Over 26,000 years ago, large Columbian and woolly mammoths were trapped and
died in a spring-fed pond near what is now the southwest edge of Hot Springs,
South Dakota. The pond was formed from a sixty-foot deep sinkhole that filled
with warm artesian spring water. As animals came to drink, they could not escape
from the steep-sided watering hole, and for over 700 years their remains
collected with layer upon layer of preserving silt and sediments. In 1974,
during the excavation for a housing development, bones were unearthed. Luckily,
these remains were recognized by the construction crew as unique, and experts
were contacted for further examination. These events are nicely animated at the
following website; Mammoth
Trap: The Motion Picture.
Now, the Mammoth Site is the world's largest
Columbian mammoth exhibit and research center for Pleistocene studies. Dr. Larry
Agenbroad was elected as the Mammoth Site Principal Investigator, and the site
achieved nonprofit corporate status. One of the most unique characteristics of
this site is that it is the only place that woolly mammoth and Columbian mammoth
remains have been found together. The Columbian variety is believed to have
roamed what is now the United States from around 130,000 to 11,000 years ago,
weighed as much as eight tons and stood twelve feet tall at the shoulders. All
the remains at the site are believed to be males, most less than middle age.
GEOLOGY
This region of South Dakota is composed of Spearfish Shale overlying
Minnelusa limestone. Approximately 26,000 years ago, a cavern in the limestone
collapsed as well as the shale at the surface. This allowed a vertical shaft, or
breccia pipe, to form. The resulting sixty-foot deep sinkhole, 120 by 150 feet
across, was produced and subsequently filled with warm artesian spring water
percolating up through the limestone. This type of sinkhole is called "karst"
after a region in Italy. As the animals were trapped and died from starvation
and drowning, the silt and mud preserved some of their remains from decay, but
petrification did not occur, resulting in fragile fossilization. Once the
sinkhole filled with sediments, the spring changed course to join a lower
portion of Fall River, allowing the pond sediments to remain intact. As
thousands of years passed, the "hardened mud plug" became a hill as the
surrounding soft red Spearfish Shale eroded away. To the east and northeast one can find the vast Badlands National Park, where wind and rain continue to erode away soft layers of sand, silt, clay and volcanic ash. This is a great location to observe the countless layers that comprise this southwestern region of South Dakota.(See previous photo)
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EARLY ENVIRONMENT
The Petrified Wood Park in Lemmon, South Dakota stands as a testament to the early environment of the region. Known for mixed conifer and deciduous forest in the distant past, this area is now somewhat arid, with much of the forest lands replaced with prairie grasses. The hundreds of structures comprising the park are constructed from petrified wood, dinosaur and mammoth bones from the surrounding lands.
AREA ATTRACTIONS
The area in and around Rapid City, South Dakota is a virtual playground for those interested in geology and archaeology. The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology is located in Rapid City, with an excellent geology museum. They also have a fascinating display of Fairburn agates, the state gemstone found around South Dakota east of the Black Hills, originally discovered south of Rapid City in Fairburn. In nearby Hill City is the Black Hills Museum of Natural History, with excellent examples of T. rex skeletons. Adjacent to the museum is Everything Prehistoric, a gift shop with its own amazing museum display area, with a spectacular collection of dinosaur skeletons. Of course Mount Rushmore is a must see, pictured above. In addition to the sculpture, the geology behind the formation of the hill is worth examining.
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WILDLIFE
Although the sight of mammoth herds must have been awe-inspiring, the region still supports an impressive collection of large North American mammals. The antelope(above) and the bison(below) are easy to spot on the open prairie so common in this part of the country. A wonderful place to observe bison is at Custer State Park, where they can be seen in large groups at close distance.
ONGOING RESEARCH
The Mammoth Site now sponsors a visiting scientist program that invites
professionals from related areas of research to spend time at the site for
continued study. The site also hosts summer internships, allowing students to help with the preparation and preservation of the tens of thousands of bones and other fossil materials that have been uncovered. Many of the mammoth skeletons are left in-situ, adding to the uniqueness of the site. Interns work in the lab and bonebed in addition to conducting tours of the facility.
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CLONING?
There has been much speculation as to the feasibility of resurrecting the
mammoths by uniting the DNA extracted from the well-preserved frozen remains of
a mammoth with the sterilized egg cell from a modern-day Asian elephant, the
mammoth's closest living relative. This concept gained momentum when remains
were extracted from Siberian permafrost in 1999, but hopes were crushed when
little viable tissue was available for the procedure. Even if enough DNA were
made available, the procedure is prone to failure at every step, and scientists
believe we are a long way away from perfecting such a controversial, monumental
experiment. More likely, any DNA that has survived this long will not be intact,
but will be found in the form of countless small fragments, virtually useless
for cloning. Such large, complex molecules do not fare well over long periods of
time.(Sorry to disappoint the "Jurassic Park" fans.) Even if the technical steps
leading to the production of a mammoth embryo were possible, the modern Asian
elephant might not be adequate in size or ability to bring the developing animal
to term. However, if cloning proves too difficult to accomplish, there is also
the possibility of using frozen sperm to inseminate a modern Asian elephant. If
this were successful, years of selective breeding could produce a creature that
is, more or less, a full-blooded mammoth. So little is known of the life of
extinct creatures that bringing one into the world would most likely present a
myriad of complications, both proposed and not yet anticipated, that could be
disastrous. Opinions are mixed as to whether Man should even try. Some might say
that if nature has selected against a species, Man should not interfere.
However, one thing is certain. Science and "progress" stop for no one. There
will be scientists trying to accomplish the task of bringing mammoths back to
the living, and it is inevitable that they will eventually succeed.
CONCLUSION
The Mammoth Site of South Dakota is a wondrously unique treasure. It was
unfortunate for the many magnificent creatures who unwillingly gave their lives
for this research center and tourist attraction, but it is Man's good fortune
that it was discovered and preserved rather than used as the foundation for a
housing project. One can only wonder how many similar sites were never
recognized, only to be lost forever beneath the modern world.
REFERENCES
John Paul Gries; Roadside Geology of South Dakota; 2003; http://mountain-press.com/item_detail.php?item_key=46
The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, South Dakota; http://www.mammothsite.com/
South Dakota: Mammoth Site; http://www.trailsandgrasslands.org/mammoth.html
Thisland/South Dakota: Mammoth Site - Field Guide; http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_n9_v106/ai_20135607
Will Mammoths Walk Again?; http://www.exn.ca/mammoth/Cloning.cfm
Cloning A Mammoth; http://robby.nstemp.com/custom3.html
Dr. Larry D. Agenbroad, Resurrecting Extinct Megafauna; http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/agenbroad.html
What Killed The Mammoths?; http://sciencebulletins.amnh.org/biobulletin/biobulletin/story981.html
Mammoth Trap: The Motion Picture; http://www.unmuseum.org/flash/mamtrap.htm
South Dakota Ice Age Mammals; http://www.northern.edu/natsource/EARTH/Iceage1.htm
The Pleistocene; http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/quaternary/ple.html
Badlands National Park; http://www.nps.gov/archive/badl/exp/home.htm
All Photos by Larry Kuss
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