Including Original "Paul H. Letters" Copyright © 1996-2025 Paul V. Heinrich / website © 1996-2025 Dirk Ross - All rights reserved.



Thursday, 23 July 2020

Buried impact crater beneath the Everglades, Florida? 23JUL2020

 Buried impact crater beneath the Everglades, Florida?

The below paper proposes the possibility that a buried

 impact crater underlie the Everglades. there should be

enough data around to test.

 

Petuch, E.J., 1987. The Florida Everglades: A Buried

Pseudoatoll?. Journal of Coastal Research, pp.189-200.

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7ec5/d3b02541aafb82280c81c50ac87812fa95e5.pdf

 

Yours,

 

Paul H.

Wednesday, 22 July 2020

Asteroid shower on the Earth-Moon system 800 million years ago 22JUL2020

 Asteroid shower on the Earth-Moon system 800 million years ago

Asteroid shower rained space rocks on
Earth and the moon 800 million years ago
By Charles Q. Choi, SpaceCom, July 21, 2020

Asteroid shower on the Earth-Moon system
800 million years ago revealed by lunar craters
by Osaka University, PhysOrg, July 21, 2020

The open access paper is:

Terada, K., Morota, T. & Kato, M. Asteroid shower
on the Earth-Moon system immediately before
the Cryogenian period revealed by KAGUYA.
Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17115-6

Yours,

Paul H.

Tuesday, 14 July 2020

High Pressure Polymorph of Feldspar Discovered 14JUL2020

 High Pressure Polymorph of Feldspar Discovered

A new form of the rock-forming mineral discovered

High-pressure experiments reveal unknown variants

of common mineral by Amit Malewar, June 1, 2020

https://www.techexplorist.com/new-form-common-rock-forming-mineral-discovered/32716/

 

Pakhomova, A., Simonova, D., Koemets, I., Koemets,

E., Aprilis, G., Bykov, M., Gorelova, L., Fedotenko, T.,

Prakapenka, V. and Dubrovinsky, L., 2020.

Polymorphism of feldspars above 10 GPa. Nature

Communications, 11(1), pp.1-8.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16547-4

 

Yours,

 

Paul H.

Wednesday, 8 July 2020

Moon contains more metal than previously estimated 08JUL2020

 Moon contains more metal than previously estimated

Higher concentration of metal in Moon's
craters provides new insights to its origin
New observations could challenge previous
theories of how the Moon was formed
University of Southern California, July 1, 2020

The paper is:

E. Heggy, E.M. Palmer, T.W. Thompson, B.J.
Thomson, G.W. Patterson. Bulk composition
of regolith fines on lunar crater floors: Initial
investigation by LRO/Mini-RF. Earth and
Planetary Science Letters, 2020; 541: 116274

Yours,

Paul V.

Thursday, 18 June 2020

New insights into the Great Dying, the Permo-Triassic mass extinction 18JUN2020

 New insights into the Great Dying, the Permo-Triassic mass extinction

New insight into the Great Dying, University of Leeds, June 11, 2020

The open access paper is:

Jacopo Dal Corso, Benjamin J. W. Mills, Daoliang Chu,
Robert J. Newton, Tamsin A. Mather, Wenchao Shu,
Yuyang Wu, Jinnan Tong, and Paul B. Wignall (2020)
Permo-Triassic boundary carbon and mercury cycling
linked to terrestrial ecosystem collapse.
Nature Communications 11, Article number: 2962

Another article is:

Coal-burning in Siberia led to climate change
250 million years ago, Arizona State University

The open access paper is:

Elkins-Tanton, L.T., Grasby, S.E., Black, B.A., Veselovskiy,
R.V., Ardakani, O.H. and Goodarzi, F., 2020. Field evidence
for coal combustion links the 252 Ma Siberian Traps with
global carbon disruption. Geology, 48. (open access)

Yours,

Paul H.

Friday, 12 June 2020

Cryptoexplosive Structures in Missouri: Guidebook, 1965 12JUN2020

 Cryptoexplosive Structures in Missouri: Guidebook, 1965

Snyder, F.G. and Williams, J.H., 1965. Cryptoexplosive
Structures in Missouri: Guidebook, 1965 Annual Meeting,
the Geological Society of America (No. 30). State of
Missouri, Division of Geological Survey and Water
Resources.

Yours,

Paul H.

Tuesday, 2 June 2020

UV-B radiation blamed for Devonian-Carboniferous boundary terrestrial extinction 02JUN2020

 UV-B radiation blamed for Devonian-Carboniferous boundary terrestrial extinction

End-Devonian Mass Extinction Caused by Erosion
of Ozone Layer, New Study Finds, Sci-News. May 28, 2020
http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/end-devonian-mass-extinction-erosion-ozone-layer-08477.html

No asteroids needed: ancient mass extinction tied
to ozone loss, warming climate By Paul Voosen
Science News, May. 27, 2020
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/no-asteroids-or-volcanoes-needed-ancient-mass-extinction-tied-ozone-loss-warming

The paper is:

John E. A. Marshall,  Jon Lakin, Troth, and
Sarah M. Wallace-Johnson, 2020, UV-B
radiation was the Devonian-Carboniferous
boundary terrestrial extinction kill mechanism.
Science Advances 27 May 2020: Vol. 6, no. 22, eaba0768
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba0768
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/22/eaba0768
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/22/eaba0768/tab-pdf

yours,

Paul H.

Saturday, 30 May 2020

Extinct Field Research Vehicles 30MAY2020

Extinct Field Research Vehicles

We all love our field vehicles that take us meteorite
or rock hunting. Below are some that went extinct.

There's a Massive Antarctic Exploration Vehicle Lost
Somewhere at the Bottom of the World. Last seen in
1958, it was designed to travel 5000 miles and
self-sustain for an entire year.
By Peter Holderithmay, the Drive, May 12, 2020
https://www.thedrive.com/news/33433/theres-a-massive-antarctic-exploration-vehicle-lost-somewhere-at-the-bottom-of-the-world

For more extinct megatechnology, there is:

The Incredible Story of the US Army's Earth-Shaking,
Off-Road Land Trains Oh, your pickup has a lift? That's cute.
By Peter Holderithmay, the Drive, May 25, 2020
https://www.thedrive.com/news/33645/the-incredible-story-of-the-us-armys-earth-shaking-off-road-land-trains

Yours,

Paul H.



Friday, 29 May 2020

Universe's Missing Matter Might Have Been Found 29MAY2020

 Universe's Missing Matter Might Have Been Found

Half the universe’s ordinary matter was missing —
and may have been found. The long-sought matter
appears to have been hiding in the gaps between galaxies
By Maria Temming, Science News, May 27, 2020

The paper is:

Macquart, J., Prochaska, J.X., McQuinn, M. et al.
A census of baryons in the Universe from localized
fast radio bursts. Nature 581, 391–395 (2020).

Yours,

Paul H.

Thursday, 28 May 2020

A steeply-inclined trajectory for the Chicxulub impact 28MAY2020

 A steeply-inclined trajectory for the Chicxulub impact

Dinosaur-dooming asteroid struck Earth at
'deadliest possible' angle Imperial College London, May 26, 2020

Collins, G.S., Patel, N., Davison, T.M. et al. A steeply-
inclined trajectory for the Chicxulub impact. Nature
Communications 11, 1480 (2020).

Another paper:

Rae, A.S., Collins, G.S., Poelchau, M., Riller, U., Davison,
T.M., Grieve, R.A., Osinski, G.R., Morgan, J.V. and
IODP-ICDP Expedition 364 Scientists, 2019. Stress‐Strain
Evolution During Peak‐Ring Formation: A Case Study
of the Chicxulub Impact Structure. Journal of
Geophysical Research: Planets, 124(2), pp.396-417.

Yours,

Paul H.


Thursday, 21 May 2020

Free geology ebooks online until June 30, 2020 21MAY2020

 Free geology ebooks online until June 30, 2020

A number of GeoScienceWorld publishers,
including the Geological Society of America
made their ebooks open access and free
to download until June 30, 2020.

Go see "Public Access for Books" at:

"To help support online learning and remote research
for the remainder of the semester, the following GSW
book publishers have extended public access to all of
their ebooks through June 30, 2020:

American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Canadian Science Publishing
Clay Minerals Society
Geological Society of America
Gulf PetroLink
Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland
PSAAPG
SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology
Society of Economic Geologists
University of Wyoming"


Some of the Geological Society of America books are listed at:

Examples of available meteorite themed publications are:

Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure—Development of "Brim"
Sedimentation in a Multilayered Marine Target

Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution V

Unusual Central Nevada Geologic Terranes Produced
by Late Devonian Antler Orogeny and Alamo Impact

The Sedimentary Record of Meteorite Impacts

Kentland Impact Structure chapters

Take Care, Be Safe,

Paul H.

Monday, 18 May 2020

American Geoscience Institute studies effects of COVID-19 on Geoscience jobs 18MAY2020

 American Geoscience Institute studies effects of COVID-19 on Geoscience jobs

The American Geoscience Institute is studying effects of COVID-19 on
employment in the Earth sciences. As part of this effort, they have the
"Geoscience COVID-19 Survey" at
to participate in.

In the distant future will report the results of their research in a
webinar,
"The Geoscience Workforce: Current Trends and Impacts from COVID-19"
on Friday, September 18, 2020. It is at:

Yours,

Paul H.

Friday, 15 May 2020

New Investigation of a Greenland ice core platinum anomaly near the Bølling-Allerød/Younger Dryas boundary 15MAY2020

 New Investigation of a Greenland ice core platinum anomaly near the Bølling-Allerød/Younger Dryas boundary

Green, C. E., 2019. Investigating the origin of a Greenland ice
core geochemical anomaly near the Bølling-Allerød/Younger
Dryas boundary (Doctoral dissertation, Durham University).

Green (2019) noted:

"The source of a platinum peak identified in the Greenland
Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) ice core associated with high
platinum/iridium (Pt/Ir) and platinum/aluminium (Pt/Al)
ratios, and previous research attributed the anomaly to an
unusual iron-rich Ir-poor meteorite impact."

Green (2019) concluded:

I. the Laacher See eruption is not the Pt spike source because:
A. the Laacher See tephra has low Pt concentrations,
B. the Laacher See tephra’s geochemical ratios are dissimilar
to the GISP2 Pt spike and
C. conversion of the Pt spike timing to the newest ice core
age-depth model shows a chronological offset of ~60 years
between the two events.

II. The event resulting in the Pt spike occurred ~60 years
after GS-1 cooling, and was therefore not the primary
trigger.

III. and the Pt spike origin is interpreted as either:
A. a non-cataclysmic impact of an undiscovered iron meteorite
B. or an unidentified Pt-rich volcanic eruption contemporaneous
with the anomaly, whose aerosol fractionated in the atmosphere
or ice.

Yours,

Paul H.

Thursday, 14 May 2020

Bucky balls reported from Cretaceous crinoids 14MAY2020

 Bucky balls reported from Cretaceous crinoids

Strange hollow ball-like structures found in
80-million-year-old fossils by University of Western Australia

Yours,

Paul H.

Friday, 1 May 2020

Antarctic meteorites yield global bombardment rate 01MAY2020

 Antarctic meteorites yield global bombardment rate

Antarctic meteorites yield global bombardment rate
By Jonathan Amos, BBC News, April 30, 2020

This open access paper is:

G.W. Evatt, A.R.D. Smedley, K.H. Joy, L. Hunter, W.H. Tey,
I.D. Abrahams, and L. Gerrish, 2020, The spatial flux of
Earth’s meteorite falls found via Antarctic data. geology.

Yours,

Paul H.