RE: Ain't No Mountain Low Enough [elephants don't like steep terrain]

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> From: owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu [mailto:owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Tommy Tyrberg
>
> At 23:09 2006-07-26, Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. wrote:
>
> >On the other hand, the Pleistocene material in mountains is stuff getting
> >deposited in caves, cracks, and crevices.
>
>
> Not necessarily. I know of an Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene lake deposit
> with vertebrate fossils at 2800 meters in Mexico, and there are certainly
> higher ones on the Andean altiplano and in Central Asia. Lake Titicaca is
> at 3,800 meters and there are higher large lakes in Tibet.

Never said it couldn't be a BIG crevice... :-)

> Incidentally the highest (fossiliferous) Pleistocene fluvial deposit I am
> aware of is at 2300 meters.

That's pretty cool!

Unfortunately for working in deeper Deep Time, though, erosion plus isostatic 
rebound will have likely eliminated most of the
Mesozoic equivalents of these over time.

Not to say we won't celebrate if such are ever found.

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
        Senior Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
        Mailing Address:
                Building 237, Room 1117
                College Park, MD  20742

http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/
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