Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

Member Report on Recent Visit to Lizzadro

Member, Mary Fairchild sent in this report from her visit to the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art: Chinese Jade Carvings, Fossils, and Minerals

The upper level of the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art displays a large selection of Chinese jade and hard stone carvings from around the world and the lower level of the museum presents lapidary materials, fossils, meteorites, and minerals. Jim and I stopped in recently and chatted with Dorothy Ascher who is the granddaughter the museum's founder, Joseph Lizzadro.

A lapidary hobbyist and collector, her grandfather would bring his growing family rockhounding up to the Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan where his wife was raised. They would collect different stones that he would later cut, polish, and make into jewelry for friends.

In an interesting contrast, just as the Lizzadro Museum doors opened just outside of Chicago in the early 1960s, Confucius statues that stood for centuries were labeled as decadent and torn down in China. People where burning their heirlooms and priceless Ming vases were shattered and thousand-year-old Buddhist murals were vandalized beyond repair. 

Read more...

National Fossil Day Art Contest Announced

The National Fossil Day™ partners are sponsoring an art and photography contest to celebrate the fourth annual National Fossil Day (Wednesday, October 16, 2013). The theme for this contest is "Your nomination for our National Fossil".

The 2013 art / photo contest will help to kick-off a nationwide election to determine what fossil might best represent the United States as our "National Fossil".

Six top candidate fossils will be selected from the 2013 art / photo contest submissions. Each of these six candidate fossils will be announced on National Fossil Day 2013.

Last Week for Rob Sula's Exhibit: Dinosaurs: The Art & Science of Paleontology

Dinosaurs: The Art and Science of Paleontology" exhibit running through May 3 at the Aurora Public Art Commission's third floor gallery at the David L. Pierce Art and History Center in Aurora.

The gallery hours are Wed. thru Friday 12 - 4. This is a enjoyable and interesting exhibit, so be sure to check it out before May 3. 

New ESCONI Field Trip Announced

There will be an ESCONI field trip to the Irene Quarry near Belvidere, Illinois on Saturday, May 11, 2013, from 9AM to 2PM.
 
This is the second visit by ESCONI to this site. The rock is Ordovician, Galena Group. This is a "hard-rock" quarry (limestone or dolostone), not shale like Vulcan. The site is owned by William Charles Construction. If you like Hormotoma or Receptaculites, this is the place for you!
 
Rules (you knew there had to be some)
 
1. MUST be an ESCONI member as of April 15, 2013.
 
2. MUST be at least 18 years of age.
 
3. Sign up by sending me an email with the number of members attending and their names. My email is fossil54@att.net     No phone calls, please.
 
4. I will acknowledge by return email. If you don't get a reply in 24 hours, send it again.
 
5. Maximum attendance is 30. I will keep a signup list (up to 30) and a waiting list (about 10) in case of cancellations.
 
6. Wear the usual clothing and equipment for being in a quarry. No sandals, no claw hammers, etc.
 
    MSHA Part 46 training is not required.
 
    The address of the quarry is 4525 Irene Road, Belvidere, Illinois. A picture of the quarry
    can be found at http://www.williamcharlesconstruction.com/Materials/Portfolio-Irene.aspx
    I recommend you get a map and directions from the Internet. I can send a small map
    if you can't get one directly. There appears to be an exit from Interstate 90 at
    Irene Rd, but no entrance back onto the interstate.
 
    I will distribute the release form to those signed up by email just before the trip.
 
    Questions? Send me an email...
 
    Dave

The Oriental “Tucson Show” - 展会公告 博览会在京召开新闻发布会

China (Changsha) International Mineral &Gem Show (CMGS for short) is an international high-end professional show approved by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, co-organized by the People’s Government of Hunan Province and Ministry of Land and Resources of the People’s Republic of China. The first CMGS will set sail from May 16th to 20th, 2013  in Changsha City ,Hunan Province.

Become a Member of the National Map Corps

From USGS

The USGS National Geospatial Program (NGP) sponsored various forms of volunteer map data collection projects over the past two decades. Citizen cartographers revised many maps during this period, but the program was suspended in 2008.

New technologies and Internet services have made it easy to georeference many different types of information and share this information with others on map-based Internet platforms and social networking sites in recent years.

This activity has been referred to as crowdsourcing, and the information produced has been called volunteered geographic information (VGI).

In light of this rapidly changing technical landscape, the increasing use of social software for citizen mapping, and the mandates for more transparency and citizen involvement in government, the USGS has revitalized its volunteer program.

As a result, the USGS has launched a pilot project to once again encourage citizen participation.

The future of The National Map Corps

Collaborative pilot projects in Colorado were recently used to test the concept of crowd-sourcing. The volunteers' actions were accurate and exceeded USGS quality standards. The significant results of the Colorado pilot have led to a phased, nation-wide expansion of the crowd-sourcing/volunteer project.

The following states are operational as of April 2013: Arkansas, Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Washington, and West Virginia. By the end of 2013, all 50 states will be available for volunteer data collection.

For more information about the project and how to participate, go to The National Map Corps
web site at [ https://my.usgs.gov/confluence/display/nationalmapcorps/Home ].
Also contact us at NationalMapCorps@USGS.gov if you have questions or comments.

Dinosaur Embryo Bonebed Yields Organic Remains

From Science Daily:   (hat tip Yahoo ESCONI Yahoo Group)

Apr. 10, 2013 — The great age of the embryos is unusual because almost all known dinosaur embryos are from the Cretaceous Period. The Cretaceous ended some 125 million years after the bones at the Lufeng site were buried and fossilized.

Rebecca Rogers Ackermann in Science on Australopithecus sediba

ESCONI Member, Floyd Rogers let us know that former ESCONI Junior, Dr. Rebecca Rogers Ackermann, is an author on one of the six journal Science articles in the current issue.

From Science: Abstract: Since the announcement of the species Australopithecus sediba, questions have been raised over whether the Malapa fossils represent a valid taxon or whether inadequate allowance was made for intraspecific variation, in particular with reference to the temporally and geographically proximate species Au. africanus. The morphology of mandibular remains of Au. sediba, including newly recovered material discussed here, shows that it is not merely a late-surviving morph of Au. africanus. Rather—as is seen elsewhere in the cranium, dentition, and postcranial skeleton—these mandibular remains share similarities with other australopiths but can be differentiated from the hypodigm of Au. africanus in both size and shape as well as in their ontogenetic growth trajectory.  

From Discovery News:

"Two million years ago in South Africa, part-human and part-ape-like individuals existed -- and now we know what they looked like and how they behaved: They had a primitive, pigeon-toed gait, human-like front teeth, ate mostly veggies and spent a lot of time swinging in the trees.

The species, Australopithecus sediba, is a striking example of human evolution, conclude six papers published in the journal Science. Taken together, the papers describe how Au. sediba looked, walked, chewed and moved..."

What Do You Know About Joliet-Lemont Limestone ?

One Stone to Another
By Joseph D. Kubal
©2013 Joseph D. Kubal - All Rights Reserved. 

The information in this article has been excerpted in part from the upcoming book, The Curious Traveler’s Guide: Route 66 in Metro Chicago, by Maria R. Traska, Joseph D. Kubal and Keith Yearman. Additional information can be found on their blog site at http://curioustraveler66.wordpress.com/.

As you may know or not, I have been working on a book about Route 66 between Chicago and Joliet.  Even here, I cannot separate myself from one of my passions – rocks.  I have an interesting story to tell, one of transition and history of quarries in Chicago. 

Many of you probably have wandered around the Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal cities of Lemont, Lockport and Joliet.  You may have noticed many buildings in these towns made out of a creamy, buff-colored stone.  This is Joliet-Lemont limestone (JLL) and this is how the story begins.  However, the location of the story has origins in early Chicago.

When the first settlers arrived in the Chicago area, they probably noticed outcrops of bedrock, which in some places, is scantily covered with a thin layer of glacial debris.  The first quarries of the Niagaran formation dolomite, dubbed JLL locally, developed to provide a source of lime for farmers’ fields.  The lime was used to “sweeten” acidic soils.  Lime from these original quarries also was used for sanitation purposes needed to combat cholera epidemics.  However, the stone in the immediate Chicago area was of poor quality for use as building material.

We now travel down the road to the Lemont area where the I&M Canal was being built in the late 1830s-1840s.  While digging the canal, bedrock was encountered.  It was discovered that this stone could be used to line the walls of the canal in a cost effective manner as it was readily available.  It probably was shortly after that that JLL was found to be excellent for building purposes.  JLL was used as the primary building material in Lockport’s acclaimed Gaylord (1838, 1859)and Norton (1855) Buildings which sit astride the I&M Canal in the town. 

Before we proceed, we should clear up any misperceptions.  JLL has been called many things.  Its names include Lemont limestone, Athens marble, Joliet limestone, Sugar Run dolomite, Joliet marble, Niagaran dolomite, and Magnesian limestone (archaic), as well as other combinations and naming conventions.  However, it should properly be called dolomite, irrespective of the local name.

New Exhibition at Peggy Notebaert Museum by Andrew Young

ESCONI Member, Andrew Young sent this information about the opening of his exhibit and the upcoming Gallery Talk on May 11, 1:00 pm at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Musuem.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

This Saturday, the Chicago Academy of Sciences Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
will open the exhibition,

Of Light and Air: mixed media works by Andrew Young.

The show is comprised of 29 art works spanning several years, and its duration is from April 13th through June 30th, 2013. I will present a Gallery Talk on Saturday, May 11th, at 1:00 pm, which is free with museum admission.

Attached for you is a PDF with more information about the exhibition and venue.

Please note the alternative email address above. For more information about my work go to andrewyoungart.com. The website is in the process of being expanded and updated, and the new version will be available very soon.

Thank you for all of your interest and support,     Andrew.

Image: Familiar Seas and NIghts Series, reprinted with permission.  

Book Review: Chinese Petroglyphs in America? by John Ruskamp, Jr.

Chinese Petroglyphs in America? - A Book Review 

Asiatic Echoes: The Identification of Chinese Pictograms in North American Rock Writing; Ruskamp, Jr., John A.; Amazon Press, Charleston, SC;  2012. ($29.50)

Asiatic Echoes: The Identification of Chinese Pictograms in North American Rock Writing – Addendum 2012; Ruskamp, Jr., John A.; Amazon Press, Charleston, SC;  2012. ($9.25)

In his best-selling book, 1421: The Year China Discovered America, the author Gavin Menzies claims that it was not Christopher Columbus, but the Chinese that were the first to land in the Americas (excluding the native inhabitants, of course, who have been purported to be living there since the last glacial period).  Dr. John A. Ruskamp, Jr., an ESCONI member, builds upon the premises popularized by Menzies and theorizes that in the rock art of North America there is evidence of early Chinese trans-Pacific contact at scattered sites, particularly, in the southwestern U.S.  The rock art (petroglyphs), it is proposed, take the form of ancient Chinese pictographic characters.  

Update to St. Paul Trip 4/19/2013 - Meet at 8:00 am eastern (7:00 am Chicago time)

On the day of the trip, we will meet at the quarry office by 8:00 am eastern (7:00 am Chicago time).

Report on Mid-America Paleontology Society

Sent in by ESCONI Member, Mary Fairchild:  

Is it dinosaur? This fossil was found in gravel in northwest Iowa and it has not been identified yet. 

That's what makes events like the MAPS fossil show a great way to learn and share with other fossil enthusiasts. MAPS is a non-profit organization of amateurs and professionals from across the U.S. and several other countries.

Its purpose is to promote popular interest in the subject of paleontology and to encourage the proper collecting, studying, and preparation and displaying of fossils. MAPS (Mid-America Paleontology Society)  has sponsored the National Fossil Exposition since 1979. Corresponding with their new location in Iowa City, the theme for this year's show was "Devonian fossils." 

Nearby, the Devonian Fossil Gorge in the Coralville dam emergency spillway offered a unique view of the fossils that had been exposed there during 1993 and 2008 floods. 

Post link:   Mid-America Paleontology Society Annual Fossil Show Moves to Iowa

ESCONI Mineralogy Study Group Meeting 4/13 at 7:30

ESCONI Mineralogy Meeting 7:30 p.m. College of Dupage, - Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038B (Map) 

Archaeology's Dirty Little Secrets

Free online course from Coursera - Archaeology's Dirty Little Secrets - starts June 2013

Tools for the Geologist

Via geology.com

Here is a large selection of hammers, picks, chisels, lenses...  you may wish to purchase before going on your next collecting trip!

Meteorite from Mercury

via geology.com:

A green meteorite found in Morocco is believed to have originated either from the planet Mercury or from an unknown body in the solar system.

Dom Pedro Aquamarine On Display at Smithsonian Museum

"The Dom Pedro Aquamarine exists today because of one thing—passion—passion from a great gem dealer, passion from a creative gem artist, and passion from a serious gem collector. This type of passion combined with knowledge, vision, talent, and the desire to preserve and share the wonders of nature is why the Dom Pedro is on display today at the Smithsonian Institution....

The Dom Pedro is now on exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC."

 

The Dom Pedro aquamarine. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Institution.

Decorah Iowa Crater Structure

From University of Iowa via geology.com:

Recent airborne geophysical surveys near Decorah, Iowa are providing an unprecedented look at a 470- million-year-old meteorite crater concealed beneath bedrock and sediments.

The aerial surveys, a collaboration of the U.S. Geological Survey with the Iowa and Minnesota Geological Surveys, were conducted in the last 60 days to map geologic structures and assess the mineral and water resources of the region.

“Capturing images of an ancient meteorite impact was a huge bonus,” said Dr. Paul Bedrosian, a USGS geophysicist in Denver who is leading the effort to model the recently acquired geophysical data. “These findings highlight the range of applications that these geophysical methods can address.”

New Genus Species of Pliocene Saber-toothed Cat

Via the ESCONI Discussion Group:

A new genus and species of Pliocene saber-toothed cat from Florida is described.

Summary at: http://www.scienced aily.com/ releases/ 2013/03/13031414 0909.htm

Article at: http://www.plosone. org/article/ info%3Adoi% 2F10.1371% 2Fjournal. pone.0056173