Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

Rockin' in Morocco Adventure - Spring 2013

If you are interested in collecting fossils, minerals, crystals, agates and artifacts while experiencing some of the most breath-taking countryside and wonderfully hospitable cultures -- then this ZRS Guided Adventure to exotic Morocco is right up your alley! 

We at ZRS have a few openings still available for our new route scheduled for May 7th - 21st. During our ZRS Moroccan Collecting Adventures participants spend thirteen to sixteen active days immersed in delightful experiences ranging from visits to the enchanting cities of Marrakech and Rabat -- as well as touring quaint southern villages and visiting remarkable Berber families in their goat-hair tents and mud-brick homes. These fieldtrips provide endless educational opportunities - particularly related to fossils and minerals.

Additionally, imagine continuous photographic inspirations around every bend - daily picnics in beautiful palm oases with fresh olives, almonds, monstrous sweet oranges - evenings of music and dance alongside culinary oohs and ahhs - intricate North African handcrafts - brilliant patterns of color and texture - superb art and architecture - camel treks through the Sahara to meet the twinkling night skies - dayglow green lizards and friendly Barbary apes - intriguing tribal history at every bend - and delightful exchanges with new Moroccan friends all along the route. T

hese adventures cover approximately 2500 kilometers, including all major environments from high mountains to vast deserts and the Atlantic Ocean as well. Participants will visit primary outcrops and famous sites for fossils, agates and prehistoric rock art, along with mine sites and dumps for minerals and crystals. Included will be stops to visit local miners, villagers and Moroccan fossil and mineral dealers. You can anticipate a collecting experience of a lifetime! If you are interested in participating next spring, please let us know as soon as possible!

Contact John McArdle or Kelly Lund at ZRS Fossils and Gifts - 308 Lyndale Ave South, Minneapolis MN 55408 / TEL 612.824.1068 / Email: [email protected]

Facebook - ZRS Images from Morocco: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.335317009862667.79275.127956357265401&type=3

12/7 ESCONI Holiday Party - RSVP by 12/5

ESCONI Winter Holiday Dinner &  General Meeting

Friday, December 7, 2012

ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY - 5:30 to 7:30 pm
Greek Islands Restaurant
300 E. 22nd St., Lombard IL 60148
www.greekislands.net  - (630) 932-4545

PLEASE NOTE: The Holiday party will be a Dutch Treat . . . that is, we will be ordering off the menu and you will pay your own check. Be prepared to pay with CASH! We will continue our tradition of a Secret Santa gift exchange. This grab bag is optional.

If you would like to attend the Holiday Party, please RSVP by December 5th to Rob Sula (630) 236-9695 e-mail: [email protected]

MEETING & LECTURE - 8:00 - 9:30 pm

Meeting will be at 8:00 pm.  College of Dupage, - Tech Ed Building (TEC), Room 1038A (Map)  

Lance Grande,  Senior Vice President, Head of Collections and Research, and Curator, Department of Geology, Field Museum, will speak on the subject of the Green River Formation - “The Lost World of Fossil Lake: Snapshots From Deep Time” 

Download flyer - ESCONI HOLIDAY PARTY2012 

Stone-tipped Weapons From 500,000 yrs ago

Via LatinoPost: (hat tip Floyd)

New evidence from a recently-published scientific study indicates that humans started crafting stone-tipped weapons 200,000 years earlier than previously believed. 

A team of scientists that included researchers from Arizona State University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Cape Town have uncovered signs of hafting, or the art of attaching a stone tip to a spear, at an archaeological site in South Africa called Kathu Pan 1. Hafting was a significant advancement in human weaponry and hunting since it made spears more lethal and durable. 

"There is a reason that modern bow-hunters tip their arrows with razor-sharp edges. These cutting tips are extremely lethal when compared to the effects from a sharpened stick. Early humans learned this fact earlier than previously thought," said co-author of the study Benjamin Schoville, who is affiliated with the Institute of Human Origins, a research center of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University.

Hafting was previously attributed to Homo sapiens and Neanderthals around 300,000 years ago, but the new findings indicate that a shared ancestor between the two, Homo heidelbergensis, was practicing the craft 500,000 years ago....

... The dating of the recovered spear points was done by  Naomi Porat from the Geological Survey of Israel, and Rainer Grün from the Australian National University.

You can find the study, titled "Evidence for Early Hafted Hunting Technology," in the journal Science. 

Read more at http://www.latinospost.com/articles/6938/20121115/oldest-stone-spear-tips-found-came-200.htm#TqhCi7WHjxlEl21G.99

Correction - No Archaeo Meeting This Sat

Since College of Dupage is closed, there is no Archaeo Study group meeting this Saturday.

Brian stepped down as leader of the study group, so we are looking for a new study-group leader for archaeology.

 

Shortage of Oil and Gas Professionals

Via Geology.com:

Just as the energy industry needs to fill an enormous number of new jobs in the shale plays, the baby boomers start to retire.  

Preservation of Dino Protien - Possible DNA

Via Science Daily (hat tip - Dave at the ESCONI Discussion Group)

ScienceDaily (Oct. 23, 2012) — A team of researchers from North Carolina State University and the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) has found more evidence for the preservation of ancient dinosaur proteins, including reactivity to antibodies that target specific proteins normally found in bone cells of vertebrates. These results further rule out sample contamination, and help solidify the case for preservation of cells -- and possibly DNA -- in ancient remains.

Xenoceratops foremostensis

Via Yahoo ESCONI Discussion Group from Science:

Scientists have named a new species of horned dinosaur (ceratopsian) from Alberta, Canada. Xenoceratops foremostensis (Zee-NO-Sare-ah-tops) was identified from fossils originally collected in 1958. Approximately 20 feet long and weighing more than 2 tons, the newly identified plant-eating dinosaur represents the oldest known large-bodied horned dinosaur from Canada.

Burpee Museum's New Exhibit on Green River Formation

On November 10, join Burpee Museum, as they open the newest exhibit about the fossil fish (and other fauna) of the 50 million year old Fossil Lake member of the Green River formation. The exhibit features specimens found at our newest quarry, the Kemmerer-Burpee Quarry, in Kemmerer, Wyoming as well as specimens found at some of the most prominent and longest worked fossil quarries in North America. 

Burpee has a blog that talks and shows the latest on their preparation of Green River fossils - it is called, No Stone Unturned.

Inner Mongolian Minerals - Trip Update

From The Khyber Mineral Company (the owner is an ESCONI member):

In the few months since my last update dedicated to Inner Mongolia, there have been some new finds--notably better lollingite, and more colorless fluorite.  I also managed to obtain a group of yellow sphalerites (most of the original pocket, I believe) from the early 2012 find mentioned in the Mineralogical Record.

There are also some recently found pink fluorites (some are floaters with exceptional color!) as well as the elusive purple fluorites.  Those with the deeper color are older-- from a find made early in 2012.  The lighter colored  pieces are newer. 

I've also mixed in other pieces that I've been buying as discoveries are  made, some recent and others going back to 2011. It is interesting to note, even in the relatively short time since specimens started to appear, how different species/ habits have come and gone from the market.

Jewelry Estate Sale for Elgin Public Museum - Sat, 11/17

Private Estate Collection Native American Jewelry and Botanical- themed Jewelry Sale.
Saturday, November 17, 2012 11:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. at the Elgin Public Museum in Lords Park.

Sale also includes a small selection of Native American, Science& Exploration Books.

Net proceeds to benefit the Elgin Public Museum. Cash or check only.

You get a good deal and do a good deed by helping support the Elgin Public Museum.

71,000 year old Stone Tools

Via Geology.com:

Archaeologists working near Mossel Bay, South Africa have found small stone tools with an estimated age of 71,000 years. Prior to this, the earliest tools found have an age of about 65,000 years.

New Jerse, Sterling Hill Fluorescent Minerals

Short video on the fluoresent minerals at the Frankling and Sterling Hills Museum as well as other information about the local mineral museum, the JMU Mineral Museum in Memorial Hall,

The Shenandoah Valley Gem and Mineral Society is the local society.

Field Geologists Going Digital

From Science Daily via Geology.com:

ScienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2012) — Not very long ago a professional geologist's field kit consisted of a Brunton compass, rock hammer, magnifying glass, and field notebook. No longer. In the field and in the labs and classrooms, studying Earth has undergone an explosive change in recent years, fueled by technological leaps in handheld digital devices, especially tablet computers and cameras.

Lecture Tonight - 11/9 - "Retracing Lost Channels of the Ancient Nile Delta of Pharaonic Egypt"

ESCONI General Meeting 8:00 p.m. College of Dupage,  - Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038A (Map) Topic:  Stephen Moshier, "Retracing Lost Channels of the Ancient Nile Delta of Pharaonic Egypt"

Thoughts on SVP

From Smithsonian.org:

By the last day, my brain ached with details of flying Microraptor, bounding crocodiles, marsupial bone microstructure and dozens of other topics. When my friends at the conference asked “What did you like best?” after the technical sessions finally concluded, I was only capable of grunts and indelicate gestures.

I’ve had a day to settle down and process what I saw. And I know this–at SVP, dinosaurs rule. This isn’t to say that the conference is all about the Mesozoic celebrities. I saw many excellent talks on prehistoric fish, mammals, amphibians and other forms of ancient life. But, for a dinosaur fan, SVP offers a glut of dinosaur science from new discoveries about the beloved Tyrannosaurus rex to brand-new species that have only just come out of the ground.  Since this blog is called Dinosaur Tracking, I’m going to focus on some of the stand-out dinosaur science I saw during the meeting.....

 

 

Salton Butte California Volcanoes

Via Discovery.com hat tip to Dave Carlson over at the ESCONI Yahoo Discussion Group

The buttes last erupted between 940 and 0 B.C., not 30,000 years ago, as previously thought, a new study detailed online Oct. 15 in the journal Geology reports. The new age — which makes these some of California's youngest volcanoes — pushes the volcanic quintuplets into active status. The California Volcano Observatory, launched in February by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), already lists the area as a high threat for future blasts.

Tyrannosaurus Rex Dining Habits

From PhysOrg:

Paleontologist Denver Fowler has told a group of attendees at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's annual meeting that he, along with colleagues from the Museum of the Rockies, has uncovered evidence that suggests Tyrannosaurus Rex pulled the head off Triceratops victims to allow access to nutritious neck meat.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-10-life-death-triceratops-fossilized-tooth.html#jCp

Coelacanth - Reidus hilli

Via National Geographic:

One of the world's oldest types of fish, coelacanths (pronounced SEE-la-kanths) are primitive, slow-moving fish that had been thought extinct until an individual was found off Africa in 1938. There are now over 40 known coelacanth species. The two that live today are called living fossils because they have remained virtually unchanged for 320 million years.

The newfound coelacanth has been dubbed Reidus hilli in honor of its discoverer Robert Reid, an artist who found the fish's fossilized skull near his home in Forth Worth, Texas, in the late 1980s....

 

ESCONI Holiday Party - Friday, 12/7

ESCONI Winter Holiday Dinner &  General Meeting

Friday, December 7, 2012

ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY - 5:30 to 7:30 pm
Greek Islands Restaurant
300 E. 22nd St., Lombard IL 60148
www.greekislands.net  - (630) 932-4545

PLEASE NOTE: The Holiday party will be a Dutch Treat . . . that is, we will be ordering off the menu and you will pay your own check. Be prepared to pay with CASH! We will continue our tradition of a Secret Santa gift exchange. This grab bag is optional.

If you would like to attend the Holiday Party, please RSVP by December 5th to Rob Sula (630) 236-9695 e-mail: [email protected]

MEETING & LECTURE - 8:00 - 9:30 pm

Meeting will be at 8:00 pm.  College of Dupage, - Tech Ed Building (TEC), Room 1038A (Map)  

Lance Grande,  Senior Vice President, Head of Collections and Research, and Curator, Department of Geology, Field Museum, will speak on the subject of the Green River Formation - “The Lost World of Fossil Lake: Snapshots From Deep Time” 

Download flyer - ESCONI HOLIDAY PARTY2012 

A Geologist's Report on Gold in Mexico

From the Bullion Vault:

MILLIONS of years ago tectonic events created significant gold and silver mineralization in the Guerrero Gold Belt in Mexico. Today, two gold companies have reported 16 Moz of gold there, and other discoveries are sure to follow. In this interview with The Gold Report, Merrill McHenry, an independent analyst and geologist, explains the region's geology and prospect potential.

The Gold Report: Merrill, speaking as a geologist, what makes the Guerrero Gold Belt in Mexico so highly prospective for gold and silver mineralization?

Merrill McHenry: Two words: plate tectonics. Two tectonic events in that area of sufficient scale to create an entire region filled with gold mineralization. 

In more detailed terms, the Chortis plate, which was about the size of Colorado, impacted the western side of southern Mexico. The first event, about 140 million years ago, created "laramide" north-south extensional faults. That was followed, about 70 million years later, by a strike-slip to the southeast. As the strike-slip slipped and subducted under the southern portion—what is today Guerrero State—it rotated many of those north-south transitional faults and shear zones into roughly 40-degree and other angles, creating a chimney effect, which brought the mineralization, in liquid form, much closer to the surface.

In geological terms, this is called a metasomatic transfer. The strike-slip also created various low-angle extensional faulting allowing laterally displaced mineralization and improving strike-length potential.

TGR: How does the creation and mineralization of the Guerrero Gold Belt compare to the Carlin Trend in Nevada?