HOUSTON GIRL MAKES MAMMOTH FIND

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STORY ON KTRK-TV, OUR LOCAL ABC AFFILIATE:

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=6551888

This story originally aired at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday December 11, 2008.  A different segment was edited for the 6:00 p.m. newscast that same day.

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(1) SUMMARY:

A ten-year-old Houston girl discovered Pleistocene (Ice Age) Columbian mammoth and bison bones on a beach ravaged by Hurricane Ike.

(2) CONTACTS:

Janice Scott, Clear Creek Independent School District, Assistant Public Information Director, Office of Public Information, (281) 284-0020, (832) 721-5710 (cell).

Alison Steele Mandadi (mother), 281-300-2174.

(3) FULL STORY:

120508_MANDADI_LIMITED RELEASE.DOC

(4) PREVIOUS MEDIA RELEASES RELATING TO THIS STORY:

CCISD News Release:  http://www.ccisd.net/display_news.asp?storyID=1123

Related stories:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27009017/

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6062328.html

(5) PHOTOGRAPHS & CAPTIONS:

The following photographs have been DOWNSAMPLED for web posting.  Please direct requests for full resolution DSLR photos to Alison@EnviroSteele.com. 

All photos by Alison Steele Mandadi unless otherwise credited.  Permission granted to reproduce all Alison Steele Mandadi photographs for news media and nonprofit educational purposes as long as photo credit is given.  Other potential users please contact the maker and/or your rights and clearances specialist.  Some makers object to reproductions even when they arguably constitute fair use under United States copyright law.

Cayley Mandadi, age 10, holding the mammoth tooth fragment she found on the beach south of High Island, Texas following Hurricane Ike.  In the background are US Geological Survey web images of a mammoth (left) and a fossilized intact mammoth tooth (right).

Partial reproduction of a map showing major geological units in Texas (contact the University of Texas, Bureau of Economic Geology for higher-resolution copy).  The location of High Island on the upper Texas coast is indicated by the arrow.

High-altitude aerial photograph of the area where Cayley found her mammoth tooth (red arrow).  The aerial photograph was probably taken in 2007 or early 2008, and shows the area under normal conditions.  The partial circular structure at the upper right corner of the photo represents the salt dome upon which sits the town of High Island, Texas.  The thick bright white line running diagonally across the photo is the beach, the thin yellow line drawn parallel to it represents the position of State Highway 87.  The grayish-green shaded areas below it represent the Gulf of Mexico.  Landward of the beach, the greenish areas represent vegetated marsh and inland areas which usually do not contain standing water.  Most of the smaller straight white lines represent roads leading to oil wells with the High Island Oilfield. 

Low-altitude oblique aerial photograph showing much the same area as the previous aerial photo, except this one was taken by the US Geological Survey on September 15, 2008.  Most of the photograph is blue because the majority of the land is still covered with the remains of the storm surge.  Only a narrow segment of State Highway 87 and the raised landform of High Island itself remained above the waterline - and this was taken two days after the hurricane made landfall!!  It would be another four weeks before Cayley could safely access this portion of beach to do the fossil searches represented by the photos below. 

 Cayley pounding wooden stakes in during her survey of a less-eroded Bolivar Peninsula beach, view looking northeast.

Cayley pounding wooden stakes in during her survey of a less-eroded Bolivar Peninsula beach, view looking south.

 Cayley is shown holding her marker flags (pin flags) on a more-eroded Bolivar Peninsula beach area south of High Island, view looking roughly west.  Her science project involved systematic survey and collection of potential fossils from the beach, which she would mark with the neon orange flags immediately prior to collection and description.  Utility poles along Highway 87 are visible in the photo background for reference.

View of a bone embedded in the clay that remained after Hurricane Ike swept Bolivar beaches free of sand.  This was later identified as a Pleistocene bison leg bone.  The solid line in photo right represents the marker flag and its shadow.  "Pleistocene" is the name given to the period of geological time stretching from 1.8 million years to 10,000 years before present.  Bison have not become extinct since the Pleistocene, but they are now only found in the wild in some national parks and refuges (reference: www.panda.org). 

Close-up view showing Cayley holding the bison leg bone immediately after she removed it from the clay.

Close-up view of the mammoth tooth fragment (above).  This fragment was first identified as a Columbian mammoth tooth by Mr. George Wolf of Houston Gem and Mineral Society, and later verified by  Dr. Jim Westgate, paleontologist with Lamar University.  Mammoths became extinct approximately 10,000 years ago.  The white name tags in these photos are grid references to where Cayley found the specimens.

Close-up of the bison leg bone.  Many Pleistocene fossils found along the upper Texas coast are stained a dark color by the iron-rich clays that contain them.

This specimen above was identified as a bison ankle bone by Dr. Jim Westgate, paleontologist with Lamar University.

www.karencarr.com

Award-winning artist Karen Carr's interpretation of what a Pleistocene landscape might have looked like.  This work shows the two large animals represented among Cayley's fossil specimens.  Approximately 10,000 years ago when the individual mammoth and bison represented by Cayley's fossils were alive, sea level was much lower and the Bolivar Peninsula was located in an inland environment similar to this (but without large landforms such as the mountains shown in this artwork).

NOTE:  This image is temporarily reproduced here in highly downsampled format for nonprofit K-12 educational reference and for the purpose of commentary.  Users are advised to consult with the artist Karen Carr (http://www.karencarr.com) prior to duplicating this image or using it for commercial purposes in order to comply with copyright laws of the United States.  Image URL: http://www.karencarr.com/auto_image/auto_image_mid/Karen_Carr_North_American_Pleistocene_Landscape_detail.jpg

Cayley with Paleontologist Jim Westgate in his Beaumont, Texas laboratory.  Cayley is holding her mammoth tooth fragment (photo right) and a larger intact specimen from Dr. Westgate's collection.  (Please obtain permission from Dr. Jim Westgate before reproducing this photo).

Close-up view showing Cayley holding Dr. Westgate's mammoth tooth specimen (photo left) and her fragment.  Mammoth teeth are composed of alternating layers of enamel (darker bands) and dental cement.  The original post-Ike Bolivar mammoth tooth news stories described their appearance as looking like "a series of boot soles or slices of bread wedged together".  Cayley's fragment is likely darker due to iron staining from the sediment in which it rested for approximately 10,000 years. 

December 5, 2008: Cayley is congratulated on the success of her science project by representatives of Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD).  Left to Right:  Mrs. Susan Scurry, Assistant Principal, John F. Ward Elementary; Mrs. Mary Simms, Cayley's 5th grade science teacher, John F. Ward Elementary; Cayley (holding the mammoth tooth fragment); Mrs. Kathy Gouger, Principal, John F. Ward Elementary; Mrs. Anne Smith, CCISD Elementary Science Coordinator.

(6) DIGITAL VIDEO:

Contact Alison Steele Mandadi, 281-300-2174.

(7) ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:

(8) OUR THANKS:

Thank you for viewing! 

Please encourage a child you know to develop his or her potential for scientific exploration. 

Children are our future. 

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