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Geological Formations

Ashfall Fossil Beds

Sedimentary and Stratigraphic Formations

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Ashfall Fossil Beds is a fossil deposit in northeastern Nebraska where a massive volcanic ash fall roughly twelve million years ago, originating from an eruption far to the west, buried a waterhole and suffocated the animals gathered there, preserving hundreds of complete rhinoceros, horse, camel and bird skeletons in the position in which they died. The site is preserved as a state park with an enclosed excavation building, where visitors can watch ongoing excavation of skeletons still partly embedded in ash.

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