Geology - Part 27

Articles, features and stories with an emphasis on geology.

17 02, 2008

Principles of Geology – The Law of Superposition

By Mike|2023-02-24T21:43:43+00:00February 17th, 2008|Categories: Geology, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

A Brief Tribute to Nicolaus Steno – The Law of Superposition

Team members at Everything Dinosaur are already working on a number of events to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Darwin in 2009. However, there were many thinkers, philosophers and educated people who applied scientific processes to try to explain the world around them, long before Darwin. One such person was the Dane Nicolaus Steno, born 370 years ago who decided at an early age to live by the principle that one should not believe everything they read, but set out to investigate, observe and come to their own conclusions – even if these conclusions challenge the accepted doctrine of the time.

Nicolaus Steno

Nicolaus Steno (sometimes Latinised to Nicolaus Stenonis or referred to in Danish as Niels Stensen), was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1638, once he has completed his formal education he travelled extensively in Europe working with a number of notable scientists and thinkers of the time including the likes of Galileo. His enquiring mind and observational skills led him to improve the understanding of human anatomy and some aspects of medicine, but his fascination with the world around him led him to make some extremely important insights into the age and formation of the Earth. His published accounts of how layers of rock (strata) are formed, challenged much of the established view on the formation of the Earth and life upon it.

Until Steno and his contemporaries, ideas like the Earth was extremely old and that fossils represented once living organisms were not accepted. The Biblical view of life and the formation of the Earth dominated, a viewpoint that 200 years later led to Darwin’s delay in the publishing of his theory on evolution and still holds sway with many people today.

The Law of Superposition

For Nicolaus, despite some his research challenging the accepted views of the church and the state, religion still played an important role in his life. He converted to Catholicism in 1667 and in 1675 became a priest, rising quickly through the hierarchy of the church to become the bishop of north Germany and Scandinavia. The year before his conversion Nicolaus was presented with the head of a huge shark that had been caught off the coast of Tuscany. His reputation had permitted him to obtain the patronage of many wealthy families and it was the Grand Duke of Tuscany who had ordered the shark’s head to be sent to Nicolaus for dissection.

Shark Tooth Fossils

A large fossil tooth from a Otodus megalodon. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Whilst studying the shark, Steno noted that the teeth resembled stony objects that had been found embedded in rocks. These items (now known to be the fossils of shark teeth) were called “Tongue stones”, it was thought at the time that these objects had fallen to Earth from the moon and that they possessed magical properties. When worn as amulets they warded off danger and if dipped in poison they would render the poison ineffective.

For models and replicas of iconic fossi animals: Prehistoric Life Models (CollectA).

Understanding Fossils

Other scientists at the time, thought that these strange objects along with other items we now know as fossils, simply grew in rock formations. Nicolaus Steno was not the first person to note the similarity between these permineralized teeth and the teeth of living sharks, but he did develop the current theories at the time and began to explore the physical and chemical processes that may have led to the change in state of these objects and their preservation.

Steno’s work on shark teeth led him to the question of how any solid object could come to be found inside another solid object, such as a rock or a layer of rock. The “solid bodies within solids” that attracted Steno’s interest included not only fossils, as we would define them today, but minerals, crystals, encrustations, veins, and even entire rock layers or geological strata. Nicolaus theorised that layers of rock formed by deposition – sedimentary rocks laid down in a sequence, the older rocks would be at the bottom with younger rocks on top. This is a fundamental principle of stratigraphy (the study of strata).

Unless strata has been overturned, which may sometimes happen during mountain building or other geological processes, the deeper the rock layers the older they will be. Strata could therefore be dated relative to one another.

As Steno stated in his work published in 1669, entitled Dissertationis prodromus:

“at the time when any given stratum was being formed, all the matter resting upon it was fluid, and, therefore, at the time when the lower stratum was being formed, none of the upper strata existed”.

A Fundamental Principle of Geology

This fundamental principle became known as the Law of Superposition – the fact that bottom layers of rock must have been formed first with layers on top being progressively younger in relation to the layers underneath. Although, other writers had eluded to this in earlier work, it was Nicolaus Stenos who first formulated this law, a cornerstone (no pun intended) of modern geology. His work was subsequently developed by other writers and thinkers, but his theories were crucial in helping later 18th and 19th Century scientists interpret and understand geology.

So as we plan events to celebrate the 200th anniversary of birth of Darwin we will also be thinking about the other great people who have made and continue to make a contribution to the science of geology and palaeontology, after all 2009 may mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Darwin but it also marks the 340th anniversary of the publishing of Steno’s Law of Superposition.

27 01, 2008

Geologists Get to the Bottom of the Chicxulub Impact Crater

By Mike|2023-02-24T21:53:12+00:00January 27th, 2008|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Chicxulub Crater gets Seen in a Whole New Light

A big rock splashing down into water deeper than first thought may be the simple explanation as to why something like 70% of all life on Earth perished at the end of the Mesozoic. This is the conclusion of a team of researchers from the University of Texas who have carried out the most detailed study yet of the impact site using three-dimensional seismic images of the Chicxulub crater.

Chicxulub Impact Crater

The Chicxulub crater is a mostly submerged and buried impact crater on the coast of Mexico. This new study, led by Sean Gulick (research scientist at the Institute for Geophysics at the University of Texas Jackson School of Geosciences), may modify a theory explaining the extinction of the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, marine reptiles and nearly three-quarters of life at the end of the Cretaceous 66 million years ago.

It was the American father and son team of Luis and Walter Alvarez who first put forward the theory of an extraterrestrial impact being the cause of the mass extinction event 66 million years ago. Their study of the worldwide layer of clay rich in the rare Earth element iridium, which was present in rocks dating from the K-T boundary (the geological time border between the end of the Cretaceous and the beginning of the Palaeocene) led them to conclude that an asteroid or meteorite impact must have occurred.

The Yucatan Peninsula

The discovery of the Chicxulub crater, on the coast of the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico, a huge impact crater dated to this period in Earth’s history provided the “smoking gun” evidence to add weight to their theory.

Debate still continues amongst scientists as to the actual cause of this mass extinction event. The Earth was going through an extensive period of geological activity and the asteroid impact may have been just one factor in the extinction of the dinosaurs. The huge amounts of volcanic activity in India, in an area known as the Deccan Traps may also have played a significant role.

To read more about the Deccan Traps: Asteroid Impact Theory Challenged – Blame the Deccan Traps.

Extinction Theories

Other contributing factors to the demise of large land animals at this time in Earth’s history have also been put forward. A book recently co-authored by George Poiner blames the emergence and increasing presence of biting and blood sucking mites and insects on the demise of the dinosaurs.

Article: New Book Claims Biting Insects and Bugs helped in Dinosaur Demise.

Now a new study into the Chicxulub impact crater indicates that the object from outer space may have landed in deeper water than previously thought, releasing 6.5 times more water vapour into the atmosphere and exacerbating the impact. This coupled with the fact that the rocks in the area contain sulphur-rich sediments would have made the collision even more dangerous to life on Earth.

According to Gulick and his team, the impact would have caused the sulphur-rich deposits to react with the water vapour to produce sulphate aerosols which would have been thrown high into the atmosphere. An increase in the atmospheric concentration of these high in sulphur compounds could have made the impact more deadly in two ways:

1). Altering the Climate

Particles high in sulphur could have prevented solar radiation from getting through the “thickened” atmosphere and this would have led to a cooling effect – perhaps contributing to a nuclear winter.

2). Acid Rain

Increased levels of water vapour once cooled at altitude would then fall back to Earth, the high sulphur content of the atmosphere would have formed dilute sulphuric acid and the Earth would have been subjected to extensive acid rain.

The Impact of Sulphur

Earlier studies into the geology of the Yucatan peninsula had indicated that the sulphur contained in the rocks could have contributed to the scale of the natural disaster. When the higher volume of water is factored into models predicting the environmental consequences, the effects of atmosphere cooling and acid rain are magnified.

“The greater amount of water vapour and consequent potential increase in sulfate aerosols needs to be taken into account for models of extinction mechanisms,” stated Gulick.

An increase in acid rain might help explain why reef and surface dwelling ocean creatures were affected along with large vertebrates on land and in the sea. As it fell on the water, acid rain could have turned the oceans more acidic.

There is some evidence that marine organisms more resistant to a range of pH survived while those more sensitive did not. Increased amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere today is being blamed on the acidification of the oceans. If this process continues unchecked it could spell disaster for marine plankton and corals, which in turn would severely disrupt food chains and ecosystems. Could the increase in acidity due to the higher levels of acid rain have led to the demise of the ammonites and other shelled creatures?

Gulick says the mass extinction event was probably not caused by just one mechanism, but rather a combination of environmental changes acting on different time scales, in different locations. For example, many large land animals might have been baked to death within hours or days of the impact as ejected material fell from the sky, heating the atmosphere and setting off firestorms.

Huge Firestorms

There is evidence to suggest that much of the planet’s vegetation was burnt at this time, again adding more green house gases into the atmosphere and exacerbating changes in the environment and climate. More gradual changes in climate and acidity might have had a larger impact in the oceans.

Gulick and his collaborators originally set out to learn more about the trajectory of the asteroid. They had hoped the crater’s structure in the subsurface would hold a tell-tale signature. Instead, the structure seemed to be most strongly shaped by the pre-impact conditions of the target site.

“We discovered that the shallow structure of the crater was determined much more by what the impact site was like before impact than by the trajectory of the impactor,” says Gulick.

If scientists can determine the trajectory, it will tell them where to look for the biggest environmental consequences of impact, because most of the hazardous, shock-heated and fast-moving material would have been thrown out of the crater downrange from the impact.

For models and replicas of Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals: Wild Safari Prehistoric World Models.

Researchers at Imperial College in London are already using computer models to search for possible signatures in impact craters that could indicate trajectory regardless of the initial surface conditions at the impact site.

“As someone who simulates impact events using computers, this work provides valuable new constraints on both the pre-impact target structure and the final geometry of the cratered crust at Chicxulub,” says Gareth Collins, a research fellow at Imperial College.

The study “Importance of pre-impact crustal structure for the asymmetry of the Chicxulub impact crater” appears in the February 2008 print edition of the journal Nature Geoscience.

Collaborators on the project included Gail Christeson of the Institute for Geophysics, Penny Barton at the University of Cambridge, Joanna Morgan and Mike Warner at Imperial College, and several graduate students.

So it seems that the prehistoric animals around 66 million years ago were doubly unlucky. Not only was planet Earth struck by a large object, but it was hit in the wrong place as well.

This article has been extracted from work of the University of Texas at Austin (2008, January 24). Seismic Images Show Dinosaur-killing Meteor Made Bigger Splash.

11 01, 2008

New Insights into Thecodontosaurus – Bristol’s very own Dinosaur

By Mike|2022-11-07T10:57:35+00:00January 11th, 2008|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Geology, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

Study of Microfossils shows Thecodontosaurus to be an Inhabitant of Island Paradise

Research into the microscopic fossils from sediments similar to those where fossils of the early Jurassic prosauropod Thecodontosaurus have been found reveal that scientists may have got it wrong when it comes to considering this dinosaurs habitat.

Thecodontosaurus

Previously, palaeontologists had thought that this small dinosaur had inhabited a dry, desert upland area but a study of palynomorphs (organic-walled microfossils such as plant spores and marine algae), show that lush, tropical islands were its home.

It had been thought the dinosaur lived in the arid uplands of the Late Triassic. However, a joint paper published by Dr David Whiteside (University of Bristol) and Professor John Marshall (University of Southampton), provides more information on the palaeoenvironment and shows that small islands were this little dinosaurs home.

Thecodontosaurus was approximately 2-3 metres long, although most its length was made up by its tail and neck. Its fossils have been found in the Bristol area of south-west England and also in Germany. It resembled Plateosaurus but was much smaller, perhaps as a result of living on islands. Dwarfism is a common feature of island animals as there are fewer resources for animals to exploit in the limited land area.

A Plateosaurus

“Flat Lizard” replica. A model of a Plateosaurus.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Plateosaurus pictured above shows the basic body plan of a Thecodontosaurus, but Plateosaurus was much larger, perhaps exceeding 8 metres in length.

There used to be a scale model of Plateosaurus available, designed by a German team (Bullyland museum line), however this model has now been retired.

To view the existing Museum Line range and other models: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models.

The first fossils of this dinosaur were discovered in 1834, this was actually before Sir Richard Owen had coined the word “Dinosauria” so for a few years scientists were unsure how to actually classify this animal. The debate as to its classification continues today, as some scientists argue that the very primitive features exhibited by Thecodontosaurus may indicate that it may actually be a representative of the sauropodomorph dinosaurs and not a prosauropod.

Numerous Specimens are Known

A number of specimens of this dinosaur are known, all are important as the global fossil record for vertebrates at the Triassic/Jurassic geological boundary is quite poor. Unfortunately, the holotype (the specimen upon which the original description of Thecodontosaurus is based), was destroyed in a German bombing raid over England in World War II.

Dr Whiteside and Professor Marshall combined their expertise in Late Triassic reptiles and microfossils to provide a much more detailed picture of the habitat of Thecodontosaurus. Their work is supported by geological studies of the Bristol area which indicates that during this dinosaurs time the area consisted of a shallow, tropical sea with small islands dotted around it.

The remains of what were once prominent limestone plateaux can be identified by geologists, tracing the rock strata around the Vale of Glamorgan. These higher areas would have been above sea level and form islands. This collaborative work between the two universities has helped produce a much more complete understanding of the ecosystem that Thecodontosaurus lived in.

Perhaps Thecodontosaurus could have swam between islands in search of food. Its long tail could act as a rudder and provide propulsion whilst its strong limbs would have made it quite a powerful swimmer. The neck, although not as long as with other prosauropod type dinosaurs such as Anchisaurus, could easily have been held out of the water as this animal paddled along.

“Socket-toothed Lizard”

Thecodontosaurus means “socket-toothed lizard” . The teeth are unusual for a dinosaur of this type, they were shaped a bit like a modern monitor lizards. Each tooth was embedded in a separate tooth socket and they were small, serrated and blade-like. Thecodontosaurus could represent an important evolutionary shift for the dinosaur clade, moving away from a carnivorous life-style and taking to a diet of plants. Could animals like Thecodontosaurus have heralded a change in dinosaur diets? Certainly, living on small islands with a limited food supply would have predisposed these animals towards a more varied diet, perhaps adapting to plants as these would have proved to be a more reliable food source.

Whatever the actual relationship between Thecodontosaurus and the other long-necked dinosaurs, their evolutionary journey seems to have been a pretty successful one. Sauropods survived to the very end of the Mesozoic and along the way they evolved into animals like Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus and Argentinosaurus – the largest land animals ever known.

29 11, 2007

New Late Cretaceous Bonebed Discovered In Spain

By Mike|2022-11-06T06:25:20+00:00November 29th, 2007|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Geology, Main Page|4 Comments

Spanish Discoveries show Thriving Dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous

Spanish scientists have announced the discovery of a large dinosaur bonebed containing the remains of numerous dinosaurs, so far eight species of dinosaur have been identified amongst the 8,000 fossils unearthed.

The site, near the city of Cuenca in western Spain is being heralded as one of the largest dinosaur bonebeds found in Europe, although it will have to go a long way to beat the amazing plateosaur bonebeds discovered recently on the Swiss/German border.

To read article on Swiss bonebeds: Europe’s Largest Mass Dinosaur Grave to Date Discovered.

However, the Spanish site, consists of sediments laid down in the Upper Cretaceous, approximately 80 million years ago (Campanian faunal stage) and the beautifully preserved finds provide a window onto a time period towards the end of the age of Dinosaurs. Most fossil yielding sediments dating from this part of the Mesozoic are located in the Americas, accessing layers of strata from this time in Europe is a rare event.

Late Cretaceous Bonebed

The site was discovered in June during construction of a new high-speed rail link between Madrid and Valencia. Construction work was halted to permit the scientists to remove many fossils from the path of the railway line. Although the excavation is not complete the concentration of finds has impressed even the most hard-nosed of palaeontologists. The remains of over 100 titanosaurs (long-necked dinosaurs), have been identified, some of them nearly intact. Interestingly, scutes and plates have been found at the site, indicating that these titanosaurs probably had body armour like their South American cousin – Saltasaurus.

Find dinosaur models here: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models.

Some scientists studying Campanian and Maastrichtian strata from North America have identified a notable decline in the species and diversity of dinosaurs in Upper Cretaceous sediments. This has led to claims that the dinosaurs were under environmental pressure and declining as a group before the extinction event 65 million years ago. Evidence from this new site (the area is called Lo Hueco), supports studies of Late Cretaceous dinosaurs from France indicating that at least in Europe, the dinosaurs show no signs of decline.

Other finds include the remains of a Struthiosaurus, a small, armoured nodosaur (like an ankylosaur but without the club tail) and possibly three different species of dromaeosaurid (fast-running, small, bipedal carnivores similar to Velociraptor).

Fossil evidence has also been found of an ornithopod called Rhabdodon. Remains of this Iguanodon-like animal have been found before in France, Spain and Romania but palaeontologists are unsure as to whether this animal was an iguanodontid or a member of the Hypsilophodontidae. Perhaps these new finds will help scientists classify this dinosaur.

The abundance of fossil animal and plant material recovered from the dig site, indicate a very rich and diverse ecosystem with no evident signs of environmental pressure.

27 11, 2007

Rare Australian Dinosaurs Threatened by Desalination Plant

By Mike|2024-04-03T07:03:38+01:00November 27th, 2007|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Australian Dinosaurs under Pressure from Development

One of the widely publicised impacts of global warming and climate change has been the very severe drought suffered by much of Australia in the last couple of years. Many scientists claim that global climate change was one of the causal factors in the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago and now climate change is indirectly threatening the excavation of rare dinosaur fossils.

Australian Dinosaurs

In East Gippsland, south-east Victoria, the demands for drinking water have grown rapidly as the population increases. The area provides much of the Melbourne region with fresh water, now plans to build a AUS$ 3 billion desalination plant in East Gippsland could prevent the excavation of rare polar dinosaurs. The dinosaur bones are located in sediments found on a rock shelf on a beach at Wonthaggi, an area famous for its rich coal deposits, another legacy from ancient times. The fossil bearing rock has yet to be fully explored but palaeontologists claim that it is just one of six known locations where evidence of polar dinosaurs has been found.

The Australian Government’s Water Minister – Tim Holding has said that the fossils will not delay the much needed project. The intention is to build one of the world’s largest desalination plants on the coast, when completed it will boost the drinking water supplies to the urban population.

“This in no way impacts on our ability to construct and operate a desalination plant,” Mr Holding said.

“Details of the fossils had been included in investigations carried out by the Department of Sustainability and Environment,” Mr Holding stated.

“The fossils exist in the first 10 metres of beachfront below the surface and it is proposed that the inlet and outlet pipes for the plant will be placed well below that. The reason why is because these fossilised remains exist in the first 10 metres of the beachfront in that area and it’s proposed that our inflow and outflow pipes will be placed well below that.

So as the scientists themselves have acknowledged, if the inlet and outlet pipes are to be 10 metres or more below the surface the existence of these fossils will have no impact to the operation of the plant at all.”

Full Environmental Effects Not Known

The State Government is yet to decide whether to conduct a full environmental effects statement (known as an ESS), for the controversial project. Lesley Kool, who is co-ordinating the fossil dig on behalf of Monash University (Victoria), has led the calls for an environmental effects statement and a full review of the proposed project, not just to consider the impact on the rare 115-million-year-old fossils but also to examine the potential environmental impact on many endangered native animals and plants that live in this coastal area.

Commenting on the palaeontological significance of the site, Mrs Kool stated that the Wonthaggi location was one of only a very few sites where polar dinosaur fossils had been found, indeed this area if properly explored could yield a lot of data on the ecosystems present at this time during the Cretaceous. So far evidence of ornithopods (plant-eaters) has been discovered but scientists speculate that they may find evidence of theropods in these sediments also. Meat-eaters are rare from polar deposits. This area has also provided evidence of fresh-water plesiosaurs. It was thought that these long-necked marine reptiles were found only in salt water environments but now evidence from south-eastern Australia supports data collected from the Dinosaur Provincial Park in Canada which shows plesiosaurs spending some time in brackish and freshwater. Whether these animals were juveniles from fully marine species or a group of plesiosaurs adapted to life in lakes, rivers and estuarine environments is open to debate.

The construction of this huge desalination plant, although badly needed by a parched Australia, could destroy forever fossils that could provide further information on the fauna and flora of the Cretaceous polar environment.

As more of the geology of Australia is explored a number of new and exciting discoveries have been made. This vast continent still holds many palaeontological surprises and a number of papers and reports have been published recently, many written by researchers at Monash University.

Recent report of carnivore tracks: Meat-eating Dinosaur Tracks Discovered in Australia.

26 11, 2007

Head back to the Silurian on the Niagara Escarpment

By Mike|2023-02-24T15:58:19+00:00November 26th, 2007|Categories: Geology, Main Page|6 Comments

Niagara Falls Area Reveals Ancient Fossil Treasures

The Niagara Falls attracts millions of tourists every year to watch the water cascading over the huge falls on the Canadian/U.S. border, but the geology that created this spectacular wonder of nature has been providing scientists with a glimpse into the rich diversity of life in ancient seas 425 million years ago.

Ancient Fossil Treasures

The Niagara Escarpment is formed from layers of sedimentary rocks laid down in a marine environment, these sit on the ancient Pre-Cambrian rocks of the huge Canadian shield that covers much of North America and the Arctic. In geological terms, this feature, an escarpment, although sometimes known as a cuesta, is a ridge composed of gently tilted rock strata with a long gradual slope on one side and a steep, or scarp slope on the other.

A team of palaeontologists from the Royal Ontario museum in Toronto have been exploring a 16 kilometre area of sedimentary strata in the Grey Bruce area heading up to the shores of Lake Huron. In this area they have discovered a unique fossil community that provides a rich source of information about life in the late Silurian, about 425 million years ago. At the time, this area was a shallow sea, much nearer the equator than it is today and fossils of many primitive fish, as well as invertebrates, corals and aquatic plants have been discovered. The team of scientists have described this area as one of the most important and unique fossil finds in Canada. The discovery of exceptionally well preserved aquatic plant fossils is particularly exciting as it was around this period in Earth’s history that the first plants began to colonise the land and so began the chain of events that led to the atmosphere that we have on Earth today.

Remnants of a Silurian Ecosystem

More than 700 different fossils found at Wren's Nest

Lots of brachiopod and coral fossils remnants of a Silurian ecosystem.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The beautifully preserved fossils will be studied in more detail at the museums laboratories, they demonstrate the amazing biodiversity of life in the warm shallow seas of the late Silurian. What is surprising is that this rich fossil yielding strata was found in an area just two hours north of Toronto, one of the most densely populated areas of Canada. As a scientist commented in a press conference, the site lay under their noses but nobody bothered to take a closer look until now.

CollectA have produced a range of replicas of iconic fossil animals including trilobites and molluscs. To view this CollectA range: CollectA Prehistoric Life Replicas.

In February 1990, the Niagara Escarpment was designated a World Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). It is one of only 12 biosphere reserves in Canada, and is part of a network of more than 400 reserves in 95 countries.

21 11, 2007

Finding Rare Fossils at an Airport – Something to do whilst Waiting for your Flight

By Mike|2024-03-14T09:26:59+00:00November 21st, 2007|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Liverpool John Lennon Airport Launches Fossil Finding Tour

For passengers waiting at Liverpool John Lennon Airport a new attraction has just been launched to help them pass the time whilst waiting for their flight or for relatives to arrive. The airport has the usual shops, cafes and bars to keep passengers and visitors entertained but launched this week, the airport now provides the chance for people to go on their own fossil hunt around the terminal.

Finding Fossils

Like many public buildings, Liverpool John Lennon Airport’s terminal buildings have been constructed from quarried sedimentary rocks, many of which contain fossils and if these fossils end up on an exposed face of a building they can be seen by passers by. Much of the atrium and concourse is made from limestone, a sedimentary rock formed by calcium carbonate, which originally came from the shells and carapaces of marine organisms. Fossils of marine organisms can be preserved and in recognition of the fossils in the walls and floors of the airport buildings, the airport has introduced the “JLA Fossil Mystery Tour” in conjunction with the Liverpool Geological Society.

Finding Fossils – Can You Spot the Fossils?

Looking for fossils at Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Fossils in the Limestone

The limestone is estimated to be approximately 250 million years old (Upper Permian/Lower Triassic) and was formed at the bottom of a shallow, tropical sea. A guidebook can be purchased and visitors can then wander back through time to explore the world at a time before the Dinosaurs. Indeed, sediments from this period in Earth’s history are particularly poignant as at the end of the Permian there was a huge extinction event and 95% of all life on the planet died out.

Everything Dinosaur has published other articles associated with the Permian extinction event: Can snails and oysters provide a clue to mass extinction?

Robin Tudor, General Manager – Corporate and Community Affairs at JLA, said: “We’re delighted to be launching JLA’s Fossil Mystery Tour guide. I’ve heard people say there’s a load of old fossils at JLA – I used to think they were talking about Airport Management but now I realise they were just well-informed!

“It’s fascinating to learn about the fossils which live in the limestone and to be able to now tell our passengers all about them.

Marks and Patterns in the Floor

“Some passengers aren’t aware that the marks and patterns around the terminal are in fact fossils. Before now we’ve received complaints about the marks and coffee stains on the terminal floor that passengers have mistaken these excellent fossil examples for!”

We can understand what Robin says when it comes to people thinking that the floor may be stained, when actually the “blemish” on the floor represents a marine animal from prehistoric times. One of our team members was purchasing a new kitchen from a bathroom and kitchen supply store and they overheard a rather well to do lady complaining that the Italian marble tiles she had purchased had strange marks on them, that in her view spoilt the finish.

Fossils Preserved in Tiles

The young shop assistant was becoming quite flustered as the woman continued with her complaint, however, when our team member pointed out to her that the metamorphic marble was originally sedimentary limestone and that these marks were actually rare and ancient fossils which would make her floor a talking point and indeed a unique piece of architecture, she quickly changed her tune and insisted on having more tiles with fossils.

The launch of John Lennon Airport Fossil Mystery Tour guide coincides with the bicentenary celebrations of the Geological Society of London. This society, the oldest Geological society in the world was set up on November 13th 1807 and the launch of the John Lennon Airport Fossil Tour is just one of the special events planned to mark this event.

A Model of an Ammonite and an Ammonite Fossil

We spotted a Bullyland ammonite model being used to help illustrate a display of ammonite fossils. Ammonite replicas are often purchased by fossil hunters.

A Bullyland ammonite model is used to help illustrate a display of ammonite fossils. The building materials may contain mollusc shells. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

For models and replicas of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic invertebrates and other prehistoric animal figures: CollectA Prehistoric Life Models and Replicas.

The Fossil Mystery Tour guide is now available from the Information Desk in the terminal building.

For visitors to the airport the guide will provide an educational and informative way to help pass the time, after all, standing on an ancient sea floor which is 250 million years old is something that we don’t get the chance to do everyday.

Although not famous for its palaeontological heritage the Cheshire and Liverpool area has a number of public buildings made from sedimentary rock, in which fossils can be found. Indeed, fossils can turn up in some very strange and unexpected places, take the quiet village of Lymm in Cheshire for example:

Article about Dinosaurs at Lymm (Cheshire).

11 11, 2007

Putting Australian Dinosaurs on the Map

By Mike|2022-11-05T12:57:07+00:00November 11th, 2007|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Joint US and Australian Team excavate Rich Fossil Beds in Queensland

The small town of Winton in the centre of Queensland has become the focus for an international team of palaeontologists as they try to unearth secrets of Australia’s prehistoric past.

Researchers from the University of Queensland and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, USA are hoping that the extremely rich Mesozoic fossil beds will shed new light on the relationship between Australia’s dinosaur fauna and the rest of the world.

Australian Dinosaurs

The team are currently excavating a series of bone beds close to the town of Winton on the Australian route 66. The town’s only other claim to fame is that the song “Waltzing Matilda” is believed to have originated there.

The joint US and Aussie team headed by Dr Steve Salisbury (University of Queensland) and Dr Matt Lamanna (Carnegie) are hoping that their work will help palaeontologists understand the evolution of dinosaurs on the southern landmass of Gondwana, of which Australia was part during the Mesozoic.

Australian dinosaur fauna is little known when compared to the evidence amassed about dinosaurs in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Many scientists see the Australian fauna as an unusual blend of ancient genera long extinct elsewhere in the world and other types of dinosaur more commonly associated with the Northern Hemisphere.

For example, evidence has been uncovered previously that indicated that allosaurs (large bipedal meat-eaters) survived in Australia into the Cretaceous whilst elsewhere in the world this particular family of dinosaurs died out.

What Types of Theropod Dinosaurs Roamed Australia?

Papo Allosaurus new colour scheme (2019).

Did allosaurs once roam Australia? Palaeontologists hope new theropod dinosaur fossil discoveries will further their research. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Finding New Species

As well as finding some new species the scientists are hoping to uncover evidence of animals moving between the landmasses that comprised Gondwana, with the expectation that some of the dinosaur groups associated with South America may also have been present in Australia.

According to Drs Salisbury and Lamanna, the great wealth of fossil material at the Winton site should help them piece together the story of Australia’s prehistoric animals.

Everything Dinosaur stocks a wide range of models and replicas of Australian prehistoric animals, such as those found in the CollectA Prehistoric Life series: CollectA Prehistoric Life Models and Figures.

This joint US and Australian research is funded in part by an Australian Research Council grant, and is being conducted in collaboration with the Isisford Shire Council.

Story sourced from: University of Queensland (09/11/07) – “Digging for Dinosaurs in Outback Australia”.

24 08, 2007

How did the Silurian Period get its Name?

By Mike|2023-02-12T10:43:35+00:00August 24th, 2007|Categories: Geology, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

Why is the Silurian called the Silurian?

Recently we took a small party to some locations we know in the county of Shropshire where you can find fossils of brachipods, bivalves, coral and such like. Shropshire’s geology is strongly associated with the Silurian period (it lasted from approximately 435mya to 410 mya), indeed two of the epochs within the Silurian are named from places in the county – the Ludlow and Wenlockian epochs. However, geologists in North America have different terms for rocks of this age from the Silurian (the Lockportian and the Tonawandan).

Silurian

The Silurian marks a period of sea level rises (called marine transgressions), much of the county was covered in warm, shallow seas, during this time and marine life flourished. The beginning of the Silurian (Silurian/Ordovician boundary) is marked by a major extinction event but by the time the rocks that form Wenlock Edge were laid down life was once again flourishing with jawed fish such as the placoderms and acanthodians beginning to diversify. The arthropods continued to dominate and were the top predators during this period. The first corals were forming in these shallow seas, made by the now extinct rugose and tabulate corals.

Fossil Hunting Trip

Whilst on our fossil hunting trip we were asked how the Silurian got its name. The Silurian was named by Sir Roderick Murchison, the wealthy Scottish aristocrat. Sir Roderick had thought in the wars against Napoleon but when these ended he turned his attention to the embryonic science of geology. Encouraged by friends such as the Reverend William Buckland (the very same William Buckland who named and described the very first dinosaur – Megalosaurus); he explored the fossil-bearing strata of south Wales and Shropshire. Being independently wealthy Sir Roderick was able to mount expeditions to explore the geology of Europe and his connections soon saw him elected to the London Geological Society.

Sir Roderick named the rock strata that made up the chronological succession of fossils the Silurian after an ancient Welsh Celtic tribe called the Silures. At the time, his friend and colleague Adam Sedgwick (Professor of Geology at Cambridge University) had just named the much earlier rock strata where the first great abundance of fossils had been found – the Cambrian, after another ancient Welsh tribe.

Silurian strata shows the first signs of the colonisation of the land with the establishment of primitive vascular plants such as Cooksonia. During this time the first arthropods ventured onto land.

For replicas and models of Silurian invertebrates and other prehistoric creatures: CollectA Prehistoric Life Replicas and Models.

6 08, 2007

Rare Silurian Fossils (Ludlow, Shropshire)

By Mike|2024-04-01T09:43:30+01:00August 6th, 2007|Categories: Geology, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

Everything Dinosaur Fossil Hunting Trip to Shropshire

Everything Dinosaur team members went on a special fossil hunting trip to a quiet location in the heart of the Shropshire countryside. We found lots of fossils as the picture below shows:

A Successful Fossil Hunting Trip with Everything Dinosaur

Silurian Fossils from Shropshire.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Some brachiopod fossils (Ludlow Series, Much Wenlock Formation), an example of the fossils found on a recent visit to the Mortimer Forest (south Shropshire, England), by Everything Dinosaur team members.

For replicas and figures of iconic animals from the fossil record: Fossil Replicas and Dinosaur-themed Learning Materials.