August 2022

Giant Sauropod Dinosaur Skeleton Unearthed in Portugal

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG5uP3kq4rQGzVd9VTwL2p5vwsxtYaq_llT1NAFvPYRFHKsfLqXzsGDdrry1Y7vYhwyypmxuEh4db_BMxik3SxBQJ3BaIOK1W5F6b-krhdLvtYCFq1yVhtWtTcImehYD32_QVFeu873UuSthrvX7NmWDXOJpdTw3mikqDBg_69AzuWe-7R077toNH8/s1146/Paleontologists%20in%20Portugal%20have%20unearthed%20the%20fossilized%20skeleton%20of%20what%20could%20be%20the%20largest%20dinosaur%20ever%20found%20in%20Europe.%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="858" data-original-width="1146" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG5uP3kq4rQGzVd9VTwL2p5vwsxtYaq_llT1NAFvPYRFHKsfLqXzsGDdrry1Y7vYhwyypmxuEh4db_BMxik3SxBQJ3BaIOK1W5F6b-krhdLvtYCFq1yVhtWtTcImehYD32_QVFeu873UuSthrvX7NmWDXOJpdTw3mikqDBg_69AzuWe-7R077toNH8/w640-h480/Paleontologists%20in%20Portugal%20have%20unearthed%20the%20fossilized%20skeleton%20of%20what%20could%20be%20the%20largest%20dinosaur%20ever%20found%20in%20Europe.%20(1).jpg" title="Giant Sauropod Dinosaur Skeleton Unearthed in Portugal" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The excavation campaign at the Monte Agudo paleontological site (Pombal, Portugal) Credit: Instituto Dom Luiz </td></tr></tbody></table>  <h4 style="text-align: left;">Portuguese man accidentally uncovers a 25-metre-long dinosaur skeleton in his own backyard</h4><h4 style="text-align: left;">Paleontologists in Portugal have unearthed the fossilized skeleton of what could be the largest dinosaur ever found in Europe. </h4>The remains of what could be the largest dinosaur to be found in Europe are being uncovered in a backyard in Pombal, a city in the central region of Portugal. The remains, that could correspond to a sauropod dinosaur with approximately 12 meters high and 25 meters long, are now being studied by an international research team. It all started in 2017. While carrying out construction work, the owner of a property in Pombal noticed the presence of several fragments of fossilized bones in his yard and contacted the research team, who carried out the first excavation campaign in that same year. More recently, between 1 and 10 August, 2022, Portuguese and Spanish paleontologists working on the site have been unearthing what may be the remains of the largest sauropod dinosaur to be found in Europe. Sauropods are herbivorous, quadrupedal dinosaurs, with long neck and tails. "It is not usual to find all the ribs of an animal like this, let alone in this position, maintaining their original anatomical position. This mode of preservation is relatively uncommon in the fossil record of dinosaurs, in particular sauropods, from the Portuguese Upper Jurassic," says Elisabete Malafaia, Postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Ciências ULisboa), Portugal.<div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH0lUAq3RmLRKWD-qw1hia4G-q3PHtwWluWU3WDxFNhYKf5MaIcvr_Ux2LYJ7wvbTv9m0gDDu04_ffOAuxB-T-hb7mbHbCbNWWH7uZ9ihSi7LKlTagmZUU_342HW6f4Onhe2g2-Org4c3qelhHke0DN3b3oqC73mAV8MY7TzhZgLO56X2uryEz5yp2/s1080/largest-dinosaur-skele%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH0lUAq3RmLRKWD-qw1hia4G-q3PHtwWluWU3WDxFNhYKf5MaIcvr_Ux2LYJ7wvbTv9m0gDDu04_ffOAuxB-T-hb7mbHbCbNWWH7uZ9ihSi7LKlTagmZUU_342HW6f4Onhe2g2-Org4c3qelhHke0DN3b3oqC73mAV8MY7TzhZgLO56X2uryEz5yp2/w640-h426/largest-dinosaur-skele%20(1).jpg" title="Giant Sauropod Dinosaur Skeleton Unearthed in Portugal" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The excavation campaign at the Monte Agudo paleontological site (Pombal, Portugal) resulted in the extraction of part of the fossilized skeleton of a large sauropod dinosaur. Credit: Instituto Dom Luiz (Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon). </td></tr></tbody></table> So far, an important set of elements of the axial skeleton has been collected from the site, which includes vertebrae and ribs of a possible brachiosaurid sauropod dinosaur. The Brachiosauridae group is composed of large species that lived from the Upper Jurassic to the Lower Cretaceous, approximately 160 to 100 million years ago, and are characterized by the presence of markedly developed forelimbs. Some of the most emblematic dinosaur species belong to this group of sauropods, such as Brachiosaurus altithorax and Giraffatitan brancai, as well as the Portuguese Late Jurassic species found in Portugal's West region, Lusotitan atalaiensis. The preservation characteristics of the fossils and their disposition indicate the possible presence of other parts of the skeleton of this individual, a hypothesis that will be tested in future excavation campaigns in the deposit. "The research in the Monte Agudo paleontological locality confirms that the region of Pombal has an important fossil record of Late Jurassic vertebrates, which in the last decades has provided the discovery of abundant materials very significant for the knowledge of the continental faunas that inhabited the Iberian Peninsula at about 145 million years ago," adds Elisabete Malafaia.  The above story is based on <a href="https://ciencias.ulisboa.pt/pt/noticia/20-06-2022/celebra%C3%A7%C3%A3o-dos-111-anos-da-faculdade-com-uma-viagem-ao-futuro" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">materials </a>provided by the <a href="https://www.ulisboa.pt/en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Lisbon.</a>

Giant Sauropod Dinosaur Skeleton Unearthed in Portugal

The excavation campaign at the Monte Agudo paleontological site (Pombal, Portugal) Credit: Instituto Dom Luiz Portuguese man accidentally ...

Scientists Discover Fossils of Giant Sea Lizard That Ruled the Oceans 66 Million Years Ago

Earth History, extinction, Fossils 9:45 PM

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDRQWcOad_tyMMjC3-0BX7s1c9PHqlOd4xj-DxgpdfY4zjDV0ayYTmRBRrR6fCGagWdhac38JuF4VhOp99q0SvqNc8fQkB6Lfr6Fpcba6xECHgPHmQOkCtJ3nZi5KPjmYENhKF2aJI2Y9sfKG_QDbN3T-j-6Z92su_6m3g20YgO-bBk-Mfv5cEcWW/s1210/thalassotitan-bath-skull%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="832" data-original-width="1210" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDRQWcOad_tyMMjC3-0BX7s1c9PHqlOd4xj-DxgpdfY4zjDV0ayYTmRBRrR6fCGagWdhac38JuF4VhOp99q0SvqNc8fQkB6Lfr6Fpcba6xECHgPHmQOkCtJ3nZi5KPjmYENhKF2aJI2Y9sfKG_QDbN3T-j-6Z92su_6m3g20YgO-bBk-Mfv5cEcWW/w640-h440/thalassotitan-bath-skull%20(1).jpg" title="Thalassotitan atrox grew up to 12 metres (40 feet) and was at the top of the food chain." width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thalassotitan atrox grew up to 12 metres (40 feet) and was at the top of the food chain.</td></tr></tbody></table> Fossils of a giant killer mosasaur have been discovered, along with the fossilised remains of its prey. Researchers have discovered a huge new mosasaur from Morocco, named Thalassotitan atrox, which filled the apex predator niche. With massive jaws and teeth like those of killer whales, Thalassotitan hunted other marine reptiles— plesiosaurs, sea turtles, and other mosasaurs. At the end of the Cretaceous period, 66 million years ago, sea monsters really existed. While dinosaurs flourished on land, the seas were ruled by the mosasaurs, giant marine reptiles. Mosasaurs weren’t dinosaurs, but enormous marine lizards growing up to 12 metres (40 feet) in length. They were distant relatives of modern iguanas and monitor lizards. Mosasaurs looked like a Komodo dragon with flippers instead of legs, and a shark-like tail fin. Mosasaurs became larger and more specialised in the last 25 million years of the Cretaceous, taking niches once filled by marine reptiles like plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs. Some evolved to eat small prey like fish and squid. Others crushed ammonites and clams. The new mosasaur, named Thalassotitan atrox, evolved to prey on all the other marine reptiles. The remains of the new species were dug up in Morocco, about an hour outside Casablanca. Here, near the end of the Cretaceous, the Atlantic flooded northern Africa. Nutrient rich waters upwelling from the depths fed blooms of plankton. Those fed small fish, feeding larger fish, which fed mosasaurs and plesiosaurs - and so on, with these marine reptiles becoming food for the giant, carnivorous Thalassotitan. <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div> Thalassotitan, had an enormous skull measuring 1.4 metres (5 feet long), and grew to nearly 30 feet (9 metres) long, the size of a killer whale. While most mosasaurs had long jaws and slender teeth for catching fish, Thalassotitan had a short, wide muzzle and massive, conical teeth like those of an orca. These let it seize and rip apart huge prey. These adaptations suggest Thalassotitan was an apex predator, sitting at the top of the food chain. The giant mosasaur occupied the same ecological niche as today’s killer whales and great white sharks. Thalassotitan’s teeth are often broken and worn, however eating fish wouldn’t have produced this sort of tooth wear. Instead, this suggests that the giant mosasaur attacked other marine reptiles, chipping, breaking, and grinding its teeth as it bit into their bones and tore them apart. Some teeth are so heavily damaged they have been almost ground down to the root. <h4 style="text-align: left;">Fossilised remains of prey</h4>Remarkably, possible remains of Thalassotitan’s victims have been discovered. Fossils from the same beds show damage from acids, with teeth and bone eaten away. Fossils with this peculiar damage include large predatory fish, a sea turtle, a half-meter long plesiosaur head, and jaws and skulls of at least three different mosasaur species. They would have been digested in Thalassotitan’s stomach before it spat out their bones. “It’s circumstantial evidence,” said Dr Nick Longrich, Senior Lecturer from the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath and lead author on the study, published in Cretaceous Research. “We can’t say for certain which species of animal ate all these other mosasaurs. But we have the bones of marine reptiles killed and eaten by a large predator. “And in the same location, we find Thalassotitan, a species that fits the profile of the killer – it’s a mosasaur specialised to prey on other marine reptiles. That’s probably not a coincidence.” The huge mosasaurs bear injuries sustained in violent combat with other mosasaurs, with injuries to their face and jaws sustained in fights. Other mosasaurs show similar injuries, but in Thalassotitan these wounds were exceptionally common, suggesting frequent, intense fights over feeding grounds or mates. “Thalassotitan was an amazing, terrifying animal,” said Dr Nick Longrich, who led the study. “Imagine a Komodo Dragon crossed with a great white shark crossed with a T. rex crossed with a killer whale.” The new mosasaur lived in the final million years of the Age of Dinosaurs, a contemporary of animals like T. rex and Triceratops. Along with recent discoveries of mosasaurs from Morocco, it suggests that mosasaurs weren’t in decline before the asteroid impact that drove the Cretaceous mass extinction. Instead, they flourished. Professor Nour-Eddine Jalil, a co-author on the paper from the Museum of Natural History in Paris, said: “The phosphate fossils of Morocco offer an unparalleled window on the paleobiodiversity at the end of Cretaceous. “They tell us how life was rich and diversified just before the end of the ‘dinosaur era’, where animals had to specialise to have a place in their ecosystems. Thalassotitan completes the picture by taking on the role of the megapredator at the top of the food chain.” “There’s so much more to be done,” said Longrich. “Morocco has one of the richest and most diverse marine faunas known from the Cretaceous. We’re just getting started understanding the diversity and the biology of the mosasaurs.”  <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The above post is reprinted from <a href="https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/scientists-discover-fossils-of-giant-sea-lizard-that-ruled-the-oceans-66-million-years-ago/" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #565656; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">materials</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> provided by <a href="https://www.bath.ac.uk/" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #565656; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">University of Bath</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">.<span face="Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">

Scientists Discover Fossils of Giant Sea Lizard That Ruled the Oceans 66 Million Years Ago

Thalassotitan atrox grew up to 12 metres (40 feet) and was at the top of the food chain. Fossils of a giant killer mosasaur have been disco...

113-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Tracks Uncovered at Texas Park

dinosaur, Earth History, USA 9:08 PM

113-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Tracks Uncovered at Texas Park

Dinosaur tracks at Valley State Park Mike O'Brien/Dinosaur Valley State Park Dinosaur tracks from 113 million years ago uncovered due to...

Explosive New Tectonic Discovery May Help Explain Location of Silver and Gold Ore Deposits

Geochemistry, Gold, Mining, Tectonic 9:10 PM

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh--EiO3aqxaPnxRYsblJQK4HUKD1YYVOIm4HOqZPxOsXTQK8vwQPRjmUDseCuO_67L04n2KhC4-ClB6879eUKQTGBfdAJerG2zZtpsoSquHwvcEJREgjmGfotr6vTKd3gyvc7VM8GGzB9d9viaDNe70XBZjwjmxCZaxIeHT8hY8ni920Q5Uto9Vjz6/s1200/Gold%20Ore%20vein.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="1200" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh--EiO3aqxaPnxRYsblJQK4HUKD1YYVOIm4HOqZPxOsXTQK8vwQPRjmUDseCuO_67L04n2KhC4-ClB6879eUKQTGBfdAJerG2zZtpsoSquHwvcEJREgjmGfotr6vTKd3gyvc7VM8GGzB9d9viaDNe70XBZjwjmxCZaxIeHT8hY8ni920Q5Uto9Vjz6/w640-h426/Gold%20Ore%20vein.jpg" title="Gold Ore vein" width="640" /></a></div> The percentage of water in arc volcanoes, which form above subduction zones, may be far more than many previous studies have calculated. This increased amount of water has broad implications for understanding how Earth's lower crust forms, how magma erupts through the crust, and how economically important mineral ore deposits form, according to a new paper led by authors from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), "High water content of arc magmas recorded in cumulates from subduction zone lower crust," published in Nature Geoscience. The estimated water concentrations in primitive arc magmas from this study are more variable and significantly higher than the average of about four weight percent of water found in other studies, according to the paper. The results show that primitive arc H2O after extensive crystal fractionation in the lower arc crust, the paper adds. "The big picture here is that water is essentially the lubricant of plate tectonics. The water content is going to affect all sorts of different parameters involved in how tectonic plates move," says lead author Benjamin Urann, who was a doctoral student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) -- WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering at the time of the study. <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div> "Being able to get some idea of what the actual water content of the arc magmas is, which is what we did in this study, can help refine estimates of how much water is being subducted deep into the mantle globally; quantify different water reservoirs on Earth, including surface and deep water reservoirs; and better understand the transport between these different reservoirs," says Urann, who is currently a National Science Foundation Ocean Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Wyoming. Urann added that the paper also discusses the implications of water content for forming economically important ore deposits, such as porphyry copper deposits. These deposits make up about 60% of the world's source of copper, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Many earlier studies have relied on techniques such as measuring melt inclusions -- which are tiny droplets of magma that have been trapped by a crystals that grows around them -- and measuring lava and other volcanic deposits that have erupted to the Earth's surface. "However, these methods have inherent limitations that obfuscate the full range of H20 in arc magmas," the paper states. Urann and his Ph.D. supervisor, Véronique Le Roux, who is a co-author of the paper, developed methods with the Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry instrument located at WHOI to measure water content in minerals, with their work building on other efforts that suggested that arc magmas should contain significantly more H20 than inferred from melt-inclusion measurements. The researchers determined that instead of examining lava samples that have erupted to the Earth's surface, it would be fruitful to examine deep crustal magmas that have not lost too much of their water content. "Although you can't retrieve the liquid magma at these depths, what you may be able to sample is a cumulate: it is magma that has solidified at depth in the crust. We're lucky enough that sometimes with plate tectonics, some of those really deep crusts are exhumed at the surface," says Le Roux, associate scientist in the Geology and Geophysics department at WHOI, and Faculty member of the MIT-WHOI Joint Program. The researchers used cumulates that the paper's co-authors had collected from the Kohistan paleo-arc terrane in the Himalaya Mountain range in northwestern Pakistan. Instead of examining surface rocks that travel far up through the crust as magma, and lose much of their water content in the process, the researchers examined magma -- lower crustal cumulates -- that had crystallized deep down in the crust at a high enough pressure to retain their original water content signature. Le Roux says that "analyzing water in cumulate minerals is a new promising approach to access the deep levels of the crust in subduction zones." The researchers calculated that the magma they analyzed contained between 10-20 weight percent of water depending on the magma's composition. "While this weight percent of water had been predicted experimentally as being possible, it had never been shown on natural samples," Le Roux said. "The bottom line is that arc magmas can be wetter than we thought," said Urann. This study was supported by NSF awards to Le Roux, Behn, and Chin, funding from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Ocean Venture Fund and from the National Science Foundation's (NSF, USA) Division of Ocean Sciences Post-doctoral Research Fellow grant to Urann;; and support from the Visiting Scholar at SCIENCE programme at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, to Le Roux.  The above story is based on <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/press-room/news-release/arc-volcanoes-are-wetter-than-previously-thought-with-scientific-and-economic-implications/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-radius: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank">Materials</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> provided by <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-radius: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">.

Explosive New Tectonic Discovery May Help Explain Location of Silver and Gold Ore Deposits

The percentage of water in arc volcanoes, which form above subduction zones, may be far more than many previous studies have calculated. Thi...

What Controls the Thickness of Earth’s Continental Crust?

earth, Geology, Tectonic 8:54 PM

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwktsOTTjvgSZ7DrV1z-IE9s1F65oA2XAtVsHVOYMnBh5eHGrevwVKPY5qwW2YtQPYWAraHrvkYtG05qW6BsAGSDQqaKyNDsjkIOUoEFVZs6WuTsmO5h-f0FCFr4X0SSql0PJkLbOETdmyoE-yxthsDEg0qZb_L20gu3Uv7m9YCZXp0Ae5klcF0ru/s1250/What%20Controls%20the%20Thickness%20of%20Earth%E2%80%99s%20Continental%20Crust%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="1250" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwktsOTTjvgSZ7DrV1z-IE9s1F65oA2XAtVsHVOYMnBh5eHGrevwVKPY5qwW2YtQPYWAraHrvkYtG05qW6BsAGSDQqaKyNDsjkIOUoEFVZs6WuTsmO5h-f0FCFr4X0SSql0PJkLbOETdmyoE-yxthsDEg0qZb_L20gu3Uv7m9YCZXp0Ae5klcF0ru/w640-h370/What%20Controls%20the%20Thickness%20of%20Earth%E2%80%99s%20Continental%20Crust%20(1).jpg" title="Subduction is the process of rocks sinking into the inner Earth. But these rocks may take certain gases with them. stihii / shutterstock" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Subduction is the process of rocks sinking into the inner Earth. But these rocks may take certain gases with them. Photo: stihii / shutterstock</td></tr></tbody></table>   A new Yale study may have settled a scientific debate over what controls the thickness of Earth’s continental crust. The crusty conundrum carries fundamental implications. The thickness of continental crust — the part of Earth’s crust that forms land masses and continents — plays an important role in everything from the gradual movement of continents to the evolution of animal species on land and in shallow waters along coastlines. The Earth is covered by two kinds of crust — continental and oceanic. The thinner oceanic crust is normally a little more than four miles thick, while the thicker continental crust is often as much as 25 miles thick. Continental crust is also much less dense than its oceanic counterpart. In 1962, famed Princeton geologist Harry Hess theorized that the thickness of continental crust had to do with sea level and ocean depth. Deeper oceans enabled the formation of thicker continental crust, Hess posited. But as the crust thickens and rises above sea level, Hess said, erosion gradually starts to break it down. The Hess theory proved quite durable, remaining unchallenged for decades. But in the past five years, new theories about oceans and land formation in the ancient world began to raise questions. For example, the geochemical signatures of ancient sediments around the world suggest to many researchers that during Earth’s Archean eon, which lasted from 4,000 million years ago until 2,500 million years ago, Earth was a “water world.” The planet was covered by deep oceans, with no continents rising above the water’s surface. “The notion of a water world for the early Earth has become quite popular these days, and at the same time, there is also growing evidence for the massive amount of early continental crust,” said Jun Korenaga, a professor of earth & planetary sciences in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “However, a water world and a large volume of continents don’t really make sense together, if continental thickness is controlled as Hess speculated. Continents can always be thickened to reach the sea level, and a water world is not possible.” The new study in the journal Geology, authored by Korenaga and a former Yale undergraduate student, Vuong Mai, offers an explanation. According to their analysis, the strength of continental crust, rather than sea level, was the prevailing regulator of crust thickness for the ancient Earth. Mai, the study’s first author, created a model to analyze the strength of continental crust and test its stability against gravitational forces. She found that during the Archean eon, Earth’s continental crust was hotter and weaker — and was not strong enough to reach the thickness it attained millions of years later. “When we first began this project, we analyzed results from rock mechanics studies to characterize the strength of Earth’s continental crust,” said Mai. “While we have enough data to understand the strength of the continental crust today, extrapolating what we know of early-Earth conditions to characterize the Archean continental crust strength is a difficult problem. “The plausibility of a water world hinges on the crustal strength. A weak crust won’t be able to support itself and accumulate above sea level, which provides a mechanism for a water world, whereas a strong crust will inevitably form continents and thus a water world would not be possible.” Mai and Korenaga said that in addition to solving a geological paradox, the findings are significant because they will help scientists understand the landscape of the early Earth, which played a critical role in the origin of life. “Empirical data for the Earth this long ago are scarce,” Mai said.  The above story is based on <a href="https://news.yale.edu/2022/06/30/thin-crust-or-thick-yale-researchers-try-solve-continental-question" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">materials </a>provided by <a href="http://www.yale.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Yale University.</a>

What Controls the Thickness of Earth’s Continental Crust?

Subduction is the process of rocks sinking into the inner Earth. But these rocks may take certain gases with them. Photo: stihii / shutterst...

New Insect Discovered in Amber Had 360-degree Vision

amber, Earth History, Fossils 7:35 PM

New Insect Discovered in Amber Had 360-degree Vision

Palaeotanyrhina exophthalma (Credit: Oregon State University) See a Bizarre Bulging-Eye Bug Stuck in 100-Million-Year-Old Amber Bulging e...

Continents on Ancient Earth Were Created by Giant Meteorite Impacts

Earth History, Meteorite, Tectonic 8:59 PM

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-O2sL5H_geKF75t4cZSg2qlK5lqV4SMFEVae7pEu8w0umvEawFsuN33CgQkEqQVkgcGs79xt47n7eFTn-BCGpnMlKCAYq1fO2ROLdiewBmAbyaqOmMfEtBVBU2N2vZ_xuvd-Al3bq7N7zr_thlGFgMY33b6iz15QRvMhrnOYT5HE7DGZWYjs1DCnD/s1202/tectonic-plates-in-tectonic-plates-geography.4b4d0f1%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1202" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-O2sL5H_geKF75t4cZSg2qlK5lqV4SMFEVae7pEu8w0umvEawFsuN33CgQkEqQVkgcGs79xt47n7eFTn-BCGpnMlKCAYq1fO2ROLdiewBmAbyaqOmMfEtBVBU2N2vZ_xuvd-Al3bq7N7zr_thlGFgMY33b6iz15QRvMhrnOYT5HE7DGZWYjs1DCnD/w640-h428/tectonic-plates-in-tectonic-plates-geography.4b4d0f1%20(1).jpg" title="Continents on Ancient Earth Were Created by Giant Meteorite Impacts" width="640" /></a></div>  One of Earth's defining features is its plate tectonics, a phenomenon that shapes the planet's surface and creates some of its most catastrophic events, like earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. While some features of plate tectonics have been spotted elsewhere in the Solar System, the Earth is the only planet we know of with the full suite of processes involved in this phenomenon. And all indications are that it started very early in our planet's history.New Curtin research has provided the strongest evidence yet that Earth's continents were formed by giant meteorite impacts that were particularly prevalent during the first billion years or so of our planet's four-and-a-half-billion year history. Dr Tim Johnson, from Curtin's School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the idea that the continents originally formed at sites of giant meteorite impacts had been around for decades, but until now there was little solid evidence to support the theory. "By examining tiny crystals of the mineral zircon in rocks from the Pilbara Craton in Western Australia, which represents Earth's best-preserved remnant of ancient crust, we found evidence of these giant meteorite impacts," Dr Johnson said. <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div> "Studying the composition of oxygen isotopes in these zircon crystals revealed a 'top-down' process starting with the melting of rocks near the surface and progressing deeper, consistent with the geological effect of giant meteorite impacts. "Our research provides the first solid evidence that the processes that ultimately formed the continents began with giant meteorite impacts, similar to those responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs, but which occurred billions of years earlier." Dr Johnson said understanding the formation and ongoing evolution of the Earth's continents was crucial given that these landmasses host the majority of Earth's biomass, all humans and almost all of the planet's important mineral deposits. "Not least, the continents host critical metals such as lithium, tin and nickel, commodities that are essential to the emerging green technologies needed to fulfil our obligation to mitigate climate change," Dr Johnson said. "These mineral deposits are the end result of a process known as crustal differentiation, which began with the formation of the earliest landmasses, of which the Pilbara Craton is just one of many. "Data related to other areas of ancient continental crust on Earth appears to show patterns similar to those recognised in Western Australia. We would like to test our findings on these ancient rocks to see if, as we suspect, our model is more widely applicable." Dr Johnson is affiliated with The Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR), Curtin's flagship earth sciences research institute.  <i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 15px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The above post is reprinted from <a href="https://news.curtin.edu.au/media-releases/study-finds-evidence-that-giant-meteorite-impacts-created-the-continents/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box;">materials</a> provided by <a href="https://www.curtin.edu.au/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box;">Curtin University</a>. Original written by Lucien Wilkinson.

Continents on Ancient Earth Were Created by Giant Meteorite Impacts

One of Earth's defining features is its plate tectonics, a phenomenon that shapes the planet's surface and creates some of its mos...

Earth’s Days Are Getting Longer And No One Really Knows Why

earth, NASA, Researches 8:25 PM

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXibJORaP76Y657o6jAbdI-unnQCo2ZaTykDjdIjTaC_i-H6qRFbCrv_gxjMA_PC9RgjqMM9-0e9SJ-prpuyzXLGi_cFYfBgRGvYpGc0rra9xI5ktjEiD4PBNpubAtGcu8mMpud8MELlspKLSnk_zgk-NXVfhLdZIa6enj00ueHvqr0fMtcPqWcfvc/s1600/Earth%E2%80%99s%20Days%20Are%20Getting%20Longer%20And%20No%20One%20Really%20Knows%20Why%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXibJORaP76Y657o6jAbdI-unnQCo2ZaTykDjdIjTaC_i-H6qRFbCrv_gxjMA_PC9RgjqMM9-0e9SJ-prpuyzXLGi_cFYfBgRGvYpGc0rra9xI5ktjEiD4PBNpubAtGcu8mMpud8MELlspKLSnk_zgk-NXVfhLdZIa6enj00ueHvqr0fMtcPqWcfvc/w640-h400/Earth%E2%80%99s%20Days%20Are%20Getting%20Longer%20And%20No%20One%20Really%20Knows%20Why%20(1).jpg" title="Earth’s Days Are Getting Longer And No One Really Knows Why" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise from the ISS, 10 August 2015. (Scott Kelly/NASA)</td></tr></tbody></table> Precise astronomical observations, combined with atomic clocks, have revealed that the length of a day is suddenly getting longer. Scientists don’t know why. This has critical impacts not just on our timekeeping, but also on things like GPS and other precision technologies that govern our modern life. Earth’s rotation around its axis has been speeding up over the past few decades. Since this determines how long a day is, this trend has been making our days shorter. In fact, in June 2022 we set a record for the shortest day over the past half a century or so. However, despite this record, since 2020 that steady speedup has curiously switched to a slowdown. Now, days are getting longer again, and the reason so far remains a mystery. While the clocks in our phones indicate there are exactly 24 hours in a day, the actual time it takes for Earth to complete a single rotation can vary ever so slightly. These changes sometimes occur over periods of millions of years, and other times almost instantly. For example, even earthquakes and storm events can play a role. It turns out that a day is very rarely exactly the magic number of 86,400 seconds. <h4 style="text-align: left;">The ever-changing planet</h4>Earth’s rotation has been slowing down over millions of years due to friction effects associated with the tides driven by the Moon. That process adds about 2.3 milliseconds to the length of each day every 100 years. A few billion years ago, an Earth day was only about 19 hours. <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div> For the past 20,000 years, another process has been working in the opposite direction, speeding up Earth’s rotation. When the last ice age ended, melting polar ice sheets reduced surface pressure, and Earth’s mantle started steadily moving toward the poles. Just as a ballet dancer spins faster as they bring their arms toward their body – the axis around which they spin – our planet’s spin rate increases when this mass of mantle moves closer to Earth’s axis. This process has been shortening each day by about 0.6 milliseconds each century. Over decades and longer, the connection between Earth’s interior and surface comes into play too. Major earthquakes can change the length of day, although normally by small amounts. For example, the Great Tōhoku Earthquake of 2011 in Japan, with a magnitude of 8.9, is believed to have sped up Earth’s rotation by a relatively tiny 1.8 microseconds. Apart from these large-scale changes, over shorter periods weather and climate also have important impacts on Earth’s rotation, causing variations in both directions. The fortnightly and monthly tidal cycles move mass around the planet, causing changes in the length of day by up to a millisecond in either direction. We can see tidal variations in length-of-day records over periods as long as 18.6 years. The movement of our atmosphere has a particularly strong effect, and ocean currents also play a role. Seasonal snow cover and rainfall, or groundwater extraction, alter things further. <h4 style="text-align: left;">Why is Earth suddenly slowing down?</h4>Since the 1960s, when operators of radio telescopes around the planet started to devise techniques to simultaneously observe cosmic objects like quasars, we have had very precise estimates of Earth’s rate of rotation. A comparison between these measurements and an atomic clock has revealed a seemingly ever-shortening length of day over the past few years. But there’s a surprising reveal once we take away the rotation speed fluctuations we know happen due to the tides and seasonal effects. Despite Earth reaching its shortest day on June 29, 2022, the long-term trajectory seems to have shifted from shortening to lengthening since 2020. This change is unprecedented over the past 50 years. The reason for this change is not clear. It could be due to changes in weather systems, with back-to-back La Niña events, although these have occurred before. It could be increased melting of the ice sheets, although those have not deviated hugely from their steady rate of melt in recent years. Could it be related to the huge volcano explosion in Tonga injecting huge amounts of water into the atmosphere? Probably not, given that occurred in January 2022. Scientists have speculated this recent, mysterious change in the planet’s rotational speed is related to a phenomenon called the “Chandler wobble” – a small deviation in Earth’s rotation axis with a period of about 430 days. Observations from radio telescopes also show that the wobble has diminished in recent years. Perhaps the two are linked. One final possibility, which we think is plausible, is that nothing specific has changed inside or around Earth. It could just be long-term tidal effects working in parallel with other periodic processes to produce a temporary change in Earth’s rotation rate. <h4 style="text-align: left;">Do we need a ‘negative leap second’?</h4>Precisely understanding Earth’s rotation rate is crucial for a host of applications – navigation systems such as GPS wouldn’t work without it. Also, every few years timekeepers insert leap seconds into our official timescales to make sure they don’t drift out of sync with our planet. If Earth were to shift to even longer days, we may need to incorporate a “negative leap second” – this would be unprecedented, and may break the internet. The need for negative leap seconds is regarded as unlikely right now. For now, we can welcome the news that – at least for a while – we all have a few extra milliseconds each day. Written by: Matt King – Director of the ARC Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, University of Tasmania Christopher Watson – Senior Lecturer, School of Geography, Planning, and Spatial Sciences, University of Tasmania This article was first published in <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-length-of-earths-days-has-been-mysteriously-increasing-and-scientists-dont-know-why-188147" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Conversation.</a>

Earth’s Days Are Getting Longer And No One Really Knows Why

Sunrise from the ISS, 10 August 2015. (Scott Kelly/NASA) Precise astronomical observations, combined with atomic clocks, have revealed that ...

Great Barrier Reef Shows Highest Coral Cover in 36 Years

climate, earth, Environment 10:00 PM

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3-fykwyTHeYmY6-fXrI_U7AQVvAeZd56SnmnxY4XPM8kWgskEdIMzj1lY16Psa7Xs3tNdFP2MriycwWtCI0zoe7g7-jZJOhAGaS_mk7LhKz4rmSSeNW108YvONlYjFbLpHX-3jSxgs2lj7G2tqihctAGAmwyzuOsprh0JrZzqOfQvt8tAWzXdWre/s1200/Great%20Barrier%20Reef%20Shows%20Highest%20Coral%20Cover%20in%2036%20Years%20%20vv%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3-fykwyTHeYmY6-fXrI_U7AQVvAeZd56SnmnxY4XPM8kWgskEdIMzj1lY16Psa7Xs3tNdFP2MriycwWtCI0zoe7g7-jZJOhAGaS_mk7LhKz4rmSSeNW108YvONlYjFbLpHX-3jSxgs2lj7G2tqihctAGAmwyzuOsprh0JrZzqOfQvt8tAWzXdWre/w640-h426/Great%20Barrier%20Reef%20Shows%20Highest%20Coral%20Cover%20in%2036%20Years%20%20vv%20(1).jpg" title="Great Barrier Reef now have the highest levels of coral cover seen in decades." width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great Barrier Reef now have the highest levels of coral cover seen in decades.</td></tr></tbody></table> <h4 style="text-align: left;">Amazing News! The Great Barrier Reef Just Made a Massive Comeback </h4>Two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia recorded the highest amount of coral cover in nearly four decades, though the reef is still vulnerable to climate change and mass bleaching, a monitoring group said Thursday. The northern and central parts of the UNESCO world heritage-listed reef have experienced some recovery while the southern region has seen a loss of coral cover due to crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, according to a report by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, a government agency. AIMS CEO Paul Hardisty said that while the coral in the north and central regions was a sign the reef could recover from disturbances, the loss of coral in the southern region demonstrated how the reef is still vulnerable to “continued acute and severe disturbances that are occurring more often and are longer-lasting.” The Great Barrier Reef has suffered from widespread and severe bleaching because of rising ocean temperatures. The reef was hit especially hard in 2016 and 2017 by underwater heat waves that prompted bleaching events. This year, it’s suffering a sixth mass bleaching due to heat stress caused by climate change. “Every summer the Reef is at risk of temperature stress, bleaching and potentially mortality and our understanding of how the ecosystem responds to that is still developing,” Hardisty said in a media release. <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div> “The 2020 and 2022 bleaching events, while extensive, didn’t reach the intensity of the 2016 and 2017 events and, as a result, we have seen less mortality,” Hardisty said. “These latest results demonstrate the Reef can still recover in periods free of intense disturbances.” Parts of the Great Barrier Reef have recorded their highest amount of coral cover since the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) began monitoring 36 years ago, according to a report published Thursday. An AIMS survey of 87 reefs found that between August 2021 and May 2022, average hard coral cover in the upper region and central areas of the reef increased by around one third. It's a rare piece of good news for the world-famous reef, which in March underwent its sixth mass bleaching event. AIMS CEO Dr. Paul Hardisty said the results in the north and central regions were a sign the reef could still recover from mass bleaching and outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish that feed on coral. However, he emphasized that the loss of coral cover elsewhere in the reef suggests it is still susceptible to threats, like marine heatwaves. The report added that due to climate change, these disturbances that could reverse the progress in coral growth were likely to become more frequent and longer lasting. AIMS monitoring program team leader Dr. Mike Emslie said that most of the increase was driven by fast-growing Acropora corals which are "particularly vulnerable" to coral bleaching, wave damage caused by tropical cyclones and as prey for the starfish. "This means that large increases in hard coral cover can quickly be negated by disturbances on reefs where Acropora corals predominate," Emslie said. The Australian Marine Conservation Society's Great Barrier Reef Campaigner Cherry Muddle cautioned that while the report was a sign of progress, the reef remains at risk. "While this growth is positive and shows the reef is dynamic and can be resilient, it doesn't discount the fact that the reef is under threat," Muddle said. The above story is based on <a href="https://www.aims.gov.au/information-centre/news-and-stories/highest-coral-cover-central-northern-reef-36-years" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">materials </a>provided by <a href="https://www.aims.gov.au/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AIMS</a>.

Great Barrier Reef Shows Highest Coral Cover in 36 Years

Great Barrier Reef now have the highest levels of coral cover seen in decades. Amazing News! The Great Barrier Reef Just Made a Massive Come...

Amazing Prehistoric Fish Fossil Looks Like It's 'Leaping Out of The Rock'

extinction, Fossils, Geology 9:36 PM

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeUQzpu2DGFM_Zknwefrcton3xhbSSUqAGidTSZY_5H-weDu6nD9MWOiOp0wyidvqgx-ehxcAFC25jSfmQanfjbOLSwBFCg-YcoF8D8KYVLVM46Kbul6DWZOX5EFL8wAmm8k79FMgov0tbmc-KQbwSIjDwv_qZfnlbTzBHFA0-jFMQpnepqs3EXMT/s1244/Fossil%20fishing%20at%20the%20farm!%20Stunningly%20well-preserved%20remains%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1244" height="546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeUQzpu2DGFM_Zknwefrcton3xhbSSUqAGidTSZY_5H-weDu6nD9MWOiOp0wyidvqgx-ehxcAFC25jSfmQanfjbOLSwBFCg-YcoF8D8KYVLVM46Kbul6DWZOX5EFL8wAmm8k79FMgov0tbmc-KQbwSIjDwv_qZfnlbTzBHFA0-jFMQpnepqs3EXMT/w640-h546/Fossil%20fishing%20at%20the%20farm!%20Stunningly%20well-preserved%20remains%20(1).jpg" title="The 183-million-year-old fossilized skull of Pachycormus. Image credit: Dean Lomax." width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 183-million-year-old fossilized skull of Pachycormus. Image credit: Dean Lomax. </td></tr></tbody></table>  Paleontologists have unearthed the fossilized remains of ancient fish, marine reptiles, squids, rare insects and more in a farmer’s field in Gloucestershire, England. The discovery of an exceptional prehistoric site containing the remains of animals that lived in a tropical sea has been made in a farmer’s field in Gloucestershire. Discovered beneath a field grazed by an ancient breed of English Longhorn cattle, the roughly 183-million-year-old fossils are stunningly well preserved like they were frozen in time. Contained within three-dimensionally preserved limestone concretions, the remains of fish, ancient marine reptiles, squids, rare insects and more have been revealed for the first time by a team of paleontologists. The fossils come from an inland rock layer that was last exposed in the UK more than 100 years ago and represented a unique opportunity to collect fossils from a time when this part of the country was deep underwater. The newly found site is at Court Farm, Kings Stanley near Stroud, Gloucestershire and was discovered by Sally and Neville Hollingworth, avid fossil collectors who recently uncovered the remains of mammoths in the nearby Cotswold Water Park which was featured in the BBC One documentary “Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard” in 2021. Sally and Neville explained: “These fossils come from the Early Jurassic, specifically a time called the Toarcian. The clay layers exposed at this site near Stroud have yielded a significant number of well-preserved marine vertebrate fossils that are comparable to the famous and exquisitely preserved similar fauna of the Strawberry Bank Lagerstätte from Ilminster, Somerset—a prehistoric site of exceptional fossil preservation. Excavations at Kings Stanley over the last week have revealed a rich source of fossil material, particularly from a rare layer of rock that has not been exposed since the late 19th Century.” <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div> Dr. Dean Lomax, a paleontologist and a Visiting Scientist at The University of Manchester, who recently led the excavation of the Rutland ichthyosaur that also dates to the Toarcian geological age, was part of the team and said: “The site is quite remarkable, with numerous beautifully preserved fossils of ancient animals that once lived in a Jurassic sea that covered this part of the UK during the Jurassic. Inland locations with fossils like this are rare in the UK The fossils we have collected will surely form the basis of research projects for years to come.” Many of the specimens collected will be donated to the local Museum in the Park, Stroud, where they will form a significant part of the museum’s paleontology collections. One of the team members, Alexia Clark, who is the museum’s Documentation and Collections Officer said: “We’re excited to expand our knowledge of the geology of the Stroud District and we are looking forward to a time when we can share these amazing finds with our members and visitors. Being part of the excavation team has been a real privilege and I can’t wait to share details of that experience through our members’ newsletter.” Among the best finds were several fossil fish with excellent details of their scales, fins and even their eyeballs. One of the most impressive discoveries was a three-dimensionally preserved fish head, belonging to a type of Jurassic fish called Pachycormus. The fish looks as if it is “leaping off the rock” that it was contained inside. A digital 3D model of this fossil has been created by Steven Dey of ThinkSee3D. Field observations and preparation of the fauna found so far indicate that the Court Farm fossils were rapidly buried, as suggested by the absence of any encrusting animals or burrows in the sediment. The layered concretions around the skeletons formed relatively early before the sediments were compacted, as the original sediment layering is preserved. These concretions prevented further compaction and compression from the overlying sediments during burial and thus preserved the fossils in three-dimensional time capsules. Neville added, “Using the latest fossil preparation and imaging techniques to understand this unique fauna in more detail will create a rich repository. Also, we will leave a permanent reference section after excavations have concluded. Given the location and enthusiasm from the landowner and local community to be involved it is hoped to plan and develop a local STEM enrichment program as there will be opportunities for community groups and local schools to be involved in the research, particularly from the Stroud area with a focus of targeting audiences in areas of low STEM capital.” The landowner, Adam Knight, said: “I’m delighted that after the initial work that Sally and Nev did over three years ago we now have a full-scale dig on the farm involving a range of fossil experts from The Natural History Museum, The University of Manchester, University of Reading and The Open University. On Friday we were also joined by Emily Baldry (16) on a day’s work experience before she goes to University to study paleontology—it’s wonderful to see her enthusiasm for her chosen profession. It has been a real pleasure to host the dig and I’m excited to see the results of what has been found.” Going forward, the team will continue to analyze the specimens and publish their research with the fossils planned for display at the Museum in the Park, Stroud, and at the Boho Bakery Café at Court Farm, Kings Stanley, Gloucestershire.   The above story is based on <a href="https://promo.manchester.edu.hk/news-detail.php?id=277&page=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">materials </a>provided by <a href="http://www.manchester.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Manchester</a>.

Amazing Prehistoric Fish Fossil Looks Like It's 'Leaping Out of The Rock'

The 183-million-year-old fossilized skull of Pachycormus. Image credit: Dean Lomax. Paleontologists have unearthed the fossilized remains...

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