ESCONI Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois

Highest Price Paid for Rough Diamond

Via Mineweb:

Petra Diamonds sold a 507-carat diamond for $35.3 million on Friday, breaking a record as the highest price ever paid for a rough diamond....

Geology Field Camps

What are you doing this summer - Geology Field Camps?

And for the younger set... Project Exploration.

Archaeology News Site

Interesting site about archaeology news - Archaeo News

They have a podcast too - review of their podcast.

Author of Book on Strip Mining Interviewed

Reckoning at Eagle Creek (strip mining in Illinois) author interviewed by WNYC:

Cultural historian Jeff Biggers gives an account of how strip-mining has destroyed his family’s nearly 200-year-old hillside homestead in southern Illinois. In Reckoning at Eagle Creek, he chronicles the legacy of coal outside of Appalachia.

Unearthed Pharaoh

Via BBC:

A colossal red granite head of one of Egypt's most famous pharaohs has been unearthed in the southern city of Luxor,officials said.

The 3,000-year-old head of Amenhotep III - grandfather of Tutankhamun - was dug out of the ruins of the pharaoh's mortuary temple.

Nice Article on Chicago Paleontologist

Via Chicago Tribune:

...It was a giant plankton-eating fish that had been overlooked or misidentified for 140 years, one of two discoveries that have garnered Kenshu Shimada, a professor at DePaul University, worldwide attention in recent weeks. The other find is a 30-foot shark that he now knows was vastly larger than previously thought....

Grand Canyon to mark Archeology Day March 26-27

Via the Los Angeles Times:

If you’re planning a trip to Grand Canyon National Park later this month, check out Archeology Day. Held on Saturday, March 27, this all-day educational program will focus on native peoples who inhabited the Grand Canyon in Arizona long ago and on how archeologists do their work. More than 4,000 archeological sites have been identified in the park, with artifacts that date back nearly 12,000 years...

Ice at Equator 300 Million Years Ago?

Via Science Daily:

Focusing on a controversial hypothesis that ice existed at the equator some 300 million years ago during the late Paleozoic Period, two University of Oklahoma researchers originated a project in search of clues to Earth's climate system...

In the entertaining book, Snowball Earth, the author explains another geological theory of ice at the equator 600 million years ago.

Burpee Museum's PaleoFest This Weekend

Paleofest!

Missouri Governor on Potential Earthquake

Via Geology.com:

Most experts believe it's just a matter of time before another big earthquake strikes along the New Madrid fault line, and Gov. Jay Nixon says Missouri and neighboring states need to be ready...

The Washington Post has a well-done graphic on cities of the world and their earthquake risk.

Earthquake Shortened Day

Via National Geographic:

Saturday's Chile earthquake was so powerful that it likely shifted an Earth axis and shortened the length of a day, NASA announced Monday.

DNA Sequencing Better Explains Evolution

Via Science Daily:

The origins of flowering plants from peas to oak trees are now in clearer focus thanks to the efforts of University of Florida researchers. A study appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences unravels 100 million years of evolution through an extensive analysis of plant genomes. It targets one of the major moments in plant evolution, when the ancestors of most of the world's flowering plants split into two major groups.

Photos of Pacaya Volcano Walk

Interesting photographs of a visit to the Pacaya Volcano.

History of the World

The BBC has a neat presentation of the 100 Items of the History of the World.

Geology and Art

Two Wall Gallery shows art inspired in part by geology.

Evidence Mud Volcano Man Made

"...Thirty thousand people have been displaced, and scientific evidence is mounting that the company drilling the well caused the volcano.

Read More http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/02/mudvolcano#ixzz0gNjs35Bw

Do You Geotag Your Photos?

"Everyone is busy. Quit waffling, put on a helmet, and learn how to geotag your photos," says DrJurque.

Also, try out Google Earth. And then you can try to win this contest.

Muscles Led to Cambrian Explosion?

Via MSNBC:

Furrows preserved in 565-million-year-old rocks are now the first evidence that some of Earth's earliest and mysterious living things had muscles to move themselves -- and so were truly animals. That means muscles may have evolved earlier and been part of a long evolutionary fuse that led to the so-called "Cambrian Explosion,"

NU Earth Science Course for High School Students

Northwestern University, the Center for Talent Development's Gifted LearningLinks program is offering an online course which will allow advanced high school students to earn university credit. 

The course title is "Climate Catastrophes in Earth History: Earth 105", offered through the Earth & Planetary Science Department at Northwestern University.  The course begins on March 29 and runs through June 11, 2010.  Registration is open now and closes on March 31st.

The Download Earth 105 explains more.

507 Carat Diamond Auctioned Friday

Via Geology.com:

Petra Diamonds plans to sell a 507-carat uncut diamond from their Cullinan mine in an auction on Friday. It could sell for about $25 million.