Impact Origin of Archean Craton

Impact Origin of Archean Craton

Impact origin of archean cratons: Learning from Venus
Geological Society of America
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-08/gsoa-ioo082715.php
http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2015082813370021.html

the Paper is:

Hansen, V. 2015, Impact origin of Archean cratons. Lithosphere.
First published online August 24, 2015, doi: 10.1130/L371.1
http://lithosphere.gsapubs.org/content/early/2015/08/24/L371.1.abstract

Yours,

Paul H.

Meteorite Museum, Atacama desert, Northern Chile

Meteorite Museum, Atacama desert, Northern Chile

This Couple Built a Meteorite Museum in the
Middle of the Desert—And It's Awesome
by Jo Piazza, Yahoo News, Sept. 10, 2015
https://www.yahoo.com/travel/from-hobby-to-business-we-built-a-meteorite-128751142869.html

Yours,

Paul H.

Double Impact Craters Found In Sweden (~458 Ma)

Double Impact Craters Found In Sweden (~458 Ma)

Two Meteors Hit Ancient Earth at Same Time
D News, by Elizabeth Palmero, LiveScience
http://news.discovery.com/space/asteroids-meteors-meteorites/two-meteors-hit-ancient-earth-at-same-time-150915.htm
http://www.livescience.com/52154-ancient-meteors-struck-simultaneously.html

Double crater identified in Sweden
Eureka alert, University of Gothenburg, Sept. 11, 2015
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/uog-gud091115.php
http://www.gu.se/english/about_the_university/news-calendar/News_detail//globally-unique-double-crater-identified-in-sweden.cid1317063

Yours,

Paul H.

Fossils From The Very Deep Subsurface (Underwater, Underground, Or Both)

Fossils From The Very Deep Subsurface (Underwater, Underground, Or Both)

It is an old topic, but still interesting.

Oil drillers have struck dinosaur off Norway, the
Research Council of Norway announced this week.
by James Owen, National Geographic News, April 26, 2006
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/04/0426_060426_dinos.html

The World's Deepest Dinosaur Finding –
2256 Metres Below The Seabed, Science Daily,
The Research Council of Norway, April 25, 2006
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060425091449.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-04/trco-twd042406.php
http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/721.php

By the way, a Cretaceous turtle and Ordovician trilobite were
found in separate drill cores in Florida.

In 1955, the Amerada Petroleum Corporation drilled wildcat well
12 miles northwest of Okeechobee, Florida. A well core from
9,210 feet contained the remains of a Cretaceous aquatic turtle.
The core, which was composed of gray argillaceous dolomite,
was 4 3/ 8 inches in diameter, recovered the anterior or front
end of it. Its skull and hind portions were outside the area of
the core (Olson 1965:4).

Further north, A similar chance recovery from a drill core was
made in Madison County, Florida. In 1944, the Hunt Oil Company
recovered drill core from depth of 4,628 feet. It contained a
Middle Ordovician trilobite (Colpocoryphe exsul) (Olson 1965:4).

The paper that describes and illustrates the Florida trilobite is:

Whittington, H. B., 1953, A new Ordovician trilobite
from Florida. Breviora 1953, vol. 17, pp. 1-6

The above paper, with a picture, is at:
https://archive.org/details/cbarchive_39107_anewordoviciantrilobitefromflo1952

The paper, but without the picture, is also at:
http://biostor.org/reference/biostor/4489

In addition, a Paleocene mammal skull was recovered
from a depth of about 2,460 feet below the surface from
an oil well in Caddo Parish in Junior Oil Company,
Beard No. 1 in Sec. 9, T.18N., R.16W. (Simpson 1932).
See https://web.archive.org/web/20080515014027/http://members.cox.net/pyrophyllite/Paleocene.html

Reference cited:

Olson, S. J., 1965, Vertebrate fossil localities in Florida.
Special Publication no. 12, Florida Geological Survey.
http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00000475/00001/1j

Simpson, G. G., 1932, A new Paleocene mammal from
a deep well in Louisiana. proceedings of the United States
National Museum, vol. 82, art. 2, pp. 1-4.
https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/16067
https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/16067/USNMP-82_2943_1932.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Yours,

Paul H.

Re: [Rockhounds] AD- Ruck's Pit Calcite/Clams - 2005 Guidebook

Re: [Rockhounds] AD- Ruck's Pit Calcite/Clams - 2005 Guidebook

Larry wrote:

“I have recently added 9 specimens from the
now closed Ruck's Pit, in Florida….”

Given the discussion about Mercenariapermagna and
calcite crystals, list members might be interested to know
that there is a PDF version of filed trip guidebook about
Ruck’s Pit that is available online. It is:

Maddox, G. L., T. M. Scott, and G. H. Means, 2005,
Rucks’ Pit: Okeechobee County, Florida, USA.
Southeastern Geological Society Field Trip Guidebook
Number 45 December 3, 2005
http://segs.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/SEGS-Guidebook-45.pdf
http://segs.org/publications/

It provides a wealth of information about the occurrence,
age, and other aspects of the geological setting of both
the Mercenariapermagna and the calcite crystals.

Yours,

Paul H.

New Species of Ancient Human Discovered In South Africa

New Species of Ancient Human Discovered In South Africa

The Atlantic has a great article about how these fossils
were discovered and excavated. It is:

6 Tiny Cavers, 15 Odd Skeletons, and 1 Amazing New
Species of Ancient Human. (The inside story behind a
spectacular new hominin find.) by Ed Yong, Sept. 10, 2015
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/homo-naledi-rising-star-cave-hominin/404362/

The paper is:

Berger, L. E., J. Hawks, D. J. de Ruiter, and many others, 2015,
Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from the Dinaledi
Chamber, South Africa. eLife. vol. 4, e09560. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.09560
Abstract at http://elifesciences.org/content/4/e09561
PDF file at http://elifesciences.org/content/elife/4/e09560.full.pdf

Yours,

Paul H.

Re: [meteorite-list] The Holocene Start Impact Event

Re: [meteorite-list] The Holocene Start Impact Event

In Re: The Holocene Start Impact Event and
on September 10, 2015, E.P. Grondine wrote

"Hi Paul- thanks for your note.
Now, let me draw you a picture:
http://archaeologica.boardbot.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3656 "

The in above web page among various stuff, you stated:

"In the first of my notes, I speculated on the timing of
the beginning of the Holocene Start Impact Event. In
this note, I moved on to consider some possible
physical evidence, and call attention to an earlier
comment by David Ollen on the mechanics of large
hypervelocity impacts onto ice sheet"

This refers to an article "Did A Massive Meteor Touch
Down Here" by By Graham Mason in the Lloydminster
Meridian Booster, which is at:
http://www.meridianbooster.com/2009/03/18/did-a-massive-meteor-touch-down-here

In the past, you have asked for my comments on this
feature, but I have been preoccupied with a geoarchaeological
study of the Louisiana Continental Shelf and Slope for the
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, onshore geological
mapping, and other projects. Having just got back from the
field earlier than expected, I have had time to see what
has been pubished about the geology of the Kitscoty,
Alberta area in which this feature is located.

Fortunately, there exist decent, detailed geological maps of that
part of Alberta, e.g. Crickmay et al. (1942) and (Glombick 2014a,
2014b). Although there is an ovalish outcrop pattern, the
comparison of these geological maps to local topographic maps
found that this and other outcrop patterans are controlled by the
local topography. The best that I can find, the local structure
consists of gently dipping Cretaceous clastic strata that lack
any discernable uplifts or any other structure that can be
currently interpreted to be related to a major extraterrestrial
impact.

If a person looks hard enough anywhere in the world he
or she can find any number of enigmatic circular, oval, circular
and curvilinear features of uncertain origin illustrated in
Gableman (1984) that are not related impact structures or
craters. Of course, Gableman (1984) provides only one of
many explantions offered for these still mysterious features.

Buy the way, an interesting web page related to Alberta
impact structures is:

Cypress Hills region - Bedrock Geology and Physiography
Astroblemes around the Cypress Hills (Eagle Butte structure)
http://www.scirpus.ca/escape/scapebib/sect251.htm

A recently published open-access and interesting paper
related to the Younger Dryas is:

Ancient Cold Period Could Provide Clues About Future
Climate Change, University of Texas News, Sept. 2, 2015
http://news.utexas.edu/2015/09/02/ancient-cold-period-could-provide-clues-on-climate-change

Partin,, J. W., T. M. Quinn, C.-C. Shen, Y. Okumura, M. B.
Cardenas, F. P. Siringan, J. L. Banner, K. Lin, H.-M. Hu, and
F. W. Taylor, 2015, Gradual onset and recovery of the
Younger Dryas abrupt climate event in the tropics. Nature
Communications 6, Article number: 8061 doi:10.1038/ncomms9061
Received 10 October 2014 Accepted 13 July 2015
Published 02 September 2015
Abstract at : http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150902/ncomms9061/full/ncomms9061.html
PDF at: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150902/ncomms9061/pdf/ncomms9061.pdf

References Cited

Crickmay, C. H., G. S. Hume, and C. O. Hage (1942) Kitscoty,
Alberta. Geological Survey of Canada Map 673A. scale
1:253,440. Geological Survey of Canada/Department of Mines.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
http://geoscan.ess.nrcan.gc.ca/starweb/geoscan/servlet.starweb?path=geoscan/geoscanfastlink_e.web&search1=R=106804
http://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/starweb/geoscan/servlet.starweb?path=geoscan/downloade.web&search1=R=106804
http://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/starweb/geoscan/servlet.starweb?path=geoscan/geoscan_e.web

Gableman, J. W. (1984) Circular Geomorphic Features
Permissive to Interpretation as Conduits of Mantle Degasing.
Global Tectonics and Metallogeny. vol. 2, nos. 3 and 4,
pp. 151-168.

Glombick, P. M. (2014a) Bedrock Geology of the Vermillion Area,
Alberta (NTS 73E). AER/AGS Map 570. scale 1:250,000. Alberta
Energy Regulator, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/abstracts/MAP_570.html
http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/map/PDF/Map_570.pdf
http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/gis/

Glombick, P. M. (2014b) Bedrock Geology of the Wainwright Area,
Alberta (NTS 73E). AER/AGS Map 569. scale 1:250,000. Alberta
Energy Regulator, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/abstracts/MAP_569.html
http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/gis/

Yours,

Paul H.

Re: [meteorite-list] Graham Hancock on the YD impacts E.P. Grondine

Re: [meteorite-list] Graham Hancock on the YD impacts E.P. Grondine

E.P. Grondine wrote,

"Hi Paul, all
A preview of fall TV shows:
http://sacredgeometryinternational.com/graham-hancock-and-joe-rogan-discuss-randall-carlsons-paradigm-changing-research
I never heard of Randall Carson - has anyone here heard of him? "

In slumming on the Graham Hancock Messageboard, I have
become aware of him. Randall and Graham seem to be kindred
souls in being contrarians and independent investigators into
and advocates for matters that they judge to be unfairly
overlooked by convential science and labeled either "alt-history"
and "alternative history." Some people, whom I know have far
less diplomatic and kinders lables for their interests.

Randall regards himself as self taught expert in whole range
of subjects, including geomythology, geology, catatsrophist,
planetary geologist, scared geometry, and so forth and an able
teacher of all the above. People can judge for themselves
how well Randall's self-evaluation of his expertise either
matches or mismatches reality by listening or reading his
own views at:

1. Sacred Geometry International (Featured Posts)
http://sacredgeometryinternational.com ,
http://sacredgeometryinternational.com/category/media/articles ,
and https://www.facebook.com/sacredgeometryintl

2. Randall Carlson and Joe Rogan Discuss Lost Civilizations,
Climate Change, Sacred Geometry, Freemasonry and
Rewriting History with Graham Hancock – JRE #606 by SGI
http://sacredgeometryinternational.com/jre_606_randall_carlson_joe_rogan

3. Randall Carlson: The Making of a Catastrophist – Part 1
by Randall Carlson
http://sacredgeometryinternational.com/the-making-of-a-catastrophist-randall-carlson

By the way, an advanced discussing of their new book Magicians
of the Gods can be found in "EXCLUSIVE: Comet 'three times
bigger than dinosaur killer could soon destroy Earth' A
TWENTY-mile wide piece of a huge comet poses a "clear and
present" danger to 'all life on Earth,' a controversial new book
by a bestselling author claims," by Jon Austin, Express, Sept. 2015.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/603596/Comet-3-times-bigger-than-dinosaur-killer-could-soon-destroy-Earth
http://csglobe.com/exclusive-comet-three-times-bigger-than-dinosaur-killer-could-soon-destroy-earth/

It appears that this book has a quite different view of the
Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis than has appeared in the
"Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United
States" and other journals. This book appears will be not at
all helpful, as assumed by some people, at making their ideas
known among the public in a constructive manner. It might
end up as a classic case of be careful what you wish for as you
might get it. It will be very interesting to see how it all eventual
turns out.

Ed also stated:

"To my knowledge, the FIRST suggestion that the YD
impacts may have triggered a release of Glacial Lake
Missoula was made by me to the meteorite list several years
back in regards to Assiniboine memories of what occurred."

The latest megaflood from Glacial Lake Missoula has been
very intensively research. At this point, there is absolutely no
need to invoke an exterestrial impact for the latest Missoula
Flood event as a more plausible explanation has been well-
documented in numerous publications. For example, go see:

DeGrey, L., and P. K. Link, 2005, Lake Missoula Floods.
(The Pleistocene Ice Age and the Cordilleran Ice
Sheet Ancient Lake Missoula and the Missoula Ice Age
Floods Lasting Effects of the Missoula Ice Age Floods,
Digital Geology Idaho, Idaho State University.
http://geology.isu.edu/Digital_Geology_Idaho/Module13/mod13.htm

O'Connor, J. E., R. B. Waitt, G. Benito, D. Cordero, and
S. Burns, 1995a, Beyond the Channeled Scabland A field trip
to Missoula flood features in the Columbia, Yakima, and
Walla Walla valleys of Washington and Oregon-Part 1.
Oregon Geology, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 51-60.
http://www.oregongeology.org/pubs/OG/OGv57n03.pdf

O'Connor, J. E., R. B. Waitt, G. Benito, D. Cordero, and
S. Burns, 1995b, Beyond the Channeled Scabland: A Field
Trip to Missoula Flood Features in the Columbia, Yakima,
and Walla Walla Valleys of Washington and Oregon; Part 2;
Field Trip, Day One. Oregon Geology. v.ol 57, no.4, pp. 75–86.
http://www.oregongeology.org/pubs/OG/OGv57n04.pdf

Norman, D.K., A. J. Busacca, and R. Teissere, 2004,
Geology of the Yakima Valley Wine County— A
Geologic Field Trip Guide from Stevenson to Zillah,
Washington. Field Trip Guide 1 June 2004. Washington
State Department of Natural Resources .
http://wa-dnr.s3.amazonaws.com/publications/ger_ftg1_yakima_valley_wine_country.pdf

Baker, V. R., and D. Nummedal, eds., 1978, The Channeled
Scabland, NASA, Washington, DC.
http://fax.libs.uga.edu/j84xnasx1x18xcx36/1f/channeled_scabland.pdf

There are a number PDf files of fieldtrip guidebook in
Discover the Ice Age Floods – http://hugefloods.com/Ellensburg.html
http://hugefloods.com/Beezley-Hills-Field-Trip-1.pdf
http://hugefloods.com/Karl-Lillquist-Guide-2.pdf
http://hugefloods.com/Karl-Lillquist-Guide.pdf
http://hugefloods.com/Grand-Coulee-Ice-Age.pdf

Ice Age Floods Study of Alternatives Appendix A
—Reference List – National Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/iceagefloods/app-a.htm

There are many other papers and PDF files, both online and
behind paywalls.

Also, there exists an abundance of published radiocarbon dates,
optically stimulated luminescence dates, paleosols (inlcuding
interbedded calcretes that took at least thousands to tens of
thousands of years to form), stratigraphic data, dated ash beds,
paleomagentic data, terrestrial trace fossils, and so forth that
documents there having been at least over 40 to over a 100
separated Missoula floods having occurred over the last 1.5
millian years. Missoula-like megafloods definitely occurred
at least more than 780,000 years ago. As a result, a person needs
to explain how the latest Missoula Floods differs the other more
than 40 to 100 other Missoula Floods, which have occurred in the
past, that an extraterrestrial impact is needed to explain it.

A few of many interesting papers are

Gaylord, D. R., A. J. Busacca, and M. R. Sweeney, 2003, The
Palouse loess and the Channeled Scabland: A paired ice-age
geologic system. p. 123-134. In D. Easterbrook (ed.) XVI
INQUA Congress Field Trip Guidebook.
http://www.wou.edu/las/physci/taylor/gs407rivers/Gaylord_etal_2003_Palouse_Loess_Field_Guide.pdf

McDonald, E. V. , M. R. Sweeney, and A. J. Busacca, 2012,
Glacial outburst floods and loess sedimentation documented
during Oxygen Isotope Stage 4 on the Columbia Plateau,
Washington State. Quaternary Science Reviews. vol. 45 pp. 18-30
http://web.gps.caltech.edu/~mpl/Ge121a_Scablands/McDonald%20et%20al%202012%20old%20flood%20evidence.pdf

Benito, G., and J. E. O’Connor, 2003, Number and size of
last-glacial Missoula floods in the Columbia River valley
between the Pasco Basin, Washington, and Portland, Oregon.
Geological Society of America Bulletin. vol. 115, no. 5; pp. 624–638
http://www.wou.edu/las/physci/taylor/eisi/benito03.PDF

Yours,



Paul H.

New Paper About Bloody Creek Structure, Nova Scotia

New Paper About Bloody Creek Structure, Nova Scotia

There is a new paper about Bloody Creek structure. It is:

Spooner, I., P. Pufahl, T. Brisco, J. Morrow,
M. Nalepa, P. Williams, and G. Stevens, 2015, The
North structure: evidence for a second possible
impact event at the Bloody Creek site, Nova Scotia,
Canada. Atlantic Geology, vol 51, pp. 44-50.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4138/atlgeol.2015.002
https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/ag/issue/view/1723
https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/ag/article/view/22375

“The North structure is a discontinuous, partially
flooded elliptical basin 250 m in diameter and
defined by arcuate scarps. It is located in Annapolis
County, Nova Scotia, approximately 1 km north of
the Bloody Creek structure, a possible 400 m-diameter
elliptical impact crater.”

“What is lacking from the North and Bloody Creek
sites is a convincing petrographic record of shock
metamorphic effects, a problem that clearly needs
further investigation.”

“Both structures are interpreted to be post-Pliocene
(<2.6 Ma), based on the unlikelihood of their preservation
during Cretaceous-Paleogene regional peneplanation.”

They also note that preservation of pre-Pleistocene
saprolites beneath glacial tills as thick as 1–6 m at
locations within 10 km of the proposed suggests that
glacial erosion processes were not uniform in the
region of both landforms. alternatively, they argued
the “…well-preserved scarps and low depth-diameter
morphometry…” of these features “…might possibly
be the product of impact onto thin, stagnant glacial
ice…” 14,000 to 12,000 calendar years ago.

They conclude that much work remains to be done.

Yours,

Paul H.

Asteroids Boiled Young Earth’s Oceans. High temperatures shaped life’s early evolution

Asteroids Boiled Young Earth’s Oceans. High temperatures shaped life’s early evolution

Did a massive asteroid turn Earth into a boiling
'Spring' 3.3 billion years ago? Daily Mail Online.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3096111/Did-massive-asteroid-turn-Earth-boiling-SPRING-3-3bn-years-ago-Impact-vapourised-planet-s-oceans.html

“Scientists found evidence for huge asteroid impacts up to
3.3 billion years ago. These may have superheated the
atmosphere and raised the temperature and after losing
100 m of water, Earth would have resembled a 'hot spring.”

Asteroids boiled young Earth’s oceans. High temperatures
shaped life’s early evolution by Thomas Summers
https://student.societyforscience.org/article/asteroids-boiled-young-earth’s-oceans

The paper is:

Lowe, D. R., and G. R. Byerly, 2015, Geologic record of
partial ocean evaporation triggered by giant asteroid
impacts, 3.29–3.23 billion years ago. Geology. First
published online May 7, 2015, doi: 10.1130/G36665.1
http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2015/05/07/G36665.1.abstract

Dr. Donald Lowe’s Publications
https://profiles.stanford.edu/donald-lowe?tab=publications

Yours,

Paul H.

African Plant Might Indicate Presence of Diamond Deposits

African Plant Might Indicate Presence of Diamond Deposits

Rare African plant signals diamonds beneath the soil
By Eric Hand, Science News, May 4, 2015
http://news.sciencemag.org/africa/2015/05/rare-african-plant-signals-diamonds-beneath-soil

Rare African plant points the way to diamonds
Prospectors in Africa are going to have to brush
up on their botany by James Vincent, the Verge
http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/7/8564375/diamond-mine-plant-pandanus-candelabrum

This plant may be the best diamond-finding tool
you’ll ever have by Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining News
http://www.mining.com/this-plant-may-be-the-best-diamond-finding-tool-youll-ever-have/

Pandanus - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandanus

Stephen E. Haggerty, S. E., 2015, Discovery of a
Kimberlite Pipe and Recognition of a Diagnostic
Botanical Indicator in New Liberia. Economic
Geology. v. 110 no. 4 p. 851-856

Yours,

Paul H.

Pigments, Organelles Persist in Jurassic Fossil Feathers

Pigments, Organelles Persist in Jurassic Fossil Feathers

Pigments, organelles persist in fossil feathers
Brown University, Press Release, August 27, 2015
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2015/08/27/pigments.organelles.persist.fossil.feathers
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-08/bu-pop082515.php
http://phys.org/news/2015-08-pigments-organelles-persist-fossil-feathers.html

Chemical Traces In Fossilized Dinosaur
Feathers Shed Light On Their True Color
By Andrea Alfano, Tech Times, August 28, 2015
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/80280/20150828/chemical-traces-fossilized-dinosaur-feathers-shed-light-true-color.htm

The Open Access paper is:

Lindgren, J., P. Sjövall, R. M. Carney, A. Cincotta,
P. Uvdal, S. W. Hutcheson, O. Gustafsson,
U. Lefèvre, F. Escuillié, J. Heimdal, A. Engdahl,
J. A. Gren, B. P. Kear, K. Wakamatsu, J. Yans,
and P. Godefroit, 2015, Molecular composition and
ultrastructure of Jurassic paravian feathers.
Scientific Reports 5, Article number: 13520 (2015)
doi:10.1038/srep13520,
Published online: 27 August 2015

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep13520

Yours,

Paul H.

Ancient Antarctic Fossils Inspired H.P. Lovecraft's Fiction

Ancient Antarctic Fossils Inspired H.P. Lovecraft's Fiction

Geology And Ancient Fossils Inspired H.P. Lovecraft
To Write His Best Horror Story by David Bressan,
Forbes, Aug. 20, 2015
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2015/08/20/geology-and-ancient-fossils-inspired-h-p-lovecraft-to-write-his-best-horror-story/

Some blogs about geology-inspired fiction:

The Geology Of Star Trek: From Extraterrestrial Minerals
To Alien Life-Forms by David Bressan, Forbes, Aug. 19, 2015
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2015/08/19/the-geology-of-star-trek-from-extraterrestrial-minerals-to-alien-life-forms/

On the importance of fictional role models by Jessica Ball
AGU Blogosphere, March 5, 2015
http://blogs.agu.org/magmacumlaude/2015/03/05/importance-fictional-role-models/

Yours,

Paul H.

The Geology of Star Trek - Extraterrestrial Minerals And Alien Life-Forms Important

The Geology of Star Trek - Extraterrestrial Minerals And Alien Life-Forms

The Geology Of Star Trek: From Extraterrestrial Minerals
To Alien Life-Forms by David Bressan, Forbes, Aug. 19, 2015
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2015/08/19/the-geology-of-star-trek-from-extraterrestrial-minerals-to-alien-life-forms/

Some blogs about geology-inspired fiction:

Geology And Ancient Fossils Inspired H.P. Lovecraft
To Write His Best Horror Story by David Bressan,
Forbes, Aug. 20, 2015
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2015/08/20/geology-and-ancient-fossils-inspired-h-p-lovecraft-to-write-his-best-horror-story/

On the importance of fictional role models by Jessica Ball
AGU Blogosphere, March 5, 2015
http://blogs.agu.org/magmacumlaude/2015/03/05/importance-fictional-role-models/

Yours,

Paul H.

Species New to Science Blog (It Includes Fossils)

Species New to Science Blog (It Includes Fossils)

Below is an useful web page that I found:

Species New to Science (new & recent described
Flora & Fauna species from all over the World esp.
Asia, Oriental, Indomalayan & Malesiana region
http://novataxa.blogspot.com

It lists recently described and published species
that are new to science. It includes in its postings
newly described species of fossil. Each posts
provides an abstract, taxonomic summary, images,
and a citation with link(s) for each species.

An example is a post for Wendiceratops
pinhornensis at http://novataxa.blogspot.com/2015/07/wendiceratops.html .
and Dreadnoughtus schrani at
http://novataxa.blogspot.com/2014/09/dreadnoughtus.html .

Yours,

Paul H.

Competition From Cats Drove Many Species Of Ancient Dogs Into Extinction

Competition From Cats Drove Many Species Of Ancient Dogs Into Extinction

So that's why dogs hate cats! Fossils reveal felines
drove 40 species of canines to extinction after arriving
in North America, Daily Mail, August 13, 2015.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3196270/So-s-dogs-hate-cats-Fossils-reveal-felines-drove-40-species-canines-extinction-arriving-North-America.html

The role of species competition in biodiversity, July 7, 2015
by Christopher Packham, PhysOrg.
http://phys.org/news/2015-07-role-species-competition-biodiversity.html

Competition from cats drove extinction of many species
of ancient dogs, University of Gothenburg, August 12, 2015
ScienceDaily.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150812103827.htm

The paper is:

Silvestro, D., A. Antonelli, N. Salamin, and T. B. Quentale,
2015, The role of clade competition in the diversification
of North American canids. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Science of the United States. vol. 112,
no. 28, pp. 8684–8689, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1502803112
Abstract: http://www.pnas.org/content/112/28/8684.short
PDF file: http://www.pnas.org/content/112/28/8684.full.pdf

Other articles and paper are:

How Cats Became Domesticated by Janet Fang, Nov. 11, 2014
http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/genome-comparison-shows-how-wildcats-became-housecats

Ask Smithsonian: Are Cats Domesticated? by Alicia Ault
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ask-smithsonian-are-cats-domesticated-180955111

"There is little genetic difference between a tabby and a wild
cat, so scientists think the house cat is only domestic when it
wants to be."

Montague M. J., G. Li, B. Gandolfi, R. Khan, and many others,
2015. Comparative analysis of the domestic cat genome reveals
genetic signatures underlying feline biology and domestication
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United
States. vol. 111 no. 48, 17230–17235, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1410083111
http://www.pnas.org/content/111/48/17230.abstract

Yours,

Paul H.

If You Think You're Safe From Earthquakes, You May Be Wrong

If You Think You're Safe From Earthquakes,You May Be Wrong

If You Think You're Safe From Earthquakes, You May Be Wrong (It’s no surprise that
Californians are in danger, but scientists have also flagged residents of Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Illinois and South Carolina.)
National Geographic, August15, 2015
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/08/150812-earthquake-united-states-risk-surprise-science/

The paper is:

Jaiswal, K. S., M. D. Petersen, K. Rukstales, and W. S. Leith (2015) Earthquake Shaking Hazard
Estimates and Exposure Changes in the Conterminous United States. Earthquake Spectra. In-Press.
http://earthquakespectra.org/doi/10.1193/111814EQS195M

The map is at “Seismic Hazard Maps and Data” at
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/hazards/products/
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/hazards/products/conterminous/index.php#2014
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/hazards/products/conterminous/2014/HazardMap2014_lg.jpg

Petersen, M. D., M. P. Moschetti, P. M. Powers, C. S. Mueller, K. M. Haller, A. D. Frankel, Y. Zeng,
S. Rezaeian, S. C. Harmsen, O. S. Boyd, N. Field, R. Chen, R. Rui, K. S. Rukstales, N. Luco, R. L.
Wheeler, R. A. Williams, and A. H. Olsen, 2014, Documentation for the 2014 update of the United
States national seismic hazard maps: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2014–1091, 243 p.,http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1091/

Yours

Paul H.

Geologists Unearth Fully Intact Rock

Geologists Unearth Fully Intact Rock

Geologists Unearth Fully Intact Rock
The Onion, News in Brief, April 3, 2015
Environment · Science & Technology Science
http://www.theonion.com/article/geologists-unearth-fully-intact-rock-38364

Sounds too much like an actual university PR person, who has
written one too many press release, without taking a vaction. :-) :-)

Yours,

Paul H.

Lightning-induced Shock Lamellae in Quartz

Lightning-induced Shock Lamellae in Quartz

Lightning Can Warp Rocks at Their Core
by Elizabeth Goldbaum, August 10, 2015
http://www.livescience.com/51789-lightning-warps-rocks-atoms.html
http://i.livescience.com/images/i/000/077/674/original/fulgurite.jpg?1438973494

Lightning Reshapes Rocks at the Atomic Level, Penn
Study Finds by Katherine Unger Baillie, August 5, 2015
http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/lightning-reshapes-rocks-atomic-level-penn-study-finds

“but had transferred enough pressure to deform a thin
layer of quartz crystals beneath the surface, resulting
in distinct atomic-level structures called shock lamellae.”

The paper is:

Gieré, R., W. Wimmenauer, H. Müller-Sigmund,
R. Wirth, G. R. Lumpkin, and K. L. Smith, 2015,
Lightning-induced shock lamellae in quartz.
American Mineraologist. vol. 100, no. 7, pp. 1645-1648.
http://ammin.geoscienceworld.org/content/100/7/1645
http://goldschmidt.info/2015/uploads/abstracts/finalPDFs/1039.pdf

Yours,

Paul H.

How Many Scientists Does It Take to Write a Paper?

How Many Scientists Does It Take to Write a Paper?

Research Biologist Coins Term 'Kilo-Author' For Scientific Journal Articles. all Things Considered, August 12, 2015
http://www.npr.org/2015/08/12/431959428/research-biologist-coins-term-kilo-author-for-scientific-journal-articles

How Many Scientists Does It Take to Write a Paper?
Apparently, Thousands Scientific journals see a spike in number of contributors; 24 pages of alphabetized
co-authors, Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-many-scientists-does-it-take-to-write-a-paper-apparently-thousands-1439169200

"His colleagues only discovered that his co-author was a siamese cat several years later when Dr. Hetherington started handing out copies of the paper signed with a paw print."

An example of such a paper:

G. Aad et al. (ATLAS Collaboration), 2015, Evidence of  Wγγ Production in pp Collisions at s√=8  TeV and Limits on Anomalous Quartic Gauge Couplings with the ATLAS Detector
Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 031802 – Published 16 July 2015'
http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.031802 -- http://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.92.032001

Yours,

Paul