Fossil (novel)

Fossil is a science fiction book by American writer Hal Clement, as part of the Isaac's Universe series.

[1] Copyright was reserved to him under his real name, Harry C. Stubbs, and the company he associated himself with, Tomorrow, Inc. On a medium-sized, low-gravity planet with a very slow rotational period, the side that is farthest from the sun is always a very hard mixture of frozen carbon dioxide, rock hard ammonia, and solid water ice, and the side that is closest, a sea of turbulent liquids and icebergs.

The planet rotates so slowly that the part that is half ice and half ocean is constantly beset with troubling weather conditions, ranging from blizzards to unanticipated ice melts and earthquakes.

Scientific researchers from all kinds of alien species from all over the known universe have come to this planet to engage in an arduous archaeological expedition to unearth mysterious fossils from deep within the multi-kilometer thick icy crust.

On some of the worlds around the galaxy, mysterious relics are found from an earlier civilization that no longer exists.