I apparently made some kind of list of top 100 blogs that are useful for science educators. I don't need this kind of pressure and I shit on expectations. Therefore I am posting this instead. Then I am going to finish the life reconstruction of Vancleavea I was supposed to get to Sterling this week in time for the press release.
Jeff
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Red Canyon
The Colorado River in Arizona and Utah cuts through one of the most complete and best exposed sections of Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks in the western United States. When the Colorado Plateau was uplifted during the Cenozoic, the Colorado River ground down through thousands of feet of Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, giving an only slightly edited account of the geological history of the region.
The deepest cuts are in Grand Canyon, where the Colorado River cuts clear down to Protorozoic metamorphic rocks. The rest of the section in Grand Canyon is mostly composed of Paleozoic beds deposited in marine settings on what was then the passive western margin of North America. Because there are virtually no tetrapod traces preserved (except in the terrestrial Permian rocks near the top of the sequence), and no archosaur fossils, no one really gives a shit about Grand Canyon geology.* However, if you leave that bullshit behind and keep going up the Colorado River into Marble Canyon in northernmost Arizona, and the Lake Powell/Glen Canyon area of southern Utah, you get to rocks that are more important. This is because they are Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, and they contain body and trace fossils of archosaurs and other Mesozoic tetrapods. Yes!
Red Canyon is one of the drainages connected to Lake Powell, and exposes a beautiful section of early Mesozoic (Middle Triassic-Early Jurassic) sedimentary rocks, including the Chinle Formation. Jim Kirkland and Andrew Milner were there this month to prospecting the lower part of the Chinle Formation, and I got invited to come up for a few days. It was cool. It is about a six hour drive through the reservation, and I got tied up for about a half hour trying to catch a stray puppy near Blanding (it was too wily got away with all my beef jerky), but I eventually got to the camp after dark on Friday night and stayed through Tuesday. Jim’s henchmen Don DeBlieux and Scott Madsen were also there, as were Dale Gray, Deb Nicholson and Andrew’s reliable flunky Tyler Birthisel.
The Red Canyon area is a fucking HUGE area to explore, in more ways than one. In addition to being geographically enormous, the vertical exposures are on a Biblical scale. When I say Biblical, I mean that they, like those in the Grand Canyon, may have been formed by the Flood. Let us not be close-minded, or we will be like ostriches burying their heads in the sand. Because then we will burn in hell like all ostriches do who do not accept Jesus.
The section is more sand-dominated than in the area around Petrified Forest. This is especially true of course of the massive vertical eolian sandstone cliffs of the Glen Canyon Group, but the Chinle and Moekopi Formations also seem to be more sandy than around PEFO. The results are some truly massive vertical exposures thousands of feet high. Here is a shot across the valley; the Early Triassic Moenkopi Formation, which was deposited in a gently flowing river system and near-shore environments, forms the dark brown low areas (the formation is actually pretty deeply incised by the river). The overlying Chinle Formation forms the sides of the mesas, and was deposited in more sub-tropical fluvial and lacustrine environments, which became increasingly arid toward the close of the Triassic as western North America moved north out of the tropics into the more arid mid-latitudes. The Glen Canyon Group is the massive sandstone capping the section, and represents an enormous eolian erg deposited in peak arid conditions which covered western North America during the beginning of the Jurassic. The orange carpet covering much of the Chinle is actually sandstone talus coming down off of the Glen Canyon Group.
When exploring these outcrops, it is vitally important to remember that they were NOT INTELLIGENTLY DESIGNED to be actually be explored by human beings. The rocks do not particularly want you there, and exploring the upper part of the Chinle section (to say nothing of the Glen Canyon Group) involves some serious climbing up some frequently extremely hard and steep slopes. Fortunately, the sandstone talus coming off the Glen Canyon Group makes it a little easier to climb in places, if you pick your route carefully, and uranium miners also put in a few roads cutting up through the section.
The deepest cuts are in Grand Canyon, where the Colorado River cuts clear down to Protorozoic metamorphic rocks. The rest of the section in Grand Canyon is mostly composed of Paleozoic beds deposited in marine settings on what was then the passive western margin of North America. Because there are virtually no tetrapod traces preserved (except in the terrestrial Permian rocks near the top of the sequence), and no archosaur fossils, no one really gives a shit about Grand Canyon geology.* However, if you leave that bullshit behind and keep going up the Colorado River into Marble Canyon in northernmost Arizona, and the Lake Powell/Glen Canyon area of southern Utah, you get to rocks that are more important. This is because they are Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, and they contain body and trace fossils of archosaurs and other Mesozoic tetrapods. Yes!
Red Canyon is one of the drainages connected to Lake Powell, and exposes a beautiful section of early Mesozoic (Middle Triassic-Early Jurassic) sedimentary rocks, including the Chinle Formation. Jim Kirkland and Andrew Milner were there this month to prospecting the lower part of the Chinle Formation, and I got invited to come up for a few days. It was cool. It is about a six hour drive through the reservation, and I got tied up for about a half hour trying to catch a stray puppy near Blanding (it was too wily got away with all my beef jerky), but I eventually got to the camp after dark on Friday night and stayed through Tuesday. Jim’s henchmen Don DeBlieux and Scott Madsen were also there, as were Dale Gray, Deb Nicholson and Andrew’s reliable flunky Tyler Birthisel.
The Red Canyon area is a fucking HUGE area to explore, in more ways than one. In addition to being geographically enormous, the vertical exposures are on a Biblical scale. When I say Biblical, I mean that they, like those in the Grand Canyon, may have been formed by the Flood. Let us not be close-minded, or we will be like ostriches burying their heads in the sand. Because then we will burn in hell like all ostriches do who do not accept Jesus.
The section is more sand-dominated than in the area around Petrified Forest. This is especially true of course of the massive vertical eolian sandstone cliffs of the Glen Canyon Group, but the Chinle and Moekopi Formations also seem to be more sandy than around PEFO. The results are some truly massive vertical exposures thousands of feet high. Here is a shot across the valley; the Early Triassic Moenkopi Formation, which was deposited in a gently flowing river system and near-shore environments, forms the dark brown low areas (the formation is actually pretty deeply incised by the river). The overlying Chinle Formation forms the sides of the mesas, and was deposited in more sub-tropical fluvial and lacustrine environments, which became increasingly arid toward the close of the Triassic as western North America moved north out of the tropics into the more arid mid-latitudes. The Glen Canyon Group is the massive sandstone capping the section, and represents an enormous eolian erg deposited in peak arid conditions which covered western North America during the beginning of the Jurassic. The orange carpet covering much of the Chinle is actually sandstone talus coming down off of the Glen Canyon Group.
When exploring these outcrops, it is vitally important to remember that they were NOT INTELLIGENTLY DESIGNED to be actually be explored by human beings. The rocks do not particularly want you there, and exploring the upper part of the Chinle section (to say nothing of the Glen Canyon Group) involves some serious climbing up some frequently extremely hard and steep slopes. Fortunately, the sandstone talus coming off the Glen Canyon Group makes it a little easier to climb in places, if you pick your route carefully, and uranium miners also put in a few roads cutting up through the section.
The area is also fucking DESERTED. We up at the head of the canyon, pretty far from the shores of Lake Powell, and as a result, nobody wants to camp there. We saw no virtually one the entire time we were there except for some ranchers tending some suicidally depressed cows, and were able to stock up on huge piles of firewood pretty much every day with no problem.
I was mostly looking at rocks, and the area was overall pretty barren, so they didn't find much. However, some of the stuff they did find was pretty cool. Here is an awesome Cheirotherium trackway slab from the Moenkopi, formed by some kind of basal archosaur walking and swimming around in the Early Triassic river system. As with most of the localities, it is miles from the road, and was extremely difficult to get to.
Jim and Andrew were mostly interested in the Monitor Butte Member of the Chinle Formation, which makes up about the lower half the Chinle section in this area. This unit is pretty heavily pedogenically altered, and not surprisingly, the bone is mostly crap. However, they did find one very especially important locality preserving some very interesting and rarely preserved components of the Chinle ecosystem. Since I shouldn't talk too much about it, you have wasted your time reading this far. Sorry.
*Exaggeration
LNJ
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The Most Terrifying Words In The English Language Are...
..."I read your blog." Really scary words to hear in person. I do not write a blog. A little demon who lives inside me writes the blog. I just wake up the next morning and wonder "Jesus, what the hell did I just DO?" What was up with those last few? What did this blog used to be ABOUT? I need to write a few more of my "smart" blogs, about geology and evolution and shit.
For the first time in my life, I actually have multiple papers in prep with a the prospect of being submitted within a month or two, in review, and accepted. Crazyness. I've rarely felt so productive. I'm off to Utah to see the Chinle with Jim Kirkland, Russ Dubiel, and Andrew Milner. I've been waiting to get a look at the Monitor Butte Member for a while, and I actually get to see it with Dubiel, which will be awesome.
LNJ
For the first time in my life, I actually have multiple papers in prep with a the prospect of being submitted within a month or two, in review, and accepted. Crazyness. I've rarely felt so productive. I'm off to Utah to see the Chinle with Jim Kirkland, Russ Dubiel, and Andrew Milner. I've been waiting to get a look at the Monitor Butte Member for a while, and I actually get to see it with Dubiel, which will be awesome.
LNJ
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The King Of Peace Is Coming, And He Rides A Slavering Dinosaur
I'm sure you've seen this one:
But that was a more innocent time. These are days of doubt and turmoil, where gay people enter into civil unions just to ruin the marriages of straight people, and Muslims give oil to Chinese people that we obviously deserve more. We can't have Jesus riding no pussy sauropod, now can we. He needs a proper mount that can eat secular humanists and Jews.
But that was a more innocent time. These are days of doubt and turmoil, where gay people enter into civil unions just to ruin the marriages of straight people, and Muslims give oil to Chinese people that we obviously deserve more. We can't have Jesus riding no pussy sauropod, now can we. He needs a proper mount that can eat secular humanists and Jews.
Yes, he probably did.
We also can't having him taking shit from that motherfucker Charles Darwin. You may note that the knuckle on Jesus' right hand is already bleeding, whereas Darwin doesn't even know how to do a proper eye gouge. Jesus really seems to be enjoying this. When he finishes beating the living shit out of that evolutionist bitch, I think he is going to strip the flesh right off of his face with his TEETH.
Thanks to Sarah Werning for cartoon #2, and her always inspirational conversation. I hope Mike and Matt forgive my hasty and offensive comment on sauropods. I didn't mean it.
LNJ
AronRa
Thanks to "Tatarize" at Ssnot for introducing me to AronRa through this excellent explanation of phylogenetic taxonomy. AronRa's YouTube page is now part of my permanant links. Make sure you check out the magnificent 2009 Golden Crocoduck Award that he has posted right now. You LIKE bananas, don't you?
LNJ
LNJ
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