Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park

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Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park
Life-size representation of Shonisaurus

Shonisaurus representation in life size

location Nye County in Nevada (USA)
surface 6.23 km²
Geographical location 38 ° 53 '  N , 117 ° 36'  W Coordinates: 38 ° 52 '32 "  N , 117 ° 35' 44"  W.
Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park (Nevada)
Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park
Setup date 1957, National Natural Landmark since 1973
administration Nevada Division of State Parks
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The Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park is a State Park in Nye County in Nevada . The state park, which has existed since 1957, is located on a foothill of the Shoshone Mountains about 35 km east of Gabbs on Nevada State Route 844 and covers an area of ​​6.23 km².

Thematically, the park is divided into two parts. The area is home to both the largest deposit of fossil ichthyosaurs (" ichthyosaurs ") in North America and the historic mining settlement and today's ghost town of Berlin. The ichthyosaur site was also registered as a National Natural Landmark in May 1973 .

Ghost town Berlin and former Diana gold mine

Main article: Berlin Historic District

Rusty car wreck in the ghost town of Berlin
View from Berlin to the Ione Valley

The first mining activity in the area was seen as early as May 1863 when a small group of prospectors discovered silver in Union Canyon and set up a small camp. The following year the Union Mining District was founded with the settlements Union, Ione, Grantsville and, a little later, Berlin. The first prospecting report from the Berlin Canyon was already available in 1869, but it took until 1896 for the mine to run properly. Berlin was officially founded in 1897. By 1905, up to 300 residents had gathered. In 1907 a miners' strike for higher wages led to the bankruptcy of The Atlantic and Pacific Mining Company, and workers emigrated in the following years. In 1911 the village was dissolved. There are still 13 largely preserved buildings and various machine parts in the state park.

Ichthyosaur site

Live reconstruction of the Shonisaurus
Skull and jaw parts of an ichthyosaur in the "Fossil Shelter"

As early as 1928, the first discoveries of these marine reptiles of the Upper Triassic were made on the site of Siemon Muller , some of which had already been exposed through natural erosion. 1953-1957 took place under the direction of Charles Lewis Camp and Samuel Paul Welles extensive scientific excavations of the University of California, the results of which led to the official designation as a state park in the same year 1957. With the "Ichthyosaur Fossil Shelter" there is a covered site with exposed ichthyosaurs. Among them is the largest specimen ever found in the USA. Under the name Shonisaurus popularis , named after the Shoshone Mountains, the dinosaurs went down in literature and in 1977 they were named the State Fossil of Nevada. The shonisaurs reached dimensions of 15 meters in length and 40 tons in weight. One of the large specimens is on display at the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society in Las Vegas. How it came to such an accumulation of 37 copies in one place has not yet been finally clarified. 7 skeletons are almost parallel to each other. A comparable thing is only known from stranded whales.

Flora and fauna

Western fence iguana ( Sceloporus occidentalis )

The landscape of the state park is dominated by the Big Sagebrush, a species of mugwort, on the plains, while juniper bushes and pinyon pines are associated with the higher elevations . Mule deer , black-tailed jackrabbit , cottontail rabbit , Western Bluebird , pinyon jay , chukar , teiidae as Cnemidophorus uniparens and Western fence Iguana , and rattlesnakes and snake Pituophis catenifer belong to the species composition of the park.

See also

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  1. ↑ http://www.sangres.com/nevada/stateparks/berlin.htm
  2. ↑ http://www.nature.nps.gov/nnl/Registry/USA_Map/States/Nevada/NNL/IS/index.cfm
  3. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / blog.plazahotel.de
  4. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / blog.plazahotel.de
  5. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from August 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.touridee-usa.de
  6. ↑ http://www.oceansofkansas.com/ichthyosaur.html
  7. ↑ http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-58243235.html
  8. ↑ http://parks.nv.gov/bi.htm#NATURE

literature

  • CL Camp: Large ichthyosaurs from the Upper Triassic of Nevada. Palaeontographica, Department A. Vol. 170, 1980, pp. 139-200.

Web links

Commons : Berlin – Ichthyosaur State Park  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files