Canyon City

CBS Denver did a nice story on Garden Park near Canyon City, Colorado, where Cope and Marsh worked in the Morrison Formation. Check it out here. Also, be sure to watch the video to the right hand side.

Thanks to Neffra for the heads up on this one :)

Link

SVP urges repeal of Louisiana Science Education Act

Here is a recent press release from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's website. I miss this one so I thought I would pass it on:

"Deerfield, IL (September 4, 2008) – Today the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP), the world’s leading organization of vertebrate paleontologists, urges Louisiana citizens and legislators to repeal the “Louisiana Science Education Act” and to prohibit the injection of religious content in America’s public school classrooms. The SVP added its voice to those of other leading scientific societies, scientists and citizens concerned about Louisiana’s new “Science Education Act” (the Act).

The Act was drafted under the guise of “academic freedom” and appeals to cherished values of fairness and free speech. However, SVP says the Act intends to garner support and legal protection for the introduction of religious, creationist concepts, including intelligent design, in public school science curricula. By permitting instructional materials that are not reviewed by the state’s science standards committees, the Louisiana Act and those like it encourage teachers and administrators to work outside these standards. This makes it possible for local school boards to define science and science education to suit their own agendas, thereby compromising the quality of science education for students, and allowing religious discrimination in America’s public school science classrooms."

Link

5 Minerals

Another geology meme - already! Callan over at Nova Geoblog offers the next challenge:

"Which five minerals do you think are the most important ones to know, and why? In other words, if you had to introduce a non-geologist to just five of the earth's multitudinous building blocks, which ones would you choose to share, and offer a justification for each."

I am thinking along the same lines as some of the others who have responded, so some of these may not be very original...and I am also thinking along the lines of introducing minerals to a non-geologist and what they could take away from learning these 5. I feel like my "whys?" are a bit lame, I apologize ahead of time:

1. Quartz: It's every where! People even worship it (not sure why). Its very common, so easy to show in different mineral states and rocks; and who can forget SiO2. The different colors make it easy for a non-geologist to enjoy and remember also.
   
2. Calcite: Easy - caves, fossilization and invertebrates. Heck, trilobites used calcite for their eye lenses! Its fun!
   
3. Feldspar: The most common mineral in the earths crust, easily recognizable, & found in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. Of course plagioclase feldspars are also one of my favorites so I might be a little partial here.
   
4. Magnetite: People are always amazed by this one - the magnetic properties surprise people and they will play with it forever. Its a iron ore, and can be found in banded iron formations, and something fun - "Crystals of magnetite have been found in some bacteria (e.g., Magnetospirillum magnetotacticum) and in the brains of bees, of termites, of some birds (e.g., the pigeon), and of humans. These crystals are thought to be involved in magnetoreception, the ability to sense the polarity or the inclination of the Earth's magnetic field, and to be involved in navigation. Also, chitons have teeth made of magnetite on their radula making them unique among animals. This means they have an exceptionally abrasive tongue with which to scrape food from rocks." [link] Now, wasn't that fun?
   
5. Clays: They make foods I like hold together better so I can eat them (chocolate, ice cream...), they are used in makeup, paint, toothpaste, ceramics..... How cool is that. They are stable, platy, like to stay suspended and stick to my cars paint. Clay rocks.
   

Honesty is the best policy

From the Great Falls Tribune:

September 10, 2008

Paleontologist accused of stealing fossil

By KIM SKORNOGOSKI
Tribune Staff Writer

Nate Murphy, the paleontologist who discovered several of Malta's most famous fossils, including the dinosaur mummy Leonardo, was charged Tuesday in Phillips County with stealing a turkey-sized raptor fossil.

The result of a yearlong investigation, state prosecutors allege that Murphy lied about where the raptor was found in order to sell replicas of the fossil, which is estimated to be worth between $150,000 and $400,000.

Murphy was the director of paleontology with the Dinosaur Field Station in Malta for 15 years before resigning July 1, 2007 — one month after the Montana Division of Criminal Investigations, the FBI and the Bureau of Land Management began their investigation.

"I could be a millionaire now if I had the intention of selling those specimens I've been collecting for years," Murphy said Tuesday. "I do what I love to do. It's never been about money."

Since 1993, Murphy has run a paleo-outfitting business, taking crews of amateur diggers to ranches outside Malta and Grass Range looking for dinosaur bones.

In those years, he found a new species of long-necked dinosaur near Grass Range, a family of Stegosauruses near Malta and three duckbills — which now share a home at Malta's new Great Plains Dinosaur Museum.

His most amazing find was Leonardo, considered the world's best-preserved dinosaur, complete with organs, skin and tissue that could unlock mysteries dating back 77 million years. The fossil graced the cover of Newsweek and National Geographic and is the star of an hourlong documentary debuting Sunday on the Discovery Channel.

As a result of the investigation, just who owned those fossils came into question. Murphy had a long-standing arrangement with the Hammond family to dig on their property about 26 miles north of Malta.

According to the affidavit charging Murphy, he agreed to report all significant finds to the Hammonds before excavating or removing them, and that all dinosaurs would be owned 50 percent by the Hammonds and 50 percent by Murphy's Dinosaur Field Institute.

"We basically trust people and our intentions were always to keep the dinosaurs in Phillips County," Howard Hammond said. "We thought that was Nate's intention, too. It's just a difficult situation."

The institute is Murphy's private business, which operated out of the former Dinosaur Field Station. However, the field station was funded by the separate nonprofit Judith River Dinosaur Foundation.

With the business and nonprofit so similarly named, it became unclear to the Hammonds and others just what was owned by Murphy and what was owned by the foundation.

With the investigation looming, Murphy agreed to sign over his 50 percent ownership of the fossils to the nonprofit foundation.

Murphy said the allegations that he stole the raptor are a misunderstanding. He said his son found the turkey-sized dinosaur underneath a fossilized turtle that he didn't realize was even there.

He chose not to tell the Hammonds about it, because he worried that as a result of the high-profile finds of their land they would want to "put a price tag on every specimen we found."

But according to court documents, Murphy first tried to hide the raptor's discovery from other paleontologists, partners and the Hammonds, and then lied about where it was found, saying he excavated it from a site near Saco.

Court documents allege that Murphy, therefore, claimed sole ownership of the raptor and didn't have to share profits or control with the Hammonds.

The investigation revealed that the fossil was actually discovered in 2002 by Mark Thompson, who volunteered to dig with Murphy for two summers. Thompson, who lives in Australia, told investigators that Murphy asked him not to bring up the discovery to the Hammonds.

Because the bones are so small, finding a raptor so well-preserved is rare. The fossil was complete with parts of fingers, the back of the skull, a fully articulated spine and the brain case.

In 2006, Murphy went back to excavate the raptor and sent the fossil to the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in South Dakota.

Murphy signed an agreement with the Black Hills Institute to loan the raptor fossil for the purpose of making molds and casts with Murphy's Judith River Dinosaur Institute, making 20 percent in royalties off the sales of all cast specimens.

It wasn't until Murphy planned to reveal the raptor at Malta's Wine and Dino Days in June 2007 that Bakker and others began asking questions about the raptor's origin and about the ownership of Leonardo and the other fossil finds.

"I wished we had done it differently," Murphy said. "The specimen was cataloged. There was no attempt to abscond with it or sell it. My record speaks for itself.

"I think what's happened is because of the fact that I've become very high-profile over the years. People were out to get me."

Murphy said he has never sold fossils. However, his son Matt Murphy, who digs with him, has sold small fossils as a hobby, but never made a major profit from it, he said.

"It's ridiculous the things that have been said. I'm not trying to hide anything," he said.

However, Murphy's partner in the Leonardo Project LLC, Joe Iacuzzo, said he discovered Murphy and his son sold several fossils on the Internet and at dinosaur conventions.

"We will never know how long he's been selling dinosaurs and if what he sold was scientifically significant," Iacuzzo said.

The allegations shocked many scientists, including Bynum-area paleontologist David Trexler, who wrote much of the study of Leonardo and worked with Murphy on several digs.

Trexler and Murphy even set up dinosaur dig ethics standards for museums like the ones in Malta and Bynum that are part of the Montana Dinosaur Trail.

"This really blindsided me," Trexler said. "I keep thinking that there should have been something that one of us should have picked up on that would have stopped the damage from going on for so long."

The U.S. Attorney's Office would not comment on the federal investigation, including if any federal charges would be filed against Murphy.

Sue Frary, the director of programs and exhibits at the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum, said the foundation fully cooperated with investigators and worked to quickly respond to secure ownership of the Malta dinosaurs, including Leonardo.

Frary did field work with Murphy dating back to 2002 and is one of the founding members of the nonprofit foundation. She said a team of paleontologists are now in the area and are working to track down GPS coordinates of all the specimens at the museum.

"The focus is the fossils," she said Tuesday. "The focus is the museum here and what that can do economically for Malta, for the Hi-Line and for northeastern Montana."

The foundation expects to double the number of digs next year, and Frary is busy planning new exhibits and educational programs to roll out this winter.

Bakker, who is overseeing a major new exhibit featuring Leonardo at the Houston museum, said none of the allegations against Murphy affect the scientific study of the mummified duckbill.

"Leonardo has always been examined with the best science," he said.

Head of the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation John Strandell said until the case is resolved, the raptor remains in state custody as evidence. Eventually, the raptor will be returned to its owner, Bruce Bruckner, who leases land to the Hammonds.

"We realize without Nate that all of these wonderful fossils would probably still be in the ground," Howard Hammond said. "The rest of the world wouldn't have the opportunity to know about it.

"Nate's made some real poor decisions, and we actually feel a little betrayed."

[link]

Mineral Meme

All the other cool kids are doing this (Brian at Clastic Detritus, Kim at All my faults are stress-related, MJC Rocks at GeoTripper, the Lost Geologist, Chris at Highly Allochthonous, Dave at Geology News, Callan at NOVA Geoblog, Silver Fox at Looking for Detachment, and Chuck at Lounge of the Lab Lemming who started it all), so I thought I would join in (be sure to check out the above blogs - all are very interesting!):

Instructions from Chuck: Use bold to indicate minerals you’ve seen in the wild. Italics is for those seen in laboratories, museums, stores, or other non field locations.


Andalusite
Apatite
Barite
Beryl
Biotite
Chromite
Chrysotile
Cordierite
Corundum
Diamond
Dolomite
Florencite
Galena
Garnet
Graphite
Gypsum
Halite
Hematite
Hornblende
Illite
Illmenite
Kaolinite
Kyanite
Lepidolite
Limonite
Magnetite
Molybdenite
Monazite
Nepheline
Olivine
Omphacite
Opal
Perovskite
Plagioclase
Pyrite
Quartz
Rutile
Sanidine
Sillimanite
Silver (native)
Sphalerite
Staurolite
Sulphur (native)
Talc
Tourmaline
Tremolite
Turquoise
Vermiculite
Willemite
Zeolite
Zircon

Geoblogosphere survey!

Passing the word on to all you GeoBloggers: Callan Bentley over at NOVA Geoblog is giving a talk in a couple of weeks (at the Geological Society of Washington) entitled "Rise of the Geoblogosphere." He is looking for information regarding "... who is blogging, where they're blogging from, when they're blogging, why they're blogging, what they're blogging about, and what they think about this whole blogging deal." If you would like to participate in his survey you can visit his post here with a link to the survey.

Welcome Max!

A big Congrats to fellow paleontologist Lorin King and his wife Gayl. They welcomed their second son into the world today! Max David was born at 4:27 pm, weighed 7lbs and 9oz, and was 20.5 inches long!

Dixie Dinos!

For a friend.......

A certain Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, is looking for a new mascot. The old one, the Rebels, is being decomissioned for various reasons. They're putting the new one up to a vote. Because of the large and popular dinosaur presence in St. George, thanks largely to the spectacular Early Jurassic theropod (and other) footprints now in the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm museum, and because St. George is famous in part because of its surrounding of beautiful Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic rocks, a dinosaur would be a natural mascot. Plus, of course, the predatory nature of theropod dinosaurs makes them as eligible for mascot status as all the mammalian and avian predators that are so common as sports team names and mascots anyway! ...My friend is advocating the Dixie Dinosaurs, with the specific mascot to be modeled after Dilophosaurus. We can't have the Toronto Raptors being the ONLY dinosaur sports team...(but don't forget the Dinger the Triceratops is the Colorado Rockies mascot as well!)!

But to make this happen, it needs votes...and that's where you come in! If you would take a few moments to go to:

http://new.dixie.edu/nickname/

and fill in the few blanks there. For "nickname," please put in "Dixie Dinosaurs" or just "dinosaurs" or something similar. (And you'd be eligible for the $100 prize!).

Thanks for the help!

Glacier National Park Geology & Paleontology: Part 5 - Snowslip & Shepard

*Please remember that all collecting of rocks, minerals, plants, fossils or cultural objects (i.e. arrowheads) from National Park Service land is illegal and punishable by a fine*

THE SNOWSLIP AND SHEPARD FORMATION

In publications from the 1930s to 1976, the Snowslip and Shepard Formations are often grouped together and referred to as the Missoula Group. In 1977, the current formation names were proposed. The Snowslip Formation is exposed locally at high elevations within the park and forms the base of the Missoula Group. This one billion year old formation contains calcitic or dolomitic red and green argillites, siltstones and sandstones and represents a subtidal to intertidal setting with occasional subaerial exposure. Pseudocolumnar and mound-shaped stromatolites, or stromatoloids, are known from five locations, with filamentous and pillar-shaped microfossils detected from a stromatolite (or stromatoloid) in the lower part of the Snowslip Formation (Horodyski, 1977, 1983a, 1985a, 1993a,b). Rezak (1957) describes the stromatolites Collenia undosa, Collenia symmetrica and Cryptozoon occidentale from locations along Highway 2 on the southern border of the park (above, below).

The Shepard Formation is highly eroded, existing only in higher elevations within the park. It is predominantly composed of dolomite, siltstones, argillite and quartzite and overlies the 1.5 to 1.845 Ga Purcell Lava (Aleinikoff et al., 1996). Fenton and Fenton (1931) report several
species of stromatolites from the Shepard Formation: Collenia parva, Collenia clappii and Collenia undosa. They also describe “problematic structures” from the base of the Shepard, later known as “molar-tooth structures,” also noted by Horodyski (Fenton and Fenton, 1931; Horodyski, 1985a). Mound-shaped stromatolites were also located in this formation by Horodyski (1982a) on Reynolds Mountain.

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Aleinikoff, J.N., Evans, K.V., Fanninc, C.M., Obradovich, J.D., Ruppel, E.T., Zieg, J.A. and Steinmetz, J.C., 1996, SHRIMP U-Pb ages of felsic igneous rocks, Belt Supergroup, western Montana: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 28, p. 376.

Fenton, C.L. and Fenton, M.A., 1931, Algae and algal beds in the Belt Series of Glacier National Park: Journal of Geology, v. 39, p. 670-686.

Horodyski, R.J., 1977, Environmental influences on columnar stromatolite branching patterns: Examples from the Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Glacier National Park, Montana: Journal of Paleontology, v. 51, p. 661-671.

Horodyski, R.J., 1982a, Problematic bedding-plane markings from the Middle Proterozoic Appekunny Argillite, Belt Supergroup, Northwestern Montana: Journal of Paleontology, v. 56, p. 882-889.

Horodyski, R.J., 1983a, Sedimentary geology and stromatolites of the Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Glacier National Park, Montana: Precambrian Research, v. 20, p. 391-425.

Horodyski, R.J., 1985a, Stromatolites and Paleontology of the Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Glacier National Park, Montana, in Whipple, J.W., O.B. Raup, Kelty, T., Davis, G., and Horodyski, R., eds., A field guidebook to the geology of Glacier National Park, Montana and vicinity: Society for Sedimentary Geologist (SEPM) midyear meeting field guide, 19 p.

Horodyski, R.J., 1993a, Paleontology of Proterozoic shales and mudstones: Examples from the Belt Supergroup, Chuar Group, and Pahrump Group, western U.S.A: Precambrian Research v. 61, no. 3-4, p. 241-278.

Horodyski, R.J., 1993b, Precambrian paleontology of the western conterminous United States and northwestern New Mexico, in Reed, J.C., ed., Precambrian of the Conterminous United States: Boulder, Geological Society of America, Geology of North America, v. C-2, p. 558-565
(microfiche appendix of 77 pages).

Rezak, R., 1957, Stromatolites of the Belt Series in Glacier National Park and vicinity, Montana: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 294-D, p. 127-154.

Glacier National Park Geology & Paleontology: Part 4 - Siyeh

*Please remember that all collecting of rocks, minerals, plants, fossils or cultural objects (i.e. arrowheads) from National Park Service land is illegal and punishable by a fine*

THE SIYEH FORMATION

The Siyeh Formation (also known as the Helena Formation) is by far the best exposed formation in the park. This formation outcrops as one drives along the Going-to-the-Sun Road alongside the Garden Wall, up to the western flank of Going-to-the-Sun Mountain in the Saint Mary
Valley and in several other locations within the park, particularly in Two Medicine and the Many Glacier areas. This 1.1 Ga limestone formation also contains numerous fossils. Seven species of stromatolites have been described from the formation, along with filamentous microfossils and
puzzling “molar-tooth structures.”

Mound-, conical- and dome-shaped stromatolites are so abundant in the Siyeh (Helena) Formation that they are now often grouped in zones. These zones are typically somewhat continuous and have a general similar thickness. The Fentons worked extensively in the Siyeh
(Helena) and first described four subdivisions and stromatolite zones within the park. Some of these zones are so persistent that they are often called bioherms (Fenton and Fenton, 1933). Some of these well exposed zones can be seen at the foot of Grinnell Glacier (right), along the trail leading to Granite Park chalet (above left), and near Hole-in-the-Wall. Rezak (1957), and later with Ross (Ross and Rezak, 1959), redefine these into three zones. Afterward Horodyski (1985b, 1989) redefined the zones into cycles, specifically the Jacutophyton and Baicalia-Conophyton cycles. The Baicalia-Conophyton cycle is subdivided into six distinct units by Horodyski and composes 70% of the actual volume of stromatolites from within the Siyeh (Helena) Formation. Horodyski conducted thorough research on the Siyeh stromatolites, resulting in eight publications. Isolated stromatolite occurrences not associated with these cycles are also known from within the park.

A conical stromatolite, conophyton, from the Siyeh Formation.

Sedimentary structures, such as mud cracks, scour marks and load-casts are common in the Siyeh (Helena) Formation. Fenton and Fenton (1937) describe pelecypod burrows and trails near Dawson Pass. It is commonly believed that the remains described by Fenton and Fenton (1937) can be attributed to these non-organic remains. Microfossils have also been described from chert in the lower portions of the Baicalia-Conophyton cycles (Horodyski, 1985a).

The Siyeh (Helena) Formation also contains one of the strangest pseudofossils to be described from the park – the molar-tooth structure (right). These irregular patterns were first described by Bauerman (1885) and are thought to resemble the grinding surface on the molar teeth of
elephants. They have been considered to be organic in origin by several authors; an idea often contested. Daly hypothesized that these structures were the result of “secondary tectonic segregation” (Daly, 1912; O’Connor, 1972). Walcott (1914) described these structures as organic remains, believing them to be algal, and named three types, Greysonia, Copperia and Weedia. Fenton and Fenton (1937) and Rezak (1957) concur with Daly’s hypothesis, where O’Connor (1972) and Smith (1968) interpret them as having a syndepositional origin, as a direct result of algal activity (Horodyski, 1993b). However, Ross (1959) also attributed the structures to an organic source. Horodyski (1976b, 1983b, 1985a,b, 1989) interprets them as being produced as a result of calcite infill of open-space structures. Overall, the prevailing opinion regards these molartooth structures as inorganic remains.

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Bauerman, H., 1885, Report on the geology of the country near the fortyninth parallel of north latitude west of the Rocky Mountains: Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress 1882–1884, Pt B, p. 1-42.

Daly, R.A., 1912, Geology of North American Cordillera at the forty-ninth parallel: Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 38.

Fenton, C.L. and Fenton, M.A., 1933, Algal reefs or bioherms in the Belt series of Montana: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 44, p. 1135-1142.

Fenton, C.L. and Fenton, M.A., 1937, Belt Series of the north: Stratigraphy, sedimentation, paleontology: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 48, p. 1873-1969.

Horodyski, R.J., 1976b, Stromatolites of the Upper Siyeh Limestone (Middle Proterozoic), Belt Supergroup, Glacier National Park, Montana: Precambrian Research, v. 3, p. 517-536.

Horodyski, R.J., 1983b, Baicalia-Conophyton stromatolite cycles in the Middle Proterozoic Siyeh limestone, northwestern Montana (abs.): Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 15, no. 6, p.
598.

Horodyski, R.J., 1985a, Stromatolites and Paleontology of the Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Glacier National Park, Montana, in Whipple, J.W., O.B. Raup, Kelty, T., Davis, G., and Horodyski, R., eds., A field guidebook to the geology of Glacier National Park, Montana and vicinity: Society for Sedimentary Geologist (SEPM) midyear meeting field guide, 19 p.

Horodyski, R.J., 1985b, Stromatolites of the Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Glacier National Park, Montana: Summary and a comment on the Relationships between their Morphology and Paleoenvironment, in Toomey, D.F., and Nitecki, M.H., eds., Paleoalgology: Contemporary Research and Applications: Berlin-Heildelberg, p. 34-39.

Horodyski, R.J., 1989, Stromatolites of the Belt Supergroup, Glacier National Park, Montana, in Winston, D., Horodyski, R.J., and Whipple, J.W., eds., Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Western Montana: 28th International Geological Congress, Field Trip Guidebook T334, p. 27-
42.

Horodyski, R.J., 1993b, Precambrian paleontology of the western conterminous United States and northwestern New Mexico, in Reed, J.C., ed., Precambrian of the Conterminous United States: Boulder, Geological Society of America, Geology of North America, v. C-2, p. 558-565
(microfiche appendix of 77 pages).

O’Connor, M.P., 1972, Classification and environmental interpretation of the cryptalgal organosedimentary “Molar-tooth” structure from the late Precambrian Belt-Purcell Supergroup: Journal of Geology, v. 80, p. 592-610.

Smith, A.G., 1968, The origin and deformation of some “molar-tooth” structures in the Precambrian Belt-Purcell Supergroup: Journal of Geology, v. 76, p. 426-443.

Rezak, R., 1957, Stromatolites of the Belt Series in Glacier National Park and vicinity, Montana: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 294-D, p. 127-154.

Ross, C.P., 1959, Geology of Glacier National Park and the Flathead region, northwestern Montana: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 296, 125 p.

Ross, C.P., and Rezak, R., 1959, The rocks and fossils of Glacier National Park: The story of their origin and history: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 294-K, p. 401-439.

Walcott, C.D., 1914, Cambrian Geology and Paleontology. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, v. 64, no. 2, p. 77-156.