GeologyRocksGeological News
Fossil biodiversity linked to galactic cycles?
By way of space.com, researchers at University of Kansas suggest that the 64 million year cycle in biodiversity, including the Ordovician and Permian extinctions, is linked to the solar system's cyclic position with respect to the galactic plane.
Only 10 million years to the next one!
Protein extracted from T-Rex Bone
A story 2 years ago reported that a fossil T-Rex femur had been found with preserved soft tissue. Those tissues have now been analysed and protein extracted. Lo-and-behold, the protein is similar to that of chickens! This is further confirmation that birds are closely related to some dinosaur species.
"It has always been assumed that preservation of [dinosaur bones] does not extend to the cellular and molecular level," said co-author Mary Schweitzer, from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, US.
read more »Big crystals
These are big crystals!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6518161.stm
In order to grow to this size, they must have been kept in a very narrow, stable temperature range.
The crystals are described fully in a Geology article (subscription required):
http://www.gsajournals.org/perlserv/?request=index-html&issn=0091-7613
UK Crater?
The Silverpit crater in the North Sea has received a fair bit of media attention. Here's some more.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6503543.stm.
Re-think on mammalian evolution
The K/T extinction of the dinosaurs apparently did not clear the way for the mammals to evolve - the rise of the mammals occurs 10 to 15 million years afterwards. The authors argue that either the evolution triggers have a 'slow fuse' or the demise of the dinosaurs is not as important as previously thought.
From: New York Times
and BBC News
Original: Nature Subscription required
Burrowing Dinosaurs
Live Science (Original: Proceedings of the Royal Society B) reports on the discovery of a nest burrow of Oryctodromeus cubicularis, or “digging runner of the lair". The burrowing habit would allow these animals to inhabit regions of more extreme hot or cold than other dinosaurs.
There's more from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6472579.stm
Four Billion Year Old Sea Floor
The BBC is reporting the find of a sliver of 4Ga sea floor in Greenland. The find includes pillow lavas preserved in exquisite detail:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6479289.stm
The original Science article can be found here (subscription required):
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/315/5819/1650b
Low Frequency Earthquakes Help Predict Large Earthquakes?
The Guardian (from Nature) is reporting that Low Frequency Earthquakes (LFEs) combine to form non-volcanic tremor. LFEs can occur days, even months before major subduction zone earthquakes and it is possible that they can be used in their prediction.
Mud flow in New Zealand
A volcano in New Zealand has started a massive mud flow. There's some impressive video footage from the BBC:
read more »Freezing Neandethals
The BBC has a story about the demise of the neanderthals. Apparently, they were wiped out when the climte got a lot colder, killing off they prey and other local fauna by drought. The paper is in Quaternary Science Reviews.
