Dinosaur excavation sites in China inundated by floods

Beijing: Flooding in northeastern China has inundated famous dinosaur excavation sites and a local museum, as workers worry dinosaur fossils may be swept away.

All four dinosaur excavation sites, located at the foot of the mountains in Jiayin County, Heilongjiang Province, have been immersed in flood water from the Heilong River, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today, quoting Liu Min, director of the Dinosaur National Geology Park`s administration centre as saying. There are dinosaur fossils still under the excavation sites, which could turn loose and be washed away after being soaked for a long period of time, a park keeper said. The fossils are not regenerative and the losses caused by the flood would be inestimable, said the worker. In recent years, the county built dikes near the mountains, but they failed to resist the flood, Liu said. With an area of 38 square km, the park opened to visitors in 2002. Several hundred fossilised dinosaur skeletons are believed to be buried underground. Flooding from the river has also inundated the Heilong River Basin Museum, which is located on an island in Luobei County. Flood water began to enter the museum on August 17 and reached over one metre deep in some first floor rooms today. More than 2,000 articles on the first floor have been moved to the second floor, said Zhao Yong, curator of the museum. The water level of the Heilong River in Luobei was 2.01 metres higher than the warning level, surpassing the previous 1984 record by 24 cm. PTI