captures light from the sun, using it to form a sugar along with carbon dioxide and water. Plants release oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis.

tertiary period
(TUR-sheer-ee):

The Tertiary Period is the name for a portion of the most recent geological era known as the Cenozoic era, also known as the “Age of Mammals,” which lasted from about 65 to 2 million years ago. The term Tertiary was coined about the middle of the eighteenth century and refers to a particular layer of sedimentary deposits. Many mammals developed during that time, including primitive whales, rodents, pigs, cats, rhinos, and others familiar to us today.

volcanic activity:

Prehistoric volcanoes created dramatic changes in greenhouses gases and global warming of the earth. They raised sea temperatures and killed off many marine species. (See K-T Mass Extinction for details of species that died.) Today they are mostly found in the northern hemisphere, but in prehistoric time they were found in the south. They spewed deadly amounts of ash, pumice and carbon dioxide into the air.

CREATURES MENTIONED IN THE BOOK

ankylosaurs
(AN-kye-loh-sawrs):

A group of armoured, plant-eating dinosaurs that existed from the mid-Jurassic to the late Cretaceous Periods.
Ankylosaurus
was a huge armoured dinosaur, measuring about 7.5–10.7 m long, 1.8 m wide and 1.2 m tall; it weighed roughly 3–4 tonnes. Its entire top side was heavily protected from carnivores with thick, oval plates embedded (fused) in its leathery skin, two rows of spikes along its body, large horns that projected from the back of the head, and a clublike tail. It even had bony plates as protection for its eyes. Only its underbelly was unplated. Flipping it over was the only way to wound it.

basilemys
(BAH-zil-emm-ees):

A tortoise-like creature with a shell up to 1.5 metres across. This is the largest known fossil turtle from the Frenchman River Valley.

borealosuchus
(BOR-ee-al-o-such-us):

A crocodile in existence in the late Cretaceous Period in Saskatchewan. This crocodile would be little compared to its earlier ancestors, about two to three metres in length. It would be running from a
T. rex
as opposed to taking it head-on like the larger crocodiles.

champosaurs
(CHAMP–oh-SAWRS):

Most of the champosaurs are fairly small, reaching only about 1.5 meters in length, but some specimens over three meters (about 10 feet) in length have been recently found in North Dakota. They had long, narrow jaws with fine, pointed teeth, and closely resemble the modern gavial of India. They may look like crocodiles, but are not closely related to them. Champosaurs fed on fish, snails, mollusks, and turtles. They lived in Saskatchewan from about 75 million years ago to about 55 million years ago.

cimoloptertx
(sim-oh-LOP-ter-icks)
(“Cretaceous wing”):

An early bird resembling typical shorebirds of today and found in the late Cretaceous Period in Saskatchewan. These birds had long, slender bills and long, strong legs for wading and running. They probably probed in the sand or mud for food.

corythosaurus
(co-RITH-oh-SAWR-us)
(“Helmet lizard”):

Corythosaurus
was a large plant-eating duck-billed dinosaur that probably fed on palm leaves, pine needles, seeds, cycad ferns, twigs, magnolia leaves and fruit. It may have weighed up to 5 tonnes and was about 2 metres tall at the hips and 9 to 10 metres long. (NB: Corythosaurus are known from slightly older sediments.)

dromaeosaurus
(DRO-mee-o-SAWR-us)
(“fast-running lizard”):

Dromaeosaurus
was a small, fast, meat-eating, theropod dinosaur about with sickle-like toe claws, sharp teeth, and big eyes. It lived during the late Cretaceous Period and was about a half a metre tall at the hips and 1.8 m (6 feet) long, weighing roughly 15 kg. Fossils have been found in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Montana. They were very smart, deadly dinosaurs and may have hunted in packs.

edmontosaurus
(ed-MON-toh-SAWR-us)
(“Edmonton [rock formation] lizard”):

A large, plant-eating member of the duckbill dinosaurs, or hadrosaurs that lived about 73 to 65 million years ago in the Cretaceous Period in western North America. It had hundreds of teeth crowded together in the huge jaw, enabling it to eat tough leaves and other vegetation. This flat-headed duckbill grew to 13 metres and weighed 3.1 tonnes. It may have had anywhere from 800 to 1600 teeth.
Edmontosaurus Saskatchewanensis
, named in 1926 by Sternberg, is the only identified species of
Edmontosaurus
so far known from Saskatchewan.