Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

Researchers just unearthed a lost island in the Aegean Sea

Quartz has a story about a lost island recently rediscovered in the Aegean Sea.  The team of researchers from the German Archaeology Institute believe they have found the ancient lost city of Kane.  Artifacts which were discovered on the submerged island were linked to the lost city.

An ancient island where the Athenians and the Spartans battled in 406 BC has been discovered by an international group of geo-archaeologists. 

The scientists, led by researchers from the German Archaeology Institute, examined underground rock layers from an Aegean Sea peninsula near Bademli village in the western Izmir province of Turkey and discovered that it was once an island, according to reports fromDoğan News Agency. Based on archaeological remnants and ceramics in the village, the archaeologists believe they have discovered the lost city of Kane, where the ancient Battle of Arginusae took place. Kane was an ancient city on one of three Arginus islands; the other two islands still exist and are today called the Garip islands.

 

New dinosaur likened to ‘a turkey from hell’

This sketch drawn by Robert DePalma, curator of vertabrate paleontology at the Palm Beach Museum of Natural History, depicts the newly discovered species of raptor, Dakotaraptor.(Robert Depalma/The Associated Press)

The Albuquerque Journal has a story about a new dinosaur described as a "turkey from hell".  The animal has been named Dakotaraptor steini.  It was 6 feet tall at the hips and would have been an agile sprinter capable of reaching 30-40 MPH.  It was discovered in the Hell Creek Formation and dates to about 66 million years ago.  Oh, and by the way, the 17 foot long feathered dromeosaur had a 9 1/2 inch long killing claw!

Tyrannosaurus rex may have been known as the big guy around the Hell Creek Formation 66 million years ago, but a newly discovered species of raptor would have roamed the region as one of its most lethal predators.

Dakotaraptor stood 6 feet tall at the hips, yet moved like a springy, agile sprinter, reaching 30-40 mph, rivaling today’s ostrich. But potential prey caught admiring the 17-foot-long creature’s grace stood little chance as the strong-muscled, winged Dromaeosaur boasted a vicious 9½-inch-long killing claw that could make mincemeat out of any herbivore caught in its path, said Robert DePalma, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Palm Beach Museum of Natural History.

“It had one of the strongest killing strokes in that slashing claw of any raptor known,” DePalma said.

DePalma and his research team, including University of Kansas paleontologists, announced the new species in a study published Oct. 30 by the University of Kansas Paleontological Institute. Dakotaraptor helps fill a gap in body size distribution between the small bird-like Maniraptora creatures and the giant T. rex found in Hell Creek, which spans parts of northwestern South Dakota, southwestern North Dakota, eastern Montana and eastern Wyoming.

Happy Thanksgiving!

FOUND: A Tennis Ball-Sized Diamond, the Largest Discovered in a Century

Atlas Obscura has a post about the the largest diamond found in the last century.  It weighs 1,111 carats and measures 2.6 by 2.2 by 1.6 inches.  It was found in a mine owned by the Lucara Diamond Corporation.  Previously, the largest diamond discovered in this century was a measly 603 carats.  That diamond was cut into 26 separate diamonds and was set into a single necklace.  The largest diamond ever found is the Cullinan diamond, which was discovered in 1905.  That diamond was cut into 105 separate stones, with the largest two being part of the British Crown Jewels.

American Museum of Natural History: Trilobite of the Week

The American Museum of Natural History has a new page on their website.  The "Trilobite of the Week" for this week is Probolichas of the Ordovician of the Bromide Formation of Oklahoma in the USA.  Check back each week for something new...

 

Ancient fossil forest unearthed in Arctic Norway

Reconstructed drawing of fossil forest in Svalbard.

Credit: Image courtesy of Cardiff University

ScienceDaily has a post about a Devonian forest discovered in Norway.  The fossil forest was found in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.  It dates to the late Devonian Period, 380 million years ago.  At that time, Svalbard was at the equator.  This find gives scientists insight into the climate change that occurred at this time, which might be a cause to the Devonian mass extinction events.

The fossil forests, with tree stumps preserved in place, were found in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago situated in the Arctic Ocean. They were identified and described by Dr Chris Berry of Cardiff University's School of Earth and Ocean Science.

Prof John Marshall, of Southampton University, has accurately dated the forests to 380 million years.

The forests grew near the equator during the late Devonian period, and could provide an insight into the cause of a 15-fold reduction in levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere around that time.

Current theories suggest that during the Devonian period (420-360 million years ago) there was a huge drop in the level of CO₂ in the atmosphere, thought to be largely caused by a change in vegetation from diminutive plants to the first large forest trees.

Forests pulled CO₂ out of the air through photosynthesis -- the process by which plants create food and tissues -- and the formation of soils.

Although initially the appearance of large trees absorbed more of the sun's radiation, eventually temperatures on Earth also dropped dramatically to levels very similar to those experienced today because of the reduction in atmospheric CO₂.

Because of the high temperatures and large amount of rainfall on the equator, it is likely that equatorial forests contributed most to the drawdown of CO₂. Svalbard was located on the equator around this time, before the tectonic plate drifted north by around 80° to its current position in the Arctic Ocean.

ESCONI ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY 2015

It is time to celebrate the holiday season with our annual ESCONI get together.

 

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4th, 2015

 

5:30 to 7:30 pm

Cozymel’s Restaurant

311 East Loop Road

Wheaton, IL 60189

[email protected]

(630) 871-1030

 

PLEASE NOTE: The Holiday party will be at Cozymel's in Wheaton on Butterfield just east of Naperville Rd. Party attendees will order off the menu and separate checks will be provided.

Be prepared to pay with CASH!

We will continue our tradition of a Secret Santa gift exchange. This grab bag is optional. If you do want to participate, please make sure that your gift is earth science related, has a value of around $15.00 and is labeled “male” or “female” if it is a gender specific gift.

If you would like to attend the Holiday Party, please RSVP by November 30 to Chris Cozart (630) 462-9778 e-mail: [email protected]

After the party, ESCONI is honored to have as guest speaker, Josh Mathews, doctoral candidate at NIU. His presentation is entitled “Cretaceous Crocodiles of Madagascar”.

The lecture will be held at The College of DuPage in Room 1038B of the Tec Building at 8:00 pm.

So, even if you can’t attend the Holiday Party, please join us for our General Meeting and an exciting presentation. Happy holidays!

 

Palaeocast Episode 55: Pterosaurs!

Palaeocast has a new episode up.  It's called Pterosaurs.  There is quite a bit of information on their evolution, anatomy, and even behaviour.  A previous episode covered the aerodynamics of their flight.  Enjoy!

Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to achieve powered flight, and lived in the skies above the dinosaurs during the Mesozoic. They’re often mistakenly identified as dinosaurs, but are in fact a separate, closely related group. This group has recently undergone a revival, with more research on pterosaurs happening now than ever before. Where are they found? How diverse was this group? How did they evolve?

 

Found: A 2,250 Foot Long Crack in Wyoming

In early October 2015, a hunter was out walking the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains in northern Wyoming.  He discovered a small crack in the countryside.  A few weeks later, when someone else had a chance to check it out, it had grown to nearly a half a mile long (2250 feet) and 150 feet wide.  Geologists from the Wyoming State Geologic Survey attribute it to a landslide  caused by groundwater erosion.  CBS News has more information.

 

How to Fossilize a Brain

Smithsonian's blog has a post about fossilized brains.  The brains belonged to a Cambrian arthropod called Fuxianhuia protensa from the famous Chenjiang fossil beds in south western China.  The paper appeared in the journal Cell Current Biology.  Interestingly, this study was a follow up to a paper that appeared in Nature in October of 2012.  In that instance, a single specimen of Fuxianhuia with preserved brain and optic nerves was described.  At that time, the preservation was thought to be implausibly rare.  However, the new paper details seven more specimens with similar preservation.  The complexity of these preserved brains, similar to modern day insects, is causing scientists to rethink early arthropod evolution.

CBC Quirks & Quarks - A Ptoothy Pterosaur With Fangs

An artist's interpretation of the newfangled pterosaur snacking on a primitive crocodylomorph known as a sphenosuchian.
Credit: Josh Cotton

CBC Radio's Quirks & Quarks has a segment on a new Triassic pterosaur.  The pterosaur has yet to be named.  It was found in north eastern Utah, not far from Dinosaur National Monument.  It dates to the Late Triassic, about 210 million years ago.  Pterosaurs are rare in the fossil record, so this is a significant find.

A little more than 200 million years ago, a four-fanged pterosaur flew over the vast desert of Triassic Utah snagging other reptiles with its toothy mouth, until it met its untimely end on the banks of a dried-up oasis, new research finds.

The pterosaur had a massive wingspan of about 4.5 feet (1.3 meters) — about as wide as a 10-year-old child is tall — and sported a total of 110 teeth, four of them inch-long (2.5 centimeters) fangs, said study researcher Brooks Britt, an associate professor of geology at Brigham Young University in Utah.

Brigham Young University student Scott Meek found the specimen, including its skull and bones from its body, in 2014 when he was excavating bones from a 300-lb. (136 kilograms) chunk of sandstone. The chunk came from the Saints and Sinners quarry in Utah near the Colorado border, Britt said.

The other segments of the show are also good.  You can find them all here.

 

 

15 Science Books Everyone Can Enjoy

It's the 40th anniversary of CBC Quirks and Quarks.  The blog has a list of 15 great science books.  There are names you would expect like "Silent Spring", "Gaia", and "The Double Helix".  Also included are great books like "Guns, Germs, and Steel", "The Sixth Extinction", and "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks".  I've read more than a few and have others on my short (every growing) list.  Check it out!

 

Change for November Minerology Study Group Meeting

Jeff Anderson has cancelled his November presentation. The study group will be watching videos from the Tuscon shows.

 

ESCONI Events November 2015

Fri, Nov 13	ESCONI General Meeting 8:00 p.m. College of Dupage - Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038B (Map) - Topic: "Early Angiosperm Evolution” by Patrick S. Herendeen of the Chicago Botanical Garden
Sat, Nov 14	ESCONI Mineralogy Meeting 7:30 p.m. College of Dupage - Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038B (Map) - Topic: "Tuscon Show Videos"
Sat, Nov 21	ESCONI Paleontology Study Group Meeting, 7:30 p.m. College of Dupage - Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038B (Map) - Topic:"Receptaculites (Sunflower Coral)" by Tom Williams
	ESCONI Archaeology Study Group Meeting, 7:30 p.m. College of Dupage - Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038B (Map) - Open at this time, seeking a chair

100-Year-Old Box of Negatives Discovered Frozen In Block of Antarctica’s Ice

Bored Panda has a post about 100 year old negatives that were discovered frozen in Antarctica.  The negatives were discovered in a box during restoration work of an exploration hut, which was carried out by the Conservators of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust.  The box contained 22 never before seen cellulose nitrate negatives that were probably left in Captain Scott's hut by Ernest Shackleton's 1914-1917 Ross Sea Party.  The photos can be seen on the Antarctic Heritage Trust's website.

New species of ostrich-like dinosaur discovered in Mexico

Laelaps has a post about an new ornithomimid dinosaur that was found in Mexico.  Dubbed Tototlmimus packardensis, Mexico's "bird mimic", the animal lived about 72 million years ago.  It was similar in size to Gallimimus, which could measure 2 m tall at the hip and 8 m long. Currently, it is known from pieces of its feet and hand bones.  The original paper appeared in the journal Cretaceous Research.

North America has been a dinosaur hotspot for a century and a half. The Bone Wars of the 19th century, the Second Jurassic Dinosaur Rush of the early 20th, and the continuing profusion of new species and specimens all rely on the fossil riches held in the Mesozoic rocks of Canada and the United States. But the dinosaurs just to the south, in Central America, are only just now starting to stalk into the light. The latest to trot out into view is Tototlmimus, Mexico’s “bird mimic”.

For the moment, at least, the new dinosaur isn’t much to look at. Pieces of the feet and the hands are the only parts yet known. But paleontologist Claudia Inés Serrano-Brañas and colleagues make the case that these 72 million year old fragments really do represent a previously-unknown ornithomimid dinosaur that lived along the southern stretch of the long-lost subcontinent Laramidia. The articulation of the foot bones called metatarsals and the shape of one of the toe claws indicate that this dinosaur was an different from closely-related contemporaries that lived further north.