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(?) Geologic Processes
Read more: (?) Geologic ProcessesInteresting and informative web site with animations explaining all types of geologic processes. via Novageoblog
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(broken link) Iron of Earth’s Past
Read more: (broken link) Iron of Earth’s PastVia Geology.com from Science News: Scientists are decoding the geological secrets of banded iron formations, By Sid Perkins: …. BIFs, as they’re known to geologists, are enigmatic. All seem to have started out as sediments on ancient seafloors, and by some estimates the oxide mineral accumulated in all known BIFs contains about 20 times as much oxygen as today’s atmosphere does. Yet some of these deposits accumulated long before Earth’s atmosphere became thoroughly oxygenated, so the source of the oxygen stored in these BIFs is baffling…. Discussion of various theories old and new. (Image courtesy Earth Science World Image Bank, Copyright ©…
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Boy Hit By Meteorite
Read more: Boy Hit By MeteoriteGerman boy sees light, feels burn as pea sized meteorite bounces off his hand, gets knocked down, stands up and sees foot wide crater next to him… he couldn’t hear so well for awhile but lives to tell about it…. Update: It may be a hoax… the Bad Astronomy blog argues both ways and some of the comments are informative too.
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Mineral – Micromount Study Group Meeting on Geodes, June 13th
Read more: Mineral – Micromount Study Group Meeting on Geodes, June 13thOn Saturday, June 13, 7:30 p.m. at College of Dupage, Building K, Room 131, David Bergmann will bring his geodes splitter as part of the discussion of Illinois geodes.
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General Meeting – Friday, June 12, Dr. Bob Martin: “From Primate Ancestry to Human Origins”
Read more: General Meeting – Friday, June 12, Dr. Bob Martin: “From Primate Ancestry to Human Origins”Friday, June 12, 8:00 p.m. at College of Dupage, Building K, Room 131, Dr. Bob Martin, from the Field Museum will speak on “From Primate Ancestry to Human Origins.”
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Top Dollar Paid for Dinosaur Skulls
Read more: Top Dollar Paid for Dinosaur SkullsArticle from BBC News via Geology.com: “…A giant 65-million-year-old Triceratops skull sold at Bonhams’ Natural History auction for $242,000 (£148,000). A skull from a cousin of the T. rex, the Alioramus remotus, went for $206,000 (£126,000). Both sold for almost double the original estimates…” Photo: peter_e_lee.
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(?) Geologists Vote for Quaternary
Read more: (?) Geologists Vote for QuaternaryGeologists voted for the Quaternary to begin 2.6 million years ago. Nature via Geology.com
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Details For Braceville Field Trip Saturday June 20, 2009
Read more: Details For Braceville Field Trip Saturday June 20, 2009Collecting Mazon Creek Fossils on Private Property: Meet at 8:00 A.M. Saturday, June 20th, at the BP Amoco in Coal City. No Age Limit. Hard Hats not required. Take I-55 to Exit 236 (Coal City Exit). Take a right onto Highway 113 (Division Street). Go west to Broadway Street and Division in Coal City. We will be collecting Mazon Creek concretions from an old spoil pile on private property. Hard hats are not required. Boots are recommended. An Estwing rock hammer is the best tool. A small shovel or pick is helpful. Knee pads, backpacks, fanny packs, extra clothes (you…
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(paywall) News: Cause of Global Extinction 260 Million Years Ago
Read more: (paywall) News: Cause of Global Extinction 260 Million Years AgoFrom Science Daily – new paper published in Science identifies cause of global extinction 260 million years ago… ….The eruption in the Emeishan province of south-west China unleashed around half a million cubic kilometres of lava, covering an area 5 times the size of Wales, and wiping out marine life around the world. Unusually, scientists were able to pinpoint the exact timing of the eruption and directly link it to a mass extinction event in the study published in Science. This is because the eruptions occurred in a shallow sea – meaning that the lava appears today as a distinctive…
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(?) 15 – 20 Million Year Old Blob Found Deep Under Nevada
Read more: (?) 15 – 20 Million Year Old Blob Found Deep Under NevadaVia Science Daily : …”As a general rule, I have been anti-drip since my early days as a scientist,” admits Fouch. “The idea of a lithospheric drip has been used many times over the years to explain things like volcanism, surface uplift, surface subsidence, but you could never really confirm it–and until now no one has caught a drip in the act, so to speak.”… (research published in Nature Geoscience)
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Notes on the Braceville field trip of 5-16-09, by Andrew Young.
Read more: Notes on the Braceville field trip of 5-16-09, by Andrew Young.Anyone who’s traveled I-55 toward St. Louis, say, an hour or so outside of Chicago, has likely spotted a number of large, anomalous, volcano-like piles spread out on private property along old Rt. 66. Almost without vegetation, they are other-worldly and towering above the grain fields around them. The “spoil heap” of Braceville, Illinois, is no exception; in fact, it may be the most distinctive and alluring of these remnants from the shaft mining days over a hundred years ago. Braceville was a burgeoning coal mining settlement of the late 19th century, and once claimed 3,500 residents at its…
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Wolfram Alpha: Brand New Way to Do Knowledge Based Computing
Read more: Wolfram Alpha: Brand New Way to Do Knowledge Based ComputingWolfram Alpha is a brand new knowledge-based computing site. The esteemed inventor of Wolfram Mathematica, Stephen Wolfram, explains the purpose of the site: … long-term goal is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone. We aim to collect and curate all objective data; implement every known model, method, and algorithm; and make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything. Our goal is to build on the achievements of science and other systematizations of knowledge to provide a single source that can be relied on by everyone for definitive answers to factual queries. Wolfram|Alpha…
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Chicagoland Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show This Weekend
Read more: Chicagoland Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show This WeekendThe Chicagoland Gems & Mineral Association is hosting their 33rd Chicagoland Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show this weekend, Saturday May 23 and Sunday May 24. Free parking Saturday, May 23, 2009 10am – 6pmSunday, May 24, 2009 10am – 6pm DuPage County Fairgrounds2015 W. Manchester Rd. Wheaton, ILAdults – $5.00:Students (13-17) – $3.00Seniors- $3.00 Children (Under 13) Free Demonstrations, Children’s Rock Area, Educational Exhibits, Programs, Dealers, Lapidary Arts, Jewelry Exhibits, Faceting, Cabochon Cutting, Polishing Gemstones, Silversmithing, Beading, Wire Wrapping, Special Youth Activities and Programs will all be there! Print the flyer for more information – 2009 Flyer for Chicagoland Gem…
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(broken link) Spectacular Photos of Agates
Read more: (broken link) Spectacular Photos of AgatesA gallery of photos of Brazilian, moss, banded and fortification agate by Professor Richard Weston of Earth Images. (via Geology.com)
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Snow Rollers on the Prairie
Read more: Snow Rollers on the PrairieFrom NOAA: “… They form with light but sticky snow and strong (but not too strong) winds. Some snow rollers are formed by gravity (i.e. rolling down a hill), but in this case, the snow rollers were generated by the wind…”
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Paleontology Meeting – Saturday, 5/16, 7:30 – The Search for Dinosaurs in Illinois
Read more: Paleontology Meeting – Saturday, 5/16, 7:30 – The Search for Dinosaurs in IllinoisPaleontology Meeting, Dave Carlson: “The Search for Dinosaurs in Illinois” 7:30 pm, College of Dupage, Building K – Rm 131. Photo: Aurora, IL Police Dinosaur, as taken by geognerd.
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Local Native Americans Buried in Blue Wing Cemetery
Read more: Local Native Americans Buried in Blue Wing CemeteryRecently, through the kindness of part-time Lake Delton resident and neighbor Mary Fairchild, my wife and I were able to revisit the Blue Wing Cemetery near Tomah. Mary is interested in Indian mounds and is rapidly becoming an authority on the subject. The entrance to the Blue Wing Cemetery with spirit houses in the background. We also visited the Decorah – Red Cloud Cemetery near Black River Falls. Ho-Chunk Cemeteries that are exclusively Indian still have mounds in them which if properly covered with soil and seeded with grass lends charm to the cemetery. If not they look like just…
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Micromineralogy Meeting: Sat. 5/9, Fluorescent Minerals
Read more: Micromineralogy Meeting: Sat. 5/9, Fluorescent MineralsMicroMineral Meeting, Fluorescent Minerals, 7:30 pm, College of Dupage, Building K – Rm 131. Bring your samples! All are welcome! Photo by Hannes Grobe
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General Meeting – Friday May 8: Dr. Zanno “Resurrecting Dinosaurs”
Read more: General Meeting – Friday May 8: Dr. Zanno “Resurrecting Dinosaurs”On Friday, May 8, at 8 pm at the College of DuPage Building K, Room #131, Dr. Lindsay Zanno will speak on, “Resurrecting Dinosaurs – How new science is bringing ancient beasts to life.” All are welcome! Photo Credit: TOM TAYLOR/UTAH MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH From Burpee Museum: Lindsay E. Zanno earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree, Summa Cum Laude studying Biological Anthropology at the University of New Mexico in 1999, her Master’s (2004) and PhD (2008) in Geology at the University of Utah, and is now the John Caldwell-Meeker Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geology…
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Multiple Museum Fossil Database – The Paleontology Portal
Read more: Multiple Museum Fossil Database – The Paleontology PortalUCMP, USGS, Paleosociety, SVP and NSF put together a comprehensive database of the fossils from multiple museums – the home page is named, The Paleontology Portal.
ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show
Most Recent Post
- Throwback Thursday #312: Ron Schinderle Donation
Barb Schinderle stopped by ESCONI Show last month to drop off a donation of her late husband Ron’s fossils. Ron passed away in 2021. He was a long time ESCONI member and an avid fossil collector . He went on many ESCONI field trips. A group of us remember him fondly from our many trips to Pit 11 and Fossil Rock Campgrounds to collect Mazon Creek fossils.
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Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings!
| Friday, April 10th | General Meeting – 8:00 PM via Zoom. Jessica Hull will present “Life in the Devonian Period, The Age of Fishes.” |
| Saturday, April 11th | Junior Study Group Meeting – 2:00 PM, in person at the College of DuPage Technical Education Center (TEC) Building – Room 1038A (Map). Katherine Howard will present on Sand and Sediment Collecting. Specifics of this meeting are available from Scott Galloway, 630-670-2591, gallowayscottf@gmail.com. |
| Saturday, April 18th | Paleontology Study Group – 7:30 PM via Zoom and in person at the College of DuPage, TEC, Room 1038B (Map). Keith Robitschek will present “Digging the Marl of the Lance Formation.” |
| Friday, April 24th | MAPS Expo XLVII – Springfield, IL. |
| Saturday, April 25th | MAPS Expo XLVII – Springfield, IL. |
| Sunday, April 26th | MAPS Expo XLVII – Springfield, IL. |
| No meeting this month | Mineralogy Study Group |