Why Can You Find Seashells on Top of Mountains?

What Crafty Clover says in this video

Intro

Hi there, curious minds! I'm Crafty Clover! Let's discover something amazing. Why can you find seashells on top of mountains?

The Big Idea

Seashells on top of mountains are real, and here is why! The land there used to be under the sea. Moving plates lifted the old seafloor high into the sky, even to the top of Mount Everest.

Life in the Sea

Step one: life in the sea. Long ago, sea animals lived and died on the seafloor. Their shells sank into the mud and got buried in layers.

Plates Collide

Step two: plates collide. When two plates crashed together, the muddy layers were squeezed and folded. Slowly, over millions of years, they were pushed up into mountains.

Fossil Clues

Step three: fossil clues. The mud hardened into rock, and the shells became fossils. Today, we can find those sea fossils far above the waves.

A Closer Look

Let's take a closer look! First, the land is covered by an ancient sea. Next, shells and mud pile up in layers. Then plates push the layers up high. Now we can find the fossils on the mountain.

Quick Facts

Quick facts! The Burgess Shale in the Canadian Rockies has fossils of sea animals about 500 million years old. It is in Yoho National Park, in British Columbia. Fossils on mountaintops are clues to Earth's past. Moving plates can raise an ocean floor into the sky.

Think Like a Scientist

Now, think like a scientist! Press a layer of clay flat, and put a small shell or button in the middle. Add more layers on top, then push both ends toward each other. Watch the layers fold up into a little mountain. Where did the shell end up? That is like the Burgess Shale!

Outro

Mountains can be made from old seafloor. Science is amazing! Crafty Clover can be found on Amazon Books, Google Bookstore, and Apple Books. Available for purchase or download! Bye for now!