Earth's Oldest Known Impact Crater Found in Greenland

Earth's Oldest Known Impact Crater Found in Greenland

Earth's Oldest Known Impact Crater Found in
Greenland, ScienceDaily, June 28, 2012
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628164658.htm

Oldest known impact crater found, Cardiff
University, June 28, 2012
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/articles/oldest-known-impact-crater-found-9091.html

Garde, A. a., I. McDonald, B. Dyck, and N. Keulen,
2012, Searching for giant, ancient impact structures
on Earth: The Mesoarchaean Maniitsoq structure,
West Greenland. Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
vol. 337-338, pp. 197-210.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X12001938

Best wishes,

Paul H.
--

Mercury Mineral Evolution Tied to Supercontinent Assembly

Mercury Mineral Evolution Tied to Supercontinent Assembly

Mercury Mineral Evolution Tied to Supercontinent Assembly
Over Last 3 Billion Years, Science Daily (June 25, 2012)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120625162354.htm

Mercury mineral evolution, June 25, 2012
http://carnegiescience.edu/news/mercury_mineral_evolution

Mineral Evolution
https://hazen.gl.ciw.edu/research/mineral_evolution
https://hazen.gl.ciw.edu/node/309

The paper is:

Hazen, R. M., J. Golden, R. T. Downs, G. Hystad, E. S. Grew,
D. Azzolini, and D. A. Sverjensky, 2012, Mercury (Hg)
mineral evolution: A mineralogical record of
supercontinent assembly, changing ocean geochemistry,
and the emerging terrestrial biosphere. American
Mineralogist. vol. 97, no. 7, pp. 1013-1042.
http://ammin.geoscienceworld.org/content/97/7/1013.abstract

A related article is:

Mineral Kingdom Has Co-Evolved With Life, Scientists Find
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2008)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081113181035.htm

Hazen, R. M., D. Papineau, W. Bleeker, R. T. Downs, J. M. Ferry,
T. J. McCoy, D. Sverjensky and H. Yang, 2008, Mineral evolution.
American Mineralogist. vol. 93, pp. 1693-1720.
http://ammin.geoscienceworld.org/content/93/11-12/1693.abstract
https://hazen.gl.ciw.edu/sites/hazen.gl.ciw.edu/files/images/242-Hazen-AmMin-2008.pdf

Hazen, R. M. and J. M. Ferry, 2010, Mineral evolution:
Mineralogy in the fourth dimension. Elements. vol. 6, pp. 9-12.
https://hazen.gl.ciw.edu/sites/hazen.gl.ciw.edu/files/images/9-12_ELEMv6n1.pdf

Best wishes,

Paul H.
--

Dinosaur cold-blood theory in doubt

Dinosaur cold-blood theory in doubt

Dinosaur cold-blood theory in doubt
by Jason Palmer BBC News, June 27, 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18602965

Were dinosaurs warm blooded? The bones point to yes.
(Studies of growth lines in bones cast into doubt the
belief that dinosaurs were cold-blooded, researchers say.)
By Jennifer Welsh, LiveScience, June 27, 2012
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0627/Were-dinosaurs-warm-blooded-The-bones-point-to-yes.-video

The paper is:

Kohler, M., N. Marin-Moratalla, X. Jordana, and R.
Aanes, 2012, Seasonal bone growth and physiology in
endotherms shed light on dinosaur physiology.
Nature. Published online 27 June 2012
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11264.html

Best wishes,

Paul H.
--

Colorado Wildfires Information Web Pages 2012

Colorado Wildfires Information Web Pages 2012

Given the horrendous wildfires that are occurring in Colorado,
I though that the list members in the United States would be
interested in below sources of information about them.

InciWeb - one-stop-shop for regular updates on wildfires
http://www.inciweb.org

FEMA-Ready.gov – disaster preparation, including wildfires
http://www.ready.gov/wildfires

Colorado 2-1-1 – switchboard for via referrals, between
individuals and families in need
http://211colorado.org/

Help Colorado Now – How you can help people affected
by Colorado wildfires.
http://www.helpcoloradonow.org/

Colorado Fire Restrictions and Risk (by County)
http://www.coemergency.com/p/fire-bans-and-fire-danger-rating.html

Colorado Wildfires

Waldo Canyon Fire (West of Colorado Springs)
InciWeb Page: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2929/
http://springsgov.com/

High Park Fire (West of Fort Collins)
InciWeb Page: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2904/
http://larimer.org/emergency/

Flagstaff Fire (West of Boulder)
Boulder County: http://boulderoem.com/emergency-status

Little Sand Fire (Northwest of Pagosa Springs)
InciWeb Page: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2878/

Weber Fire (South of Mancos)
InciWeb Page: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2937/
http://co.laplata.co.us/emergency

Treasure Fire (Northeast of Leadville)
InciWeb Page: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2939/

Springer Fire (West of Lake George)
InciWeb Page: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2916/

Best wishes,

Paul H.

More Commentary on Meteorite Market

More Commentary on Meteorite Market

For better or worse, below is the latest pontification by
writers about the meteorite market. (If you do not like
what they have to say, please contact them, not me.)

Market for Martian meteorites heats up
by Wynne Parry, CBS news, June 20, 2012
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57456841/market-for-martian-meteorites-heats-up/

Mars Meteorites Become Hot Item Outpacing
Price of Gold by Joel Mackey, Z6Mag ,
http://z6mag.com/featured/mars-meteorites-become-hot-item-outpacing-price-of-gold-1611190.html

Note that the Mackey article has a box for leaving
comments on his article.

Best wishes,

Paul H.

Des Plaines, Illinois impact crater

Des Plaines, Illinois impact crater

In Des Plaines,IL impact crater at
http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2012-June/085848.html
Brandon D. wrote,

"Does anyone know if there are any exposures
of impact related rock in Des Plains Illinois as
a result of the impact 280 m.y?"

Unfortunately, this structure is completely buried by
Pleistocene glacial till. Go see:

Faulting and the Des Plaines Disturbance
http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/maps-data-pub/cook-atlas/fault.shtml

"The faulted bedrock is buried beneath 75 to 200 feet of
glacial drift, and the anomaly can only be studied using
well control and seismic reflection data."

and

Emrich, G. M. and R. E. Bergstrom, 1962, Des Plaines
Disturbance, Northeastern Illinois, Geological Society
of America Bulletin vol. 73, no. 8, pp. 959-968.

McHone, J. F., Sargent, M. L. and Nelson, W. J., 1986,
Shatter cones in Illinois: Evidence for meteoritic
impacts at Glasford and Des Plaines (abstract).
Meteoritics, vol. 21, p. 446.

Peterson, G. L., 1989, Tarp Tunnel explorations in
the Des Plaines disturbance, Illinois; evidence
supporting an impact origin. Chicago Association
of Engineering Geologists Annual Meeting, pp. 236-225.

Best wishes,

Paul H.

Prehistoric fossil collectors

Prehistoric fossil collectors

McNamara, K., 2012, Prehistoric fossil collectors.
Geoscientist. vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 12-19.
http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/page11757.html

June 2012 issue at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/page11735.html
PDf file of 2012 issue athttp://www.geolsoc.org.uk/webdav/site/GSL/shared/pdfs/Geoscientist/Download%20PDF%20copy%20of%20Geoscientist%2022.05%20June%202012.pdf

Best wishes,

Paul H.
--

What killed the woolly mammoth? A whole bunch of things

What killed the woolly mammoth? A whole bunch of things

What killed the woolly mammoth? A whole bunch of things,
scientists say, Christian Science Monitor, June 12, 2012,
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0612/What-killed-the-woolly-mammoth-A-whole-bunch-of-things-scientists-say.-video

Woolly Mammoth Extinction Has Lessons for Modern
Climate Change, ScienceDaily, June 12, 2012
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120612144809.htm

Many factors in extinction of mammoths, SBS,
June 12, 2012, http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1658619/Many-factors-in-extinction-of-mammoths

Study: Many factors in mammoth extinction, UPI.com, June 12, 2012
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/06/12/Study-Many-factors-in-mammoth-extinction/UPI-96671339529828/?spt=hs&or=sn

The paper is:

MacDonald, G. M., D. W. Beilman, Y. V. Kuzmin, L. A. Orlova, K. V.
Kremenetski, B. Shapiro, R. K. Wayne, and B. Van Valkenburgh, 2012,
Pattern of extinction of the woolly mammoth in Beringia.
Nature Communications, 2012 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1881
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v3/n6/full/ncomms1881.html

Best wishes,

Paul H.

Washington Obsidian Source - Obsidian Outcrops

Washington Obsidian Source - Obsidian Outcrops

In “Washington Obsidian Source” at
http://lists.drizzle.com/pipermail/rockhounds/2012-June/037936.html
Sonja Kassa wrote,

“Still, I am an amateur, and would like advice/knowledge
about obsidian outcrops and how they occur or if anyone
has run into a similar situation and has advice! I would love
to hear it!”

Go look at:

1. the “U. S. and Canada Obsidian Source Catalog” at
http://www.sourcecatalog.com/

2. the “World Obsidian Source Catalog” at
http://www.obsidianlab.com/sourcecatalog/s_home.html

and 3. “Northwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory
Map Library “at
http://www.obsidianlab.com/image_maps/image_maps.html

Best wishes,

Paul H.

Hollow meteorite on ebay

Hollow meteorite on ebay

In “hollow meteorite on ebay“ at:
http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2012-June/085666.html
Werner Schroer wrote:

“I just found this interesting looking specimen on ebay.

http://tinyurl.com/6teew4b

Are there any other hollow meteorites out there? ;)”

This is does not look at all like a meteorite. It looks
like a classic example of an ordinary hollow hematite
/ goethite concretion, which is common known
by rockhounds as either “Indian paint pots” or
“rattle stones.”

For examples, see pictures in “Goethite” at:
http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,73,216497,216497

1. Goethite, USA, Ohio, Licking Co., Washington
Township Weathered concretion.
http://www.mindat.org/arphotos/400-0581774001280588865.jpg
http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,73,216497,216497

2. Goethite 2.5cm wide
http://www.mindat.org/arphotos/380-0165545001282277241.jpg
http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,73,216497,216497

Concretions of Garvies Point
http://www.garviespointmuseum.com/concretions.php

I have seen outcrops in Louisiana, i.e. the sand pit at
Eddie Jones State Park, Caddo Parish, where numerous
concretions identical to this eBay specimen had eroded
out and were eroding of the ground by erosion.

Some random papers about such concretions are:

Loope, D. B., R. M. Kettler, K. A. Weber, N. L. Hinrichs, and
D. T. Burgess, 2012 , Rinded iron-oxide concretions:
Hallmarks of altered siderite masses of both early and
late diagenetic origin: Sedimentology. Article first
published online: 12 MAR 2012
http://www.geosciences.unl.edu/~dloope/pdf/RindedIronSedimentology.pdf
http://www.geosciences.unl.edu/~dloope/
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2012.01325.x/abstract

Smith, L. L., 1948, Hollow Ferruginous Concretions in
South Carolina. The Journal of Geology. vol. 56, no. 3,
pp. 218-225.
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/30063390?uid=3739688

Van Der Burg, W.J., 1970, The formation of rattle stones
and the climatological factors which limited their
distribution in the Dutch Pleistocene, 2. The climatological
factors Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 297–308. (July 1970)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0031018270900982

van Loef, J. J., 2000, Composition and genesis of
rattlestones from Dutch soils as shown by Mössbauer
spectroscopy, INAA and XRD. Geologie en Mijnbouw
(Netherlands Journal of Geosciences) vol. 79, no. 1, pp. 59-71
http://www.njgonline.nl/publish/articles/000021/article.pdf

Best wishes,

Paul H.

Funny rock stories, poems, jokes? - Friends of Pleistocene Songbook

Funny rock stories, poems, jokes? - Friends of Pleistocene Songbook

Kitty wrote,

"Bill & I have had a lot of depressing and stressful days for the last
couple of weeks so we'd like to have some happy, funny, silly,
uplifting, stories, poems, jokes, etc. to cheer us up and distract us.
Besides, the present thread is interesting and thought-provoking, but
I'd like a break.

Anybody able to cheer up a couple of sad rockhounds?"

There is the 2009 "Friends of the Pleistocene Songbook" at:

http://www.uaf.edu/files/aqc/FOPsongbook2009.pdf

Friends of Pleistocene - Alaska Cell
http://www.uaf.edu/aqc/friends-of-the-pleistocen/

The scientific stuff can found in "2008 Juneau
FOP guidebook" at

http://www.uaf.edu/files/aqc/DraftFOPSEAK2008.pdf

and the 2010 guidebook at
http://www.uaf.edu/aqc/friends-of-the-pleistocen/2010/

Best wishes,

Paul H.
--

Mysterious radiation burst recorded in tree rings (774–775 AD)

Mysterious radiation burst recorded in tree rings (774–775 AD)

Cosmic rays showered Earth 1230 years ago, but
where from? Los Angeles Times, June 4, 2012
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-cosmic-ray-increase-20120604,0,6401794.story?track=rss

Mysterious radiation burst recorded in tree rings
(Spike in carbon-14 levels indicates a massive
cosmic event — but supernovae and solar flares
ruled out.) by Richard A. Lovett, June 2, 2012
http://www.nature.com/news/mysterious-radiation-burst-recorded-in-tree-rings-1.10768

The paper is:

Miyake, F., K. Nagaya, K. Masuda, and T.
Nakamura, 2012, A signature of cosmic-ray
increase in ad 774–775 from tree rings in
Japan. Nature. Published online June 3, 2012.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11123.html

Best wishes,

Paul H.

Missed the Venus Transit in 2012? Watch It Online Until 2117

Missed the Venus Transit in 2012? Watch It Online Until 2117

Missed the Venus Transit in 2012? Watch It Online Until 2117
PC World, June 6, 2012
http://www.pcworld.com/article/257056/missed_the_venus_transit_in_2012_watch_it_online_until_2117.html

For Scientists of the 18th Century, the Transit of Venus Was
Their Final Chance to Measure the Solar System. The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/06/for-scientists-of-the-18th-century-the-transit-of-venus-was-their-final-chance-to-measure-the-solar-system/258013/

NASA 2012 Venus Transit WEbpage
http://venustransit.gsfc.nasa.gov/
and data at http://venustransit.gsfc.nasa.gov/data

Best wishes,

Paul H.

NASA Live Venus Transit Webcasts

NASA Live Venus Transit Webcasts

NASA Live Venus Transit Webcasts
http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2012/transit/webcast.php
and http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/webcasts/nasaedge/

Rare Transit Of Venus 'A Beautiful Event
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/05/154319951/rare-transit-of-venus-a-beautiful-event

Transit of Venus
http://www.transitofvenus.org/

Yours,

Paul H.

Maps Showing Stages in the Deglaciation of North America

Maps Showing Stages in the Deglaciation of North America

For those people interested in background information for
the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis, a paper with maps
showing the stages in the last Pleistocene deglaciation of
North America can downloaded from online for free for a
period of time.

The paper is:

Dyke, A. S., 2004, An outline of North American deglaciation
with emphasis on central and northern Canada. in J. Ehlers and
P.L. Gibbard, eds., pp. 373-424, Quaternary Glaciations-Extent
and Chronology — Part II: North America. vol. 2, Part B.
Elsiever, New York, New York.

The paper can be downloaded from
http://academic.macewan.ca/furzem/files/2011/10/Dyke-2004.pdf

The link to this paper is in "October 3rd – Yellowknife" at
http://academic.macewan.ca/furzem/2011/10/03/october-3rd-yellowknife/

An animation showing the deglaciation of North America
can be found in “The Last Deglaciation of North America,
21,400 - 5700 years ago, animation” at
http://emvc.geol.ucsb.edu/2_infopgs/IP2IceAge/aDeglacNoAm.html

Best wishes,

Paul H.

A Western Crater Field? - Flathead_Lake

A Western Crater Field? - Flathead_Lake

In “A Western Crater Field?” at
http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2012-May/085463.html
E.P. Grondine wrote:

“Hi all -
A while back, I related to you the Assiniboine memories
of the Holocene Start Impact Event (HSIE):

… URLs to unrelated previous posts omitted…

“I think that there is data to suspect that the lake
the Assinboine remembered waz Flathead Lake:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flathead_Lake

If you look at the current west-north-west exit of
the lake in this image:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flathead_lake.jpg
you will see what appear to be several astroblemes.

The exit of this lake prior to their formation appears
to have been south down a river which would have
formed a rather perfect animal migration path.
Whether they are or not will require proper geological
field examination.”

The structural and Quaternary geology of Flathead Lake
has been studied in great detailed and the results of these
studies have been published in a series of peer-reviewed
journal papers and other scientific publications. This
research included detailed field study, including geologic
mapping, of the Flathead Lake area; high-resolution
gravity surveys of the Flathead Lake area; 270 km of
single channel, 3.5 kHz reflection seismic reflection data
of sediment underlying Flathead Lake; a set of eight,
5 to 11.5 m long, piston cores taken from the bottom of
Flathead Lake; and additional low-frequency seismic
data gathered by the United States Geological Survey.

All of this data and research clearly demonstrates a
lack of any evidence for extraterrestrial impact having
been associated with the formation of Flathead Lake and
soundly refutes any such hypothesis. This research
demonstrates that Flathead Lake occupies the actively
subsiding southern end of a rift valley known as the Rocky
Mountain Trench. The seismic data shows five different
periods of increased tectonic activity and associated
subsidence have occurred during the last 15,000 years.
The core and seismic data show that acoustically-stratified,
undisturbed Pleistocene glacial lake and Holocene sediment
underlies the bottom of Lake Flathead. The cores and
seismic data demonstrates that the oldest of these sediments
date to about 14,475±150 cal yr BP, the maximum age of
the oldest varves. This is when the main Flathead Lake
basin was at least partially deglaciated and lake sediments
could start accumulating within the basin now occupied
by Flathead Lake. Field studies of the area around Flathead
Lake show that the southern shore of this lake is formed
by a recessional moraine of glacial origin, which acts as
dam. The north shore of Flathead Lake consists of younger
recessional glacial moraines. Although volcanic ash beds
are preserved in lake and glacial sediments, there is a
complete absence of any disturbance or event beds,
which can be interpreted as being related to any sort of
extraterrestrial impact since the deglaciation of the area
between 13,000 to 15,000 years.

References about Flathead Lake include:

Edwards, J., 2006, Evidence for Glacial Outburst Floods
along the Lower Flathead River: Results from Geologic
Mapping, Geomorphologic Analysis, and a Gravity Survey
near Polson, Montana. unpublished MSc thesis, University
of Montana, Missoula, Montana.
http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-02282007-160250/

Hoffmann, M. H., 2005, Sedimentary record of glacial
dynamics, lake level fluctuations, and tectonics:
Late Pleistocene-Holocene structural and stratigraphic
analysis of the Flathead Lake basin and the Mission
Valley, Montana, USA. Unpublished PhD. dissertation,
University of Montana, Missoula, Montana.
http://gradworks.umi.com/32/05/3205772.html

Hofmann, M. H., and M. S. Hendrix, 2010, Depositional
processes and the inferred history of ice-margin
retreat associated with the deglaciation of the
Cordilleran Ice Sheet: The sedimentary record
from Flathead Lake, northwest Montana, USA
Sedimentary Geology. vol. 223, no. 1-2, pp. 61–74
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0037073809002322

Hofmann, M. H., M. S. Hendrix, J. N. Moore, and M. Sperazza,
2006a, Late Pleistocene and Holocene depositional history
of sediments in Flathead Lake, Montana: evidence
from high-resolution seismic reflection interpretation.
Sedimentary Geology. vol. 184, no. 1, pp. 111–131.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0037073805003325

Hofmann, M. H., M. S. Hendrix, J. N. Moore, and M. Sperazza,
2006b, Neotectonic evolution and fault geometry change
along a major extensional fault system in the Mission and
Flathead Valleys, NW-Montana. Journal of Strucutral Geology.
vol. 28, no. 7, pp. 1244–1260.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191814106000885

LaFave, J. I., L. N. Smith, and T. W. Patton, 2004,
Ground-water resources of the Flathead Lake Area:
Flathead, Lake, and parts of Missoula and Sanders counties.
Montana Ground-Water assessment Atlas no. 2, The
Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Butte, Montana.
http://www.mbmg.mtech.edu/mbmgcat/public/ListCitation.asp?pub_id=10310&

Smith, L. N., 2001. Hydrogeologic framework of the southern
part of the Flathead Lake Area, Flathead, Lake, Missoula, and
Sanders Counties, Montana. Montana Bureau of Mines and
Geology, Montana Ground-Water Assessment Atlas No.2,
Part B, Map 10.

Smith, L. N., 2004. Late Pleistocene stratigraphy and implications
for deglaciation and subglacial processes of the Flathead
Lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, Flathead Valley, Montana,
USA. Sedimentary Geology, vol. 165, No. 3-4, pp. 295–332.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0037073803003427
http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2004RM/finalprogram/abstract_72168.htm

Wold, R. J., 1982. Seismic reflection study of Flathead Lake,
Montana. Miscellaneous field studies map no. MF-1433,
scale 1:117,647. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia

Best wishes,

Paul H.