How did dinosaurs leave tracks in solid stone?
How did dinosaurs leave tracks in solid stone? If you were standing at the bottom of a sheer rock face looking at a crisscrossing array of dinosaur tracks high above your head, it might seem as though you were witnessing the impossible. On top of being preserved in solid stone, the tracks run along a nearly vertical surface. But the formation of such tracks started with an ordinary walk on the beach. Millions of years ago, dinosaurs left their tracks in sediment. Typically, the soil was wet — part of a shoreline, a mudflat or even the bottom of a shallow sea. As the area dried, the tracks hardened. Eventually, another layer of sediment filled the prints, protecting them from erosion or damage. Very heavy dinosaurs could also leave underprints, stepping so forcefully that they compressed deeper layers of soil, essentially leaving their tracks protected underground. Over millions of years, these layers of sediment har
