Why are we photographing the quarry wall fossils and documenting the current conditions of the bones?

By photographing each bone on the wall, we will have a digital visual record of its state in 2012, which can then easily be used for future comparison to see if cracks have expanded or have finally been stabilized. Each bone will be photographed and the condition of cracks and repairs on the bone recorded. Digital technology makes the monitoring project much simpler and easier than using old paper record methods.

 

Here you can see a large crack passing through not only a dinosaur bone, but also the surrounding rock itself.  This crack has not been repaired, and will be monitored closely to see if conditions worsen over time or have stabilized themselves.

National Park Service

 

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