La Brea Tar Pits are a group of tar pits around which Hancock Park was formed in urban Los Angeles, US. ... The tar is often covered over with dust, leaves, or water. Over many centuries, the tar preserved the bones of trapped animals .
Can fossils be found in tar pits?
Inside the Museum at La Brea Tar Pits
Step inside the museum to see massive ground sloths, towering mammoths, and snarling saber-toothed cats —some of the most spectacular fossils ever found at the Tar Pits.
How are tar pit fossils formed?
They form in the presence of oil, which is created when decayed organic matter is subjected to pressure underground . ... The lighter components of the crude oil evaporate into the atmosphere, leaving behind a black, sticky asphalt. Tar pits are often excavated because they contain large fossil collections.
What are tar pits made out of?
The tar pits are thick, sticky pools of viscous asphalt (the lowest grade of crude oil) that has oozed to the surface from a large petroleum reservoir. They have yielded the fossilized skulls and bones of trapped prehistoric animals as well as one partial human skeleton and many human artifacts.
Are tar pits natural?
The McKittrick Tar Pits are a series of natural asphalt lakes located in Kern Country, California, USA. The existence of the tar pits has long been known by the indigenous populations, and the asphalt was used by locals for trade, decoration, and waterproofing.
Can you escape a tar pit?
The tar pits were the bane of prehistoric man and animals. You see they are like quicksand only deadlier. ... E-mail, cell phones and PDA's will all lead you into today's modern tar pits and suck you under if you allow them to. They can't be escaped and they will bury you if you allow it.
Why aren't there any dinosaur bones in the tar pits?
There are no dinosaurs preserved in the La Brea Tar Pits because the last of the dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago , and the oldest bones preserved at La Brea are only 40,000 years old!
How deep is the La Brea Tar Pit?
3. The tar pits are only a few inches deep ! Did you always imagine prehistoric animals sinking into the tar pit goo like it was a sticky quicksand, until they finally sank out of sight?
Why are so many fossils found in the La Brea Tar Pits?
At the site known today as the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, natural asphalt has bubbled up from below the ground's surface since the last Ice Age. This murky sludge has trapped and made fossils out of thousands of creatures , as small as bees and as big as mammoths.
What was found in La Brea Tar Pits?
Since 1906, more than one million bones have been recovered, representing over 231 species of vertebrates . In addition, 159 species of plants and 234 species of invertebrates have been identified. It is estimated that the collections at La Brea Tar Pits contain about three million items.
Where is the world's largest tar pit?
The largest tar pit in the world, La Brea Pitch Lake in Trinidad , has a fascinating history and awaits approval as a Unesco World Heritage Site – even if it resembles a somewhat neglected car park!
Are there tar pits in the US?
Carpinteria Tar Pits – series of natural asphalt lakes located in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County, California, US. ... McKittrick Tar Pits – series of natural asphalt lakes situated in McKittrick near Bakersfield, California, US. The tar pits have trapped and preserved many Pleistocene Age animals.
Are there tar pits all over the world?
Tar pits are especially important for scientists in areas where fossils don't normally preserve well, such as the Neotropics. Zoom in and click on the map icons to learn about fossiliferous tar pits around the world! There are many asphaltic sites around the world where fossils have been discovered !
What is a natural tar pit?
Tar pits, sometimes referred to as asphalt pits, are large asphalt deposits . They form in the presence of oil, which is created when decayed organic matter is subjected to pressure underground. ... Tar pits form above oil reserves, and these deposits are often found in anticlinal traps.
How old are tar pits?
The Tar Pits provide an incredibly complete record of the different plants and animals that have lived in the L.A. Basin between 50,000 years ago and today.
Are the La Brea Tar Pits worth seeing?
Even if you have to pay to visit, most visitors agree that the exhibits are well worth perusing. La Brea Tar Pits sits next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
