The findings indicate South Korea at the time experienced seasonal variations, with rainy periods followed by warmer, drier conditions. Based on the oxygen signatures within the eggshells, the scientists can even tell that dinosaurs drank ample fresh water during the rainy seasons and slightly evaporated water at other times. Soil samples additionally reveal that hydrothermal fluids once washed into the dinosaur nursery area, adding extra carbon that wound up in the water and may have fueled the growth of abundant plants and trees. The findings have been accepted for publication in the February issue of Cretaceous Research. That same issue will also feature a study on yet another Cretaceous dinosaur nursery from the Sihwa Formation of mid-west Korea. S.B. Kim of the Korea Polar Research Institute and colleagues identified approximately 140 dinosaur eggs within "gravelly" siltstones and channels. "They are either isolated or clustered, forming a circular concentration in plain view," the researchers wrote. "The abundant yield of eggs, more than 20 eggs in 5 separate nests from a single depositional unit, suggests a dense population of parental dinosaurs." The repetitive occurrence of eggs at specific spots suggests dinosaurs returned to certain sites each year to lay and to incubate their eggs, a practice that must have been repeated over and over again by later generations. Related Links: Dinosaur Sites on Korean Peninsula |
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