China builds 1.5 km dam to protect dinosaur site

[Michael de Sosa <sheepowns@yahoo.com>]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071022/sc_nm/china_dinosaur_dc


                        BEIJING (Reuters) - 
China has built a large earth dam to
protect a dinosaur fossil site from being washed away by
floods, state media said on Tuesday.

Workers in China's northern Heilongjiang province took
three years to complete the 1,450 meter (4,757 ft) long
embankment, the Xinhua news agency said.



"The embankment could effectively protect the dinosaur
mountain from threats of water erosion and floods," Li Jinshan,
vice director of Jiayin Dinosaur National Geologic Park
Administrative Bureau, was quoted as saying.



Thousands of dinosaur fossils have been unearthed from a
mountain that adjoins the river forming the China-Russia
boundary and 13 skeletons have been assembled, Xinhua added.



At least 100 more skeletons are believed to be buried
there, archaeologists were quoted as saying.



"Every summer, rising waters and strong currents erode
parts of the mountain, leaving dinosaur fossils exposed,"
Xinhua said. "Many fossils have been washed away in the past."