Dinosaurs Under the Aurora

Roland A. Gangloff

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9780253000804
• eBook ISBN:
  9780253007186
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Evolution

In 1961, while mapping rock exposures along the Colville River in Alaska, an oil company geologist would unknowingly find the evidence for a startling discovery. Long before the North Slope of Alaska was being exploited for its petroleum resources it was a place where dinosaurs roamed. Dinosaurs under the Aurora immerses readers in the challenges, stark beauty, and hard-earned rewards of conducting paleontological field work in the Arctic. Roland A. Gangloff recounts the significant discoveries of field and museum research on Arctic dinosaurs, most notably of the last 25 years when the remarkable record of dinosaurs from Alaska was compiled. This research has changed the way we think about dinosaurs and their world. Examining long-standing controversies, such as the end-Cretaceous extinction of dinosaurs and whether dinosaurs were residents or just seasonal visitors to polar latitudes, Gangloff takes readers on a delightful and instructive journey into the world of paleontology as it is conducted in the land under the aurora.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1: The Arctic Setting
• 2: Tracks Lead the Way: Circumarctic Discoveries from Svalbard to Koryakia
• 3: A Black Gold Rush Sets the Stage for Discovery in Alaska
• 4: Peregrines, Permafrost, and Bone Beds: Digging Dinosaurs on the Colville River
• 5: Texas, Teachers, and Chinooks: Taking Fieldwork to a New Level
• 6: The Arctic during the Cretaceous
• 7: Cretaceous Dinosaur Pathways in the Paleo-Arctic and along the Western Interior Seaway
• 8: Applying New Technologies to the Ancient Past
• 9: Natural Resources, Climate Change, and Arctic Dinosaurs
• 10: Future Expansion of the Arctic Dinosaur Record
• Glossary
• Notes
• Literature Cited
• Index
• About the Author