A research study found fossilised rodent matter in the La Brea Tar Pits in California. In fact, hundreds of fossilised pellets which were C14 dated to at least 50,000 years ago. In other words, to the extremities of the dating methodology – which could mean they were older or that they date shortly before the terminus of the methodology (40,000 years ago in old money). The coprolites (the term for fossilised excrement) will be analysed to find out what the rodents were eating which in turn may give a clue to the climate at the time. That would be interesting as 50,000 years ago is smack bang in the middle of the last Ice Age – according to mainstream calculations. From a catastrophist point of view it is the explanation for the discovery that is intriguing – an asphalt seep overtaking an existing rodent nest. Do they foul their own nests? They do if you catch a mouse in a trap (and they are caught and can't escape). Then again sheep are inclined to wet themselves and defecate when a dog is in the vicinity – even if its only wagging its tail.
Mainstream have a thoroughly uniformitarian view of the tar pits. The numerous bones of animals found in the oily tar were caught up in the sticky gooey substance and could not escape – and succombed where they stood. That is, apart from the rodent nest. This was overwhelmed by a seep of asphalt and buried. From a catastrophist point of view this could be expanded to the whole site – a huge seep of oily asphalt that trapped many animals and preserved them for posterity. Naturally, in the aftermath and the centuries since the catastrophic seep (possibly as a result of tectonic forces) animals could well have become trapped in the asphalt and perished – but the initial event would be unaffected by that. See https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61996-y .. for details of the study.
At https://phys.org/news/2020-03-geologists-lost-fragment-ancient-continent… … geologists claim to have found a lost fragment of an ancient continent in Canada's far north. To be exact, on Baffin Island. Geologists checking through diamond exploration samples (kimberlite rocks) found millions of years ago at depths of 150 to 400 km below the surface, which are igneous – and sometimes have diamonds embedded within them. The thing is that when tectonic lava wells up the kimberlite also brings up pieces of rock it meets on the way. Rocks with mineral signatures. This is top notch research as it was unexpected – a product of diamond exploration. These small pieces of rock (and they were really small) are part of the extinct continental crust that once stretched from Scotland to Labrador. This piece of ancient crust rifted apart 150 million years ago. Now, that was the beginning of the break up of Pangea – the super continent. A rift broke out that created the Atlantic ocean – according to mainstream theory. In an expanding earth scenario the crust split apart and drew away over time – possibly in a series of big jumps. In Plate Tectonics theory the process was gradual – very gradual.