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              The Hell Creek Formation covers parts of the States of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota and other areas of the U.S. This formation was formed when the central part of the United States was covered by a huge interior or inland sea called the Western Interior Seaway, the North American Seaway and/or the Cretaceous Seaway, which extended from the Gulf of Mexico upward through the central part of the United States and the north-central part of Canada.

       There was a deposition of fluvial non-marine sediments along the eastern margin of this interior seaway. The formations laid down are primarily composed of sandstone, mudstone and siltstone. Virtually all of the Hell Creek Formation was laid down during the Late Cretaceous. However a small portion, in some areas, of the upper portion, dates to the Paleocene. Further south there is a layer of the same age, which goes by the name, Lance Formation.

       In Canada, in the formation of rock layers which are correlative, we find the Frenchman Formation and the Scollard Formation. All of these these units, stated above, were deposited by ancient rivers that flowed eastward into the the Western Interior Seaway

       Beneath the Hell Creek Formation, there is another rock layer which is called the Fox Hills Formation. In Montana, the overlying layer, above the Hell Creek Formation, is called the Tullock Formation, which is a Paleocene layer. However, in the Dakotas, the formation which lies above the Hell Creek Formation, is called the Ludlow Formation. To the North of the Hell Creek Formation and in other locations where it surfaces, is the Judith River Formation.

       In the Hell Creek Formation, the K/T boundary occurs as a discontinuous thin marker, which however is distinct. The K/T boundary is the boundary between the Cretaceous and the Tertiary epochs, where the huge meteor hit the Earth in the vicinity of the Yucatan Peninsula and the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out the dinosaurs and much of the other life on Earth.

Here are some eART SCANs and photographs of Dinosaur bones, which are on display,
at the PROCTOR MUSEUM of NATURAL SCIENCE in Houston, Texas, U.S.A.

In the four views of the Hadrosaurus metatarsal, a new Texas quarter is used for purposes of showing the size of this relatively small foot bone in this sizeable Cretaceous dinosaur. This bone was found and dug out by Terry Brawner, Pres. of the PMNS. The preparation (restoration from the various pieces) and these eArt Scans were by PMNS Curator Terry Proctor, who was also present when this bone was extracted in Montana.

Hadrosaurus metatarsal Cretaceous epoch Hell Creek formation Wibaux, Montana View 1	Hadrosaurus metatarsal Cretaceous epoch Hell Creek formation Wibaux, Montana View 2	Hadrosaurus metatarsal Cretaceous epoch Hell Creek formation Wibaux, Montana View 3
Hadrosaurus metatarsal Cretaceous epoch Hell Creek formation Wibaux, Montana View 4	Eroded rock on pedestal showing how much of the land level has eroded away over time	Fossil tree stump too large to recover and bring back. In fact too heavy to even move Geologist's hammer shows size
Cretaceous Hadrosaurus femur in situ with shattered end and rest buried in matrix. Notice dark layer just above. Is this K-T boundary? #68	Cretaceous Hadrosaurus femur in situ showing the shattered end of femur in more detail. #69	Cretaceous Hadrosaurus femur wrapped on aluminum foil,in situ, awaiting plaster and removal from site. #72
Cretaceous Hadrosaurus femur now removed and transported from the location, you can now better see the layer just above the place where it was removed. #81	Juvenile cottontail rabbit which hung out where we were digging out the Hadrosaurus femur. It would go into a hole but shortly afterwards, curiosity got the best of it and out it came again for a visit. #56	While returning from the Hadrosaurus dig site, Terry Proctor found this strange looking caterpillar. Only after returning to Houston, did he learn that it is the caterpillar of a Cecropia Moth, which is the largest moth on the North American Continent

In 2006, Terry Proctor, PMNS Curator and Terry Brawner, PMNS President located many interesting fossils and minerals in the Hell Creek Formation, where they were digging. Terry Proctor found a Hadrosaurus chevron (see eArt scan below). This is a bone which was believed by some, at one time, to appear only in male dinosaurs. However, apparently the famous dinosaur Sue had a chevron. A chevron is a bone lying under a given vertebra, but apparently not actually attached to the vertebra. The chevrons may have been part of the support for the large heavy tail, of certain dinosaurs. The chevron is shown below. Terry Proctor also found a Cretaceous crocodile scute, just laying on the surface, broken in two pieces, which have now been restored (a scute is an osteoderm, which is a portion of the hide or body covering of certain animals, such as crocodiles, alligators, caimans, armadillos and glyptodonts).

While excavating a Hadrosaurus femur in the Hell Creek formation, Terry Proctor discovered some carbon residue, covering most of the area under the femur, once he had excavated it. Terry speculates that these carbon deposits could indicate that there had been a great fire, which possibly could have played some part in the death of the Hadrosaurus. However, it is possible that this is some other mineral, perhaps which may have leached out of the Hadrosaurus. In 1994, while Terry was digging dinosaur bones at Como Bluff with famed Paleontologist, Dr. Robert Bakker, Terry found lime balls, in the vicinity of the dinosaur bones. These were fairly round balls, with cores, somewhat like a Sycamore tree seed ball, and with portions radiating out, just like a sycamore tree seed ball. There are some of these at the PMNS at this time.

Below the Hadrosaurus articulate vertebrae and ribs, shown below, Terry found a couple of Upper Cretaceous deciduous leaf fossils, which appeared to be like Sycamore or Maple leaves. These leaves were apparently the actual compressed carbon residue of the leaves, lying as a thin film, on top of very hard sand, which was not quite rock yet. Terry put Butvar glue on the leaf fossils, to preserve the very fragile imprints. These leaves are now displayed at the PMNS, with other fossils and minerals from the Hell Creek formation in Montana.

Hadrosaurus chevron anterior view Hell Creek formation Wibaux County, Montana. Additional preparation must be done to lengthen the pointed end of the chevron bone	Hadrosaurus articulated ribs and vertebrae--covered with iron stone Hell Creek formation Wibaux County, Montana	Hadrosaurus chevron posterior view Hell Creek formation Wibaux County, Montana
	Secret symbol of the Spiderman Club (joke) Hematite Fe2O3 These were found in all sizes, shapes and visual appearance, near where dinosaur bones were dug. They are very hard and smooth.

There are several ways which paleontologists can tell dinosaur bone (and other fossilized bone) from other things (such as petrified wood, which can on occasions look much the same). One is by looking at the end of the fossil. Blood vessels and other things in bone, give it a different appearance from wood and natural mineral formation. Another way is by putting your tongue on the item. (Don't cringe--this is true). If your tongue wants to stick to the item (i.e. if it draws the moisture from your tongue, so that your tongue doesn't pull loose immediately), then it is may well be bone, but won't be fossil wood. If your tongue doesn't stick, while it may still be bone, it is probably fossil wood, mineral or something else. If you have a piece of fossil bone, try this. It is handy to have this information when in the field trying to identify a fossil appearing item, to verify if it is bone. Also fossil bone is usually heavy and darker, while more recent bone is lighter weight and lighter color (it hasn't become as mineralized as the older bone has, is usually the reason.