Construction on the Integrative Science Complex between Huestis and Deschutes Halls took a temporary break Thursday while geological studies professor Greg Retallack and a group of other University faculty dug through loose rocks almost 20 feet below the surface at the building site to search for ancient fossils.
University President Dave Frohnmayer joined the excursion, which uncovered several fossils of sea creatures that were estimated to be approximately 35 million years old, Retallack said.
“It would be a shame if we didn’t know they were here before it was covered in concrete,” Frohnmayer said.
Diggers unearthed dozens of fossilized clams, snails and other sea shells in the sedimentary rock that had been preserved under the ground. The reason there are fossils of sea creatures as far inland as Eugene, Retallack said, is because of a scientific feature known as the Eugene Formation.
Retallack said that 35 million years ago the region Eugene currently occupies used to be a large bay between the Coast Range and Cascade Range that sea creatures once inhabited. He said the sedimentary rock that now contains the fossils originally came from volcanic rock deposited into the bay.
Retallack said the fossils were preserved nicely at the site before Lease Crutcher Lewis began construction in June.
“Chemical data requires good, fresh shell material that’s not weathered,” Retallack said. “So, these digs are important. Whenever there’s a good pit like this, I try to get down in it.”
Retallack said the analysis of specimens from this particular time period is important to today’s climate research.
“Thirty-five million years ago was one of the great global warming periods in the history of the Earth,” he said.
By analyzing the chemical makeup of the fossils, scientists could possibly determine what climate conditions were like in the ancient period and compare it to today’s climate trends, Retallack said.
Mark Butler, a representative with Lease Crutcher Lewis said the company also hosted similar tours and archeological digs at the previous site.
Butler also said there is a Web cam set up on top of Deschutes Hall that will follow the construction until its scheduled completion in August of 2007.
Lease Crutcher Lewis is working in collaboration with the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute on the facility, which will be completely underground except for a single entrance, Butler said.
Retallack said the extracted fossils are used for research in the geology department, which currently holds approximately 30,000 specimens in its collection.
“It’s all a part of our scientific heritage,” he said.
Retallack said he has done similar research at several other University construction sites since he joined the faculty in 1981. He said it was well known that the local region held these kinds of fossils before the current project began. Still, he said, it’s always worth looking.
“Sometimes the things that pop out, they take your breath away,” Retallack said.
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