Due to the drought, the water level in the rivers dropped to the point of drying out completely. This has uncovered fascinating dinosaur footprints in Texas.
Texas – Drought and heat are affecting people around the world. In China, the worst heat wave in decades has gripped citizens so much that they are even taking shelter in bunkers. In addition, forest and field fires plague many responders and river levels are dramatically low. The low water on Lake Constance, for example, developed into a danger for boat owners. There is hardly anything good to be gained from the drought.
Now, however, the drought has uncovered something fascinating and long-lost. Dino footprints are visible because the Paluxy River dried up in Dinosaur Valley State Park, Texas. According to a spokeswoman, these should be about 113 million years old.
New dinosaur footprints found in dry river bed
The river in Dinosaur Valley State revealed fossilized dinosaur footprints as early as 1930. Since then, visitors have used the low water levels every year to look at the fossil imprints. Due to the extreme drought this year, new tracks could now be discovered, which probably came from an Acrocanthosaurus. The dinosaur was 4.50 meters tall when fully grown and weighed almost seven tons. Footprints of a Sauroposeidon were also found, which was a good deal larger and heavier at around 18 meters high and weighing 44 tons.
“It’s always exciting to discover new dinosaur tracks,” the spokeswoman for Dinosaur Valley State Park told CNN . Everything will now be done to preserve the footprints for the future. Meanwhile, the rain in Texas has started again – but that’s not a problem. First through the river and the associated silt and sediments, the traces remain.
Drought has already exposed several phenomena – Netz is fascinated
The dinosaur footprints in Dinosaur Valley State aren’t the only surprising finds from the drought. In Spain, the lack of water uncovered a mysterious structure. In Germany, on the other hand, so-called “hunger stones”, some of which were centuries old, became visible in the Elbe and Rhine, which were intended to commemorate times of drought and famine. Around 20 sunk German warships from the Second World War even came to the surface in the Danube. Some were still loaded with ammunition that could explode, Stern magazine reports.
On the Internet, people are fascinated by the revelations. “Madness” or “It’s impressive. You can really imagine how he walked there,” the users write on Facebook, among other things. While some find the circumstances that made this find possible tragic, others see it positively. “Then the drought is probably good for something! Great,” says one user. There will certainly be one or two finds in the future, but another is certain when the glaciers melt thanks to climate change.
