Michael's
Science Fair Project
Michael's
Science Fair Project
"The Trilobites of Manuel's River"
TRILOBITES at MANUELS RIVER, NEWFOUNDLAND and LABRADOR
Question: What is a fossil?
Answer: A fossil is a plant, insect, or animal that has been preserved in stone through the forces of nature. When the animals from the prehistoric times, for example, walked into mud, they left their foot impressions in the mud. Then, over time, those impressions got filled with dust and mud and hardened the print. Now in our own time, when someone finds such a hardened print of the prehistoric animal, they have found a fossil. The same is true of plants and insects.
Question: Have fossils been found on the island of Newfoundland?
Answer: Yes. There have been fossils found in several places. A recent very important find was in Portugal Cove South near Cape Race. Those fossils are the oldest known fossils in the world, about 500 thousand years old.
Another site for fossils is in Branch, St. Mary's Bay. I don't know much about that site but I plan to explore it later in the spring or summer.
The site from which I have several fossils for my display come from Manuels River in Conception Bay South. These fossils are known as Trilobite fossils.
Question: What are Trilobites?
Answer: Trilobites were large insect-like animals, resembling carpenters or crabs. They lived here on the seabed over 500 million years ago, and sometimes left trails as they crawled around looking for food (algae and worms). Trilobite fossils can be found in the shade beds on the lower section of the river; a variety of specimens are on display at the Visitors Center in Manuels.
Question: Are there fossils in Newfoundland?
Conclusion: Through all of this as well as the rest of my project, I found out that there are fossils in Manuels River, Conception Bay South and lots of other places. I also found out through the fossils part about Trilobites which I have with me. I also learned about what Trilobites are, where fossils form, how they form, the history of Paleontology and, a lot more.
Here is some information I found on the Internet on this topic:
The province of Newfoundland and Labrador is world famous for its fossils and has long been favored by collectors and researchers.
In eastern Newfoundland, trilobites and acritarchs (plant microfossils) are the most common fossils. They occur in marine-deposited shales and slates of Cambrian and Ordovician age on the Avalon Peninsula (including Bell Island), the Bonavista Peninsula (including Random Island) and the Burin Peninsula. Accompanying the trilobites may be less abundant inarticulate brachiopods, graptolites and hyolithids. Bell Island is world famous for its trace fossils (tracks, trails and burrows produced by trilobites and soft bodied animals).
In central Newfoundland, bivalves, articulate brachiopods, bryozoa, cephalopods, conodont microfossils, corals, crinoids, gastropods, graptolites, ostracodes and trilobites are variably found in marine-deposited conglomerate, limestone, sandstone, shale and slate of Ordovician and Silurian age. Fossils are particularly common on New World Island.
Western Newfoundland and southeastern Labrador have the greatest variety of fossils. Marine fossils occur in conglomerate, limestone and marble, sandstone, shale and slate of Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous age; they variably include acritarch microfossils, archaeocyathids, bivalves, articulate and inarticulate brachiopods, bryozoa, cephalopods, chitinozoan and conodont microfossils, conularids, corals, crinoids, gastropods, graptolites, hyolithids, monoplacophorans, ostracodes, rostroconchs, sponges, stromatolites (and thrombolites) and trilobites. These occur on the Port au Port Peninsula and the Great Northern Peninsula.
In the Deer Lake basin and the Anguille Mountains, terrestrial- and freshwater lake-deposited sandstone and shale locally contain plant and fish remains. Cretaceous age insect and plant fossils have been recovered from the Redmond iron ore deposit of the Knob Lake District of western Labrador; unfortunately, no dinoaur remains were found. During the offshore oil exploration on the Grand Banks, however, dinosaur bones were encountered by the drills.
Michael
Grade 5
St. Bonaventure's College
St. John's N.L.
