Wednesday, September 1, 2010

[Geology2] Mt St Helens wallpaper

HERE

and

HERE

and

HERE

and

HERE

... and if interested, here's a great wallpaper of Eyjafallajokul HERE

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Re: [Geology2] Carnivore Species Shrank During Global Warming Event

I am a carnivore.. will I shrink, do you think? lol. Seriously, just why is it that cold climates or Ice Ages produce such large sizes? The dinosaurs were huge some of them and they were products of a warm climate. Allison

--- On Wed, 9/1/10, Lin Kerns <linkerns@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Lin Kerns <linkerns@gmail.com>
Subject: [Geology2] Carnivore Species Shrank During Global Warming Event
To: "Geology2" <geology2@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, September 1, 2010, 1:04 PM

University of Florida vertebrate paleontologist Jon Bloch examines the right jaw of a new species of carnivorous mammal, Palaeonictis wingi. The hyena-like species evolved to a smaller size during a global warming period that occurred 55 million years ago. (Credit: Jennifer Duerden/University of Florida)

Carnivore Species Shrank During Global Warming Event

ScienceDaily (Aug. 31, 2010) — A new University of Florida study indicates extinct carnivorous mammals shrank in size during a global warming event that occurred 55 million years ago.

The study, scheduled to appear in the December print edition of the Journal of Mammalian Evolution and now available online, describes a new species that evolved to half the size of its ancestors during this period of global warming.

The hyena-like animal, Palaeonictis wingi, evolved from the size of a bear to the size of a coyote during a 200,000-year period when Earth's average temperature increased about 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Following this global warming event, Earth's temperature cooled and the animal evolved to a larger size.

"We know that plant-eating mammals got smaller during the earliest Eocene when global warming occurred, possibly associated with elevated levels of carbon dioxide," said lead author Stephen Chester, a Yale University doctoral student who began the research at UF with Jonathan Bloch, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. "Surprisingly, this study shows that the same thing happened in some carnivores, suggesting that other factors may have played a critical role in their evolution."

Researchers discovered a nearly complete jaw from the animal in Wyoming's Big Horn Basin in 2006 during a fossil-collecting expedition, led by Bloch, a co-author on the study. Bloch said the new findings could help scientists better understand the impact of current global warming.

"Documenting the impact of global climate change in the past is one of the only real experiments that can inform us about what the effects global warming might have on mammals in the near future," said Bloch, who has studied this climate change event for nearly a decade.

Scientists think the Earth experienced increased levels of carbon dioxide and a drier environment during the warmer time period, but they do not completely understand what caused mammals to shrink.

One theory is that carbon dioxide levels reduced plant nutrients, causing herbivorous mammals to shrink. The newly described species primarily consumed meat, meaning plant nutrients couldn't have been the only factor, Bloch said.

Mammals in warmer climates today tend to be smaller than mammals in colder climates, Chester said. For example, brown bears in Montana are generally smaller than those found in Alaska.

The study's other authors are Ross Secord, assistant professor at the University of Nebraska, and Doug Boyer, assistant professor at Brooklyn College.

Bloch said a tooth from this animal was described in a paper about 20 years ago, but scientists did not have enough information to name the new species until finding the jaw.

The species was named after Scott Wing, a paleobotanist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. He studies the impact the global warming event had on forests in the past, and has played an important role in the collaborative research in the Big Horn Basin, Bloch said.
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of Florida. The original article was written by Leeann Bright.

Journal Reference:

Stephen G. B. Chester, Jonathan I. Bloch, Ross Secord, Doug M. Boyer. A New Small-Bodied Species of Palaeonictis (Creodonta, Oxyaenidae) from the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 2010; DOI: 10.1007/s10914-010-9141-y

University of Florida. "Carnivore Species Shrank During Global Warming Event." ScienceDaily 31 August 2010. 1 September 2010 <http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2010/08/100824110848.htm>.

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Re: [Geology2] NC Farm Produces Emerald Shaped Into Massive Gem

Now how cool is this? What about WI .. any gems to be found here? We have a group here that pans for gold.. they usually show up at the WI geological society gem and mineral show put on here at Hart Park in early May... they say sometimes they find gold in our rivers up here although admittedly it is more of a social group. I dont' think there will be a gold rush any time soon..lol. Allison

--- On Wed, 9/1/10, Kim Noyes <kimnoyes@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Kim Noyes <kimnoyes@gmail.com>
Subject: [Geology2] NC Farm Produces Emerald Shaped Into Massive Gem
To: "CentralCoastRockhounds" <centralcoastrockhounds@yahoogroups.com>, "Geology2" <geology2@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, September 1, 2010, 6:24 AM

NC farm produces emerald shaped into massive gem
By EMERY P. DALESIO, Associated Press Writer Emery P. Dalesio, Associated Press Writer – Mon Aug 30, 7:07 pm ET
RALEIGH, N.C. – An emerald so large it's being compared with the crown jewels of Russian empress Catherine the Great was pulled from a pit near corn rows at a North Carolina farm.

The nearly 65-carat emerald its finders are marketing by the name Carolina Emperor was pulled from a farm once so well known among treasure hunters that the owners charged $3 a day to shovel for small samples of the green stones. After the gem was cut and re-cut, the finished product was about one-fifth the weight of the original find, making it slightly larger than a U.S. quarter and about as heavy as a AA battery.

The emerald compares in size and quality to one surrounded by diamonds in a brooch once owned by Catherine the Great, who was empress in the 18th century, that Christie's auction house in New York sold in April for $1.65 million, said C.R. "Cap" Beesley, a New York gemologist who examined the stone.

While big, uncut crystals and even notable gem-quality emeralds have come from the community 50 miles northwest of Charlotte called Hiddenite, there has never been one so big it's worthy of an imperial treasury, Beesley said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100830/ap_on_re_us/us_carolina_emerald

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[Geology2] Villagers return to slopes of Indonesian volcano

Villagers return to slopes of Indonesian volcano

By BINSAR BAKKARA (AP) – 11 hours ago

TANAH KARO, Indonesia — Thousands of villagers returned to their homes along the ash-covered slopes of an Indonesian volcano that exploded after four centuries of dormancy, even though officials warned they could be putting their lives at risk.

Some said Tuesday they could no longer bear to stay in cramped emergency shelters, while others wanted to get back to their farms.

The first eruption of Mount Sinabung — which caught many scientists off guard — over the weekend was followed by a second, more powerful blast Monday that spewed soot and debris more than a mile (several kilometers) into the air, leaving the region on high alert.

Several domestic flights in North Sumatra province had to be diverted because of poor visibility, and two people died, though it remained unclear Tuesday if the volcano was to blame.

Of the 30,000 people who have been evacuated to refugee shelters, mosques and churches, more than 6,000 have packed up their belongings and headed home, said Yeni Hariani Sembiring of the Tanah Karo district information center.

Some piled into the backs of pickup trucks. Others drove their motorcycles or walked up the side of the mountain, which continued to send plumes of white smoke gushing into the air, but with lower intensity than in recent days.

"We don't know if it's safe or not," said Johnson Siagian, who works at a local monitoring post, looking up at the crater, which by late afternoon was shrouded in fog. "But if they insist on going home, there's not much we can do."

Mount Sinabung last erupted in 1600 and government vulcanologists acknowledged they had made no efforts before the mountain started rumbling last week to sample gases or look out for rising magma or other signs of seismic activity.

With 129 live volcanoes to worry about in Indonesia — prone to eruptions and earthquakes because of its location within the so-called "Ring of Fire" — it had been considered low priority.

But Lee Siebert, director of the Global Volcanism Program at the Smithsonian Institution, said it was no surprise Sinabung would erupt after 400 years of being quiet. That's not very long by geological standards, he said, noting that a volcano that has erupted within the past 10,000 years can be considered active.

Because of its location along the Sumatra fault line — the meeting point of the Eurasian and Pacific tectonic plates that have pushed against each other for millions of years — Sinabung has the potential to be very destructive, others noted.

Magma forming inside the conical tip can act as a plug, allowing pressure to build up until it reaches a bursting point.

"I'm not going to send people back until the mountain shows me it's safe," said Surono, another state vulcanologist, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. "It's too early. And in the end I'll be judged by how many lives are lost."

Tired of waiting in emergency shelters, more than 6,000 refugees decided to return home anyway. Others headed up the mountain, saying they just wanted to check up quickly on their farms along the fertile slopes, promising to come back by nightfall.

Betta Tariga, a 48-year-old farmer, was not happy with what he saw.

"There's not going to be a harvest this year ... just look at these tomatoes," he said sadly, referring to fields blanketed in gray soot. "They are all going to die."

Indonesia is home to some of the largest eruptions in recorded history.

The 1815 explosion of Mount Tambora buried the inhabitants of Sumbawa Island under searing ash, gas and rock, killing an estimated 88,000 people.

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa could be heard 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) away and blackened skies region-wide for months. At least 36,000 people were killed in the blast and the tsunami that followed.

More images at Source

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[Geology2] Carnivore Species Shrank During Global Warming Event

University of Florida vertebrate paleontologist Jon Bloch examines the right jaw of a new species of carnivorous mammal, Palaeonictis wingi. The hyena-like species evolved to a smaller size during a global warming period that occurred 55 million years ago. (Credit: Jennifer Duerden/University of Florida)

Carnivore Species Shrank During Global Warming Event

ScienceDaily (Aug. 31, 2010) — A new University of Florida study indicates extinct carnivorous mammals shrank in size during a global warming event that occurred 55 million years ago.

The study, scheduled to appear in the December print edition of the Journal of Mammalian Evolution and now available online, describes a new species that evolved to half the size of its ancestors during this period of global warming.

The hyena-like animal, Palaeonictis wingi, evolved from the size of a bear to the size of a coyote during a 200,000-year period when Earth's average temperature increased about 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Following this global warming event, Earth's temperature cooled and the animal evolved to a larger size.

"We know that plant-eating mammals got smaller during the earliest Eocene when global warming occurred, possibly associated with elevated levels of carbon dioxide," said lead author Stephen Chester, a Yale University doctoral student who began the research at UF with Jonathan Bloch, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. "Surprisingly, this study shows that the same thing happened in some carnivores, suggesting that other factors may have played a critical role in their evolution."

Researchers discovered a nearly complete jaw from the animal in Wyoming's Big Horn Basin in 2006 during a fossil-collecting expedition, led by Bloch, a co-author on the study. Bloch said the new findings could help scientists better understand the impact of current global warming.

"Documenting the impact of global climate change in the past is one of the only real experiments that can inform us about what the effects global warming might have on mammals in the near future," said Bloch, who has studied this climate change event for nearly a decade.

Scientists think the Earth experienced increased levels of carbon dioxide and a drier environment during the warmer time period, but they do not completely understand what caused mammals to shrink.

One theory is that carbon dioxide levels reduced plant nutrients, causing herbivorous mammals to shrink. The newly described species primarily consumed meat, meaning plant nutrients couldn't have been the only factor, Bloch said.

Mammals in warmer climates today tend to be smaller than mammals in colder climates, Chester said. For example, brown bears in Montana are generally smaller than those found in Alaska.

The study's other authors are Ross Secord, assistant professor at the University of Nebraska, and Doug Boyer, assistant professor at Brooklyn College.

Bloch said a tooth from this animal was described in a paper about 20 years ago, but scientists did not have enough information to name the new species until finding the jaw.

The species was named after Scott Wing, a paleobotanist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. He studies the impact the global warming event had on forests in the past, and has played an important role in the collaborative research in the Big Horn Basin, Bloch said.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of Florida. The original article was written by Leeann Bright.

Journal Reference:

Stephen G. B. Chester, Jonathan I. Bloch, Ross Secord, Doug M. Boyer. A New Small-Bodied Species of Palaeonictis (Creodonta, Oxyaenidae) from the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 2010; DOI: 10.1007/s10914-010-9141-y

University of Florida. "Carnivore Species Shrank During Global Warming Event." ScienceDaily 31 August 2010. 1 September 2010 <http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2010/08/100824110848.htm>.

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[Geology2] Dinosaurs 'wiped out by meteor shower lasting thousands of years'

Dinosaurs 'wiped out by meteor shower lasting thousands of years'

The dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago by a meteor shower lasting thousands of years, a study has suggested.

By Heidi Blake
Published: 7:56AM BST 30 Aug 2010

Dinosaurs could have been wiped out by a meteor shower lasting thousands of years

Scientists had previously identified the a giant Chicxulub crater in the Gulf of Mexico as the site of a single meteor strike thought to have obliterated prehistoric life on Earth.

But evidence for a second impact in Ukraine, dating back thousands of years before the Chicxulub impact, has raised the possibility that the dinosaurs may have been blitzed with a shower of meteorites

The Boltysh Crater in Ukraine was first discovered in 2002. But scientists have now unearthed a second cavity within the crater which they believe was caused by the aftermath of the Chicxulub impact – suggesting that the two meteor strikes occurred years apart as part of a wider "shower".

Scientists dated the two Boltysh impact zones by examining the pollen and spores of fossil plants in the layers of mud within.

Ferns are among the first plants to colonise a devastated landscape after a catastrophe, leaving layers of spores – dubbed "fern spikes" – which are considered good markers of past impact events.

The researchers found a second "fern spike" one meter above the first in the Boltysh crater – suggesting that two separate strikes occurred thousands of years apart.

Professor Simon Kelley of the Open University, who co-authored the study, said: "We interpret this second layer as the aftermath of the Chicxulub impact."

He continued: "It is quite possible that in the future we will find evidence for more impact events."

Professor Monica Grady, a meteorite expert at the Open University, said the shower could have been caused by "the collison of Near Earth Objects".

Nasa, the US space agency, recently launched a program called "Spaceguard" which aims to monitor such Near Earth Objects as an early warning system of possible future collisons.

The new findings are published in the journal Geology by a team lead by Professor David Jolley of Aberdeen University.

Source

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[Geology2] Free Rockhound Guide to New Mexico

Click here to download .pdf

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VOLCANO MADNESS

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

[Geology2] Mt St Helens wallpaper

Re: [Geology2] Carnivore Species Shrank During Global Warming Event

Carnivore Species Shrank During Global Warming Event

Re: [Geology2] NC Farm Produces Emerald Shaped Into Massive Gem

NC farm produces emerald shaped into massive gem

[Geology2] Villagers return to slopes of Indonesian volcano

[Geology2] Carnivore Species Shrank During Global Warming Event

Carnivore Species Shrank During Global Warming Event

[Geology2] Dinosaurs 'wiped out by meteor shower lasting thousands of years'

Dinosaurs 'wiped out by meteor shower lasting thousands of years'

The dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago by a meteor shower lasting thousands of years, a study has suggested.

[Geology2] Free Rockhound Guide to New Mexico

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