Dinosaur Dig at Wasson's Bluff (Parrsboro, Nova Scotia)


Field work is going on right now at the site where Canada's oldest dinosaurs were found, near Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. For a period of about 10 days, Dr. Tim Fedak and his team of students and volunteers are hoping to make some discoveries to add to the region's rich fossil history.

One of the target areas where the team is concentrating 
their effort to find an elusive dinosaur bone bed

Dr. Fedak is among a number of people that had made important discoveries and unearth information on what went on during its ancient past in the Parrsboro area. Wasson's bluff has seen some of Canada's oldest dinosaur skeletons come out of these sandstones, tracing back all the way to the 1970s and beyond.

Two Islands, viewed from across the dig site

Prosauropods, early plant eating dinosaurs from the Triassic Period, fish, giant crocodiles, and some of the earliest mammal-like reptile remains have been found in the past, and the search continues to try to unveil more so to fill in more on this ongoing puzzle.

Dig site, looking East (volcanic basalt in background)

The dig site at Wasson's bluff is trenched, or wedged, between volcanic basalt from lava flows from a tumultuous past where Pangaea began to separate. This tectonic cacophony resulted in causing chaos and interesting physiology on the local topography. This is also a reason why they call these early dinosaurs 'earthquake dinosaurs' as the remains have been fractured, split, and pulled apart by the result of all this tectonic activity.

Dig site, looking West (more of that volcanic basalt from 
ancient lava flows in the background)

I went down there on Tuesday to volunteer and lend a hand for a few hours to this fascinating project. The heat was full on, the Sun blazing, and the wind nowhere to be found. To be able to get to some of the layers that might be containing bones, several tons of rocks and sand had to be moved. The process has to go to a slow and steady pace as not to damage any of the bones that could be hidden right under our tools. An alternate site a short distance from the main one has also yielded bone. The team has been making good progress in identifying and locating any remains that would come out.

Yellow circles indicate bones found in situ




As I type this, work is still going on at Wasson's bluff. They are hard at work to uncover any new specimen that can help us create a more complete picture of what went on. Lets wish them all the luck and hope they make amazing discoveries for all to share!

I will be going down there again as Parrsboro is also hosting its 48th Annual Gem and Mineral show, the only one East of Montreal, Canada! If you're in the area, please drop on by! Info on the event at this address: https://fundygeological.novascotia.ca/gemshow

If you want to know more about the project, or to keep updated with what's going on, you can visit http://earthquake-dinosaurs.ca, http://edinos.ca, visit their facebook page at http://facebook.com/EarthquakeDinosaurs, or follow them on Twitter @EarthquakeDinos!

Keenan signing out!


Disclaimer: In Nova Scotia under the 'Special Places Protection Act', fossils cannot be dug up or disturbed without a permit. The province has a mandate to protect palaeontological sites and it is your civic duty to report any finds to the local museum, or the Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage (https://cch.novascotia.ca/exploring-our-past/special-places). This encourages the contribution these finds could make to science not just in the provice, but on the global stage. You must also seek permission if you are to enter private land.

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