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<br />~LBERT COUNTY NEWS
<br />
<br />T1.'ASn.w. JANUARY 8. 1998
<br />
<br />KiowA. COl.OAAOO 80117 USPS 171-100
<br />
<br />103AD V1!AR No. 37
<br />
<br />:THURSDAY, J-'NUARY 8, 1998
<br />
<br />- j '.'
<br />
<br />: ..~. ~ "kiiiilf coiiilitgeiit..iio. ie_Ri;!IlIf,\(:::--'"
<br />}o~on said. The nuiseum ~ to ~Iy tile, ... .
<br />... additional .$390,000, paitially through. the ~..;:
<br />National SCIence FoundatiolL lithe- . ~~jjf.~ .
<br />. approved:: researches wiII 1WhiPm.":!:'iJf~ \~
<br />")999.The.cOuntycoo1dJl'~ier~h,4 _, .
<br />the weihs early asmid-I999~':":.i'..;o.::;.-;tt:!;1# ..
<br />CountY comDilSSioner fohn DWin'~v~'.
<br />of the project, the results of which may end up on
<br />display at the Denver Museum of Natural
<br />History. "We wrote a letter of support saying it
<br />was a good project .n," be said. "We could end
<br />. up with a deep water well that could serve the
<br />county for a long time."
<br />According to Johnson, the 2,OOO-foot well
<br />will produce samples 66 million years old, a time
<br />during which the Rocky Mountains were fonn-
<br />ing. In fact, the aquifers at that level contains
<br />"ground up material from the top of the Rocky
<br />Mountains. Were the hole to go down 11,000
<br />feet, it would hit the actual granite [on] Pikes
<br />Peak. That's how much the front range got
<br />pushed up," Johnson explained.
<br />An aquifer, he added, is a body of rock that
<br />holds groundwater. Much of the water Elbert
<br />County drinks comes through an aquifer that
<br />once saw Tyrannosaurus Rex and duckbill
<br />dinosaurs roaming on its surface. It also contains
<br />the debris that came off the first uplift of the
<br />Rocky Mountains.
<br />Johnson said that researchers hope to answer
<br />"how fast and exacrly when the mountains came
<br />up; what the basin looked like; what were the
<br />plants and animals which lived there; how they
<br />changed; what they tell us about the climate."
<br />The research may. help to answer another
<br />question - or at least provide more theories -
<br />concerning the cause of the extinction of the
<br />dinosaurs, which died out some 65 million years
<br />ago. Like a time machine, the core will present a
<br />time.line, starting 66 million years ago when
<br />dinosaurs were prevalent, to their extinction only
<br />one million years later. .
<br />While the three-inch wide core sample won't
<br />produce dinosaur bones, by studyUlg pollen grains
<br />. and magnetic material on the sediment, resean:hers
<br />. will be able date the core samples and belp deter-
<br />'mine the geologica! history of the area.
<br />"'The Kiowa core will be like our Rosetta
<br />Stone," Johnson said.
<br />. According to Jerry Koch, an Elizabeth geolo-
<br />.gist who sits on the Water Advisory Board. "I'm
<br />excited about the project from the standpoint of
<br />. what we can gain for evaluating the water
<br />.resources," he said. "And the overall'scientific
<br />.srudy is fascinating.
<br />- "I think everybody should be inlmsted in tbe
<br />;history of this area, "be added. "!1's tbeplace whelc
<br />:"we live and it has a fascinaiing hisuxy - every_
<br />g from deep oceaus, to tropical rain foRsts. ..
<br />
<br />. Museum
<br />. to dig into
<br />prehistory of
<br />. :Elbert County
<br />
<br />By DAVID MYERS
<br />MANAGING EDITOR
<br />
<br />.
<br />
<br />Elbert County was once a lush forest of palm
<br />. trees - an emerald green marsh fed by 100 inch-
<br />. es of rain a year - its giant inhabitanlS, thriving,
<br />yet on the last leg of their existence.
<br />That period in Elbert County's history - 66
<br />.. million years ago - may become the focus for a
<br />..group of researchers from the Denver Museum
<br />of Natural History.
<br />~, If all goes as planned - in other words, if
<br />- funding is approved - the museum will driII a
<br />::2,OOO-foot, three.inch wide well at the Elbert
<br />.., County Faitgrounds in Kiowa.
<br />According to Kirk Johnson, curator for pale-
<br />
<br />: Lke a time machine, the core
<br />will present a time-line, starting
<br />66 million years ago when
<br />dinosaurs were prevalent.
<br />
<br />.
<br />
<br />ontology for the Denver Museum of Natural
<br />History and head of the project, rese:uchers will
<br />collect the core sample from the well and use it
<br />to study the geologic history of the Denver basin.
<br />The Denver basin 'lretches from Limon to the
<br />Front Range and from Colorado Springs to
<br />Greeley, with EIbert Connty landIng approxi-
<br />mately in the center: .
<br />. Akr. the core sample is collected, the bole.
<br />will be. widened and used ~ a deep warer.,welt ...
<br />. .for~County_ Thetolaf~for1htgro.iectis, ~.
<br />.. approxunately $400,000, with EIfJctt. QlaDtY.. ,
<br />. conaibutinll SIO,OOO. . .' ;,<->. ".. ..~,," f.,.
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