Panama Canal expansion dredges up historical treasures
Panama Canal expansion dredges up historical treasures
22 hours ago by María Isabel Sánchez
Panama Canal expansion work has uncovered an unexpected trove of archeological and paleontological treasures, scientists said, as the massive construction project winds down.
Workers who have blasted through mountains and dug up thick vegetation, have also uncovered the fossils of some 3,000 invertebrates and 500 vertebrates, as well as of more than 250 plants—including the remains of a forest consumed by fire after a volcanic eruption.
Experts hired by the Panama Canal Authority have identified remains of camels, crocodiles, the teeth of a giant shark, as well as bones of other animals millions of years old.
But the most surprising discovery, researchers said, was about the age of the very land beneath Panama, the southern end of the narrow isthmus that connects North and South America.
Evidence uncovered during the canal excavation showed that the land started forming 20 million years ago and finished around 10 million years later.
More:
http://phys.org/news/2014-09-panama-canal-expansion-dredges-historical.html#jCp
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