Lesotho
Sand Origin
Drankesberg Mountains
Random Sand Fact
A footprint in sand can survive for 200 million years.
In Lesotho, dinosaurs walked, trotted and ran across wet sand beside a shallow body of water.
The damp sand gave way beneath their feet and captured the shape of each step. Before the impressions could disappear, new layers of sand and other sediment covered them.
The layers were buried, compressed and eventually cemented into sandstone. The tracks remained inside the rock.
Today, researchers can read them and tell not only where the dinosaurs moved, but whether they were walking, trotting or running across the sand.
“Leave nothing but your footprint” may not be as temporary as we think.
