Fredagskollokvium: The Jurassic marine monsters of Svalbard

The international group originating from the Natural History Museum, Oslo has been mapping and excavating Jurassic marine reptiles and their ecosystem at Svalbard since 2004. Nine field seasons so far makes this the largest paleontological research project at the high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. 
Each summer, the field work has lasted for two to three weeks in early August. One of the richest occurrences of marine reptiles in the world has been uncovered. The team has developed techniques for digging, preparing and transporting the fossils from the remote field locality to the laboratory in Oslo.  
The sediments containing marine reptiles is a 70 meter thick sequence named the Slottsmøya Member of the Agardhfjellet Formation. It is Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous in age. The member is found across Svalbard. The abundance of skeletons in this 20 km of mountainsides makes us confident that there are many hundreds, if not a thousand skeletons weathering out across the largest island of the archipelago; Spitsbergen.

More on the project:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elqpjSs6N3Y