Including Original "Paul H. Letters" Copyright © 1996-2024 Paul V. Heinrich / website © 1996-2024 Dirk Ross - All rights reserved.



Tuesday 30 April 2013

Vaterite Crystal Puzzle Solved

Vaterite Crystal Puzzle Solved

Vaterite: Crystal within a crystal helps resolve
an old puzzle, Science Daily, April 25, 2013
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130425142241.htm
http://www.livescience.com/29039-sea-squirt-crystal-solved.html

Crystal Puzzle Solved with Sea Squirt
Discovery News, april 29, 2013
http://news.discovery.com/earth/rocks-fossils/sea-squirt-crystal-solved-130429.htm

The paper is:
Kabalah-Amitai, L., B. Mayzel, Y. Kauffmann, A. N.
Fitch, L. Bloch, P. U. P. A. Gilbert, and B. Pokroy,
2013, Vaterite Crystals Contain Two Interspersed
Crystal Structures. Science. vol. 340, no. 6131, pp. 454-457.
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/340/6131/454

Yours,
Paul H.

Publications About Palaeontological Fakes

Publications About Palaeontological Fakes

Corbacho, J., C. Sendino, and M'H. Tahiri, 2011,
Palaeontological fakes (Falsificaciones paleontológicas)
Batalleria. vol. 16, pp. 37-45
http://www.elfosil.com/fakes.htm.pdf
http://www.elfosil.com/documentoht.htm

Mateus, O., M. Overbeeke, and F. Rita, 2008,
Dinosaur Frauds, Hoaxes and "Frankensteins":
How to Distinguish Fake and Genuine
Vertebrate Fossils. Journal of Paleontological
Techniques, Number 2

http://www.jpaleontologicaltechniques.org/pasta3/JPT%20N2/Pdf/JPT_n002_Jul.pdf
http://docentes.fct.unl.pt/sites/default/files/omateus/files/mateus_et_al_2008_dinosaur_frauds_hoaxes_and_frankensteins-_how_to_distinguish_fake_and_genuine_vertebrate_fossils._journal_of_paleontological_techniques.pdf
http://docentes.fct.unl.pt/omateus/publications/dinosaur-frauds-hoaxes-and-frankensteins-how-distinguish-fake-and-genuine-verte

Yours,
Paul H.

Sunday 28 April 2013

Granite was "Trilobite Trouble"

Granite was "Trilobite Trouble"

In Trilobite Trouble (in Morocco) at
http://lists.drizzle.com/pipermail/rockhounds_lists.drizzle.com/2013-April/001043.html
Pete wrote:

“I enjoyed reading that good story about the trilobite
industry, thanks for sending the link.

P.S., got a kick out of the 2nd sentence in the beginning
of the piece...

"...watch the sun go down over jumbled slabs of granite.
The desert here is reg, or loose stone, and its boulders
are packed tight with thousands of fossilized sea creatures."

I think that to many writers as well as "lay people",
any kind of hard pieces of rock has to be granite.”

You have a good point. My wife and I recently had
“granite” countertops installed. In the process, I noticed
that in terms of decorative stones, there is essentially,
with a number of exceptions, three types of stones:
“granite,” “marble,” and “slate.” “Marble” is any sort
of crystalline carbonate rock that will take a polish,
whether it be sedimentary or metamorphic. However,
some limestones are called “limestone.” In case of
“granite”, it is apparently applied to any holocrystalline
or porphyritic igneous decorative stone that takes a
polish. Slate is any fine-grained rock that can be split
into slabs that can used in roofing, decorative stone,
and various building applications

In the decorative stone business, these definitions
results various “granites” that are quite weird as far as
geologists are concerned. For example, the quite
beautiful and expensive “Azul Bahia Granite” from
eastern Brazil. It has a light grey groundmass with blue,
green, and black masses. It is not, geologically speaking,
a granite. Instead, it is a is a sodalite metasyenite that
is composed of sodalite (blue), feldspars and
feldspathoids (lighjt grey), mafic minerals (black), and
epidote (green). It was an odd feeling when our
contractor showed me a piece and told me it is a
“granite.”

The URL for “Azul Bahia Granite” :
http://www.newark.osu.edu/facultystaff/personal/jstjohn/Documents/Decorative-Stones/Metasyenite.htm

The website is at:
http://www.newark.osu.edu/facultystaff/personal/jstjohn/Documents/Cool-Rocks/Cool-Rocks.htm
http://www.newark.osu.edu/facultystaff/personal/jstjohn/Documents/Home-page.htm

Then there is the “Kozmus Black Granite” / “Kozmus
Granite.” Our contractor told me how difficult it was
to cut, install, and work with this stone. However,
despite these difficulties, he has through trial and error
figured out various ingenious ways of cutting, installing,
and otherwise working with this stone.

When he showed me a piece, I realized what the
problem is. It is that the “Kozmus Black Granite” is not
a granite as geologists use this term. Instead, this rock
is a mica schist with thin bands of extremely friable, very
weakly bound mica. I regard it remarkable that this
rock can quarried, cut into 2 and 3 cm thick slabs, and
transported. The amount of wastage during mining
must be quite high. I would personally, not have it on
countertop as it seems that it would be rather easy to
accidentally scratch or gouge it during normal use.
Regardless, a well foliated mica schist is certainly not
my idea of what I consider to be a granite as it is not
even an igneous rock. I am still trying to figure out
where in Brazil that it is quarried.

Some web pages are:

The Granite Gurus: Kozmus. Yes, it's a difficult stone.
http://www.granitegurus.com/2010/10/kozmus-yes-its-difficult-stone.html

Can anyone help me identify this granite?
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0922381020804.html

Kozmus Black Granite
http://www.globalvlg.com/productsDisplay.php?id=180

As a person can see, there are a lot rocks that are
called granite, which geologically speaking are not
granite.

Yours,
Paul H.

Wednesday 24 April 2013

Earth Could Experience Weird Meteor Shower

Earth Could Experience Weird Meteor Shower

Comet Could Blast Earth With Weird Meteor Shower
by Irene Klotz, Discovery News, April 23, 2013
http://news.discovery.com/space/asteroids-meteors-meteorites/comet-ison-meteors-earth-130423.htm

Earth Could Become A Target For Dust Showers
>From Comet ISON, RedOrbit, April 20, 2013
http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1112827141/comet-ison-dust-shower-toward-earth-042013/

Hubble Telescope Photographs Potential 'Comet of
the Century' by Mike Wall, SPACE.com, April 23, 2013
http://www.space.com/20787-comet-ison-hubble-photos.html

Comet ISON: Incoming Sungrazer by Elizabeth Howell
http://www.space.com/19973-comet-ison.html

Yours,
Paul H.

Hiddenite District, Alexander County, North Carolina Guidebook (Online Guidebook)

Hiddenite District, Alexander County, North Carolina Guidebook (Online Guidebook)


Hiddenite District, Alexander County, North Carolina Guidebook (Online PDF file)
Speer, W.E., 2008, Emerald Crystal Pockets of the
Hiddenite District, Alexander County, North Carolina,
Fieldtrip Guidebook, Geological Society of America,
Southeastern Section 57th Annual Meeting
April 2008, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

PDF file can be downloaded from:
https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/viewHandout.cgi?uploadid=293

An article about this area is "Unearthing Carolina's
emerald highway" at
http://www.smliv.com/features/1308-unearthing-carolinas-emerald-highway.html

Another article," North Carolina Emeralds and the
North American Emerald Mine" by Carl Talbott can be
found in July 2012 "Gem Scoops" of the Pendleton
District Gem and Mineral Society at:
http://pdgms.org/NewsletterJul2012.pdf

Yours,

Paul H.

Monday 22 April 2013

Trilobite Trouble (in Morocco)

Trilobite Trouble (in Morocco)

Trilobite Trouble by Bob Farra, “The Rosturm” in either:
1. Rocky Mountain Federation News, vol. 4, no. 4, p. 12 (April 2013)

Sunday 21 April 2013

Meteorites Might Have Provided Activated Phosphorus Needed For Early Life

Meteorites Might Have Provided Activated Phosphorus Needed For Early Life

Origin of Life: Power Behind Primordial Soup Discovered
Science News, Apr. 4, 2013
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130404122234.htm

Meteorites could have been source of life's batteries
by Michael Marshall, New Scientist, no. 2911, p. 13. April 4, 2013
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829114.800-meteorites-could-have-been-source-of-lifes-batteries.html

The paper is:
Bryant, D. E., D. Greenfield, R. D. Walshaw, B. R.G. Johnson, and
others, 2013, Hydrothermal modification of the Sikhote-Alin
iron meteorite under low pH geothermal environments. A
plausibly prebiotic route to activated phosphorus on the early
Earth. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. vol. 109, pp. 90-112.
DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2012.12.043
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016703713000161
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matthew_Pasek/publications/

PDF file at http://www.clairecousins.com/pdf/GCA2013.pdf

Yous,
Paul H.

Thursday 18 April 2013

More About Supernova and ancient bacteria fossils

More About Supernova and ancient bacteria fossils

Kreigh posted note about:
Supernova left its mark in ancient bacteria (Radioactive
iron may be first fossil imprint of a nearby cosmic explosion
by Alexandra Witze Nature news, April 15, 2013
http://www.nature.com/news/supernova-left-its-mark-in-ancient-bacteria-1.12797

A couple of more articles about Supernova and ancient
bacteria fossils are:

Supernova's Traces Seen In Deep-Sea Bacteria Fossils,
Research Suggests, Huffington Post, April 2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/supernova-bacteria-deep-sea-fossils_n_3091277.html

Remnants of supernova explosion found in ancient magnetotactic
bacteria by John Hewitt, Physorg, April 16, 2013
http://phys.org/news/2013-04-remnants-supernova-explosion-ancient-magnetotactic.html

The paper is:
Knie, K., G. Korschinek, T. Faestermann, E. A. Dorfi, G. Rugel,
and A. Wallner, 2013, 60Fe Anomaly in a Deep-Sea Manganese
Crust and Implications for a Nearby Supernova Source. Physical
Review Letters. vol. 93, article 171103, 4 pp.
http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v93/i17/e171103

Yours,
Paul H.

Dinosaur embryo fossils reveal life inside the egg

Dinosaur embryo fossils reveal life inside the egg

Dinosaur embryo fossils reveal life inside the egg
BBC News by Rebecca Morelle, April 10, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22085535

Researchers find unprecedented cache of 200
dinosaur eggs that reveal they MOVE before
they emerge like modern birds, Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2307033/Jurassic-Park-Researchers-cache-200-dinosaur-eggs.html
http://news.discovery.com/animals/dinosaurs/dinosaur-organic-remains-and-embryos-found-130410.htm

Reisz, R. R., T. D. Huang, E. M. Roberts, S. R. Peng,
and others, 2013, Embryology of Early Jurassic
dinosaur from China with evidence of preserved
organic remains. Nature. vol. 496, no. 7444,
pp. 210–214. doi:10.1038/nature11978
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v496/n7444/full/nature11978.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v496/n7444/index.html

Yours,
Paul H.

Wednesday 17 April 2013

Deep-Sea Fossils Yield Traces of a 2 million-year-old Supernova

Deep-Sea Fossils Yield Traces of a 2 million-year-old Supernova

Supernova's Traces Seen In Deep-Sea Bacteria Fossils,
Research Suggests, Huffington Post, April 2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/supernova-bacteria-deep-sea-fossils_n_3091277.html

Supernova left its mark in ancient bacteria (Radioactive iron may
be first fossil imprint of a nearby cosmic explosion.) by A. Witze
http://www.nature.com/news/supernova-left-its-mark-in-ancient-bacteria-1.12797

emnants of supernova explosion found in ancient magnetotactic
bacteria by John Hewitt, Physorg, April 16, 2013
http://phys.org/news/2013-04-remnants-supernova-explosion-ancient-magnetotactic.html

The paper is:
Knie, K., G. Korschinek, T. Faestermann, E. A. Dorfi, G. Rugel,
and A. Wallner, 2013, 60Fe Anomaly in a Deep-Sea Manganese
Crust and Implications for a Nearby Supernova Source. Physical
Review Letters. vol. 93, article 171103, 4 pp.
http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v93/i17/e171103

Yours,
Paul H.

Tuesday 16 April 2013

More About Landslide At Kennecott Utah Copper's Bingham Canyon Mine

More About Landslide At Kennecott Utah Copper's Bingham Canyon Mine

More articles about landslide at Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah.

Massive landslide stops production at Bingham Canyon
Mine Deseret News, April 11, 2013
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865578042/Kennecott-confirms-significant-landslide-at-Bingham-Canyon-Mine.html

The above article has some spectacular pictures at
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865578042/Kennecott-confirms-significant-landslide-at-Bingham-Canyon-Mine.html

Photos: Bingham Canyon Mine after landslide
Fox 13 News, Salt Lake City
http://fox13now.com/2013/04/12/photos-bingham-canyon-mine-after-landslide/

Raw Video: Kennecott Copper Mine Flyover
Fox 13 News, Salt Lake City
http://fox13now.com/2013/04/12/raw-video-kennecott-copper-mine-flyover/

RPT-UPDATE 2-Rio Tinto unit says Bingham Canyon
slide worse than expected. Reuters, April 14, 2013
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/14/rio-utah-slide-idUSL2N0D10HM20130414

Yours,
Paul H.

Saturday 13 April 2013

Geology of Central Park, New York - From Rocks to Ice

Geology of Central Park - From Rocks to Ice

This is an interesting publication about the geology
of Central Park, New York.

Merguerian, C., and M. Merguerian, 2004, Geology of Central
Park - From rocks to ice. Eleventh Annual Conference on
Geology of Long Island and Metropolitan New York

PDF file at:
http://www.geo.sunysb.edu/lig/Conferences/abstracts-04/merguerian/Merguerians2004.pdf

Citation at:
https://www.hofstra.edu/Hofbiblio/view.cfm?id=2938

Yours,
Paul H.

Friday 12 April 2013

Origin Of 'Mercury' Meteorite Still Puzzles Scientists

Origin Of  'Mercury' Meteorite Still Puzzles Scientists

There is a nice story about the meteorite that is hypothesized
to be from Mercury on All This Considered. It is:

Origin Of 'Mercury' Meteorite Still Puzzles Scientists
by Geoff Brumfiel, All Things Considered, April 11, 2013
http://www.npr.org/2013/04/09/176714430/origin-of-meteorite-is-a-puzzle-to-scientists

Yours,
Paul H.

Monday 8 April 2013

Life Might Have Emerged On Earth In Saline Environments

Life Might Have Emerged On Earth In Saline Environments

How Life May Have First Emerged On Earth: Foldable
Proteins in a High-Salt Environment, Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130405064027.htm
and http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/04/05/researcher.offers.clues.origins.life

The paper is:
Longo, L. M., and J. Lee, M. Blaber. Simplified protein design
biased for prebiotic amino acids yields a foldable, halophilic
protein. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
vol. 110, no. 6, pp. 2135-2139. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1219530110
http://www.pnas.org/content/110/6/2135

Yours,
Paul H.

Friday 5 April 2013

Termites Strike Gold

Termites Strike Gold

Termites Strike Gold: Ant and Termite Colonies Unearth
Gold in Australia, Science Daily, Dec. 9, 2012
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121211095007.htm

The papers are:
Stewart, A. D. R. R. Anand, J. S. Laird, M. Verrall,
C. G. Ryan, M. D. de Jonge, D. Paterson, D. L. Howard,
2013, Distribution of Metals in the Termite
Tumulitermes tumuli (Froggatt): Two Types of
Malpighian Tubule Concretion Host Zn and Ca
Mutually Exclusively. PLoS ONE. vol. 6, no. 11,
e27578 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0027578
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0027578

Stewart, A. D., R. R. Anand, and J. Balkau, 2013,
Source of anomalous gold concentrations in
termite nests, Moolart Well, Western Australia:
implications for exploration. Geochemistry:
Exploration, Environment, Analysis. vol. 12,
no. 4, pp. 327 DOI: 10.1144/geochem2012-126
http://geea.geoscienceworld.org/content/12/4/327.abstract

PDF file at:
https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/download?pid=csiro:EP12645&dsid=DS4

Also, there is " Ant Hill Paleontology" at
http://dml.cmnh.org/2007Jun/msg00007.html

and

Newman, K. E., and J. Hatcher, 2004, Comparison
of Anthill Microfossils Between the Upper Hell
Creek Formation and the Tullock Member of the
Fort Union Formation of Eastern Montana,
Geological Society of America Abstracts with
Programs. vol. 36, no. 5, pp.366, 2004.
https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2004AM/finalprogram/abstract_79948.htm

Yours,
Paul H.

Mesozoic Giant Fleas from Northeastern China

Mesozoic Giant Fleas from Northeastern China

Huang, D. Y., M. S. Engel, C. Y. Cai, and A. Nel, 2013,
Mesozoic giant fleas from northeastern China
(Siphonaptera): Taxonomy and implications for
palaeodiversity. Chinese Science Bulletin (advance
online publication) doi: 10.1007/s11434-013-5769-3
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11434-013-5769-3

This is an open access paper. Some people might
need to add '.pdf' to the file downloaded in order
to open it.

"The recently discovered definite giant fleas from
the Middle Jurassic Daohugou fauna and the Early
Cretaceous Jehol fauna of northeastern China
represent significant evidence for understanding
ectoparasitism in the Mesozoic as well as the
evolution of these giant blood feeders with their
putative hosts (i.e. hairy or feathered vertebrates)"

Also, there is:
Huang, D., M. S. Engel, C. Cai, H. Wu, and A. Nel,
2012, Diverse transitional giant fleas from the
Mesozoic era of China. Nature. v. 483, no. 7388.
pp. 201-204, doi:10.1038/nature10839

PDf file at http://211.144.68.84:9998/91keshi/Public/File/34/483-7388/pdf/nature10839.pdf

Yours,
Paul H.