Zhangye Danxia, Rainbow Hills of China, Gansu Province

Zhangye Danxia, Rainbow Hills of China, Gansu Province

Colourful rock formations in the Zhangye Danxia
Landform Geological Park, the Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/9550531/Colourful-rock-formations-in-the-Zhangye-Danxia-Landform-Geological-Park.html

Magnificent Danxia landform
https://www.youtube.com/v/MasXlXV9fEM

Magnificent Danxia landform in NW China
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2013-04/02/c_132278768_3.htm

I have not found anything in English about the geology
of these hills. However, like the Painted Desert of
Arizona, the colors likely represent deeply oxidized fossil
soils (paleosols) (oranges and yellows) interbedded
with layers of reduced / unoxidized sediment, possibly
either lake or fluvial deposits.

For the Google Earth fans, the coordinates are
latitude 38.9546, longitude 100.0744. Just insert
“ 38.9546, 100.0744 ” into Google Earth search .

If anyone knows where I might find some information
about their geology, I would appreciate knowing where
it can be found.

Yours,

Paul H.

'Geyser' Erupts at Rome's Fiumicino Airport

'Geyser' Erupts at Rome's Fiumicino Airport

This is interesting. The good sign is that there has
not been any earthquakes, which should accompany,
as a precursor, to something more serious.

'Geyser' Erupts at Rome's Fiumicino Airport
By Marc Lallanilla, August 26, 2013
http://www.livescience.com/39178-geyser-erupts-at-rome-s-fiumicino-airport.html

Rome (Italy): new fumarole near Fiumicino
airport, August 26, 2013, Volcano Discovery
http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/view_news/36609/Rome-Italy-new-fumarole-near-Fiumicino-airport.html

Yours,

Paul H.

Glorieta Meteorite Hunt - "Diggers" episode Tonight NGC

Glorieta Meteorite Hunt - "Diggers" episode Tonight NGC

In “Re: [meteorite-list] Glorieta Hunt - "Diggers" episode Tonight NGC”
at http://www.mail-archive.com/meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com/msg114491.html ,
Michael Mulgrew Wrote:

“It is much more likely that their policies were a result
of real-world conflicts that happened on BLM land with
real life meteorite hunters and recent falls that occurred
just prior to the policy having been drafted. But wait,
your conjecture is a "could be" statement, too. Such a
vicious circle.”

An example of the “real life” occurrences and “know-
nothings” that make life difficult for the rest of us is:

Treasure Hunters Destroy Idaho’s Historic Oregon
Trail Ruts, Boise State Public Radio, August 28, 2103
http://boisestatepublicradio.org/post/treasure-hunters-destroy-idaho-s-historic-oregon-trail-ruts
http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/boise/2013/aug/28/treasure-hunters-cause-ghastly-damage-historic-oregon-trail-ruts-near-snake-river/

Oregon Trail Ruts Damaged, BLM Seeks Information
Twin Falls Times-News, August 22, 2013
http://magicvalley.com/news/local/mini-cassia/oregon-trail-ruts-damaged-blm-seeks-information/article_bcd17d7e-0b4e-11e3-bab6-0019bb2963f4.html
http://magicvalley.com/news/local/mini-cassia/it-s-tragic-officials-bemoan-damage-to-oregon-trail/article_f2f082c0-201b-5df5-abfc-183a6376d012.html

Yours,

Paul H.

Print Your Own Trilobite - Database Of Printable 3D Fossils Now Online

Print Your Own Trilobite - Database Of Printable 3D Fossils Now Online

A Database of 3D Fossils, Ready for You to
Explore and Print (What's better than looking
a picture of an ancient trilobite? Printing an
ancient trilobite.) The Atlantic, August 30, 2013
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/08/the-worlds-first-online-collection-of-3d-fossils/279044/

GB3D Type Fossils Online -
http://www.3d-fossils.ac.uk/home.html

JISC: GB/3D type fossils online
http://gb3dtypefossils.blogspot.com/2013/08/launching-gb3d-fossil-types-virtual.html

Calymene neotuberculata ludicra Siveter, 1996
http://www.3d-fossils.ac.uk/scanView.cfm?typSampleId=10000135&filePath=docs/OBJ/NMW/73_28G_3a/73_28G_3a.obj

Yours,

Paul H.

Fossils of the Moscow, Russia, Metro

Fossils of the Moscow, Russia, Metro

Hi,

The below web site is quite fascinating. The
web site owner did a lot work over a long
period of time taking pictures of the fossil
invertebrates that can be seen in the Moscow
Metro and elsewhere. Some of the pages are:

Moscow Metro 77 years and more than
70 million years old fossils in the underground
http://www.paleometro.ru

Nautilus and ammonites in the Moscow metro
http://www.paleometro.ru/pub1.php and
http://www.paleometro.ru/str4.php

Paleo-Metro News
http://www.paleometro.ru/str8.php

Station "Paveletskaya"
http://www.paleometro.ru/metro48.php

Station "Lenin Square"
http://www.paleometro.ru/metro8.php
http://www.paleometro.ru/metro47.php

Yours,

Paul H.

300-million-year-old tooth-wheel found in Russian Coal (Vladivostok) 22AUG2013

 300-million-year-old tooth-wheel found in Russian Coal (Vladivostok)

Weird things are reported from the rocks of

Russia including this Oopart.

300-million-year-old UFO tooth-wheel found in Russian

city of Vladivostok, the Voice of Russia, Jan. 19, 2013

http://voiceofrussia.com/2013_01_19/300-million-year-old-UFO-tooth-wheel-found-in-Russian-city-of-Vladivostok/

Traces of the collapse of the "flying saucers" are

preserved in coal? January 12, 2013. http://tv.kp.ru/daily/26013/2936837/

300-Million-Year-Old Tooth Wheel Found In Russian

Coal: Scientists by Lee Speigel, Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/300-million-year-old-tooth-gear_n_2527424.html

Come on, Russian media! A “UFO tooth-wheel”? Silly.

(Update: notextraordinary) by idoubtit, January 19, 2013

http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/01/come-on-russian-media-a-ufo-tooth-wheel-silly/

A similar weird artifact was reported in vol. 21, p. 477,

of the 1901 "Strand Magazine," London, England. It stated

"Mr. R. C. Hardman, of Meadhurst, Uppingham, has been

the fortunate finder of a coin dated 1397 embedded in a

lump of coal,which formed part and parcel of a ton of that

useful commodity bought at current prices."

There is a picture of this coin that accompanies this article.

So we have evidence that the Carboniferous Period dates

to 1397.  :-)  :-)  :-)

In interpreting such finds, a person has to realize is that

as coal is processed, it often gets fairly well crushed and

fragmented. The powdered and fragmented coal gets compacted

and squeezed during later processing, storage, or

transportation into relatively hard lumps what readily

mistaken as original solid lumps of coal. In the process

of processing coal, all types of different pieces of

machinery and various types of personal items get mixed

into the coal and can be incorporated into these

pseudo-lumps of coal. As a result, people, who find such

objects in coal, mistakenly believe that these objects were

originally part of the coal. In addition, when coal is

sitting in outside piles, weathering  and cementation of

it also occurs. This also forms pseudo-lumps of coal that

can incorporated manmade objects in them. People can also

mistake these artifacts as being imbedded in unaltered

prehistoric coal. In the above articles clearly state

that the object was not found in piece of freshly mined

coal but rather in coal that had likely been already

through a lot of processing, storage, shipping, and

other handling as it was being fed into either a stove

or furnace to be burned.

The 1397 coin and the aluminum machined cog wheel are

likely both quite "real." It is just that neither of them

were deposited along with the coal. Thus, they neither

can used to date the coal nor the coal can be used to

date them.

My favorite Russian "Oopart" is still:

"Ancient machine gears embedded in rock? Nope.

Crinoid fossils." http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/03/ancient-machine-gears-embedded-in-rock-nope-crinoid-fossils/

Machine dated at 400 million years found in Russia,

Brazil Weird News, March 8, 2012,

http://brazilweirdnews.blogspot.com/2012/03/machine-dated-at-400-million-years.html

Compare the pictures in the above articles to

File:FossileLaudonomphalus regularis.jpg at

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FossileLaudonomphalus_regularis.jpg

Yours,

Paul H.

Fallout from the Chelyabinsk fireball encircled Earth

Fallout from the Chelyabinsk fireball encircled Earth

Russian Meteor Explosion's Dust Lingered for Months
http://news.discovery.com/space/asteroids-meteors-meteorites/russian-meteor-dust-lingered-130819.htm
http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1112924536/nasa-tracks-debris-field-russian-meteor-081513/

Fallout from the Russian fireball encircled Earth,
research shows (The meteor that exploded near
Chelyabinsk, Russia on February 15 created a
mushroom cloud of microscopic dust grains that
spread across the sky, encircling the planet within
four days.) by Liz Fuller-Wright, The Christian
Science Monitor, August 19, 2013
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0819/Fallout-from-the-Russian-fireball-encircled-Earth-research-shows

The paper:

Gorkavyi, N., D. F. Rault, P. A. Newman, A. M.
da Silva, and A. E. Dudorov, 2013, New stratospheric
dust belt due to the Chelyabinsk bolide. American
Geophysical Union.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50788/abstract

Yours,

Paul H.

Asteroid Impact May have Triggered Evolution of Earth's Multicellular Life

Asteroid Impact May have Triggered Evolution of Earth's Multicellular Life

Asteroid Impact May have Triggered Evolution of
Earth's Multicellular Life, The Daily Galaxy
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2013/08/asteroid-impact-may-have-triggered-evolution-of-earths-multicellular-life-todays-most-popular.html

Asteroid may have triggered evolution by Andrew
Letten, Cosmos Online
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/explosion-life-followed-asteroid-strike/

Acraman Impact Structure, South Australia : Image
of the Day, Earth Observatory, NASA.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=42813

Acraman Impact Structure
http://passc.net/EarthImpactDatabase/acraman.html

The paper is:

Gostin, V. A., D. M. McKirdy, L. J. Webster and
G. E. Williams, 2010, Ediacaran ice-rafting and
coeval asteroid impact, South Australia: insights into
the terminal Proterozoic environment. Australian
Journal of Earth Sciences: An International
Geoscience Journal of the Geological Society of
Australia. vol. 57, no. 7, pp. 859-869.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08120099.2010.509408

A related paper is:

Willaims, G. E., and V. A. Gostin, 2010,
Geomorphology of the Acraman impact structure,
Gawler Ranges, South Australia. Cadernos Lab.
Xeolóxico de Laxe Coruña. vol. 35, pp. 209 – 220.
http://www.udc.es/iux/almacen/articulos/cd35_art11.pdf

Yours,

Paul H.

Fwd: Meteorite hunter takes £10,000 rock to auction - And a part

Fwd: Meteorite hunter takes £10,000 rock to auction - And a part

In "Fwd: Meteorite hunter takes £10,000 rock to
auction - And a part at
http://www.mail-archive.com/meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com/msg114325.html
Rob Elliott is quoted:

"Sadly, some journalists don't let the facts get
in the way of a good story!!"

An example of this is the story that I found in the
sidebar to the "Meteorite hunter takes £10,000
rock to auction" on Astro Watch at

http://www.astrowatch.net/2013/08/meteorite-hunter-takes-10000-rock-to.html

In the sidebar, there is a link to "Bosnia
'meteor' intrigues new generation in wake of
Russia strike" at:

http://www.astrowatch.net/2013/02/bosnia-meteor-intrigues-new-generation.html

In this story, a everyday sandstone concretion is
touted as a possible meteorite along the same old
tire claims, i.e. it allegedly being "It was so
hot that it was impossible to approach,” that a
person hears about just about every “witnessed”
meteorwrong.

In this case, this pseudoscience did not come from
the Guardian, but from “The Telegraph” in “Bosnia
'meteor' intrigues new generation in wake of Russia
strike (A mysterious rock at a quarry in central
Bosnia has seen a spike in visitors in the wake of
the meteor explosion over Russia last week.)
February 24, 2103 at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9890814/Bosnia-meteor-intrigues-new-generation-in-wake-of-Russia-strike.html

A person would think that before publishing this
story that a newspaper like The Telegraph would
consult a geologist before publishing local
folklore as news. Obviously, that was not done.

In case of both articles, I get the impression that
someone, somewhere, neither wanted the facts to
confuse their readers nor obstruct the writing of
an entertaining story.

Yours,

Paul H.

Recent Meteorite Falls in California Paper (PDF file)

Recent Meteorite Falls in California Paper (PDF file)

I found a recent paper about California meteorite falls
that is available online. It is:

Verish, R. S., 2013, Recent meteorite falls in California. In
R. E. Reynolds, ed., pp. 221-225, Raising Questions in
Central Mojave Desert. California State University Desert
Studies Center 2013 Desert Symposium, Zzyzx, California.

This paper is part of the California State University Desert
Studies Center 2013 Desert Symposium, which can be
downloaded from:

http://biology.fullerton.edu/dsc/pdf/2013Raisingquestionsinthecentralmojavedesert.pdf
http://biology.fullerton.edu/dsc/school/symposium.html

(yes, there is a place call Zzyzx, California,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zzyzx,_California )

Yours,

Paul H.

The 'Genetics of Sand' May Shed New Light On Evolutionary Process

The 'Genetics of Sand' May Shed New Light On Evolutionary Process

The 'Genetics of Sand' May Shed New Light
On Evolutionary Process Over Millions of Years
Science Daily, August 10, 2013
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130810063643.htm

Ezard, T. H. G., G. H. Thomas, and A. Purvis.
2013, Inclusion of a near-complete fossil record
reveals speciation-related molecular evolution.
Methods in Ecology and Evolution. vol. 4, no. 8,
pp. 745-753. DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.12089
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.12089/abstract

Another article is:

Plankton Fossils Tell Tale of Evolution and
Science Daily, Extinction, April 26, 2011
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110419212311.htm

Ezard, T. H. G., T. Aze, P. N. Pearson, and
A. Purvis, 2011, Interplay Between Changing
Climate and Species' Ecology Drives
Macroevolutionary Dynamics. Science. vol. 332
no. 6027, pp. 349-351. DOI: 10.1126/science.1203060
https://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6027/349

Best wishes,

Paul H.

12-year-old Boy Discovers 5.16 Carat Diamond, Crater of Diamonds State Park, Arkansas

12-year-old Boy Discovers 5.16 Carat Diamond, Crater of Diamonds State Park, Arkansas

12-year-old boy discovers impressive 5.16 carat
diamond after digging for only A few Hours
Daily Mail / Associated Press, August 11, 2013
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2389272/12-year-old-boy-discovers-impressive-5-16-carat-diamond-digging-TEN-minutes.html

12-year-old unearths 5.16 carat diamond
by Natalie DiBlasio, News10.net, USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/10/boy-arkansas-diamond/2639513/
http://www.news10.net/news/national/253638/5/12-year-old-unearths-516-carat-diamond

North Carolina Boy Scout Finds Diamond
at Murfreesboro, Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.
http://www.arkansasmatters.com/story/north-caroline-boy-scout-finds-diamond-at-murfreesboro/d/story/JDJngXXXHES02sXGW9cxLw

Yours,

Paul H.

Araguainha Crater, Brazil, and The Permian Extinction

Araguainha Crater, Brazil, and The Permian Extinction

Biggest extinction in history caused by climate-changing meteor.
University News, University of Western Australia, July 31, 2013,
http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201307315921/international/biggest-extinction-history-caused-climate-changing-meteor

Climate-changing meteor revisited, Science Alert, July 31. 2013
http://sciencealert.com.au/news/20130108-24642.html

The papers are:

Tohver, E., P.A. Cawood, C. Riccomini, C. Lana, and R. I. F.
Trindade, 2013, Shaking a methane fizz: Seismicity from the
Araguainha impact event and the Permian–Triassic global
carbon isotope record. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,
Palaeoecology vol. 387, pp. 66–75.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018213003313
and http://uwa.academia.edu/EricTohver

Tohver, E., C. Lana, P.A. Cawood, I. Fletcher, S. Sherlock,
F. Jourdan, B. Rasmussen, R.I.F. Trindade, E. Yokoyama,
C.R. Souza Filho, and Y. Marangoni, 2012, Geochronological
constraints on a Permo–Triassic impact crater: U–Pb and
40Ar/39Ar results from the 40 km Araguainha crater of
central Brazil. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. vol. 86,
pp. 214–227.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016703712001457
and http://uwa.academia.edu/EricTohver

Yours,

Paul H.

Qingsongite: New Mineral from Tibet

Qingsongite: New Mineral from Tibet

Qingsongite: New Mineral from Tibet Hard
as Diamond, Sci-News.com, August 5, 2013
http://www.sci-news.com/geology/science-qingsongite-new-mineral-01286.html

"The International Mineralogical Association
has officially approved qingsongite as the
name for a new mineral, cubic boron nitride."

New Mineral Qingsongite Discovered
Science 2.0, August 4, 2013
http://www.science20.com/news_articles/new_mineral_qingsongite_discovered-117730

Yours,

Paul H.

Fossils as Drugs: pharmaceutical palaeontology.

Fossils as Drugs: pharmaceutical palaeontology.

There is a fascinating monograph about folklore and
past usage of fossils as drugs that is available online
as a downloadable PDF file. It is:

Duffin Christopher J. 2008. - Fossils as Drugs:
pharmaceutical palaeontology. Ferrantia 54, Musée
national d’histoire naturelle, Luxembourg, 83 p.

PDF file at:
http://ps.mnhn.lu/ferrantia/publications/Ferrantia54.pdf
http://ps.mnhn.lu/ferrantia/liste.asp

Home page - http://ps.mnhn.lu/ferrantia/

Yours,

Paul H.

Ancient Ediacaran Ecosystem, Nilpena Station, South Australia

Ancient Ediacaran Ecosystem, Nilpena Station, South Australia

Earth's oldest animal ecosystem held in fossils at
Nilpena Station in SA outback By Kerry Staight,
ABC News, August 3, 2013
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-03/sa-pastoral-property-nilpena-holds-animal-fossils/4862432?section=sa
http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/article/18327370/earths-oldest-animal-ecosystem-held-in-fossils-at-nilpena-station-in-sa-outback/

$24m gamble to save fossils by Tim Lloyd,
The Advertiser, http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/m-gamble-to-save-fossils/story-e6frea83-1226118423815

Oldest vertebrate fossil found in Australia, scientists say.
ABC Science Online, http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s973390.htm

Yours,

Paul H.

Professor Studies Trinitite

Professor Studies Trinitite

Professor Studies Material From World’s First Nuclear Blast
by Edwin L. Aguirre, University of Massachusetts News
http://www.uml.edu/News/stories/2013/Eby-Atomic-Rock.aspx

Related papers are at:
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/248380942_Nuclear_forensics_searching_for_nuclear_device_debris_in_trinitite-hosted_inclusions?ev=pub_cit_inc

Yours,

Paul H.

Remnants of Ancient Streambed on Mars

Remnants of Ancient Streambed on Mars

Remnants of Ancient Streambed on Mars (White-Balanced View)
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia17062.html

Guy Webster, 2013, Pebbly Rocks Testify to Old Streambed on Mars.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS, July 28th, 2013
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20130530f.html

Papers

Williams, R. M. E., J. P. Grotzinger, W. E. Dietrich, S Gupta,
D. Y. Sumner, R. C. Wiens, N. Mangold, M. C. Malin, and
others, 2013, Martian Fluvial Conglomerates at Gale Crater.
Science, vol. 340, no. 6136, pp. 1068–1072.
https://www.sciencemag.org/content/340/6136/1068.abstract

Jerolmack, D. J., 2013, Pebbles on Mars. Science. vol. 340,
no. 6136, pp. 1055-1056.
https://www.sciencemag.org/content/340/6136/1055.summary

Papers on Martian sedimentology are:

Grotzinger, J., D. Beaty, G. Dromart, S. Gupta, M. Harris, J.
Hurowitz, G. Kocurek, S. McLennan, R. Milliken, and others,
2011, Mars Sedimentary Geology: Key Concepts and
Outstanding Questions. Astrobiology. vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 77–87.
http://authors.library.caltech.edu/37179/1/ast.2010.0571.pdf

Grotzinger, J., D.W. Beaty, G. Dromart, S. Gupta, M. Harris,
J. Hurowitz, G. Kocurek, S. McLennan, R. Milliken, G. G.
Ori, and D. Summer, 2011, The Sedimentary Record of Mars.
The Sedimentary Record. vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 4-8.
http://www.sepm.org/CM_Files/SedimentaryRecord/SedRecord%209-2.pdf
http://www.sepm.org/pages.aspx?pageid=37

Lewis, K. W., and O. Aharonson, in press, Occurrence and
Origin of Rhythmic Sedimentary Rocks on Mars. Journal
of Geophysical Research.
https://www.princeton.edu/~kwlewis/2arabia.pdf
http://www.princeton.edu/~kwlewis/publications.shtml

Yours,

Paul H.