Missing Moon Rocks
Ark. Archivist Finds Missing Moon Rock, All Things
Considered, NPR, September 26, 2011
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/26/140818261/ark-archivist-finds-missing-moon-rock
Arkansas' Missing Moon Rock Turns Up In Boxes
Of Clinton's Memorabilia, by Mark Memmott,
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/09/22/140706052/arkansas-missing-moon-rock-turns-up-in-boxes-of-clintons-memorabilia
Alaska man claims to have missing Apollo-era moon
rock by Alex Sanz / KHOU 11 News
http://www.khou.com/news/Alaska-man-claims-to-have-missing-Apollo-era-moon-rock-124676664.html
Missing moon rock? Ex-governor had it: $5 million
specimen was given to Colorado during Nixon administration
Associated Press,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37454964/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/missing-moon-rock-ex-governor-had-it/#.ToGykU_Swdo
Hawaiian Moon Rocks Found, Most Others Still Missing
by Alexis Madrigal, Wired Science
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/01/hawaiian-moon-rocks-found-most-others-still-missing/
Best wishes,
Paul H.
Acid Oceans, Not Asteroid Impacts, Contributed to Permian – Triassic Extinctions
Recent research indicates that acid oceans, not asteroid
impacts, likely contributed to Earth’s worst mass extinction.
Go look at:
Ancient Acidic Ocean a Killer by Emily Sohn, Discovery News,
http://news.discovery.com/earth/ocean-acidification-110907.html
Acid oceans helped fuel mass extinction by Alexandra Witze,
Science News, Sept 5, 2011,
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/333995/title/Acid_oceans_helped_fuel_mass_extinction
The paper is:
Montenegro, A., P. Spence, K. J. Meissner, M. Eby, M. J. Melchin, and
S. T. Johnston, 2011, Climate simulations of the Permian-Triassic
boundary: Ocean acidification and the extinction event,
Paleoceanography, 26, PA3207, doi:10.1029/2010PA002058.
Abstract at http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2011/2010PA002058.shtml
Dr. Peter Ward has published a book that discusses decades of
published research, which he has conducted into the Permian-
Triassic mass extinctions. It is:
Ward, P. D., 2008, Under a Green Sky. Harper-Collins Books.
242 pp. ISBN 978-0-06-163163-4
It is an excellent, entertaining, and thoughtful book about the
Permian-Triassic mass extinctions that is well written for
the lay public. I highly recommend it.
Related articled are:
Earth science: Lethal volcanism by Paul B. Wignall, Nature.
vol. 477, no. 7364, pp. 285–286.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7364/full/477285a.html
Large Igneous Provinces and Mass Extinctions by , David Bressan,
Scientific American, Sept. 16, 2011,
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/2011/09/16/large-igneous-provinces-and-mass-extinctions/
Best wishes,
Paul H.
"150,000 BP claim" or Geofact ??
In "150,000 BP claim" at:
http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2011-September/079784.html
Robert wrote,
""150,000 yrs BP" isn't a typo. The reason I pointed to this website
(http://61.128.162.70/stone/686/686.htm) and mentioned the
supposed antiquity of the rock with the Big Dipper configuration
was to underscore the widespread acceptance in China of this
concept of the evolution of the position of the stars of the Big Dipper
[as repeated in diagrams (A), (b), and (C)]. It's used in teaching
materials, for example. Apparently, the presence of this concept
has led to the accommodation of exaggerated claims of antiquity
as well as more modest claims."
A geologist, who has seen various rounded pebbles and cobbles
with identical circular markings on them, I wonder what evidence
that they have for these markings as having been carved. The
differential weathering of animal burrows in a sedimentary rock
can easily produce circular markings that are identical to the ones
that appear on the stone. The circles with connecting bar is what
could easily be the eroded and differentially weathered cross-
section of animals burrows (trace fossils), of which I have
personally seen examples examples while doing field work.
One real possibility is that someone unfamiliar with how specific
types of trace fossils look like in cross-section on the eroded
and differentially weathered surface of a stone has confused a
natural trace fossil with manmade carvings. If so, this would not
be the first time, that a nongeologist, when finding natural circular
patterns on a stone jumped to the incorrect conclusion that it
was manmade. For an example of how trace fossils have been
confused by nongeologists with manmade artifacts can be seen
in "Artifacts or Geofacts? Alternative Interpretations of Items
from the Gulf of Cambay" at;
http://members.cox.net/pyrophyllite/geofact.html
My impression of this alleged " 8000BC Big Dipper Petroglyph:
Evolution of star positions" is that it very well might be an geofact
that has been misidentified as a petroglyph.
Best wishes,
Paul H.
Free Guidebook About K-P (K-T) Boundary in Southeast United States
Dear Friends,
A 2007 Lafayette Geological Society guidebook, which discusses
the Cretaceous – Paleogene (Tertiary) boundary within the
southeastern United States is available for free as a PDF file. The
guidebook is:
Week, B. E., 2007, K/T Boundary and Paleogene Stratigraphy
of Southwestern Alabama, Lafayette Geological Society Field
Trip March 23-25, 2007. Lafayette Geological Society,
Lafayette, Louisiana. 107 pp.
The PDF file can be downloaded from:
http://lafayettegeologicalsociety.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/LGSAlabamaFTGuidebook-March2007.pdf
The link to this fieldtrip guidebook is at:
http://lafayettegeologicalsociety.org/wp/?page_id=397
Yours,
Paul H.
New paper about Luizi impact structure, Congo
Dear friends,
There is a new paper about the Luizi impact structure in the Congo.
It is;
Ferriere, L., F. G. R. Lubala, R. T. Osinski, and P. K. Kaseti,
2011, The newly confirmed Luizi impact structure,
Democratic Republic of Congo—Insights into central uplift
formation and post-impact erosion. Geology. vol. 39, no. 9,
pp. 851–854. doi:10.1130/G31990.1; 4
http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/39/9/851
http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/39/9/851.abstract
September 2011 Geology Highlights: new research posted 5 August
http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-september-2011-geology-highlights-new-research-po-080911.aspx
"Because of its preservation state and the shape of the
structure, with an inner ring, the Luizi crater also provides
insights into the formation of mid-sized impact craters on
Earth. Ferriere and colleagues estimate that the crater was
made by the collision of a kilometer-wide asteroid with a
speed of about 72,000 km per hour. However, based on
their investigations, they can only say that the crater is
younger than about 575 million years, the age of the rocks
that have been excavated."
Older articles are;
Collision With Huge Asteroid Caused 17 Kilometer
Diameter Crater Found in Congo, August 9, 2011
http://crisisboom.com/2011/08/09/collision-with-huge-asteroid-caused-17-kilometer-diameter-crater-found-in-congo/
Huge Impact Crater Found in Remote Congo: Expedition
confirms a meteor hit central Africa millions of years ago.
by Victoria Jaggard, National Geographic News, March 8, 2011
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110308-meteor-impact-crater-found-confirmed-congo-ferriere-science/
http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/329/overrides/new-crater-found-dr-congo-luizi_32989_600x450.jpg
Best wishes,
Paul H.
Meteorites delivered Earth's gold
Young Earth was sprinkled with precious metals
physicsworld.com, Sept. 7, 2011
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/47116
Where does all the gold come from? University of
Bristol, Sept 7, 2011
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2011/7885.html
Meteorites delivered Earth's gold, by Leila Battison
BBC News, Sept 8, 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14827624
The paper is:
Willbold, M., T. Elliott, and S. Moorbath, 2011, The
tungsten isotopic composition of the Earth’s mantle
before the terminal bombardment. Nature. vol. 477,
no. 7363, pp. 195-198. DOI: 10.1038/nature10399
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7363/full/nature10399.html
A related paper is:
Marty, B., and A. Meibom, 2007, Noble gas signature
of the Late Heavy Bombardment in the Earth’s
atmosphere. eEarth. vol. 2, pp. 43–49.
PDF file at:
http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/33/07/83/PDF/ee-2-43-2007.pdf
Yours,
Paul H.
Dinosaur Bone-Bearing K-P Tsunami Deposits, La Popa Basin, Mexico
Dear List Members,
A recent paper has an interesting description and
discussion of K-P tsunami deposits that contain
dinosaur bones and impact ejecta. These deposits
are part of the Delgado Sandstone Member, which
is exposed in the La Popa Basin in north-eastern Mexico.
The paper is:
Schulte, P., J. Smit, A. Deutsch, T. Salge, A. Friese, and K.
Beichel, 2011, Tsunami backwash deposits with Chicxulub
impact ejecta and dinosaur remains from the Cretaceous–
Palaeogene boundary in the La Popa Basin, Mexico. Article
first published online: 8 AUG 2011
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2011.01274.x
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2011.01274.x/abstract
A related paper is:
Lawton, T. F., K. W. Shipley, J. L. Aschoff, K. A. Giles and
F. J. Vega, 2005, Basinward transport of Chicxulub
ejecta by tsunami-induced backflow, La Popa basin,
northeastern Mexico, and its implications for
distribution of impact-related deposits flanking the
Gulf of Mexico. Geology. vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 81-84.
http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/33/2/81.abstract
and
Lawton, T. F., F. J. Vega, K. A. Giles, and C. Rosales-
Domínguez, 2001, Stratigraphy and origin of the La Popa
Basin, Nuevo León and Coahuila, Mexico, in C. Bartolini,
R. T. Buffler, and A. Cantú-Chapa, eds., pp. 219-240, The
western Gulf of Mexico Basin: Tectonics, sedimentary
basins, and petroleum systems. Memoir no. 75, American
Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Yours,
Paul H.
Search for Irish meteorite in progress
Search for Irish meteorite worth weight in gold, Belfast
Telegraph, Belfast, ireland, September 1, 2011,
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/search-for-irish-meteorite-worth-weight-in-gold-16043949.html
"Preliminary analysis suggests it may have landed in
Co Sligo or elsewhere in the west, Mr Moore said."
"The Republic of Ireland's National Museum is offering a
cash reward to anyone who finds the meteorite that was
spotted last week."
Search for meteorite in west of Ireland, RTE News,
August 31, 2011
http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0831/meteor.html
"An appeal has been launched for help in locating a meteorite
after a fireball was seen blazing across Irish skies last week."
Meteor hunt for Irish stargazers, BBC News, Aug. 31, 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14733385
Astronomy Ireland, Fireball Reports
http://www.astronomy.ie/fireball.php
National Museum of Ireland
http://www.museum.ie/en/intro/natural-history.aspx
http://www.museum.ie/en/about-us.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Ireland
Best wishes,
Paul H.
