How Did Dinosaur Footprints Fossilize?

“How did dinosaur footprints fossilize?”

This is a great question, Hadassah.

We don’t see fossils forming today in most cases. The footprints you may leave in your backyard are often gone within a few days or whenever the next rainstorm comes through. So how then do we have so many dinosaur footprints?

You see, fossilization requires very specific conditions. Footprints have to be buried very rapidly so that erosion does not disturb the print. But just burying the footprint isn’t enough. You can try this yourself. Make a footprint in your backyard, bury it under dirt, then dig it up in a year. It is very unlikely you will be able to identify your footprint. This is because living organisms, like worms and beetle larvae, have burrowed through the dirt, and plant roots have grown into the area.

Since burial is not enough, what else is needed? Well, you’re going to need heat and pressure, particularly lots of pressure to keep that footprint from going away. There also needs to be lots of minerals in the soil so that the minerals can either replace the original material and make it hard or fill in gaps in the original and crystallize to make a hard footprint. Most of the time, these minerals are carried by dirty water, so water is also usually required.

Now, let’s think carefully here. What event in human history could have combined rapid burial, heat, pressure, and lots of dirty water? Why of course, the flood in the days of Noah. It’s a flood, so there’s tons of water. Lots of water with lots of dirt means things get buried quickly, before eroding. Piling lots and lots of dirt on top of something creates a lot of pressure, which, in turn, can generate heat (plus there was heat from “the fountains of the deep” breaking open at the beginning of the flood). The global flood beautifully explains the majority of fossil-bearing rocks we see today and explains the origin of fossilized dinosaur footprints!

Do you have any questions about animals and created kinds? Well, you can ask me, Inspector Barry Mins! Have your parents help you fill out this form, and you might get your question answered in my column.