Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

Greenland Is Melting Away

The New York Times has a neat interactive story about the melting ice of Greenland.  If all of Greenland's ice melts, the world's oceans could rise about 20 feet.  That would be devastating to say the least.  It's hard to be a climate skeptic when you see this happening.  Check it out for a sobering view of climate change in action.  If this keeps up, it really will be "green land" in the future...

ON THE GREENLAND ICE SHEET — The midnight sun still gleamed at 1 a.m. across the brilliant expanse of the Greenland ice sheet. Brandon Overstreet, a doctoral candidate in hydrology at the University of Wyoming, picked his way across the frozen landscape, clipped his climbing harness to an anchor in the ice and crept toward the edge of a river that rushed downstream toward an enormous sinkhole.

If he fell in, “the death rate is 100 percent,” said Mr. Overstreet’s friend and fellow researcher, Lincoln Pitcher.

But Mr. Overstreet’s task, to collect critical data from the river, is essential to understanding one of the most consequential impacts of global warming. The scientific data he and a team of six other researchers collect here could yield groundbreaking information on the rate at which the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, one of the biggest and fastest-melting chunks of ice on Earth, will drive up sea levels in the coming decades. The full melting of Greenland’s ice sheet could increase sea levels by about 20 feet.

Top predator wannabe is just another T. rex

Thomas D. Carr.  Study of this 3D reconstruction of the dinosaur called "Jane" indicates it is Tyrannosaurus rex and not a close but smaller cousin.

ScienceMagazine has a story about a new study which shows that Nanotyrannus was just a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex.  The study, which was presented at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Dallas, was led by Thomas Carr, a paleontologist at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  Not everyone agrees.  Bob Bakker still thinks that Nanotyrannus was a separate species.  Get all the details over at sciencemag.org.

In Dallas, Carr presented a new analysis of Jane’s skull and skeleton, based on a three-dimensional computer reconstruction of the skull which filled in missing segments and allowed him to analyze the features in more detail. His team examined microscopic “growth rings” in Jane’s calf bone, which accumulate per year of life. The team found nine such rings in the bone and space for two more, leading them to conclude that Jane was indeed a juvenile, about 11 years old when she died. Moreover, close examination of the skeleton revealed that it was still undergoing “remodeling” typical of very fast growing bone. Although younger and older specimens of T. rex are known, Jane filled an important gap in researchers’ knowledge of the growth pattern of tyrannosaurs, Carr told the meeting. “She was just about to, or had already entered, the rapid phase of growth” typical of very large carnivorous dinosaurs.

In addition, Carr argued, a comparison of Jane with the 1940s Nanotyrannus skull—made possible if both are considered juveniles—kills the idea that the original Nanotyrannus skull has unique features that T. rex does not. “Jane was heralded by some as the second coming of Nanotyrannus,” Carr said. But according to his analysis, the two skulls share a number of features once thought to be unique to Nanotyrannus, including a hole in a small jaw bone and a long and low snout. Rather than being diagnostic of a separate species, Carr concluded, such features actually characterize juvenile tyrannosaurs.

Some paleontologists at the meeting found Carr’s arguments convincing. The two skulls “are the same animal, the same species,” says Stephen Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. Zanno agrees. “Tom makes a compelling argument” that there was only one top predator in western North America rather than two. “His explanation is the simplest and most parsimonious.”

But Bakker is standing his ground. “Tom has not seen the best specimen,” of Nanotyrranus, he told Science. Yet details about that specimen—a third and nearly complete skeleton found in Montana in 2006—has not yet been published. It is mired in controversy after its owners tried—and failed—to sell it at auction for $7 million or more. Most paleontologists, citing the ethics of their profession, will not study it unless it is either donated to or purchased by a museum.

 

Palaeocast Episode 52: Melanin

Melanin is a pigment that has a distinct atomic structure. There are two types: eumelanin and pheomelanin. Eumelanin is found in black, dark brown, grey and blonde integuments, while pheomelanin is found in red integuments. Melanosomes are the organelles that contain melanin and there is a correlation between the shape of the melanosome and the type of melanin inside. (Melanin structure images : Roland Mattern – Roland1952. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons).

Palaeocast Episode 52 is on melanin in fossils.  Specifically, the chemical and structural preservation of melanin in a fossil mammal.  Caitlin Colleary, a graduate student at the University of Bristol, talks about her paper, which is based on her Masters research.

 

 

When T. Rex Meets Triceratops in the New Dino Hall, It Will Be a Violent Affair

Brian Switek has an interesting post over at Smithonian.com.  In it, he describes the new dinosaur display in the Natural History Museum.  The renovated dinosaur and fossil hall is slated to reopen in 2019.  One of the main scenes will feature a Tyrannosaurus rex and an Triceratops locked in grim pose.

Most museum-bound dinosaurs are reconstructed standing still or in mid-stride, isolated from each other in the cavernous space of exhibition galleries. But in the Smithsonian’s new dinosaur hall, designed and approved by museum experts including Matthew Carrano, curator of dinosaurs, the Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus will have a much closer connection.

Bent down with jaws agape, the 38-foot-long “Wankel rex,” named after Kathy Wankel who discovered it in 1988, will be positioning itself to pull off the skull from the carcass of the Triceratops, known as “Hatcher” for its 19th-century discoverer.

Inspired by tyrannosaur bite marks found on the frills of multiple Triceratops specimens, the display catches a grisly and terrifying moment that we know must have happened between 68 and 66 million years ago.

“It’s a grim scene,” Carrano acknowledges, but the fossil evidence backs up the skeletal moment frozen in time. Healed wounds and scrapes on Cretaceous bones have shown that Tyrannosaurus was both a capable hunter and an opportunistic scavenger, just as spotted hyenas are today. Visitors will be left to wonder whether the Smithsonian's T. rex caught its meal on the hoof or happened onto a rotting slab of carrion—and let nothing go to waste.

Happy National Fossil Day!

Today is National Fossil Day!  The day was created by the National Park Service to promote public awareness and stewardship of fossils.  The official website has some events for Illinois, which includes ESCONI's own "Best Fossil Contest" to be held this Saturday, October 17, 2015.  Come out and enjoy the fun!

 

10 Terrific Facts About Trilobites

Mental Floss has a post about trilobites.  Trilobites were arthropods.  they existed on earth from the lower Cambrian to the Permian mass extinction, that's about 300 million years.  Over 20,000 species have been described.  And more new ones are added to the list every year.  Ohio (Isotelus), Wisconsin (Calymene celebra), and Pennsylvannia (Phacops rana) have trilobites designated as their state fossil. 

They are one of the most common favorites and are collected by many.  If you go to the right place, you can collect them yourself...  For more information visit www.trilobites.info.

 

Field Trip: St. Paul, IN on October 23, 2015

The ESCONI club will have a members only field trip to the St. Paul Quarry on October 23, 2015. We will meet at the quarry office at 8:45 am (Eastern Time) to sign waivers and enter the quarry at approx. 9:00 am. The following requirements must be met:

 

1. Paid member of ESCONI by or on October 17, 2015.

2. At least 18 years of age (quarry rules)

3. Hard hat to be worn at all times in the quarry.

4. Hard, sturdy shoes required--no open toed sandals, tennis, or street shoes will be allowed.

5. Long pants will be required, no shorts will be allowed.

6. Some type of safety glasses and gloves are recommended.

7. Attendance is limited to 20 participants.

 

To sign up, e-mail John Catalani: [email protected]

 

Tiny ancient fossil from Spain shows birds flew over the heads of dinosaurs

ScienceDaily has a piece 125 million year old birds.  The new discovery from central Spain is an exceptionally preserved wing from a bird that flew over the heads of dinosaurs during the Cretaceous.  Besides the bones, the wing fossil preserves details of the complex network of muscles that allow modern birds to control their flight.  The source paper appeared in Nature's Scientific Reports.

An international team of Spanish paleontologists and NHM's Director of the Dinosaur Institute, Dr. Luis M. Chiappe, studied the exceptionally preserved wing of a 125-million-year-old bird from central Spain. Beyond the bones preserved in the fossil, the tiny wing of this ancient bird reveals details of a complex network of muscles that in modern birds controls the fine adjustments of the wing's main feathers, allowing birds to master the sky.

"The anatomical match between the muscle network preserved in the fossil and those that characterize the wings of living birds strongly indicates that some of the earliest birds were capable of aerodynamic prowess like many present-day birds," said Chiappe, the investigation's senior scientist.

"It is very surprising that despite being skeletally quite different from their modern counterparts, these primitive birds show striking similarities in their soft anatomy," said Guillermo Navalón, a doctorate candidate at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom and lead author of the report.

ESCONI Events October 2015

Fri, Oct 9	ESCONI General Meeting 8:00 p.m. College of Dupage - Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038B (Map) - Topic: "Field Collecting and Preparation Techniques” by Connie Vanbeek of the Field Museum
Sat, Oct 10	Field Trip - State Street Quarry in Rockford, IL, See this link for details.
Sat, Oct 10	ESCONI Mineralogy Meeting 7:30 p.m. College of Dupage - Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038B (Map) - Topic: "Rubies and Sapphires"
Fri, Oct 16	ESCONI Archaeology Study Group Meeting, ESCONI Archaeology Study Group Meeting, To be announced
Sat, Oct 17	ESCONI Paleontology Study Group Meeting, 7:30 p.m. College of Dupage - Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038B (Map) - Topic: "Best Fossil Competition and National Fossil Day!", Bring out your best!

Amid budget fight, Illinois State Museum prepares to close

Science Magazine has a story about the closure of the Illinois State Museum, which is due to the political battle over the budget in Springfield.  The website is still up, but the facilities did close on October 1st.  The closure will save the state 4.8 million of a 4 billion dollar budget hole.  Last year, the museum generated 33 million dollars in tourist revenue.

Last week paleoecologist Eric Grimm, the director of science at the Illinois State Museum in Springfield, rented an 8-meter-long truck, bought $500 worth of lumber, and built temporary shelves in the back. Then, with the help of his wife and former coworkers, he loaded his cargo: roughly 30 sediment cores drilled from lake bottoms.

The cores, which hold pollen grains, minerals, and other clues that help researchers reconstruct past environments, had been stored at the museum where Grimm has worked for 28 years. But the museum is scheduled to close on 1 October as the result of a tense budget standoff between the state’s Democrat-led General Assembly and its Republican governor. So Grimm is moving his collection to the University of Minnesota’s National Lacustrine Core Repository (LacCore) in Minneapolis. And he’s retiring from his post at the museum—with a certain sense of dismay.

“It’s a travesty,” Grimm says of the political stalemate that has dominated Illinois for months, and the consequences for the museum. “I think it’s political corruption and malevolent anti-intellectualism.”

Saturday Oct. 10th: Celebrate National Fossil Day at the Burpee Museum of Natural History

Celebrate National Fossil Day w/Burpee Museum of Natural History on Saturday Oct. 10^th .  National Fossil Day is a celebration organized by the National Park service to promote public awareness & stewardship of fossils, as well as to foster a greater appreciation of the scientific and educational values. 

 

Burpee has many exclusive activities for the event including-

 

1)   Five special paleo-exhibitors that will showcase: local fossil collections, 3D scanning techniques, key specimens from the Burpee Collection & more

2)   The 1^st 150 kids who visit all the exhibit stations will receive assorted fossil shark teeth so they can start their own collection.

3)   There will be 2 educator led workshops (at 11AM & 2PM) where kids will see how fossil casts are made & get to paint their own cast specimen. There is a $5 fee for one workshop or $7 for both.  

4)   At 1PM there will be an exclusive presentation that will recap Burpee’s 2015 paleo-field season!  Be the FIRST to get a sneak peak of our new discoveries

5)   There will be 2 Jurassic Park Jeeps parked at Burpee for photo ops. 

 

Help us spread the word, pass this along to interested parties (kids, families, students), share our National Fossil Day Facebook Posts and most importantly come visit us!

For more information about the event, call 815-965-3433 or visit www.burpee.org.