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2001 Belize Expedition Journals

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January 13, 2001 - Getting Ready

by Lu Coffing

As you step off the plane at the Belize International Airport (the name is bigger than the building) you can tell you have entered the tropics. Being from Southern California, I am familiar with hot weather, but the heat combined with the humidity is soon felt. By the time I walked from the airplane to the terminal, I felt damp. By the time I walked across the parking lot to the row of rental car businesses to pick up the van, I was ready to change into a bathing suit. Good-bye cold winter rainstorms, hello sunshine (with a few scattered afternoon clouds thrown in for special effects.)

The two boxes of supplies and equipment we had sent down earlier had not arrived, but I would deal with that later. After starting the day at 4:00am and traveling through airports and on airplanes for 9+ hours, I was tired. Rest would have to wait though. I still had to fill out paperwork for the three rental vans AND drive two hours to Corozal.

The missing boxes were one of the reasons I arrived early; to solve problems and make last minute arrangements. Ok, honesty compels me to admit that I also wanted a day of R & R before the troops arrive. Unfortunately, most of the expedition members will not have the same luxury, but will have to jump right into work the day after they arrive.

As on previous expeditions, Tony's Inn and Beach Resort is a haven of rest and comfort. The staff is friendly and very helpful. The picture to the left shows an example of some of the wildlife you see while staying at Tony's Inn.

Globalstar is donating a satellite phone and airtime for the expedition, and had promised that a phone would be sent to me in Belize. It arrived before I did, and after a few mis-starts (caused by my tired brain and clumsy fingers) I got the phone working and called home (naturally.)

One of the members, Sergio Stinco from Argentina, arrived a few days early and has already made arrangements to make radio broadcasts from the field about the expedition. What inventive and enthusiastic members we have!

If you have any questions for the expedition scientists, e-mail The Planetary Society at tps@planetary.org. I will call in every day and get some of the questions for the expedition members to answer.

Tomorrow, several of the scientists and members will be arriving. I can hardly wait for the expedition to begin!

January 15, 2001 - What a Day! And the expedition doesn't start until tomorrow!

by Lu Coffing - Expedition Team Coordinator

All I needed to do was go into Mexico, pick up Francisco Vega (a paleontologist from the University of Mexico) at the Chetumal Airport, and get some anti-venom serum. Sounded simple, right? Well, read on.

For the record, it is only 14 miles from our hotel in Belize to the Chetumal Airport in Mexico.

Before we could leave for the Mexican airport, Sergio, who was going with me to help with translating, had to get a temporary visa so he would be able to return to Belize. Obtaining the visa took 45 minutes. Then, with all of the necessary documentation, we crossed the border - and the Mexican immigration officer just waved us through, without even bothering to look at our paperwork.

Once we made it into Mexico, we went to the airport to meet Francisco. His plane was late, but he did finally arrive, along with several cases of equipment.

From the airport, we began our quest for the anti-venom serum - a necessity when one is going to be traveling through the jungle. It took six pharmacy stops to get the serum - actually four stops to get the serum and two more stops to get the syringe so we could use it.

Then, we set out for "home." But, getting back into Belize turned out to be an ordeal. The "nice" person who just waved us across the border on our way into Mexico hadn't bothered to stamp Sergio's passport. As a result, Sergio was considered an illegal alien the entire time we were in Mexico and they weren't going to let him leave.

After talking to several people, we finally found the man who had originally waved us through. With a little coaxing, he remembered Sergio and let us cross the border back into Belize. Thank goodness Francisco was with us. He helped us unravel the mess.

However, Francisco had lots of equipment with him, all of which had to be listed very carefully so that he could take it out of Mexico, into Belize, and back again.

So, this 28 miles round trip from our hotel in Belize to Chetomal, Mexico and back took all day. We left at 9:30 am and returned at 4:45pm. No sightseeing, no shopping, no lunch, no fun...just bureaucracy, waiting at the airport, and looking for pharmacies.

I must say that the people at customs were very nice and friendly. There was none of the rudeness you hear about and see on TV. Nice people doing their job, frustrating the heck out of the rest of us.

I returned to Tony's Inn and Beach Resort, sat down for a nice, relaxing drink of orange Fanta when I got a call from Adriana (before the drink even arrived.) One of the scientists and one of the members had not arrived. Hmmmm... This sounds like it might be another interesting tale.

January 16, 2001 - Welcome to Belize: Meeting the Team Members

by Lu Coffing - Expedition Team Coordinator

The entire crew of the Belize Expedition 2001, ten members and eleven scientists greeted each other for the first time today at the airport in Belize City. After the introductions, everyone climbed into the three rental vans and off we went to Tony's Inn and Beach Resort, where we will be staying for the next few nights, as we explore the Albion Quarry during the day.

Here are the people I am going to be writing about over the next few days.

Expedition Leaders:
Adriana Ocampo, from NASA Headquarters
Kevin Pope, from Geo Eco Arc Research
Alfred Fischer, from the University of Southern California
and of course, myself - Lu Coffing from The Planetary Society

Participating Scientists:

Doreen Ames, is a geologist from the Geological Survey of Canada. Her specialty is the Sudbury impact crater, one of the largest and oldest in the world. She will be looking for hydrothermal systems to compare Sudbury with the Chicxulub crater.

Francisco Vega, from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. He is the paleontologist of the group.

Gunther Kletetschka, is a geophysicist from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. He will be using a magnetometer (if it ever arrives) and susceptibility meter to map the ejecta blanket from Chicxulub and estimate the temperature during the deposition.

Peter Wasilewski, from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
David King, Jr., from Auburn University
Lucille Petruny, from Auburn University

T. Matsui, from the University of Tokyo, is a planetary scientist who studies the origin of the solar system and impact processes. He is currently studying the K-T boundary in Cuba and wants to compare it to what we have at Albion Island.

S. Kiyokawa, from the University of Tokyo

The Members:

Susan is married with two grown daughters. She loves backpacking and hiking and discovering rocks in the process.

Helmut is very outgoing and open minded. He is interested in a variety of scientific fields and looks forward to discussing a wide variety of topics with other team members.

Jutta is an earth science educator who works with teachers, helping prepare them to teach science. Geology and astronomy have been her lifelong interest.

Richard is retired, which allows him to pursue his interests in astronomy, geology, paleontology and archaeology.

Tim is an adventurer, truth seeker, nuclear physicist, rocket scientist, and a computer guru. He enjoys camping, music, guitars, computers and working with children, not necessarily in that order.

Cole recently graduated from college with a dual degree in English and History. He has spent his post college years working random jobs, traveling and writing.

Reuben is a senior in college, working on a Geology and Geophysics major. His hobbies include scuba diving, backpacking, amateur astronomy, working out, beer tasting and mountain biking.

Bill enjoys surfing, hiking, mountain biking and skiing. He has a great desire to understand "how things work."

Sergio is a teacher who wants his students to understand the importance of the discoveries made on expeditions like this one.

Paula is retired, with allows her to enjoy her hobbies, including her three grandkids, travel photography and a leisurely study of science.

Tomorrow, the work/fun begins.

More later.

January 17, 2001 - Albion Quarry: our first day at work.

by Lu Coffing - Expedition Team Coordinator

Today, we set off for our first official outing in the "field." Our destination was Albion Island Quarry, where the K-T Boundary layer is clearly visible within the walls of the quarry.

It was really a nice, pleasant day. The sky was overcast so it was not too hot, and there was even a nice breeze in the afternoon. The cenote (a sinkhole/small lake next to the quarry) looked inviting, but we were able to resist the temptation to jump in.

As we first surveyed the quarry from the top, Expedition Leader Kevin Pope gave an orientation talk to the troops. We have two film crews along for the ride. The Nebraska ETV Network and the Learning Channel are both filming the expedition for future documentaries.

After orientation, the team divided up into three groups: The Stratigraphy Field Group; Fossil Group; and the Magnetic Susceptibility Testing Group. The groups then split up and spread out throughout the quarry.

Following are reports from each of the teams:

Stratigraphy Field Group is headed by David King and Lucille Petruny and includes members Susie and Bill.

We walked around Albion Quarry to look at changes since we visited last time. Because quarry operators make money by removing rock to sell, there are always changes in the walls.

The stratigraphy field group decided to continue with the type of study that was first begun two years ago. We measured the size of boulders and pebbles within the ejecta diamictite. This was done inside one meter square grids made of string. The measurements were made to the nearest 1/2-centimeter. Approximately 300 grains (boulders and pebbles) were measured inside each 1-meter square grid. We will use this data to understand size frequency analysis, or how frequently certain sizes occur. For example, we found over 100 grains in the 1 cm to 1.5 cm size range in each area. We hope this work helps us better understand how the diamictite may have formed.

We made some other discoveries including striated boulders, altered glass (clay) clasts, dolomite spheroids, and pebbles with cryptographic markings of unknown origin. A new quarry wall showed us a place where ejecta fell into a sinkhole during the impact event.

Fossil group is headed by Francisco Vega and includes members Paula, Cole, and Sergio.

In January 1995, on the first Planetary Society expedition to Belize, Francisco Vega, a research paleontologist at the University of Mexico, made an important discovery. While digging underneath the ejecta blanket to search for fossils, Francisco discovered a new species of crab which helped the team confirm the Cretaceous age of the rocks beneath the impact event debris.

Today, on the first day of the fourth expedition to the Albion Island rock quarry, Francisco continued his search for additional crab fossils assisted by other members of the group. No new crab fossils were found, probably because a rockslide had buried the area where the first fossils were discovered.

The search of other similar areas yielded up small clams and snails, but none of the rare crabs. Tomorrow, the search continues...

Magnetic Susceptibility Testing Group is headed by Gunther Kletetschka and includes members Jutta, Hat, Reub, Richard Dunlop, and Tim.

Gunther Kletetschka headed up the science team that would examine in detail the contact point between the Cretaceous dolomite and the spheroid bed with the magnetometer. The measurements taken show that the spheroid bed is 10 times more sensitive to magnetism that the underlying dolomite. Jutta and Gunther formed one team while Hat & Reub, and Richard & Tim formed the second and third teams.

Each team cleared an area of the lower boundary layer for analysis with the magnetometer. During the course of sample collection, they observed lineated patterns within the lower most section of the spheroid bed. This observation will be checked in various other places during the course of the expedition.

January 18, 2001 - Back at the Quarry

by Lu Coffing - Expedition Team Coordinator

There were very few clouds in the sky today, which meant that it was really hot and dusty in the quarry. That cenote is looking better and better!

Even in the heat, the teams were busy at work. There was one minor injury, but overall, it was a very satisfying, very hot day's work.

Here are the reports from each group:

Magnetic group:
Gunther leader with Sergio and Richard. We focused on the lower most portion of ejecta blanket and looked for more evidence of sliding away from the point of impact. However, we found only one outcrop with lineated surface indicating the ejecta blanket motion parallel with epicenter direction.

We collected oriented samples across the K/T boundary for careful study of paleomagnetic signatures, for outcrops where spherule bed was vertical, yet the same thickness. We prepared outcrops for tomorrows sample collection across boundary between spherule and diametric beds.

Thermal Group:
Doreen leader with Suzie and Jutta. We spent the morning describing fragments of glass in the road cut. We mapped the different colors of the glass related to chemical reactions. Alteration and hot springs that form in impact craters have the potential to provide an environment where life can evolve.

Rock Measuring Team:
Dr. Matsui and Dr. Kiyokawa. We measured the size of the rocks in the diamictite layer by the line method. We measured 200 specimens for each locality.

We made a columnar section of the spherule layer, which contains low angle cross bedding. We determined the foreset directions of the cross bedding.

Stratigraphy Field Group:
David King and Lucille Leader with Paula. We continued work at Albion Quarry today. It was much warmer today and less cloudy so we felt quite hot during the day. Fortunately, there was a light breeze.

We went to the south end of the quarry and worked in the diamictite layer there. A small quarry road cuts through the diamictites on the south end of the quarry. We worked along the road.

We made one-meter square grids for grain size frequency analysis as we did yesterday. Today we also collected information on the angularity of boulders and pebbles in the diamictite. We used a scale angularity: angular: subangular; subrounded; and rounded. We discovered that smaller grains (under 3 cm diameter) have a wider range of angularity (angular to subrounded, mainly subangular) whereas larger grains (over 3 cm) were about evenly divided between subangular and subrounded.

We also dug out a large block of the basal spheroid - bearing clay layer. This block was taken out in tact so that we can study it in more detail later in the laboratory. We marked an arrow on top of the block indicating magnetic north. This will help us study orientation of the small grains in this rock which cannot be done in the field.

Fossil Team:
Francisco Leader, with Hat and Tim and Bill. Francisco led the paleontology crew as they continued to work on the floor of the quarry searching for fossils. Hat and Tim were the first to collect samples of clams and by the end of the day, they had at least matched the finds of the previous day. Francisco found a few snail fossils. However, the crab fossil was still as elusive as ever.

The day was particularly hot and the dolomite was as hard as it was 65 million years ago. Despite the grueling conditions, the team searched many new areas in the hopes of finding even more fossils.

We were occasionally visited by the local iguana and spiders, and the film crews took footage around the floor of the quarry. Bill slipped and cut his hand, but was all right.

Overall it was a very productive day and the crew went home tired but satisfied of a job well done.

January 19, 2001 - Back at the Quarry

by Lu Coffing - Expedition Team Coordinator

Driving in Belize
I've written about the science that we are doing and given daily summaries, but half the adventure is getting to the sites. Driving is Belize is a hoot. There are few road signs and no speed limits posted. Some trucks go very slow, especially the ones loaded with sugar cane. Few go fast. There are lots of bicycles and lots of people walking in the road. Lots of suicidal dogs dart into the road and I've had to stop to let both cows and sheep cross the main highway. But for me the strangest road phenomena is the speed bump. Big, ol' speed bumps straddling the road, usually where a school bus would stop. Doesn't sound that strange, but some are posted and at least half are NOT. So whenever you are near a town you must be vigilant or you will cause your passengers to get a head bump because of the speed bump.

Today we took the "shortcut" back to the inn. I'm not sure that is saved any time. The road was a one-lane path through the countryside. The ruts and potholes were so big that at times we only went 10 mph. At one point, we stopped the vans and got out to look at a column of leaf cutting ants that were crossing the road. We marveled at their ability to carry such heavy loads and at their industrious activity. Then we took lots of pictures of the little creatures. Unfortunately, they were in the road, so we had to run over them to get home. Just didn't seem fair.

At supper the other evening, we were entertained by two geckos on the dining room wall. Most of the rooms come equipped with our own personal gecko roommate. I haven't seen mine, but I hear it sometimes at night. They make a funny kinda chirping noise.

As for other wildlife, the insects love me. I am a tasty treat, a good gulp, a marvelous munchie. Whatever…. they love me. I imagine one shouting to the others, "Hey bugs, here is a good one. Come and get dinner." Actually, all the other expedition members should love me too. The insects ignore them to feast on me. Other people only have 4 - 6 bites, but I have dozens (literally.)

At night, everyone enjoys walking out on the pier. There is always a nice breeze coming off the ocean and it feels especially refreshing after being in the hot quarry all day.

Tomorrow we move from Belize to Mexico. With all the people and equipment we have, I dread the crossing. Maybe we will be lucky, but it could take hours.

Here are today's reports from the various groups.

Stratigraphy Field Group
David King & Lucille Petrany team leaders with Bill:
We continue working on size frequency. It was very hot and sunny today (over 95 F) and this limited the amount of activity we were able to do. We gathered size and shape data from the diamictite at the quarry. We also used a long tape ruler to measure thickness of layers on the quarry wall. Yes, the diamictite is really 14 m thick! We studied several large boulders at an outcrop on the south end of the quarry called the "rectangular cut." We measured one boulder that was 5.5 m across. Others are one to 3 meters across. We measured the boulders and looked for mud-coatings on the boulders. We discovered that all large boulders have mud coatings several centimeters thick. This means they have been rolled. What force could roll a boulder of such size? We have been taking GPS readings of our locations and altitudes. The GPS (Global Positioning System) calculates your position using satellites. The GPS is also useful as it helps us navigate roads that are not on any published maps.

Paleontology Group
Francisco Vega team leader with Paula, Reuben, Cole & Susie:
We chopped and pounded rocks in the base of the quarry hoping to find another crab like the singular one found 5 years ago which helped pin down the date of this formation. Finally, against the west facing wall in the heat of the afternoon sun, Francisco and Paula found the pincer of a crab in the Barton Creek dolomite. Extracting it was no easy trick and required plaster protection and painstaking removal of the surrounding rock. But we finally got it out and were delighted to find both pincers and some other body parts. This little fella was a juvenile crab, in a death position, with claws curled up, in a bed of other organisms. One of them - a nearby snail - had the characteristics of a late Cretaceous genus. Our discoveries today added evidence for the dating of the Chicxulub impact event. We left tired, grimy, crabby and happy. Click on the picture to see a close-up of the crab.

Magnetic team
Gunther Kletetschka with Sergio and Tim:
Magnetometer team was interested in mapping all of the important locations in the quarry. They used a GPS (Global Positioning System) and recorded most of the major roads, pathways and shortcuts in the quarry.

We are sending a picture that is the map of most of the roads, trails and shortcuts inside the main quarry where all of our adventure is happening. Next, we were interested in the temperature of pebbles in the diamictite bed during and after deposition. We measured orientation of about 15 pebbles, marked and collected them for temperature. We spent three wonderful days in this quarry and got attached to it. But now we have to move on. Click on the map to see an full size map.

Tomorrow… on to Mexico.

January 20, 2001 - Onwards to Mexico

by Lu Coffing - Expedition Team Coordinator

Today we transfer base camp from Belize to Mexico. Even though the crossing went without a hitch, it still took us 2 hours to get all 23 of us across the border.

We made reservations for dinner tomorrow at the Cenote Azul restaurant, then went to the Laguna hotel to unpack our luggage before going out in the field.

I don't think I will put a picture of the hotel on the web site. My boss might not think I am working. In fact, I told Adriana that we had to get the people away from the hotel ASAP or they would never leave. The hotel is situated on a cliff overlooking a lovely cenote. There are chairs (some swings) outside every room so you can enjoy the view. The view is fantastic. Below is a pier, and the water is very inviting.

Since we were near a Mayan site, Kahunlic, we decided to take a break from geology and try archeology. Luckily for us, Kevin is not only a geologist, but also an archeologist, so was able to give us more information than was covered in the plaques at the site. We all enjoyed wandering about the site, climbing up the temples, exploring the rooms and alcoves. There was a large arena where the Mayans played ball and I could imagine a mother glowing with pride as her son made an outstanding play and a father reminiscing about his past triumphs on the playing field.

We visited some of the road cuts where we will be working tomorrow and discussed the similarities between these sites and the ones at Albion Island.

Remember how hot it was yesterday? Today it was overcast, cool (60 something F) and even rained. Tomorrow, when we are working, it will probably be hot again.

We returned to the hotel where half the group headed for the lake. Tim brought out his Frisbee and a noisy game commenced. However, all is not perfect. Several members, myself included, felt a little queasy and did not join the group for supper.

Susan's version of January 20, 2001.

Today, under threatening showers we packed our gear and left Belize for Mexico. Thanks to lessons learned earlier - and to Lu's exhortations - we got all our paperwork done at the border with no mishaps. And, nobody's luggage was searched. The film crew got nabbed for that one, but soon rejoined us, and we drove to our hotel, Laguna, in the town of Bacalar.

On the way, we stopped to make reservations at a nice restaurant that overlooked a deep, inviting cenote. Hat and Sho were seriously considering the possibility of jumping off the 30-foot high diving board right then!

Our hotel is built on a hill looking east over a beautiful, long freshwater lagoon. As we approached it, we noted dark rings of stromatolites grouped near the shore.

We left our luggage at the hotel and drove on to Kohunlich, a late classic period Mayan settlement. Here Kevin turned archeologist and gave a brief but informative lesson on Mayan architecture and culture. We explored what was once a Mayan town center, built in about 500-600 AD. The late classic period lasted until 900 AD, although this area was abandoned around 800 AD, apparently after two successive droughts, each lasting a century. Notable at Kohunlich is the Temple of the Masks, dating from the earlier classic period. The steps are bordered by beautiful, elegant images, probably of kings. In the shadowy forest, this seemed a mysterious place where, if you listen carefully, you might still hear some strange, ancient whisperings.

We left the ruins in mid-afternoon and drove to our first road cut under cloudy skies. At the road cut called Ramonal North, the spheroid bed is exposed near the creek. We noted green weathered glass with red oxidized rims in matrix, with more clasts and fewer spheroids. Further up the road we saw the contact between the Barton Creek Formation and the spheroid bed. The Barton Creek is highly deformed by dissolution weathering, but Francisco was able to find a late K gastropod and a nicely striated clast. We managed to return to our vans untouched by the trucks that came tearing along the road beside us.

Stratigraphy Field Group -- David King/Lucille Petrany
We drove into Mexico today from Belize. Border crossing took about 1 1/2 hours. We then drove to our hotel near Chetumal, Mexico to drop of our bags. We drove 40km to the Mayan ruins at Kohunlich to have lunch and see the excavated buildings and temple. Kohunlich is the location of the best-preserved stucco masks of Mayan gods/leaders made in the Mayan Early Classic period (about 500 AD).

We drove to see outcrops of the K/T boundary along a narrow highway that runs parallel to Rio Hondo on the west side. These outcrops show the spheroid-bearing layer on top of Cretaceous bedrock (as seen at Albion Island). Above the spheroid-bearing clay layer, a diamictite with large boulders can be seen in outcrops. We are very excited about spending more time at those outcrops tomorrow.

Today was mostly cloudy and there was a little rain. The clouds kept temperatures down in the 70s and made the day more pleasant.

January 21, 2001 - Road Cuts and Outcrops

by Lu Coffing - Expedition Team Coordinator

I stayed in my hotel room the entire day. Trust me. You do not want a description of what I did or how I felt. However, here is what the rest of the group did.

Kevin Pope's Group
Kevin's team measured grain size in the Diamictite bed today under sunny skies. A lovely breeze made our work pleasant...except for an occasional near-hit by the buses and trucks barreling down the road!

Starting at the Alvaro Obregon road cut, we measured along a 10-meter transect, then repeated the process at Agua Dulce road cut. Finally, we measured the size and distribution of the large (>50cm) diameter blocks along the same area where Doreen Ames' team had observed alteration and Sho and Taka had measured clasts.

We were amazed to find one block over 8 meters in diameter! Did this giant drop from a ballistic trajectory...or was it a huge rip-up from the underlying carbonate rocks? We helped Francisco take some sample to see if some fossil might give us a clue, but found none...so the mystery remains.

From Susie.... Have you hugged your hammer today?

Paleontology Group
Lead by Francisco Vega, including Tim Herman, Helmut Denlier, Richard Dunlop, and Cole Husbands. We began this day at Elpalmar looking for fossils in a small outcrop along the roadside. The outcrop area was part of the Barton Creek formation, which underlie the ejecta blanket. This data will be used to determine the lower contact point of the ejecta.

First, Francisco painstakingly taught the group the fine art of creating molds of fossils with a rubber compound. These molds can then be used to study the fossils without having to handle the original specimen. After that, the group hammered away on the rocks in the blazing sun, braving the traffic that sped by on the shoulderless road. The group had little luck except for Francisco, who found a couple of nice snail specimens. After lunch, the group moved to another outcropping along the side of the road. Here, all of the group did well finding several rocks with more snails and one rock with three different claim species! It was a good end to the day and to Francisco's stint with the expedition.

Stratigraphy Group
David King, Lucille Petruny, Jutta Dudley
We worked on outcrops located on a state highway that runs parallel to the Rio Hondo River, connecting the villages of Allende and Obregon.

We selected two outcrops for study on this road. On these outcrops, we continued our grain size analysis of diamictites using meter-square grids. We discovered that the diamictite contains more grains per square meter than at Albion Island.

Later, we visited an outcrop showing the contact between diamictite and overlaying Tertiary limestone. The contact is not as simple as it seems as there is a wide, heavily weathered zone between diamictite and Tertiary limestone. We selected some layers for sampling to look for microfossils (which may help us determine the limestone's age more accurately).

Today was warm with moderate sun and temperatures in the 80s. We kept cool by working in outcrops while they were in shade. Passing motorists, especially trucks, are a worry, as we are working close to a narrow road.

Japan Team
We counted the boulders in the Diamictite layer. We counted 275 rocks.

January 22, 2001 - Rio Hondo and Barton Creek, Mexico

by Lu Coffing - Expedition Team Coordinator

Exploration Team -- Adriana, Reuben, Gunther, Jutta and NETV video crew
Our team explored along the Hondo River observing and collecting sample of bedrock. The TV crew came along to tape and interview Adriana. Our guide for the day was an employee of Pemex, who was taking a day off work. We met him as we were leaving the Johnson Quarry to start our hike. Daniel led the way carrying a machete. Following a trail along the river, it was necessary to clamber down a steep slope to reach the water's edge. We did this twice to reach exposed bedrock. The carbonate bedrock was sampled and Adriana explained why we were here as the videotape rolled.

We enjoyed lunch along the Rio Hondo and then headed back to the quarry.

The group later traveled to the exposure next door. Here, we saw the spheroid bed contact with the Barton Creek formation. Spheroids and matrix materials were collected. Some fossils were found in the adjacent bedrock.

Japanese Team
We research the basement and uppermost boundary of the Albion Island Formation of the Mexico site. The basement layer is a red colored layer that is 20cm. The spheroid layer is 100-120cm thick and there is a very sharp boundary between the Diamictite layer the spheroid layer.

Thermal Group
Doreen team leader, with Bill. Bill and Doreen investigated the upper contact of the diamictite bed. The rock unit is poorly sorted - meaning the unit is composed of a wide range of fragments of various sizes, some as small as 2mm and as large as 11 x 2 m. We found deeply weathered and eroded rocks that left a time gap in the ancient rock record. So, we had 65 million year old rock overlaid by 24 million year old rock. What happened to the 41 million year time gap?

Grain Size Measurement Group
Leader: Kevin, with Kevin, Susie and Sergio. We continued grain size measurements today, at 10 meter transects at two other road cuts. At Johnson Quarry West, we found lots of glass and small clasts in the diamictite bed. Later, at Palmar, we navigated the "snake pit" to measure a transect with fewer clasps. Sergio did double duty recording in English and conversing in Spanish with the village children - all at once! Lots of children came by to see what we were doing. With simple charm, the children stole Susie's heart, and we gave them all our extra fruit from lunch. It was hard to say goodbye, but soon we were on our way to our Pemex (gas station) meeting point, then on to the border. We passed back into Belize without any major problems. A good meal at Tony's Inn awaited us, and a lecture on paleomagnetism by Gunther.

Paleontology Group
Today our dearest friend, Francisco Vega, left to go back to school. Classes at the University begin tomorrow and the students need their teacher. They are lucky to have such a good one. So Tim, Cole, Hat and Richard continued alone.

We started the day by investigating the area known as Johnson Quarry East. The side of the quarry extended around in an area about 100 meters across and we had little luck with the first spot we checked. At one point, Hat decided to move to the opposite wall and in time we all decided to move there. Here we were more successful. We found a few interesting specimens that have yet to be identified but were probably bivalves. A number of gastropods were found as well including one very well preserved specimen. Most of the rocks we saw today had many, many fossils, but they were mostly the small bivalves and foraminifera, either too small or too weathered to be of any use. By the end of the day we were a little disappointed in the quantity of fossils recovered, but what we had was of good quality. We will try harder tomorrow, Francisco!

Stratigraphy Field Group
David Leader, with Lucille and Paula. We spent the day continuing to measure grain sizes and conducting stratigraphic work in Mexico.

We measured grain sizes in the diamictite at a newly discovered site called Johnson West Quarry. We noted much more altered glass and coarser grain sizes at Johnson West than seen at previous sites.

We drove south on the Obregon Highway to the bridge at Agua Dulce Creek. There, we collected a sequence of samples at 20cm intervals above the k/t diamictites. These samples are thin-bedded limestone, which we hope will yield microfossils useful for dating these rocks. This work will have to be done later in the laboratory. We noted that rocks below the overlying tertiary limestone were deeply weathered as though they were exposed to tropical rain and heat for many years before being buried. We collected some samples of spheroid-bearing clay at a site on the highway. The day was shortened by our need to cross back into Belize by early evening, so we ended out studies in Mexico and drove back to Corozal, Belize.

More later.

January 23, 2001 - On to Pook's Hill

by Lu Coffing - Expedition Team Coordinator

Today we lose one team member and gain two more. Dr Matsui had to be in Cancun today. He and a group up there will be doing some research closer to the impact site. Dr. Al Fischer and his wife, Winnie, flew in from L.A. in the afternoon. Al has been on two previous expeditions we are all glad he could join us for the last part of the expedition.

Today was moving day. We moved to Pook's Hill located in the jungle area of central Belize. I spent most of the day at the airport...not the most exciting assignment.

The rest of the group started the day at Albion Island. The workmen were suppose to dynamite a large wall section at 10am and everyone wanted to see the explosion. However, it didn't happen. Some problem with the equipment.

On the way to Pook's Hill, they stopped off that the Belize Zoo for a few hours.

Onward to Pook's Hill

How do I describe Pook's Hill? First of all, I must set the scene by describing the road to get there. You travel west out of Belize City for about 50 miles on a good, well-paved road. A few miles past Belmopan, in the town of Teakettle, you turn left on a dirt road. After a few miles, it turns into more of a bumpy, county lane, but you can still travel at approximately 20 mph.

After a few more miles, there is a little path with a sign that says "Pook's Hill" pointing to the right. Can this be a road?" you wonder. As you start down the trail, you pray that the van doesn't get lost in the ruts. After 10 minutes of going deeper and deeper into the jungle on this narrow, one way trail, you wonder what you would do if a car came from the other way. The trail gets darker and darker.

"What would I do if I had a flat tire?"
"Would I even know if I had one?"
"This has got to be the bumpiest road I have ever been on."

The jungle meets over your head and is so thick you can only see a few feet into it. The trail snakes through the hills and the maximum you can go is 10 mph. You can't be on the wrong road, there are no turn-offs. Up a hill, left curve and suddenly there is a clearing and you have reached Pook's Hill, a haven of peace and comfort surrounded by dense tropical foliage.

Vickie and Ray, the owners who built the place from scratch, immediately make you fell welcome and you are captivated by the warmth and charm of the place. The "huts" have thatch roofs as well as the lounge. It is open on all sides and at night lanterns are lit that cast a soft light over everyone. The group decided to go on a nature walk, which just happened to end at the river where a few decided to go swimming.

After a delicious supper and a lecture on "Pook's pebbles" by Adriana and Kevin, the group scattered. Some stayed at the lounge and played guitars and sang. Some talked in small groups. Some looked at the night sky.

I was tired so decided to go to my "hut" on the hill. It was very dark, and the lack of light pollution made the stars seem so close that they looked as if they were just beyond the trees. Are there really that many stars in the sky? Living in LA, I don't see this often. In the distance, I could hear the howler monkeys making their weird cries and there were little forest insects adding their sounds to the night. I could hear Tim and Gunther singing, but could not make out the words or tune. The sounds all blended into a quiet, peaceful lullaby .

January 24, 2001 - The Search for Pook's Pebbles

by Lu Coffing - Expedition Team Coordinator

Today the troops all went in search of Pook's Pebbles. Several sites were visited. There was much debate about what we were seeing. There seems to be agreement on what we see at Albion Island, but this area is more of a mystery. The ejecta layer seems to be thicker than it is up north. Why is that? We have lots of work to do here.

After a great dinner (is the food really great, or are we just sooooo hungry?) Al Fischer gave a lecture on the Cretaceous period. He is so enthusiastic about his subject that when he talks he sweeps you up into his excitement.

The nights are much cooler that we expected. I'm glad I told everyone to bring jackets.

Stratigraphy Group
Leader David King and Lucille Petruny
We visited outcrops known as Pook's Hill #2 and Armenia sections. At Pook's Hill #2, we collected Pook's Pebbles. At Armenia section, we described rock layers in the outcrop.

At Armenia, 54 meters of rock layers show evidence of influence by the Chicxulub impact. The lower 30 meters may consist of a cave filling deposit that contains some impact ejecta. The overlaying 24 m of strata includes (inverted order) a layer of impact-related pebbles, a boulder bed, a spheroid bed similar to the one at Albion Island, and a layer of conglomerate made of Pook's pebbles.

Tomorrow, we will return to Armenia to make observations and collect samples which will help us understand the exact origins of these beds.

Clearing the Road Cut
Kevin's group did several projects at the Armenia road cut. After a massive effort clearing the cliff face, Susie and Paula collected cobbles in four 50cm quadrants, carefully selecting and extracting the appropriate clasts.

January 25, 2001 - Pebbles, Rocks, and Eager Students

by Lu Coffing - Expedition Team Coordinator

Education Field Team
Jutta, Lucille, Sergio, and Lu. Today we went to visit a school close by our Armenia field site, the Armenia Government School. Sergio went in first because he spoke Spanish and asked of we could tell the teachers and students who we were and what we were doing just up the road from their school. Permission was granted and soon we were in the school yard surrounded by students. Lucille introduced herself and explained about the rocks we brought, Jutta spoke more about the Pook's pebbles and Sergio talked about the dinosaurs.

The school teaches ages 5 - 15. Most of the students are from Guatemala, Honduras and San Salvador with a few Mayans also, so most spoke Spanish instead of English. The principal asked if we could do several more talks. Sergio had to do most of the talking since he speaks Spanish. He told the students about our expedition, the Planetary Society, and about the samples we brought. The children loved to use the hand lens to examine the spheroids. The last group was the oldest and we explained in more detail with diagrams on the chalkboard. We passed out samples for them to keep.

We were impressed with the school, the teachers, the principal and the students. Such enthusiasm and friendliness!

What could they do if they had the resources of the schools in the US? After school was over, several of the students visited the site. They had lots of questions. It was hard for them to believe that they had rocks in their backyards that people from all over the world would be interested in seeing.

Orientation team
Today Paula and Susie helped Gunther sample various rock fragments, pebbles and spheroids in the road cut at Armenia. We painstakingly counted and marked the orientation of each piece with arrows, then collected them in special sample bags. Gunther will then analyze them with his magnetometer when he gets back to Goddard. (Note: There were so many problems trying to get the magnetometer into the country that Gunther finally decided not to have it shipped.)

The sun was ferocious as we toiled away, until late afternoon shadows provided some relief.

Stratigraphy Field Group
David & Lucille leaders with Bill and Reuben. We continued work at the Armenia section today. The sun was brutal. With no clouds in the sky, we were very hot all day.

We collected grain size data by measuring pebbles at Armenia in the Pook's pebble bed, the spheroid bed, and the underlying red clay boulder bed.

The density of pebbles is quite different in the beds. For example, over 500 pebbles occurred in one square meter of the "Pook's pebble bed," whereas only about 75 occurred in the same area of the spheroid bed. Spheroids in the spheroid bed ranged from a few millimeters to over 2.5 cm in size.

We think our data shows evidence that the Pook's pebble bed was winnowed by some process after deposition. This will require further study.

Today was the last full day of field work for our team. We have collected over 100 pounds of samples and 2 field notebooks filled with data. We also have over 350 field photographs. All this will keep us busy at home for a long time.

After a good dinner of beef curry, we listened to David King talk about an impact crater in Alabama. There is so much we do not know about the impact process and it is interesting listening to the experts we have with us discussing the different sites they have worked and visited.

The group was tired, so there was not much chatting and singing tonight. As we walked to our huts, everyone felt soothed by the star light. What a wonderful sky. What a wonderful night. What a wonderful place.

January 26, 2001 - A Day of Rest

by Lu Coffing - Expedition Team Coordinator

Most people come to Belize to see the lovely Cayes, the jungle and beaches. We see quarries and road cuts. I was driving one of the recognizance vans today. As we traveled the Hummingbird Highway, we slowed for EVERY road cut to see if we could locate spheroids, striated rocks and anything else that might help us understand the impact process. Unfortunately we found very little. It takes a lot of hunting to find good outcrops like the one at Armenia village.

It is fun watching the Nebraska ETV Network people following Adriana around. They are doing a documentary on Women in Science and she is one of their subjects. She hops out of the van, they hop out of the van. She climbs up a hill, they climb up the hill. She falls down the hill, they make sure they shot it. (just kidding.) They are very nice people and we are all looking forward to seeing the finished product.

The expedition is basically over. Today is the fun day and tomorrow we will visit a pretty valley, do a little looking for new sites, and pack everything up. With all of the packing going on tomorrow, and travel on Sunday, it will be a couple more days before I will get a chance to wrap things up.

The one thing I can say now is that this has been an adventure!

January 27, 2001 - The Last Day in Belize

by Lu Coffing - Expedition Team Coordinator

Yesterday was a free day. Most of the group went to the Mayan cave. It is a long walk and I still don't feel terrific, so I decided to opt for a less strenuous day. There is a well-know Mayan ruin, Xunantucich, about an hour from here near the Guatemala border, so Richard and I decided to go there. The ruins were great and I highly recommend them to anyone who travels to Belize, but two other things caught my attention even more.

The first, crossing the ferry, was just a fun little experience. I had to drive the van onto this little ferry and the ferryman had to pull us across the river. Not something I have to do in LA.

The second thing I saw that really stunned me was women washing clothes in the river. I cannot imagine having to wash my clothes in a river. I complain when I have to do the laundry and all I have to do is go out to the garage and put the laundry in the washer. And instead of carrying wet laundry to the house to dry on a clothesline, I just move it to the dryer. How easy for me, how difficult for them! It really makes me appreciative of the conveniences I have.

Last night was talent night. Everyone had to do "something" to entertain the other members of the expedition. Some sang, some told stories, some wrote poetry. Reuben did an impression of T-Rex. (You could tell what he liked to play when he was a kid.) A good time was had by all.

It started raining yesterday evening and continued all night, a fine light rain that got continually harder as the night progressed. You wouldn't believe how dark the jungle is without any starlight. I mean, really, really, really dark. Even though the huts have "bay palm" roofs made from botan fronds, we were dry. No leaky roofs here. The sound of the rain on the palm roof was very comforting and primitive.

The Planetary Society wants to thank Globalstar for donating a satellite phone and airtime for the expedition and TNT USA Inc. for shipping all of the expedition supplies down to Belize.