#Middle Silurian fossil

[uk-fossils]

Orthoceras Fossil Orthocone | Valentian Stage Silurian Acton Scott Beds Shropshire UK | Genuine Specimen with COA

Enhance your fossil collection with a genuine Orthoceras orthocone fossil, discovered in the Acton Scott Beds of Shropshire, UK, dating back to the Valentian stage of the Middle Silurian period. This beautifully preserved fossil represents an ancient straight-shelled nautiloid cephalopod that once roamed the warm Silurian seas covering much of Britain.

Fossil Type: Orthocone Cephalopod

Genus: Orthoceras (general attribution; UK Silurian orthocones often not assigned to species level)

Geological Period: Silurian (~443 to 419 million years ago)

Geological Stage: Valentian (part of the Homerian-Wenlockian, Middle Silurian)

Formation: Acton Scott Beds

Location: Shropshire, England, UK

Scale Rule: Squares/Cube = 1cm (See photograph for full sizing)

Specimen: Actual fossil pictured is the exact specimen you will receive

Authenticity: All of our fossils are 100% genuine specimens and come with a Certificate of Authenticity

Geological and Paleontological Context

Orthoceras is a genus of extinct nautiloid cephalopods characterized by long, straight conical shells divided into multiple internal chambers. These fossils are found in marine limestones and mudstones, and the Acton Scott Beds are particularly rich in such marine deposits from the Silurian Wenlock Epoch.

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Cephalopoda

Order: Orthocerida

Family: Orthoceratidae

Superfamily: Orthocerataceae

Depositional Environment: Shallow marine shelf, low-energy carbonate setting typical of mid-Silurian seas in Britain

Morphological Features: Long, straight orthoconic shell with a series of septa dividing the internal phragmocone chambers; siphuncle used for buoyancy control; external growth lines may be visible

Notable: Fossils from the Acton Scott Beds contribute to the understanding of mid-Silurian marine biodiversity and stratigraphy in the Welsh Borderland region

Biozone: Stratigraphically lies within the Valentian regional stage, correlated with upper Wenlock global stages (e.g. Ludfordian or Homerian biozones, depending on detailed layer)

Identifier: Early Orthoceras species were first described in the 18th century, though UK examples from Silurian strata are often generically attributed due to limited diagnostic features on fragmentary material

Why This Fossil Is Special

This Orthoceras specimen provides a tangible link to Earth’s Paleozoic marine life, and originates from a locality of significant geological interest. Its preservation within the Acton Scott Beds adds to its value as a collector's item, teaching tool, or display piece.

Why Buy From Us?

100% genuine fossil with Certificate of Authenticity

What you see is what you get: exact specimen pictured

Ethically and professionally sourced from UK Silurian formations

Great for educational, scientific, or decorative purposes

Add this authentic Orthoceras orthocone fossil from the Valentian-aged Acton Scott Beds of Shropshire to your collection and own a piece of Britain’s ancient Silurian seas from over 425 million years ago.

[mineralsrocksandfossiltalks]

Monday Musings: Silurian Climate Flux

The Silurian Period saw many changes. One major change was the stabilization of the global climate. Or so we thought. Recent studies of carbon and oxygen isotopes have actually brought to light a rather volatile ocean-atmosphere system which correlate to the minor extinctions of the time.

Overall, there was an upward trend in warming globally. Sea level was about 200 m (656.2 ft) higher than today. However, there were some abrupt biodiversity changes noted with nothing to explain them. Lennart Jeppsson had discovered a cyclic stratigraphic pattern in the temporal distribution of conodonts preserved in the carbonate platform rocks of Gotland. The cyclic pattern, which was also paralleled by cyclicity of lithologies, was explained through an oceanic model that described shifts between two stable oceanic-climatic states. The driving force for the cyclic pattern was changing areas for production of oceanic deep-water over time from high latitudes to low latitudes.

These cyclic changes have been linked to three significant events: the Ireviken Event, the Mulde Event, and the Lau Event. Each of these are a minor extinction event. The Ireviken of the early Silurian was a profound extinction of conodonts. The survival ratio was 12 out of 60 globally known species and they never recovered. Graptolites were also hit pretty hard. Chitinozoans and acritarchs experienced as turnover (meaning some went extinct while others appeared in the fossil record). This event appears to start after a sea-level fall or regression.

In the Middle Silurian was the Mulde Event. Graptolites suffered the most this time. In fact, the accumulation in some areas literally blackened the bedding planes. Contemporaneous formation of organic-rich shale, alum shale, and not least the formation of the so-called ‘boundary coal seam’ in deep water environments shows that anoxia was widespread. Other pelagic groups were hit as well including planktonic radiolarians. They went from 28 species to 2. Again, this event started at least, with a regression of sea level.

In the Late Silurian was the Lau Event. Poor conodonts were hit again losing 17 of 23 species by the end. Graptolites were reduced by 70% and brachiopods and bivalves experienced a large turnover. Again, this is associated with a substantial sea-level drop.

Thanks for coming to today’s lesson. If you are interested in reading more you can check out this paper: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mikael-Calner/publication/228769324_Mass_Extinction/links/00b7d52b832a498f82000000/Mass-Extinction.pdf and tune in tomorrow to participate in some trivia! Fossilize you later!

[unethicallypleistocene]

Guess who's back with another random OC ask, and this time I'm REALLY gonna cater to your interests!!

Give me an extinct creature or fossil that best represents each of your OCs? (Or, if you want to make things even more interesting, give me one dinosaur and one non-dinosaur for each, or give me creatures from different epochs)

WAHOO this is right up my alley!! Thanks so much!!

Blake:

A bit obvious, but I COULD NOT resist making him an Irish elk from, of course, the middle Pleistocene!

This picture likely doesn't do it justice, these things had massive antlers.

Tern:

Gonna go with a classical Cambrian species for them, a trilobite!

Alden:

This guy doesn't even have a wikipedia page. Xiushanosteus mirabilis is one of the oldest known species of jawed vertebrate fish from the Early Silurian!

James:

Of course, everybody's favorite transitional species, Tiktaalik from the Late Devonian!

(Fun fact, "Tiktaalik" is an Inuktitut word meaning either "large freshwater fish" or "burbot", I couldn't find any consensus to what the word means in the practical context or how specific it is. Burbots do look quite similar to these guys, though!)

Abraham:

He gets an Ichthyornis from the late Cretaceous!

Not really visible in this image, but it was the first extinct bird to be discovered that had teeth!

Taber:

Couldn't finish this list without some La Brea Tar Pits representation. He gets a Paramylodon!

[echinoid-fossils-on-the-rocks]

Have an good tiny Trilobite Tuesday today!!

This small fossil of the critter on it´s rock matrix, are likely an genus of the Proetus Gerastos.

Gerastos trilobites are well known from the Silurian period of marine life from the lower to middle Devonian, are spanning to approximately range of 21 million years ago.

This piece seems found from either Marocco, or Belgium around or came from the Eifel mountain range here in germany.

Brought this ages ago in one of my city radius of once local mineral shops. All closed since nowdays - or went private online.

[o-craven-canto]

:D

Oh, yeah, the colors (which are based on the official International Chronostratigraphic Chart):

Pink is the final part of the Ediacaran period (Ediacara fauna (duh), earliest armored fossils) Greenish-greyish is the Cambrian, first of the Paleozoic era (first arthropods, mollusks, & vertebrates) Dark teal is the Ordovician (giant nautiloids, jawless fish, coral, first Mass Extinction) Palest teal is the Silurian (first plants & arthropods on land) Brown is the Devonian (first amphibians and trees, second Mass Extinction) Middle teal is the Carboniferous (coal forests, first reptiles) Red is the Permian (Pangea, mammal-like reptiles, third Mass Extinction) Purple is the Triassic, first of the Mesozoic era (first dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and mammals, fourth Mass Extinction) Blue is the Jurassic (giant dinosaurs and marine reptiles, first birds) Green is the Cretaceous (more giant dinosaurs and pterosaurs, flower plants, social insects, fifth Mass Extinction) Orange is the Paleogene, first of the Cenozoic era (modern birds and mammals) Bright yellow is the Neogene (more modern birds and mammals, apes, grasslands) Pale yellow is the Quaternary (humans show up)

Okay but the geological timescale fits perfectly on a clock and I love it.

[vickysaurus-art]

I've got a geologic timeline running along the walls of my new appartment, so I made some icons to mark the mass extinctions on it! They depict the Big Five, plus the End-Ediacaran extinction, some in a more literal fashion and some more metaphorically. Detailed look and explanations in reverse chronological order below the cut.

Cretaceous Paleogene Extinction: Meteorite hitting the Earth.

End-Triassic Extinction: Pangaea split by a line of fire to show the future mid-oceanic ridge massively erupting as the supercontinent breaks up.

The Great Dying: To depict the worst extinction of all time, I drew the Earth as a skull.

Late Devonian Extinction: The Late Devonian extinction may have been set off by the evolution of trees completely changing how the world's climate and cycles worked. By breaking up rock into soil they released massive amounts of nutrients into the environment, leading to anoxic waters. They reduced the CO2 in the atmosphere, causing a temperature drop. The knock-on effects of all this, possibly combined with a volcanic period, resulted in a mass extinction. To try and depict the trees indirectly killing life, I drew them literally killing it with their roots. Some of the victims are lobe-finned fish, jawless fish, brachiopods, trilobites, crinoids, and cystoids. Another root is turning into an ice crystal and another into a very eutrophic pool of algae-infested water.

Ordovician-Silurian Extinction: This one is considered to be the result of an ice age, so I drew a snow crystal. The middle part is also meant to be reminiscent of a bright star, in reference to the (not especially probable) hypothesis that it was set off by a nearby supernova.

End-Ediacaran Extinction: I really struggled with this one, as it's still fairly poorly understood, but is thought to involve a major anoxic event. But how do you clearly depict a lack of oxygen? It's not easy without resorting to drawing choking humans or crossed out oxygen formulas and such. Instead, I depicted the results of it: the disappearance of the Ediacaran biota and their replacement with the more familiar creatures of the Cambrian. This is a trilobite crawling over the fossils of a Dickinsonia, Charnia, and Tribrachidium.

[kyleopie]

Books. Would recommend / 10. Let me know if you would like to borrow one. ---- Extinction Rebellion - https://rebellion.global/ XRSA - https://xrsa.earth/ XR doco - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18951396/ ---- Relevant books - 'This Changes Everything' by Naomi Klein - 'Dr Karl's Little Book of Climate Change Science' by Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki - 'Less is More' by Jason Hickel ---- Relevant YouTube videos & channels - 'Everything You Need To Know About Climate Change' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Mlj3QxJe4k - 'Capitalism Is Destroying Us' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvRtNGW9Ajk - 'Our Changing Climate'   https://www.youtube.com/c/OurChangingClimate - 'How The Rich Really Cause Climate Change' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69DFis2WgMQ - 'Simon Clark' https://www.youtube.com/c/SimonOxfPhys ---- The most significant issue of our time in my eyes is the climate crisis. We are currently in the middle of the Holocene extinction, which is also known as the ‘sixth extinction’, as it is the sixth mass extinction event, after the Ordovician–Silurian extinction events, the Late Devonian extinction, the Permian–Triassic extinction event, the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, and the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Mass extinctions are characterized by the loss of at least 75% of species within a geologically short period of time. In the last one hundred years, figures on extinction have grown exponentially: the current rate is estimated to be around one thousand species per year. Human activities are the triggering factor. In a negligible amount of time we’ve devastated entire ecosystems, and altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere, and the climactic and chemical balance of the oceans. Extinction is forever. The list of species that have gone extinct because of Homo sapiens is immense, and requires constant updating. The loss of a species determines the definitive disappearance of a particular tile in the mosaic of life, which had evolved and adapted to a certain environment. Overall, it’s a loss for all life on Earth. So, what can we do about this? First, we should be aware that it was fossil fuel companies that invented and pushed onto us the term ‘carbon footprint’. They want us to be feeling guilty and frantically sorting our recycling because it keeps us distracted from the real climate criminals. One of the first things to do is switch your banking and superannuation away from fossil fuel investment (while you’re still sitting on the couch). Then (still seated) visit Climate for Change and click on the ’take action’ dropdown menu. Then join Extinction Rebellion South Australia. Vote The Australian Greens. And look after the vulnerable people in your community. Our society is fraught with greenwashing, sportswashing and more. Our governments take huge donations from fossil fuel companies and act on the whims of their lobbyists rather than the needs of the people, planet and all its living things. Microplastics are infecting us all and making us infertile. We are facing more and more bushfires, floods, ocean acidification and extreme weather events, and as they continue there will be food shortages and conflict as a consequence. We can subvert this system. We can join the likes of Extinction Rebellion, expose corporate greed and do so for the benefit of all peoples and living things. The best part of this is that rebellion can also be fun. While we recognise the trauma of our world, we do so by making art, sharing in friendships and telling our stories.

[carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory]

From Collector to Director

Figure 1: CM 50625 – Rugosa Coral. Collected by M. Graham Netting in 1912.   Coral body shape has a radial symmetry.

In 1912, eight-year-old M. Graham Netting unearthed 13 coral fossils within the city limits of Louisville, Kentucky.  Later, as a 22-year-old Pitt student, he donated them to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Figure 1).   When the Great Depression cut short his graduate studies at the University of Michigan in 1929, he returned to the museum as Assistant Curator of Herpetology, and worked his way up to Curator in 1932.   In 1954, six months before turning 50, he was appointed Director of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.   Along the way, the Wilkinsburg native left an astonishing legacy that includes a steady growth in scientific collections, numerous wildlife dioramas in the Halls of Wildlife, and a mid-Appalachian field research station, Powdermill Nature Reserve.  Upon his retirement in 1975, the Post-Gazette noted, “Long before it was “in,” Netting saw pollution of the air and water ravaging the land.”  

Albert Kollar, Collection Manager of the of Section of Invertebrate Paleontology, re-discovered young Graham Netting’s horn corals while working on a multiyear review of the Bayet Collection.  Netting’s label note did not provide any evidence for the stratigraphic unit that he collected from, but more on that later.

Figure 2: Carnegie Museum of Natural History exhibit reconstruction of an Early to Middle Devonian reef, 375 - 390 MYA.  The reef shows Rugosa and Tabulate corals, a spiny trilobite about 18 inches in length and several straight cephalopods.   Coral tentacles (shown in white) are illustrated in feeding mode.  Both Rugosa and Tabulate corals went extinct at the end of the Permian Period.

Rugose corals are often called horn corals because many species have a horn shape.  Horn corals attach to the sea floor by way of a sticky tentacle that protrudes from the base or curved end of the animal.  Other invertebrate animals, such as brachiopods, attached in this position are described as sessile.  The coral animal or “polyp” built its skeleton from calcium carbonate, a mineral formed from Bicarbonate and Calcium ions in seawater.  The polyp tentacles or feeding polyp extend out from the top of the basic body for feeding (Figure 2).  When the animal died, its soft tissues would have decayed and left behind the external hard mineral skeleton that fossilized.  

Netting’s Louisville coral specimens are fossilized in a different way than similar corals from the nearby Falls of the Ohio middle Devonian fossil beds.  His corals are lighter and fragile to the touch, conditions which gave Albert reason to compare Netting’s fossils to similar invertebrate paleontology corals from strata within the Louisville area.  Sometime during or after burial, these horn coral skeletons were replaced by silica or quartz, a process known as silicification. The mineral silica can saturate a column of seawater when the seabed is overwhelmed with a large population of sponges.  Sponge skeletons are composed of silica and when they die silica is added to a column or more of seawater.  Volcanic eruptions eject silica into the atmosphere that eventually settles into the sea.  Again potentially adding higher amounts of silica.  Whatever the cause, Albert believes Netting’s corals were collected from the fossiliferous Middle Devonian age Jeffersonville Limestone, where the “lower foot of a “conglomerate” of reworked silicified Louisville Limestone” of Upper Silurian age is known to occur with silicified coral fossils (Conkin and Conkin, 1972).

Horn and Tabulate corals thrived in shallow seas forming diversified ecological reefs from about the late Silurian Period to the beginning of the Late Devonian epoch. During the Middle Devonian epoch roughly 400 Ma to 390 Ma years ago, reefs formed in central New York, southern Ontario, central Ohio, central Iowa, western Alberta, Canada, western Australia, and in Eifel, Germany.

Figure 3:  Paleogeographic Map of the Middle Devonian Period – Kentucky is well south of the equator.

Louisville, during the Devonian Period, was centered in the southern hemisphere about 40 degrees south of the equator. Because of plate tectonics, the coral beds of Louisville would travel 5,500 miles over the next 390 million years to their present-day location of 38 degrees north (Figure 3). Today, fossil outcrops in the city limits of Louisville are difficult to find.  

Figure 4: Graham Netting in his twenties.

When Netting retired as Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, he moved to a modest house next to Powdermill Nature Reserve.   A seat was saved for him each Sunday at the reserve’s weekly nature talk.  In 1996, he passed away.  Steve Rogers, Collections Manager for the Section of Birds, recalls sipping fresh lemonade on Netting’s back porch in 1981.   According to Rogers, Netting was reflective and humble.   The fossil collector who became a museum director had a habit of rubbing his chin while listening to someone speak.   When asked about his legacy, Rogers replied, “He was more instrumental in forming Powdermill than anyone.  He had an amazing ability to be a part of a team that got things done.”

Figure 5: Graham Netting at Retirement in 1975.

As Netting prepared to step down as director in 1975, he said, “These great collections are a natural resource to answer questions about the life of the world.” On a recent day, I saw two children jumping up and down in front of the Glacier Bear diorama in Hall of North American Wildlife on a family visit to the museum.   When one of the children asked, “what’s a diorama?” I thought about Graham Netting, smiled, and encouraged their engagement with the life of the world.

Many thanks to Xianghua Sun, Carnegie Museum Library Manager, Marie Corrado, Carnegie Museum Library Clerk, Stephen Rogers, Collections Manager for the Section of Birds, and John Wenzel, Director of Powdermill Nature Reserve for help researching this post.  

Joann Wilson is an Interpreter in the Education Department at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Albert Kollar is Collections Manager for the Section of Invertebrate Paleontology. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

[tff-praefectus]

TFF-REMPC-BR0006

Fossil Brachiopod

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Brachiopoda

Class: Indet.

Order: Indet.

Family: Indet.

Genus: Indet.

Species: Indet.

Geologic Time Scale:

Eon: Phanerozoic

Era: Paleozoic

Period: Silurian

Epoch: Middle

Stratigraphy:

Waldron Shale Formation

Location:

St. Paul

Indiana

United States

Provenance:

Purchase

Dimensions:

L: 2 cm

[mr-psci]

Are we in the Middle of a 6th Mass Extinction?

Short Answer: It’s complicated

Long Answer: 

We don’t really know because if this is an extinction event it doesn’t compare easily to the previous confirmed five mass extinctions. The previous five mass extinction events were global disasters set in motion by natural disasters that could not be avoided or predicted - it was a game of chance and Earth got dealt a few very bad hands in the last 443 million years: one of the Big Five Events, dubbed the Great Dying, happened 248 million years ago and it wiped out 96% of all species! By the time of the Next Mass Extinction (Triassic-Jurrasic), Life was still recovering from such a devastating blow. 

That said, The decline in global biodiversity (the number of species of animals and plants on earth) seen in the Big Five Extinctions occurred over thousands to millions of years - This is where the ambiguity starts: How do we define a Mass Extinction Event?

According to a 2017 study by David P.G. Bond at the School of Environmental Sciences, University of Hull and Stephen E. Grasby, Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, all Mass Extinction events follow the same route: oxygen levels (atmospheric and/or oceanic) fall, whilst carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas levels rise in the atmosphere, then global warming occurs because of the change in the atmospheric CO2, which leads climate change as a result of global warming and, finally, a period of global cooling occurs as the photosynthesizing organisms regain their foothold and begin leeching the CO2 from the atmosphere. As seen with the Ordovician-Silurian extinction, this process can happen in reverse where the atmospheric composition changes in favour of oxygen rather than CO2 leading to a period of global cooling before a period of global warming.

Suffice to say, as a consequence of human influence, the levels of oxygen in the atmosphere  and- most noticeably - in the oceans, is decreasing and carbon dioxide levels are rising due to humanity’s use of fossil fuels. This in turn has led to a period of rapid global warming. So following the Bond-Stephen Definition of an Extinction Event, the current global situation appears to fit the criteria of a Mass Extinction.

There is a lot of evidence to suggest that we are in a period of global biodiversity decline - what this means is that we are seeing a very rapid loss of animal and plant species (almost 2 species every year in fact). 200 species of vertebrates and 15 marine species have gone extinct in the last 100 years and 42% of 3,623 land invertebrate species, and 25% of 1,306 species of marine invertebrates on the ICUN Red List are facing extinction.  According to the UN’s 2019 mass extinction report many species have disappeared within decades, with the rate of extinction tens-to-hundreds of times higher than it has been in the last 10 million years. 680 animals have gone extinct since the 16th century and 1 million of the Earth’s 8 million known species (12.5% of all species) are due to go extinct in the next few decades. Extinction also encompasses plant life: 571 species are confirmed to have gone extinct in the last three centuries.

Sounds grim doesn’t it?

But... All the loss we are currently seeing, may not be as bad as we think. For one thing, we actually don’t know a lot about the Earth’s biodiversity: a 2011 study predicts that  86% of land species and 91% of marine species have yet to be discovered. Back in 2011 the current estimate for the number of species on earth was 8.7 million and this figure has not changed significantly in the last decade. On top of this, our system for declaring plants extinct has a high error margin for different groups of species: for seed plants alone in the last three decades, species are rediscovered at a rate of 16 species per year. So if we don’t know enough about the Earth’s biodiversity, we cannot be 100% sure that our predictions for the next few decades will have the impact we fear it may have.

So, it would appear we are seeing the beginnings of a Mass Extinction, but at the same time, our predictions are based on information that isn’t as representative as we’d like it to be. That is not to say we should be brushing off the obvious decline in biodiversity because if we as a species are not proactive enough, we will suffer for the damage we have caused. Ultimately the evidence seems to suggest that we have caused so much change in the environment that we are making the Earth less diverse every year and if the current trend continues it could lead to the catastrophic levels of extinction seen in the past.

[rabbitcruiser]

Horseshoe Falls (No. 1)

The features that became Niagara Falls were created by the Wisconsin glaciation about 10,000 years ago. The same forces also created the North American Great Lakes and the Niagara River. All were dug by a continental ice sheet that drove through the area, deepening some river channels to form lakes, and damming others with debris. Scientists argue there is an old valley, St David's Buried Gorge, buried by glacial drift, at the approximate location of the present Welland Canal. 

When the ice melted, the upper Great Lakes emptied into the Niagara River, which followed the rearranged topography across the Niagara Escarpment. In time, the river cut a gorge through the north-facing cliff, or cuesta. Because of the interactions of three major rock formations, the rocky bed did not erode evenly. The top rock formation was composed of erosion-resistant limestone and dolomite of the Lockport Formation. That hard layer of stone eroded more slowly than the underlying materials. The aerial photo on the right clearly shows the hard caprock, the Lockport Formation (Middle Silurian), which underlies the rapids above the falls, and approximately the upper third of the high gorge wall.

Immediately below the hard-rock formation, comprising about two-thirds of the cliff, lay the weaker, softer, sloping Rochester Formation (Lower Silurian). This formation was composed mainly of shale, though it has some thin limestone layers. It also contains ancient fossils. In time, the river eroded the soft layer that supported the hard layers, undercutting the hard caprock, which gave way in great chunks. This process repeated countless times, eventually carving out the falls.

Submerged in the river in the lower valley, hidden from view, is the Queenston Formation (Upper Ordovician), which is composed of shales and fine sandstones. All three formations were laid down in an ancient sea, their differences of character deriving from changing conditions within that sea.

About 10,900 years ago, the Niagara Falls was between present-day Queenston, Ontario, and Lewiston, New York, but erosion of their crest has caused the waterfalls to retreat approximately 6.8 miles (10.9 km) southward.The Horseshoe Falls, which are about 2,600 feet (790 m) wide, have also changed their shape through the process of erosion; evolving from a small arch to a horseshoe bend, to the present day gigantic V.Just upstream from the falls' current location, Goat Island splits the course of the Niagara River, resulting in the separation of the mostly Canadian Horseshoe Falls to the west from the American and Bridal Veil Falls to the east. Engineering has slowed erosion and recession. 

The current rate of erosion is approximately 30 centimeters (1 ft) per year, down from a historical average of 0.91 m (3 ft) per year. According to the timeline of the far future, in roughly 50,000 years Niagara Falls will have eroded the remaining 32 kilometres (20 mi) to Lake Erie and ceased to exist.

Source: Wikipedia

[mineralsrocksandfossiltalks]

Monday Musings: Understanding Geologic Time

Deep time is not an easy thing to try and comprehend and it certainly doesn’t help when there’s all these crazy names being thrown at you. Let’s take a moment to break it down and really understand what we are seeing. The largest unit of geochronologic time is an eon. There are four formally defined eons: the Hadean, the Archean, the Proterozoic, and the Phanerozoic. The Hadean Eon is the oldest eon going from 4.6-4 Ga years ago. Its name is derived from the Greek god, Hades in reference to the still molten surface of the newly formed planet.

Following the Hadean Eon is the Archean Eon. This eon went from 4-2.5 Ga years ago. As mentioned in my Barberton Greenstone Belt video two weeks ago, this eon saw the creation of oceans and mountains as well as the appearance of the first living organisms known as stromatolites which would put oxygen into the atmosphere. Archean means “beginning or origin” which is fitting.

Next came the Proterozoic Eon. Lasted from 2.5 Ga-545 Ma. During this eon, the atmosphere became oxygenated, there were several glaciations, and the first eukaryotes evolved represented by the Ediacaran Biota. The name Proterozoic means “before life” because initially, fossils hadn’t been found until the Cambrian Period.

The last eon which we are currently in is the Phanerozoic Eon. It means “visible life” which makes sense as most living organisms have existed within this eon.

Okay, eons make sense? Excellent. Eons are broken down into eras. Now the Hadean is not broken into eras simply because the only evidence of this eon are detrital zircons in Australia.

The Phanerozoic Eon is the current eon and most of you are probably familiar with its eras: The Paleozoic Era, the Mesozoic Era, and the Cenozoic Era. These names mean “old life”, “middle life”, and “new life” respectively.

Eras are then split into periods. Like the Hadean before it, there isn’t enough evidence to split the Archean eras into periods. Again, we will use the Phanerozoic eras to show the break down starting with the Paleozoic.

The Paleozoic Era is split into six periods: the Cambrian Period,

the Ordovician Period,

the Silurian Period,

the Devonian Period,

the Carboniferous Period

and the Permian Period.

These will be discussed in more detail later on down the road. I have already made posts on the Cambrian and the Ordovician Periods and this month is all about the Silurian Period.

The Mesozoic Era is split into three periods of which most people know the names: The Triassic,

the Jurassic,

and the Cretaceous Periods.

Each of these will be discussed in detail further down the road as well.

The Cenozoic Era is also split into three periods: The Paleogene Period,

the Neogene Period,

and the Quaternary Period.

These will also be discussed in detail later.

Periods are further broken down into epochs. There are no formal epochs outside of the Phanerozoic Eon. Some early Paleozoic periods also do no have formal epochs. Many such as the Triassic and Jurassic Period are split into Early, Middle and Late. Strangely, the Cretaceous is only split into Early and Late though I think an argument could me made to create a middle.

The most well-known epochs are those of the Cenozoic Era. The Paleogene Period is split into three epochs: the Paleocene Epoch meaning “old dawn”,

the Eocene Epoch meaning “dawn”,

and the Oligocene Epoch meaning “few new”.

The Neogene Period is split into two epochs: the Miocene Epoch meaning “less new”

and the Pliocene Epoch meaning “more new/recent”.

The Quaternary Period is split into two epochs as well: the Pleistocene Epoch meaning “most new/recent”

and the Holocene Epoch meaning “whole new” and is the epoch we are currently in.

Epochs can then be broken down into still smaller categories called ages. For example, the Late Jurassic Epoch is broken up into three ages: Oxfordian Age, Kimmeridgian Age and Tithonian Age.

Now let’s put all these, eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages into perspective. Let’s pretend Earth’s current lifespan is a clock. At 12:00, the Earth’s crust forms (Hadean Eon). At 2:10, the oldest rocks are preserved (Archean Eon). At 3:17, the first bacteria appear (Proterozoic Eon). At 11:52, the Cambrian Explosion occurs. At 11:53, first plants and fish. 11:54, first insects. 11:55, first reptiles and amphibians. 11:56, Mesozoic Era begins. 11:57, first dinosaurs, mammals, and birds. 11:59 Cenozoic Era.

Need a different visual? Try a calendar. The Hadean starts in January and ends halfway through February where the Archean picks up. The Archean lasts until halfway through June. From there, the Proterozoic starts and doesn’t end until about Thanksgiving. The Paleozoic Era then goes until about a week before Christmas. The Mesozoic covers Christmas to the December 30. New Year’s Eve represents the Cenozoic Era.

Thanks for coming to this lesson and make sure to tune in tomorrow for some fun trivia! Fossilize you later!

[phylojennny]

James Thomka and Tom Bantel of the Dry Dredgers presenting their work on diploporitan echinoderms! This was a really excellent poster. Tom was kind enough to give me the run down. They were interested in looking in the preservation of these strange echinoderms between different rock layers. These are the same echinoderms that Sarah studies (see her talk post here). 

These animals, which Sarah refers to as potatoes, are sort of puffed up strange looking beasts that have some symmetry albeit strange and peculiar. So, James and Tom were looking at how smushed these animals were compared to some pristine specimens. The amount of smush can tell us about the conditions of the environment when these animals died and became fossils. The fossils that are still bulbous, still inflated, and not broken were essentially buried alive! Rapid burial allows for really excellent preservation of fossils! 

Read their abstract: MICROSTRATIGRAPHY AND MODES OF OCCURRENCE OF DIPLOPORITAN ECHINODERMS IN THE NAPOLEON QUARRY LAGERSTÄTTE (MIDDLE SILURIAN MASSIE FORMATION, SOUTHEASTERN INDIANA)

[alphynix]

Almost-Living Fossils Month #16 -- Fancy Triangle Clams

Trigonia was a genus of bivalve mollusc that first appeared in the Middle Triassic, around 245 million years ago. Part of a much older lineage (the trigoniidans) that originated over 400 million years ago in the Late Silurian or Early Devonian, and distantly related to modern freshwater mussels, these bivalves have been found in marine deposits all around the world.

Their triangular shells had complex internal hinges, and often featured elaborate patterns of ribs and tubercules (which may have been adaptations to increase burrowing efficiency) that made them very visually distinctive. They lived mainly in shallow coastal environments, and in some places their fossils are so common that they must have been very numerous animals in their ecosystems.

Trigonia costata was a species living in Europe during the Early-to-Middle Jurassic (~174-166 mya), around the time when the trigoniidans were exploding in diversity. Usually around 5-7.5cm in length (2-3″), it was one of the longest-lasting individual species of Trigonia and one of the most common at the time.

Along with their other trigoniidan relatives, various Trigonia species continued to evolve throughout the entire rest of the Mesozoic, and while almost all of them went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous a few did manage to hang on into the Cenozoic.

The last record of an actual Trigonia comes from Argentina at the very end of the Paleocene, about 56 million years ago. After a nearly 200-million-year run, this long-lived genus finally disappeared -- but although Trigonia itself was gone, that wasn’t quite the end of the trigoniidans altogether.

A single remaining lineage quietly continued on all the way into modern day, either descended from one of the Trigonia species or very closely related to the genus, living in waters off the coast of Australia and Tasmania. Known as Neotrigonia, they’re not quite as elaborately ornamented as some of their ancient relatives, but their complex shell hinges give them away as the only living trigoniidans -- and their anatomy can give us some hints about what Trigonia’s soft tissue parts may have looked like, such as the presence of an unusual boot-shaped muscular foot that helps them burrow rapidly into the seafloor.

[geotourism]

The Spectacular Niagara Waterfalls and its Geology

Where are Niagara Waterfalls

Niagara Waterfall is located on the border of the United States and Canada. It is in New York state in the United States and west of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Niagara Falls is a beautiful site and an excellent place to visit if you’re ever in the area. the Area can be reached by car or by taking the ferry. The falls are a popular tourist destination due to their location on the border of the United States and Canada. The falls are located on the Niagara River and are approximately 51 meters high. Millions of people visit the falls each year to witness the spectacular sight of water tumbling over the edge of a cliff.

Geology of the Area

Niagara Waterfall is located 27 km north-northwest of Buffalo, New York, and 69 km south-southeast of Toronto, between the twin cities of Niagara Fall, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York. Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls (Canadian Falls), which straddles the international border of the two countries. The smaller American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls lie within the United States. Bridal Veil Waterfalls is separated from Horseshoe Falls by Goat Island and from American Waterfalls by Luna Island, both islands situated in New York State.

The Niagara Waterfalls were created by the Wisconsin glaciation about 10,000-18000 years ago (the last ice age). The retreat of the ice sheet left behind a large amount of meltwater that filled up the basins that the glaciers had carved, creating the Great Lakes Including (Lake Erie and Lake Ontario).

The upper Great Lakes emptied into the Niagara River, which followed the undulating topography across the Niagara Escarpment. Because of the interactions of three different rock formations, the rocky bed did not erode evenly. The caprock formation is composed of hard, limestone, and dolomite of the Lockport Formation of Middle Silurian. That hard layer of stone eroded more slowly than the underlying weaker, softer, sloping Rochester Formation (Lower Silurian). This formation is composed mainly of shale. The river eroded the soft layer that supported the hard layers and Niagara Waterfall forms.

Niagara Waterfall state park

Niagara Falls State Park is a large state park in New York that features Niagara Falls. The park is home to the Niagara Falls International Peace Garden, which was dedicated in 1984 and is the only international peace garden in the United States. The park also features a number of trails that lead to the falls. See the Niagara falls map.

Also read- The La Brea Tar Pits: World’s Oldest And Best Preserved Ice Age Fossil Site

Cave of the wind Niagara falls

The Cave of the Wind is located beneath the Niagara Waterfall. It is a small, dark, and damp cave that is said to be haunted by the ghost of an old woman. Niagara Falls Cave of Wind is a popular tourist destination and contains some of the most dramatic and beautiful scenery in all of the surrounding area. The cave can be reached by walking along a narrow ledge. Niagara Falls at night is a beautiful sight. The falls are lit up with thousands of lights and the water looks like a river of diamonds. You can also see the American and Canadian sides of the falls at the same time.

Things to do in Niagara Waterfall

Niagara Falls is a natural wonder, which flows from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, that can be enjoyed by everyone. There are many things to do in Niagara Falls, including visiting the falls themselves, hiking and biking trails, and rock climbing. There are also many restaurants and hotels in the area, so visitors can find whatever they need.

[dannycaing832]

THE LONG WALK

by Danny Caing   Date Written: August 18, 2021

Time: Present Day @ 8:32 PM

Location: Lincoln Highway, Lander County, Nevada

“My name is Martin Hayshock, a Tractor-Trailer driver of Silver State Transport. I drove my shipment along Route 50 in the Nevada desert area. One night, there was a dust storm. The road was in zero visibility. So, I decided to park the truck on the side of the highway until the dust settled down. Eight hours had passed, the dusty wind becomes unstable. I could hear both sidewalls of the truck vibrating. Then I saw a faint light appeared on the right side window. I went down from the truck wearing my mask, face shield, and jacket with a hood and walked towards the glowing light using a flashlight. The road seems so thick with dust. I could barely see the highway was dark. It was a long walk as I reached the stony hill, the large bunker door opened, and I saw human figures with white outfits running towards me, their eyes flashing with light. That was the last time I could remember.” 

Martin was sitting naked in the middle of a large cubicle glass. A rectangular tabloid was floating in front of him with all his belongings on the screen. He was suspicious they want to know why he runs towards their secret military bunker. He can tell that his brother is in the U.S. Marine Corps. He also served in the U.S. Army for four years in Afghanistan.

“We find it very unusual about your things. The fabric of your items of clothing does not conform to our data. We have no record of that kind of shoes. What is that metallic wrist?”

“Don't you have watches? What are you?” 

“We believe that you are not from our world. Can you tell us about your planet?”

“I am an American from the United States of America. I live on a planet called Earth with one moon. Our solar system has nine planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. We have 365 and 1/4 days per year or 12 months per year. Our civilization started 10,000 years ago. The date today is August 18, 2021.”

After waiting for one hour, Martin had thought that he was talking to aliens who speak the English language.

“We have no record of your place and your time. We belong to the same planet, and we have two moons. We have 11 months per year and 30 days per month. Our solar system has Mercury, Earth, Atlantis, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Planet-X (passes by the sun every 10,000 years). Now we understand that there is a catastrophic event going to happen to our solar system soon. According to what you have just stated that Atlantis was gone, and two planets were born. We also know a massive solar storm is coming, and the sunspot of the gigantic Coronal Mass Ejection plasma. Its trajectory will directly hit Atlantis sixty years from now. We have already started evacuating to other neighboring stars hoping to find a new Earth. According to our calculations, you are 195 million years from the future.”

"Really? Are you telling me that dinosaurs are roaming around this planet now? They are fossil fuels on our machines? Are there humans on this planet 195 million years ago? Who are you?”

Later they revealed that they were human beings. The outfit was soft layers of texture with thousands of lights with different colors moving around their body. They said it was their energy projected within. When they brought Martin out from the cubicle glass, he was inside a floating glass bubble with a companion. Martin was stunned to see the Earth 195 million years ago, a thick foggy rainforest with many coconut and banana trees. There were pyramids everywhere as high as 500 meters, with light rays coming out from the top. They said it was for the atmosphere of the Earth and electricity and communication. There were dinosaurs, pterosaur, synapsid, and sauropod. They told him that humans were accidentally created from biochemical mutations of bacterias for millions of years. They eat plants and seeds. Their source of energy came from the leaves of the trees and the sea waves. When Martin saw the other moon, it was like a twin Earth. They brought Martin to their spacecraft, and he was amazed to see a floating planet-like orb. It has its atmosphere and gravity. They said that the atmosphere protects them from deadly rays and micro meteors in space travel.

Based on the records from their period, the Earth had experience CME hit for every 65 million:

1. Permian–Triassic extinction event (65 million years ago, 98% species lost)

2. Mid Permian–Triassic extinction event (130 million years ago, 32% species lost)

3. Late Devonian extinction event (195 million years ago, 85% species lost)

4. Ordovician–Silurian extinction event (260 million years ago, 97% species lost)

The coming Big One will change the Solar System forever, erasing the planet Atlantis. Venus and Mars will be born. They showed Martin a 3-D Forensic Analysis of how it will happen according to what he informed them regarding what the Solar System looks like in his period.

As the gigantic CME plasma ejected into space towards Atlantis, the planet burst into pieces creating the asteroid belt. A big chunk (the core of Atlantis) hit one of the moons of the Earth, now becomes Mars, and that is why it has a long stretch mark on the surface. The core chunk orbited around the sun as Venus. The Earth moves further away from the sun, and the original 11 months orbit changed to 12 months.

Martin asked them why they were only a few of them compared to the population on Earth is 10 billion. They said that they live up to 5,000 years, and every one of them has its duty to survive and protect the planet. They have no government, no monetary system, no religion, and no family. They all belong to one mother (all-knowing) who trains and educate them and decides what field of expertise they fit to serve. They said there were robots those days and wage war against them. From that time on, they never created a robot. Their space exploration has reached as far as Ross 104 and found no intelligent life form than most are on the primordial stage. 

After the long trip, they landed on a crystal dome. They gave Martin a small limestone disc where they embedded all the information of their history and technology. After vegetarian meals, they touched his forehead before taking him back to the cubicle. Martin felt so tired and laid down on the floor and went to sleep.

Suddenly, someone was knocking at the door on the wheel side of the truck. When Martin woke up, it was the Highway Patrol Officer peeping at the window.

“Hello! Is anyone here? Please, step out of the truck with your License and Registration.”

Martin went down from the truck and handed the Highway Patrol Officer his License and Registration Document.

“I’m sorry, Sir. I overslept.”

“You are parking on the wrong side of the road.”

“There was a dust storm last night, and it was dark everywhere, Sir.”

“What dust storm are you saying? There was no dust storm last night.”

When Martin looked around, the highway was clear, and there was no dust. He thought it was just a dream last night.

“All right, listen carefully. Have your inner tire fix on a gas station 20 miles ahead. Next time, make sure you park safely. Have a nice trip.”

“Thank you, sir!”

When Martin climbed back to his truck and started the engine, he noticed a hill was glittering far away. He thought, maybe it was the heat of the sun. While driving along the highway, all he can remember last night was the dust storm. But at the back compartment seat, there was a small black limestone sparkling.

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