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PALEONTOLOGY ARTICLE

Hunting for fossil sharks' teeth
by DIRK HOOGSTRA, Discovery Correspondent

08.30.00: Khatanga, Siberia: Our last days here have been hectic. First, we leave base camp earlier than planned. We discover there is only one last helicopter lift out of this remote place before the month ends, and we have to catch it on short notice.

We hear the engine before we see the helicopter. We rush to get everything packed while the helicopter refuels.

Although our team is leaving, search crews will continue to scout the lakes and rivers of the Taimyr for more ancient remains. They will stop when Siberia's severe winter cold makes their work impossible.

Twenty minutes later we are on our way to Khatanga, where the Jarkov mammoth ice block excavated last year waits in a makeshift ice cave.

This is the first time that scientists Claire Flemming and Ross MacPhee visit the freezer, created to keep the mammoth remains frozen and preserved while being studied. After seeing so many bones, the two are excited to see the mammoth's exposed wool and hair on top of the block.

Researcher Dick Mol has already taken samples from the permafrost block, small pieces of it every 3 inches from top to bottom. These will be brought to the Netherlands for investigation of the ancient pollen contained in the soil.

Ross and Claire take bone samples from the lower jaw of the Jarkov mammoth, which is stored in another part of the cave. They will take these samples, along with the ones from fossils collected during the expedition, back to New York to search for any genetic material from the mammoth and possible pathogens.

In October, when the temperatures turn frosty, a team will return to look at the block more closely. They will begin to slowly defrost it, treating it like a 20,000-year-old time capsule. Every square inch of it could contain information that will help to provide a clearer picture of the plants, animals and climate of the Taimyr peninsula so many centuries ago.

As my feet and hands go numb in the cave, I remember how difficult it is to work for any length of time in sub-zero temperatures. Defrosting the Jarkov mammoth is going to be agonizing work. Although we could thaw the block quickly with warm water, so much valuable information would be destroyed, lost forever.

The scientists agree: They must be patient in order to learn as much as they can from this rare find.

The information above was taken from Discovery.com, Dick Hoogstra, 2000.