Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

Throwback Thursday #203: They Crawled Out of the Swamps to Save the Mets #dinosaurs #history #TBT #ThrowbackThursday #mlb #nymets #mets #baseball

This is Throwback Thursday #202.  In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general.  If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc ...), please sent them to [email protected].  Thanks!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To commemorate the start of Major League Baseball's Spring Training, we are taking a look at a fun little newspaper article that appeared back on October 7th, 1986.  You won't find many Mets fans here in Chicago, but we do love our dinosaurs.  Just check out the crowds of people at the Field Museum each week to see SUE the largest, most complete, and oldest Tyrannosaurus rex that has ever been found.

Back in October 1986, the Mets were getting ready to play the Houston Astros in the NLCS, after unfortunately beating out our Cubbies (the Cubs finished a dismal and distant 5th). The Village Voice's Jockbeat section featured "Favorite Dinosaurs of the Mets” by humorist Charlie Rubin.

There's a bunch of great "quotes" in there....   

Davey Johnson: Ever notice how great teams and great dinosaurs just seem to follow each other around? That was the message I was brought here to impart, in '84. And today, this is significant, while every Met has a favorite dinosaur, it's always a different favorite dinosaur. There's no dinosaur politics on this club. Guy goes on the [disabled list], he finds his dinosaur waiting for him when he comes back ... Before I took the Mets job I had to know from management, "Do I have the authority to lead museum trips as I see fit?"

Frank Cashen: Dinosaurs are important to any winning organization. And when your dinosaurs go, so does your competitive edge. I was talking to [New York Yankees Owner] George Steinbrenner the other day, and he agreed with me. He said, "You know what killed off those great Yankees teams of mine, don't you? Extreme cold and changing vegetation."

Gary Carter, C: Favorite dinosaur? I prefer footprints. Tracks. But darn they're so incredibly rare. Now, what does that remind you of? If you said, "Hall of Fame baseball players," I'm in complete agreement. I mean, we've preserved Babe's bats, his uniforma, his glove. But did anyone ever think to take a plaster cast of his footprints? Now they're lost to forever. What path did Cy Young take from the showers to his locker? All we an do is guess...

Dwight Gooden, P: Absolutely no question, the highlight of my season was finding that claw bone in the late Cretaceous formation just outside our dugout. Scaling up its dimensions, I’d conclude it was from a creature that was about 6-1 and 200 pounds…probably Tom Seaver.

My favorite is Mookie Wilson, the eventual hero of the World Series.

The Mets ultimately won the series 4 games to 2.  They then defeated the Boston Red Sox in the World Series that featured some memorable plays.  Who remembers Bill Buckner's error (attributed to the Curse of the Bambino) and the call by Vin Scully?

"So the winning run is at second base, with two outs"

"5-5.  In a delirious 10th inning. Can you believe this ball game at Shea?"

"Three and two to Mookie Wilson. [A] little roller up along first... BEHIND THE BAG! IT GETS THROUGH BUCKNER! Here comes Knight, and the Mets win it!"

....

"If one picture is worth a thousand words, you have seen about a million words, but more than that, you have seen an absolutely bizarre finish to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The Mets are not only alive, they are well; and they will play the Red Sox in Game 7 tomorrow!"

 Did the dinosaurs help them win in 1986?  Maybe?!?  They haven't won a World Series since...

 

 

The hidden rule for flight feathers and how it could reveal which dinosaurs could fly #fossils #paleontology #feathers #birds #dinosaurs #flight #evolution @FieldMuseum

Fossil showing the wing and feathers of the prehistoric bird Confuciusornis. Credit: Yosef Kiat

Phys.org has a story about flying dinosaurs.  A new paper in the journal PNAS looked at hundreds of feathers in museum collections to determine which feather characteristics were common to flying birds.  These characteristics were then used to create "rules", which when applied to fossil dinosaur feathers might predict which dinosaurs were able to fly.  The research was performed by two Field Museum scientists, paleontologist Jingmai O'Connor Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles and ornithologist Yosef Kiat, a postdoctoral researcher at the Field.

By applying the information about the number of primary feathers to the overall bird family tree, Kiat and O'Connor also found that it takes a long time for birds to evolve a different number of primary feathers. "This trait only changes after really long periods of geologic time," says O'Connor. "It takes a very long time for evolution to act on this trait and change it."

In addition to modern birds, the researchers also examined 65 fossil specimens representing 35 different species of feathered dinosaurs and extinct birds. By applying the findings from modern birds, the researchers were able to extrapolate information about the fossils. "You can basically look at the overlap of the number of primary feathers and the shape of those feathers to determine if a fossil bird could fly, and whether its ancestors could," says O'Connor.

For instance, the researchers looked at the feathered dinosaur Caudipteryx. Caudipteryx had nine primary feathers, but those feathers are almost symmetrical, and the proportions of its wings would have made flight impossible. The researchers said it's possible that Caudipteryx had an ancestor that was capable of flight, but that trait was lost by the time Caudipteryx arrived on the scene.

Since it takes a long time for the number of primary feathers to change, the flightless Caudipteryx retained its nine primaries. Meanwhile, other feathered fossils' wings seemed flight-ready— including those of the earliest known bird, Archaeopteryx, and Microraptor, a tiny, four-winged dinosaur that isn't a direct ancestor of modern birds.

Fossil Friday also did a segment on this research.

An Archaeopteryx fossil, complete with visible imprints of its feathers. Credit: Shutterstock

Not all birds can fly. Penguins, ostriches, and kiwis are some famous examples.

It’s pretty easy to figure out if a living bird can fly. But it’s a bit tricker when it comes to extinct birds or bird ancestors, like dinosaurs. Remember, all birds are dinosaurs, but not all dinosaurs evolved into birds.

Scientists at Chicago’s Field Museum wanted to figure out if there was a way to tell if a dinosaur could fly or not. They found that the number and symmetry of flight feathers are reliable indicators of whether a bird or dinosaur could lift off the ground.

Ira talks with two of the study’s co-authors about their research and how it might help us understand how dinosaur flight evolved. Dr. Yosef Kiat is a postdoctoral researcher and Dr. Jingmai O’Connor is the associate curator of fossil reptiles at The Field Museum in Chicago.

2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #4! #fossils #show #paleontology #geology #eocene #snail #mollusk

This is the preview post #4 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Here are some very nice chunks of Turritella Agate from the Eocene Epoch.  Unfortunaely, the locality is unknown.  It is very detailed and in excellent condition.

Mazon Monday #205: Cyathocarpus hemitelioides #fossils #paleontology #fern #treefern #MazonMonday #MazonCreek #pennsylvanian #fossil #fernfossil

This is Mazon Monday post #205.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

-----------------------------------------------------

Cyathocarpus hemitelioides is one of the rarer ferns from the Mazon Creek biota.  C. hemitelioides was named in 1834 by Adolphe-Theodore Brongniart (1801 - 1876), who was a French paleontologist, considered by many to be the father of paleobotany.

There are questions about whether it is even a valid name.  Pecopteris (Cyathocarpus) hemitelioides has at times been mistaken for Pecopteris (Cyathocarpus) arborescens (arborea), Crenulopteris subcrenulata, and Pecopteris (Diplazites) unita.  It should be noted that the Mazon Creek type specimens differ from Brongniart's type example.

C. hemitelioides appears on page 104 and 105 of Jack Wittry's "A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek".

Cyathocarpus hemitelioides (Brongniart) Mosbrugger, 1983

1834. Pecopteris hemitelioides Brongniart: p. 314, pl. 108, figs. 1, 2
1888. Pecopteris hemitelioides Brongniart; Zeiller: p. 133, pl. 11; figs. 6, 7
1924. Asterotheca hemitelioides Brongniart; Kidston: p. 519, pl. 117, figs. 1, 2, 4, 5
1938. Asterotheca robbi Bell: p. 74, pl. 72, figs. 3-6; pl. 73, fig. 1, 2; pl. 74, fig. 1; pl. 76, fig. 1
1958. Asterotheca hemitelioides Brongniart; Langford: p. 159, fig. 267
1958. Asterotheca candolleana (non Brongniart); Langford: p. 160, fig. 271 (re-figured here as Fig. 5); non text
1962. Pecopteris (Asterotheca) hemitelioides Brongniart; Bell: p. 34, pl. 21, fig. 3
1971. Scolecopteris Pfefferkorn: p. 21, fig. 8, non fig. 7; pl. 12, figs. 1-4
1979. Asterotheca hemitelioides Brongniart; Janssen: p. 132, fig. 114

DESCRIPTION: The ultimate pinna is linear-lanceolate. The rachis has scattered pits which may represent the bases of hairs. At about two-thirds of the way along its length, the pinna gently tapers to a blunt apex. The pinnules are vaulted, vary in length on the same pinna, pubescent when well-preserved, alternate, lie perpendicular or slightly oblique with parallel sides, and terminate in a blunt, rounded apex. The thick midvein is straight, non-decurrent, and extends almost to the apex. The lateral veins are oblique, simple or rarely fork once at the base (see Fig. 2 inset), and are straight or sightly recurved. Occasionally at the pinnule margins, the lateral veins display expanded tips known as hydathodes or water stomata (see Fig. 5 inset). This feature has been mistaken for a small fork or synangia. On fertile examples, the synangia grew on a recurved stalk, and are most frequently found lying sideways and parallel to the lateral veins on the abaxial surface of the pinnule. As they matured, the sori descended and became more upright. The sori have an asterothecoid appearance with 4 or 5 sporangia. The isolated spores are correlated with Laevigatosporites globosus (Pfefferkorn et al., 1971).

REMARKS: Cyathocarpus hemitelioides is uncommon. The use of the name C. hemitelioides for this form clearly needs critical reexamination. The fertile structures and pinnule shapes seen in the Mazon Creek flora do not appear to be like those in Brongniart's type example. The name is retained for now, using the same interpretation as Kidston (1924) and Zeiller (1888) before him, on forms which have similar features to those seen here.

Specimens

Field Museum specimens

From Wittry

 

2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #3! #fossils #show #paleontology #geology #illinois #statefossil #pennsylvanian #tullymonster #pit11

This is the preview post #3 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

-------------------------------------------------------------

How about a nice Tullymonster gregarium for a Sunday morning?  This partial Tully has the eyebar and the probosis, which is rarely found.  Come on out and this nice little Tully could be yours!

Attenborough and the Jurassic Sea Monster #jurassic #paleontology #Attenborough #PBS #nature @nature @PBS

Nature on PBS have posted quite a few of their videos to Youtube.  "Attenborough and the Jurassic Sea Monster" was just posted!

Follow Sir David Attenborough and a team of forensic experts as they unearth the fossil of a giant Pliosaur, the largest Jurassic predator ever known. Attenborough and the Jurassic Sea Monster premieres on February 14, 2024.

Watch on your local PBS station, the PBS video app, online, and here on YouTube through March 13, 2028.

Official site: https://bit.ly/3vGDTHm | #NaturePBS

Fossil Friday #201: Crenulopteris acadica #fossils #paleontology #FossilFriday #MazonCreek #fern #pennsylvanian #illinois

This is Mazon Monday post #201.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].  Thanks!

-----------------------------------------------------

We have a nice Crenulopteris acadica (see Mazon Monday #115) for today's Fossil Friday.  Sometimes, they don't come out of the freeze/thaw in one piece.  Unfortunately, this one needed a little repair.  It's not as obvious from the fossil face, but pretty obvious when you see the back of the concretion.

Throwback Thursday #202: ESCONI's Debut in Rock and Minerals #history #TBT #rocksandminerals #ThrowbackThursday

This is Throwback Thursday #202.  In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general.  If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc ...), please sent them to [email protected].  Thanks!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A cover from 1957

Rock & Minerals magazine has been in existence since 1926.  They are currently published by Taylor and Francis.  Here are their "Aims and scope" directly from their website.

Publishing on specimen mineralogy, mineral localities, geology and paleontology since 1926.

Rocks & Minerals, with its treasure-trove of in-depth, relevant feature articles and spectacular color images, has been enticing hobbyists and academics alike since 1926. Through the years it has evolved into a highly respected, award-winning journal for all who are interested in specimen mineralogy, mineral localities, geology, and paleontology. Its international community of readers savors the diversity of articles and trusts in their peer-reviewed, authoritative content. Regular columns explore such topics as minerals for the collector; microminerals; recent books, videos, and DVDs; coming events; museum news; and personalities in the field. Detailed lists of collecting opportunities in specific areas are published periodically, as are special theme issues.

Rocks & Minerals works with the Mineralogical Society of America to bridge the gap between collectors and professional mineralogists, and it is affiliated with the Friends of Mineralogy, the Midwest Federation of Mineralogical and Geological Societies, and the Eastern Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies.

ESCONI was founded on November 11th, 1949 in Bill Allaway's basement.  In the January/February 1950 edition of Rocks & Minerals magazine, ESCONI appeared in the "CLUB AND SOCIETY NOTES" section for the first time.  Stevens T. Norvell III wrote the article.  Stevens was the first club treasurer.  He wrote many articles for the ESCONI newsletter over the years, even after moving to Colorado in 1952.  There was a contest to design the ESCONI logo in March 1950, which Stevens won (see Throwback Thursday #169).

NEW EARTH SCIENCE CLUB FOR NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS

Friday evening. November 25, thirty enthusiastic people met at the home of Dr. I. G. Spiesman of Downers Grove, Illinois, to organize an earth science club for the benefit of those living in the populous suburban area between Chicago and Aurora, north of Joliet. Mr. William H. Allaway acted as temporary chairman. Several committees were formed, and the  balance of the evening was spent in listening to a lecture by Stevens T. Norvell on, "Geological Features of the West." It was illustrated with eighty kodachrome slides.

No name was selected for the club. This will be done at the next meeting when those present will be requested to write their suggestions for a club name on a black board. The club name will then be selected by ballot, and the author of the winning name will be awarded a slab of blond opalized wood from Logan, Montana.

An invitation to attend a meeting is extended to everyone interested minerals, fossils, geologic formations, ancient man, gold or silver smithing. For full information as to where the meeting will be held and how to get there, call Stevens T. Norvell on phone, Western Springs 2831 (Chicago phone, Lawndale, 1-5000, extension 1881) or Mr. William M. Allaway on phone, Downers Grove 129-J.

Stevens T. Norvell,
4449 Howard Avenue,
Western Springs, III.

PBS Eons: Why Is It So Hard to Tell the Sex of a Dinosaur? #fossils #paleontology #dinosaurs #evolution #gender #dinosaur

PBS Eons has a new episode over on Youtube.   How do you hold a gender reveal for dinosaurs.

While we think we know a lot about dinosaurs – like how they moved and what they ate – for a long time, we haven’t been able to ID one seemingly basic thing about their biology... Which are males and which are females?

2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #2! #mineral #show #fluorite #geology #mineralogy #rosiclare #illinois #statemineral

This is the preview post #2 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

-------------------------------------------------------------

This week's preview for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction is an absolutely gorgeous specimen of Fluorite from Rosiclare, Illinois.  There were a number of mines in southern Illinois around Hardin and Pope Counties.  Did you know that Fluorite is the Illinois State Mineral?  Enjoy and come see it in person at the show!

 

Mazon Monday #204: Caulopteris sp. #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #treefern #paleobotany #pennsylvanian #fossil #illinois #formgenera

This is Mazon Monday post #204.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

-----------------------------------------------------

Reconstruction of Psaronius, Illustrated by Auguste Faguet (1877)

Caulopteris sp. are the branch scars of the tree fern Psaronius.  Psaronius is an extinct genus of marattialean tree fern. The genus Psaronius is used to describe both the tree trunk and the whole plant.  Psaronius tree fern fossils are found from the Carboniferous through the Permian.  The foliage of the various species would have been the fronds Pecopteris, Crenulopteris, Sphenopteris, Astrotheca, among others.  It might seem odd that individual plant parts have different species names.  Paleobotany follows a system called form genera.  Form genera is used when the true relationships between fossils is unclear.  Form genera are artificial groups of organisms that are grouped together based on morphological resemblance. For example, all fossilized roots of scale trees are assigned to the form genus Stigmaria.

There were four different configurations of branch scars on Psaronius.

Psaronius stem surface petiole base configurations. A. Caulopteris . B. Megaphyton . C. Hagiophyton . D. Artisophyton

The branch scars were first named Megaphyton in 1825 by Edmund Tyrell Artis (1789-1847).  Artis was a British geologist, artist, and a pioneer of paleobotany and archaeology.  Megaphyton is identified when scars are shown to run in opposing and parallel lines down the length of the branch.  Caulopteris was named in 1832 by John Lindley (1799 - 1865) and William Hutton (1797-1860).  They wrote a series 3 volumes which described the fossil flora of Great Britain called "The Fossil Flora of Great Britain: of Figures and Descriptions of the Vegetable Remains Found in a Fossil State in this Country".

John Lindley (1799 - 1865) was an English botanist. He was employed early in his career as the assistant librarian to Sir Joseph Banks. In 1822 he became the Assistant Secretary to the Royal Horticultural Society and from 1829 to 1860 he was first Professor of Botany at the University of London and lecturer in botany to the Apothecaries’ Company (1836). He then became a Professor of Botany at Cambridge University. His Report to Treasury and Parliament in 1838 led to the preservation of the Royal Garden at Kew. He  described the plants of Mitchell's expeditions to Australia (1838) and an Appendix to the Botanical Register (1839) described plants of the Swan River Colony, Western Australia. His pioneering three-volume work of palaeobotany of England, was first published between 1831 and 1837. The work catalogues almost 300 species of fossil plants from the Pleistocene to the Carboniferous period. The geologist and paleontologist William Hutton (1797-1860), was responsible for collecting the fossil specimens on which the plates were based.

Caulopteris sp appears on page 84 of Jack Wittry's "A Comprehensive Guide to the Mazon Creek Fossil Flora"

Caulopteris sp. Lindley & Hutton, 1832
Megaphyton sp. Artis, 1825

1825. Megaphyton Artis: p. 20, fig. 20
1832. Caulopteris Lindley and Hutton: p. 121, pl. 42
1955. Caulopteris. Crookall: p. 54
1958. Caulopteris. Langford: p. 129
1976. Caulopteris. Pfefferkorn: p. 9

DESCRIPTION: These tree fern trunks have branch frond scars arranged either spirally around the trunk (see Fig. 6) or, more likely, in two opposing and parallel lines down its length (see Fig 1). The scars are more often found individually in Mazon Creek nodules as large, circular, oval, or elliptical coriaceous disks. They have an outer vascular trace which circles inside and more or less follows the outer edge. Inside of that is an inner trace, which can take on many forms, from a straight line to a sideways and stylized C-shape.

REMARKS: Caulopteris scars are very rare and are confined in age to the Westphalian D. This genus has been split into around 100 species. It has now been shown that many of these species-which were mostly based on vascular trace shape are growth stages and do not represent taxonomic differences. Presently, authors prefer to refer to similar forms from a single locality as form-species, e.g., Caulopteris sp. A, B, C, and so forth. All Caulopteris forms are based on the height-to-width ratio of the frond scar. Form A is the roundest, and D the most elongated. Another genus erected for tree fern trunk scars is Megaphyton, which has scars very similar to Caulopteris. The two scars cannot be distinguished when found individually. Megaphyton is used only when it can be shown that the scars occurred on the trunk in two opposing and parallel lines down its length. Due to the relatively small size of Mazon Creek fossils, this is seldom seen.

Specimens

From "A Comprehensive Guide to the Mazon Creek Fossil Flora"

From George's Basement

From Leo Lesquereux's "Atlas to the Coal Flora of the Pennsylvanian and the Carboniferous Formation Throughout the United States", Plate LX

New Species of Titanosaur Unearthed in China #fossils #paleontology #china #dinosaur #titanosaur

Life reconstruction of Jiangxititan ganzhouensis. Image credit: UnexpectedDinoLesson / Sci.News.

SciNews has a story about the discovery of a new Titanosaur.  The animal, Jiangxititan ganzhouensis, lived between 72 and 66 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period.  The fossils were found in the Nanxiong Formation near Tankou Town in Ganzhou City, the Chinese province of Jiangxi, which is commemorated in the name.  J. ganzhouensis is a sauropod dinosaur and belongs to the Titanosauria dinosaur clade.  Details can be found in the paper "A New Titanosaurian Sauropod from the Upper Cretaceous of Jiangxi Province, Southern China" in the journal Historical Biology.

Jiangxititan ganzhouensis represents the second sauropod species from the Nanxiong Formation.

“The Late Cretaceous Nanxiong Formation is represented by an extensive sequence of red mudstones, sandstones and conglomerates,” the paleontologists wrote.

“It has yielded a diverse array of vertebrates in recent years, including theropods, ornithopods, crocodiles, turtles, lizards, and mammals, as well as a vast number of dinosaur eggs.”

When Whales Could Walk | Full Documentary | NOVA | PBS #fossils #paleontology #whales #evolution #novapbs

PBS Nova has posted the full documentary "When Whales Could Walk" on Youtube.  Whales had legs... What?!?

In Egypt’s Sahara Desert, massive skeletons with strange skulls and gigantic teeth jut out from the sandy ground. This fossil graveyard, millions of years old, is known as the “Valley of the Whales.” Now, paleontologists have unearthed a whole new species of ancient whale dating to 43 million years ago, and this predator wasn’t just able to swim – it also had four legs and could walk. Follow scientists as they search for new clues to the winding evolutionary path of mammals that moved from the land into the sea to become the largest animals on Earth.

Fossil Friday #200: Peachocaris strongi #fossils #paleontology #shrimp #MazonCreek #FossilFriday #pennsylvanian #astoria #illinois #coalmine

This is Mazon Monday post #200.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].  Thanks!

-----------------------------------------------------

If you thought, "Oh... another Mazon Creek fossil for Fossil Friday"...  You'd be wrong. This special little fossil shrimp is Peachocaris strongi.  It hails from the old Astoria locality in western Illinois.  Fossils from Astoria came from the Sunspot Mine.  The locality was known for shrimp fossils, which were very common. The deposit features the same animals as Mazon Creek, including Tully Monsters, which is known from just three localities, Pit 11 (Braidwood), Morris, and Astoria.  Although widely separated from the common Mazon exposures, the Francis Creek shale member is present above the Colchester Coal #2 in the stratigraphic sequence.  Unfortunately, the mine has been recovered and is no longer available for collecting.  The fossils were found in ironstone concretions very similar to Mazon Creek.  P. strongi are also found in the Mazon Creek deposit.  You can find out more in Mazon Monday #82.  

Here's the special part.... this particular specimen was collected by Don Auler.  Don was very active in ESCONI for a long time.  Unfortunately, he passed away in 2002.  This fossil was donated to the ESCONI sale by John Good, a past ESCONI president.  Actually, John held many board positions over the years and still helps out at the annual show.

Don Auler is on the right

John Good collecting at Chowder Flats

Specimen photos

Throwback Thursday #201: He Gave Me A Rock #poem #TBT #ThrowbackThursday #history

This is Throwback Thursday #201.  In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general.  If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc ...), please sent them to [email protected].  Thanks!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We've featured the poems of Charles Schweitzer a few times in the past.  In Throwback Thursday #59, we looked at "The Rock Pile", TBT #73 was "The Rockhound's Wish", and TBT #98 was "The Rock I Threw Away".  Most recently was TBT #177 "The Rockhounds Creed".  All of these appear in his book of poems titled "Rhymes of the Rockhounds", which was published in the mid 1950's.

This Charles G, Schweitzer poem appeared in the February 1963 edition of the newsletter.  It's called "He Gave Me A Rock".

"HE GAVE ME A ROCK"

by

Charles G. Schweitzer

He gave me a rock; it was dirty and rough,
     Small promise of beauty or worth.
"I think you will find it a beautiful stone,
     Tho it looks like a piece of plain earth."

I took it and cut it and polished it well,
     More beauty each moment revealed;
At last it was finished, and there was displayed
     The splendor its rough coat concealed.

I thought of the donor; some say he is crude,
     His language at times a bit rough;
But if I need help, I know where I'll turn
     And be sure to get more than enough.
He often is careless of necktie and hat,
     And seldom wears clothes that are new;
But under it there, 'neath the roughness and all
     Beats a heart that is kindly and true.

Paleontologists Discover Two New Shark Species From Fossils in Mammoth Cave National Park #fossils #paleontology #carboniferous #sharks #kentucky #nationalpark

An artist’s illustration of Glikmanius careforum swimming beneath Troglocladodus trimblei in ancient waters. Benji Paynose / NPS

Smithsonian Magazine has a story about a new fossil discovery.  Two new shark species from the Carboniferous have been described from Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky.  Troglocladodus trimblei and Glikmanius careforum lived during the Carboniferous Period some 325 million yerars ago.  Both measured about 10 to 12 feet long.  The paper "Sharks in the dark: Paleontological resource inventory reveals multiple successive Mississippian Subperiod cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) assemblages within Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky" was published in eScolarship, Open Access Publications from the University of California.

“These are active predators, really fast-swimming, catching other decent-sized fish, and in the case of Glikmanius, possibly even eating other sharks,” Rick Toomey, a cave guide and Mammoth Cave paleontologist, tells WBKO’s Derek Parham.

When these creatures lived, the region that is now Kentucky was an ancient seaway connecting North America, Europe and Northern Africa. Eons later, the strip of water got sealed off when the Earth’s tectonic plates rearranged, smashing the continents together into Pangea. Then, between 10 million and 15 million years ago, acidic rainwater began dissolving the limestone-rich ground to form the earliest shafts of the Mammoth Cave network, making the ancient rock beds accessible.

2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #1! #mineral #show #fossil #paleontology #MazonCreek #pennsylvanian

This is the preview post #1 for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2024 will be held on March 16th and 17th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, time to kick off the previews for the 2024 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show.  We have a bunch to get through and the show is coming up fast!

This is a sweet Mariopteris decipiens from Mazon Creek (see Mazon Monday #108)  This specimen was collected back in 1968 at a locality (Greer School, now Cinder Ridge Golf Course) that no longer exists for collecting...  Come on out and it may be yours!

Mazon Monday #203: Creature Corner - Fossil Jackpot #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #history

This is Mazon Monday post #203.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

-----------------------------------------------------

Andy Hay was a long time ESCONI member.  He joined in 1976 and was a member to the very end.  For many years, he wrote the Creature Corner column for the ESCONI newsletter.  Many of those articles were compiled into the Creature Corner book, published in 2001.  Unfortunately, his April 1994 "Fossil Jackpot" was not one of those articles.  In that article, Andy speaks about the number of concretions that have been collected and processed.  He also touches on how likely you are to find a fossil in those concretions (see Mazon Monday #126).  The story of his driveway adds charm.  Who among us hasn't had the problem of getting rid of our spoils?  Who dumps them in the own driveway?  How about under some bushes?  A rock garden?

Andy Hay and Don Auler.  Andy did the writing and Don made the drawings.  Unfortunately, Andy Hay passed away in 2003 and Don Auler in 2002. They are sorely missed.  And, many happy memories of them are still passed around.

CREATURE CORNER

A survey was taken recently in an effort to determine the number of Mazon Creek ironstone concretions collected over the years. Questioning collectors as to the number of "buckets" (5 gallon pails) of concretions they brought home, then determining the average number in a pail, times number of days collecting, times years of collecting, times number? of collectors: a figure approaching one million was arrived at. We have become so jaded by hearing of the millions (of dollars) Congress throws around, that the quantity "million" means little, if anything, to us. Well, let me tell you, a million concretions izza lottsa rox.

OK! Where are all the fossils the concretions are supposed to have preserved within them?

As all concretion collectors ruefully learn, each concretion does not contain a fossil; when it does, the fossil is most often not well preserved. Well preserved fossils are relatively rare. The finding of the truly uncommon, the "different" species, is an event. One must bring home great quantities of ironstone nodules in order to acquire a decent Mazon Creek collection. Meanwhile you have to dispose of the duds.

For years the author dumped the duds on his gravel driveway. Each winter's heaving and thawing saw the gravel and concretions vanish into the mud. Over the years the neighborhood gentrified; a cement driveway became a necessity. During the cement contractor's attempt to level the surface with a bulldozer, a stream of obscene expletives arose from the bulldozer operator. It seemed that the siderite concretions, crushed and buried by years of weathering and traffic, had rusted together into a cohesive mass. The contractor may have been upset, but the driveway had developed a solid base! The author has digressed from the main theme in order to stress to the reader the quantity of concretions that needs be collected.

This was a point the author was called upon to stress in a meeting with environmentalists. How to dispel the erroneous assumption that to allow each collector a handful of concretions would be a guarantee of a handful of fossils? How?

The analogy of the slot machine, the one-armed bandit, came to mind. The machine is honest; it pays out. But when? It takes tens of thousands of pulls (concretions) to get the $1000.00 jackpot (that well preserved fossil), and yet because the machine is set up to "kick out" randomly it is also possible to pay out another jackpot at the next pull.

Good Hunting!

Andrew A. Hay

It's been 30 years since this estimate of a million concretions.  If anything, that number is way too low.  We've all collectively pulled out quite a few during the years since. 

March 1st brings a new season at Pit 11... Happy Hunting!

Fragments of Asteroid With Mystery Origin Are Found Outside Berlin #meteorite #germany #aubrite #mercury

A meteorite that fell near Berlin on Jan. 21 was found be an aubrite, a rare class with unknown origins that some scientists argue may be pieces of the planet Mercury.Credit...Peter Jenniskens/The SETI Institute

The New York Times has a story about a meteorite with mysterious origins.  A little after midnight on January 21st, 2024, a small meteor struck the Earth at Ribbeck, a village just outside Berlin, Germany.  There was no damage.  The meteor, probably less than three feet in diameter, was first spotted by Krisztián Sárneczky, a Hungarian astronomer, three hours before it hit Earth’s atmosphere.  By Thursday, searchers had located 20 fragments.

Researchers at the Natural History Museum in Berlin analyzed the minerals in the fragments using an electron microprobe. That revealed that the rocks appeared to be aubrites. It was the first time such meteorites had been collected in a tracked fall.

The source of aubrites, named after the French town of Aubres near where they were first found, remains mysterious, as their composition does not match other known sources of meteorites in the solar system. Some research has suggested they are fragments of the planet Mercury, but not all scientists support that origin story.

If aubrites came directly from Mercury, 2024 BX1 should have originated in the inner solar system. However, tracing back its path, it appears that the asteroid’s initial orbit was much wider and outside Earth’s orbit.

PBS Eons: Animals Might Be Much Older Than We Thought #evolution #fossils #paleontology #scotland #originoflife #precambrian

PBS Eons has a new episode.  This interesting video is about the origin of complex life.  When did animals first show up?   How long before the Cambian Explosion did complex life arrive on Earth.

What are animal-like fossils doing in rocks a billion years old, and what does that mean for our understanding of their evolution and geologic time itself? Turns out, there might've been a long, slow-burning fuse that ultimately ignited the Cambrian Explosion.