The land here in North Dakota was once under water and there are fossils in the rocks in the area that show fossilized sea creatures. There is an island called fossil island -- right now its just a few rocks sticking out of the water -- but as the water goes down we should see more of it. You can land a boat there and see the fossils in the rocks. The fossils in the rock in the picture are from outside the Paul Broste Rock Museum. It was closed the day we went but outside they had this really cool -- big and heavy -- fossilized rock.
Another era in geological history here had lots of trees growing and there is a lot of petrified wood around. It isn't brilliant colors like the petrified wood in Arizona. The colors depend on different minerals being in the soil that are absorbed into the wood over time. Here there must not have been a lot of pretty minerals. The wood is still kind of pretty. This big piece was in front of the offices/visitor center for the Falkirk Coal Mine. It must have been found as they dug for coal.
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