The Royal Alberta Museum has a new guest on exhibit – a 65-million-year-old petrified tree stump, a unique remnant of a once tropical landscape.
Discovered by a pair of hunters on the shore of the Athabasca River south of Fox Creek, the fossilized tree stump weighs 3,034 kilograms (6,700 pounds) and is about the size of a kitchen table. The museum’s geological team that transported the fossil to Edmonton believes the petrified stump was originally a metasequoia, a fast-growing deciduous tree that’s also known as a dawn redwood.
“It’s the largest petrified wood stump ever collected in the province and easily one of the largest in Canada,” said Melissa Bowerman, the museum’s assistant curator of geology.
The tree stump survived because it was fossilized. In this case, it was covered in sediment and small crystals of quartz and other minerals that entirely replaced the original wood. That’s why the petrified stump is so heavy.
The fossil’s journey to the museum began after Don and Julia Waddell, a farming couple from the Carvel area, were paddling down Nose Hill Creek in October 2011. The two hunters were searching for game trails and elk crossings.
Instead, they stumbled on the fossilized stump sitting on the shore’s banks. Don was taken aback at the size.
“We didn’t quite know what it was,” he said. “We just knew it was a tree.”
They took a few pictures and the story could have ended there except for a chance ski trip to Jasper where they met an old friend. They showed him the images and the friend recommended they speak to Parks Canada.
The Royal Tyrell Museum was brought in to look at what looked like a significant find and to figure a way to move it from the remote location.
By April 2012, a geological team that included Bowerman and Darren Tanke, a museum technician from the Royal Tyrell Museum, was sent to assess the fossil before the annual spring melt.
“We only had a small window of opportunity. It was rainy and cold but the specimen made it worth the trip,” Bowerman explained.
Perched on the river’s edge, just above the waterline, the stump was a wonderful surprise, especially after close inspection revealed fine detail. Wood grain, tree rings and small cracks filled with agate were clearly visible. The markings clearly magnified the specimen’s value.
For Bowerman, the find was more than just an important geological discovery.
“To find something of that size with that level of preservation is a thrilling career highlight, something that will be difficult to equal,” she said.
The recovery team discussed many options for transporting the fossil, including a helicopter lift, but abandoned that idea upon realizing that the tree stump was simply too heavy.
Instead, Roger Kehoe of Kehoe Marine Parts was tapped to build a flat-bottomed barge to tow the fossil to the nearest road access where it was loaded onto a waiting truck, provided courtesy of the Alberta Motor Association.
Kehoe built a special barge complete with railings and 12 bilge pumps in compartments that kept the entire structure buoyant. A thick sheet of plastic added to the barge’s floor allowed the team to easily slide, winch and strap the stump in place.
Once at the museum, the specimen was allowed to dry out. Bowerman used a paintbrush to wipe away excess dirt and a special glue to stabilize any cracks.
Now ensconced in a sparkling glass showcase in the museum’s main hall, the grey fossil will remain until April 2013. Further studies will continue and once construction of the new Royal Alberta Museum is completed in downtown Edmonton, it will be on permanent display.
