Ice Age Mastodon Tooth & Fossil Creek Discovery Workbench

Creek Sediment Brushing & Uncovering

Sediment Cleared: 15%

Drag or click your brush across the creek gravel to remove Holocene silt and reveal the massive conical cusps of the mastodon molar.

Active Layer: Late Rancholabrean Gravel Bed | Depth: 1.84m

Stratigraphic Geological Column

0.0m - 0.4m: Modern Creek Bed & Holocene Fluvial Sand 0 - 2,000 BP

0.4m - 1.2m: Mid-Holocene Silt & Alluvial Wash 2,000 - 8,500 BP

★ 1.2m - 2.1m: Late Pleistocene Alluvial Gravel (Specimen Horizon) 11,000 - 15,000 BP

2.1m+: Early Rancholabrean Sandstone Bedrock > 45,000 BP

Specimen Telemetry & Morphometrics

Taxon

M. americanum

Preservation

98.4%

Cusp Crown Type

Zygodont (Browsing)

Calibrated 14C Age

14,200 BP

Creek Location

San Joaquin Basin

Dental Wear Stage

Adult (Stage VI)

California Amphibian & Riparian Coexistence Checklist

Mandatory survey protocols: The scientist discovered this specimen while monitoring endangered frogs. No fossil extraction may jeopardize the riparian breeding pool.

Rana draytonii (California Red-Legged Frog) buffer: 15-meter non-disturbance zone maintained along stream pool.
Turbidity Mitigation: Silt curtains deployed downstream to protect amphibian egg clutches.
State Paleontological Survey Permit: Authorized salvage protocol filed with state museum repository.
On-site Gypsum Jacket: Burlap-plaster stabilization ready prior to specimen removal from gravel bed.

Official Discovery Report

COMPLIANCE: 100% (CERTIFIED)

Generating verified paleontological record...