I have been very busy with class work and the like. Since my last post - I've written a set of instructions for measuring strike, dip, etc. with a Brunton. I collaborated on a website project. Yes, there's now a new website that I am partly responsible for - and it is about geological phenomena. It's just a simple site - a class assignment project. Truth to tell we all wanted it to have more "bells and whistles" - via cool links, a Google Earth download, and even a link to this blog - but, alas it was not meant to be. It just became impossible with other projects cramming for limited time and space in our busy schedules. It would have taken less than a couple hours to gather the links, etc. - but converting everything into the website would have likely taken longer and that was the final death nell for those plans. Fortunately, they were not essential for the assignment. We did it in basic HTML coding - much more difficult and time consuming than current methods. Embedding the Google Earth download into it might have been impossible anyhow. The site is aptly named - Environmental Phenomena in Geology - and can be accessed at www.pitt.edu/~ajh32/engcmp1101/.
I believe another good thing came from not adding at least the link to this blog. Some religious type has already seen the site and wrote a handwritten letter to me at my home address with their opinions regarding the phenomena covered in the site's content. This person claims that tsunamis and other potentially destructive natural forces are God's wrath for the sins of humanity. I could go into a massive commentary here about that but since religion is kind of off topic, I will refrain from doing so.
This reminds me of other previous scientists who were sent letters by religious types quoting scripture for all its worth - hopefully it's a foreshadowing of what's to come. If my blog was mentioned in the website - I'd be spending a lot of my time arguing with this woman instead of getting anything worthwhile done. If I believed that a dialogue would help this person see reason and reality, I wouldn't mind so much. Unfortunately folks like this are quite stubborn even when the obvious is put plain. The Mormons in my neighborhood steer clear of me - I think they've heard that they can't win an argument with me. I like to call these types - Sophists - after a group of similar men of ancient Greece. I have about as much respect for them as Socrates did - which is to say, not very much.
As for my research projects... First, I have a new one which may or may not be related to an old one. I went to the Dinosaur Hall Preview at the Carnegie - and while I was there I saw a short film about the Deccan Traps. I had heard snippets about them over the past few years and ran across them in a couple journal articles about the KT Event. They are a set of massive volcanoes located in India which had a massive eruption at the time of the extinction event. From what I've gathered so far on the topic, not many scientists are putting forth a possible correlation between the Chicxulub impact and this catastrophic eruption. The Traps are used as evidence of volcanism being the cause of the extinction - including the source of the Iridium anomaly. However, something the Carnegie paleontologists mentioned alluded to a cause and effect relationship between both events. I remember my physics and my knowledge of the Earth's interior.
Essentially, the Deccan Traps already existed prior to the KT Event. However, and timing is extremely important here, the severity of these End Cretaceous volcanics was catalyzed by an unusually high temperature heat source BELOW the already existent magma chamber and a massive up-warping of the Moho layer underlying the volcanoes. There is no known cause of such phenomena. Tectonic plate movement is currently held as the reason for the Traps strange behavior. Unfortunately, tectonics does not explain the extreme heating or the up-warping.
This is where the meteorite collision may shed some light on the answer. The object that hit Earth was massive enough to create a 3000 foot tsunami that literally travelled the globe. The crater still exists under the Yucatan Peninsula. The connection between both events is likely disturbing enough that scientists are sidestepping it - or just focusing on one event. Obviously, the locations of the two are the problem - one in India - the other in the Gulf of Mexico. How could they possibly be related?
Simple physics combined with the Earth's interior leads paleontologists to the conclusion that some sort of shockwave would have travelled through the Earth to the other side - exiting at the Deccan Traps site in India. It explains the heat source - outer core material carried along through the mantle - along an already existent mantle plume - to its final destination underneath the Deccan volcanoes. It also explains the major upwarping - from below - of the Moho layer.
The shockwave would not necessarily have traveled directly through the center of the planet. This would only have been the case if the object hit the Earth's surface perpendicularly - or straight down. It is already known that it actually collided at an oblique angle - thus sending the shockwave through the Earth's interior at the same angle. This means the shockwave would not have "exited" at the opposite side of the planet - but at some point along the surface that is in direct alignment with the initial impact/shockwave.
Well, I am getting a bit antsy to get on with my own research. And since I seem to always regret not running with a new idea when the topic hits me - I may as well start my newest strategy with this Deccan Traps project. I will mention the new strategy later - once I see if it's going to fly my way. If it works, I may have a new high speed method of getting my work moving along at a good clip. [all puns intended] Moving along...
Showing posts with label Update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Update. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Tid Bits and a Little Bit of Progress
I made a little bit of progress this past weekend on my Pleistocene research. It was a minor thing but it's still progress. I did a little bit of preliminary research on the mass extinction and I even took some notes - about two and a half pages worth - in a quad ruled notebook. I prefer to handwrite a lot of my stuff. It would help if I had a computer at home, but as it is, I like to take advantage of available resources when I can.
How exactly did I do this preliminary research? I merely did a basic google search on the web and read information from various sites on the topic. It looks like some other folks have been noticing the human migration and extinction pattern overlap. Though, key researchers still seem dumbfounded as to the cause of the extinctions. One site mentioned that such an extinction is not typically found during previous deglaciations. Other pertinent pieces of information relevant to my research is a general timeline of the beginnings of each region's extinctions with Africa, India, and Indonesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia being the oldest and the Americas among the most recent. This makes my point about it being a global mass extinction.
There was also a very interesting new piece to the American part of the puzzle. A newly discovered impact crater from a meteorite impact in the Bolivian Amazon area with evidence of human settlements being wiped out by the collision. Incidentally, this event occurred 30,000 years before present and the source of the discovery looks to be reasonably reliable since it was discovered by the Scientific Exploration Society. This puts a whole new light on initial colonization of the Americas. If geologists can determine the most reliable date of the crash and anthropologists have determined with reasonable certainty that one or more human settlements were indeed destroyed, then there is now even stronger evidence that there were humans here long before Clovis.
I never truly understood that argument from a logical standpoint anyway. So many scholars just assumed that the people who invented the Clovis points came here at the same time as they invented their new weapon of choice. It makes more logical sense to say that people arrived at some date prior to the invention of Clovis points. There is a long span of time between the evolution of humans and their invention of Clovis. They would most likely have arrived here closer to the Clovis time, but not necessarily just days or even a few years before. There is nothing about the Clovis points themselves that tells definitively when their inventors came to this continent - other than they arrived before creating their invention.
If I invent something in another country, say Greece, I would most certainly have to arrive there in Greece prior to my making said invention. However, I would not be obligated to invent it as soon as I got off the airplane that brought me there. I could design, build, and patent it over the course of fifty years if need be. So, why do we assume ancient peoples did any differently? Humans very well could have been here thousands or even tens of thousands of years before they invented Clovis points. It looks like the evidence speaks for itself.
The impact also may have contributed to the extinctions in the Americas. Another point my argument brings to mind is that humans would have had to colonize or inhabit in some way each subsequent region prior to the extinctions. It would make no sense for the extinctions to occur prior to human arrival to their environments.
I even came across that article about scientists finding evidence of extinctions due to human hunters in Australia. But I noted that the vast majority of the sites and studies were primarily focusing on the Americas. I do not fully understand why they seem to be ignorign the rest of the continents. Maybe because if they do they know damn well that they will happen upon the same pattern as I am attempting to illustrate. They love using the deglaciation as the primary cause - but this too occurred globally - not just here in the Americas. Also, South America would not have been impacted nearly as much by deglaciation. A Hyperdisease is biologically unlikely since diseases rarely if ever jump species. To assume such a process for a mass extinction as extensive as the Pleistocene's is to jump to very erroneous conclusions.
Just like the Bog People exhibit at the Carnegie Museum last year. Most, if not all, of the deaths were assumed to have been religious ritualistic in nature. However, if any person were found dead in a ditch along the side of a well traveled highway today, noone would assume it was religious or ritualistic at all. It would be deemed a homicide. People kill people everyday in this world! Why would our ancient ancestors have been any different?
Also of noteworthiness: the technical writing class I am currently taking is looking at the Helicobacter pylori epidemic that has been a human ailment as long as humans have been around. One article I critiqued for our online workbook was very interesting, even regarding my Pleistocene research. There are at least seven individual strains of the bacteria currently in operation, which in turn evolved from three ancestral strains. Interestingly, they are geographically traceable and can and are being used to determine the relative dates of colonization of various regions - e.g., continents. It would be very interesting to correlate the two series of evidence - the arrival of humans plotted against the beginnings of the extinctions in those regions. I might be able to run a preliminary chart or graph of this evidence. I might even correct for the timing of the Bolivian Bolide event.
How exactly did I do this preliminary research? I merely did a basic google search on the web and read information from various sites on the topic. It looks like some other folks have been noticing the human migration and extinction pattern overlap. Though, key researchers still seem dumbfounded as to the cause of the extinctions. One site mentioned that such an extinction is not typically found during previous deglaciations. Other pertinent pieces of information relevant to my research is a general timeline of the beginnings of each region's extinctions with Africa, India, and Indonesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia being the oldest and the Americas among the most recent. This makes my point about it being a global mass extinction.
There was also a very interesting new piece to the American part of the puzzle. A newly discovered impact crater from a meteorite impact in the Bolivian Amazon area with evidence of human settlements being wiped out by the collision. Incidentally, this event occurred 30,000 years before present and the source of the discovery looks to be reasonably reliable since it was discovered by the Scientific Exploration Society. This puts a whole new light on initial colonization of the Americas. If geologists can determine the most reliable date of the crash and anthropologists have determined with reasonable certainty that one or more human settlements were indeed destroyed, then there is now even stronger evidence that there were humans here long before Clovis.
I never truly understood that argument from a logical standpoint anyway. So many scholars just assumed that the people who invented the Clovis points came here at the same time as they invented their new weapon of choice. It makes more logical sense to say that people arrived at some date prior to the invention of Clovis points. There is a long span of time between the evolution of humans and their invention of Clovis. They would most likely have arrived here closer to the Clovis time, but not necessarily just days or even a few years before. There is nothing about the Clovis points themselves that tells definitively when their inventors came to this continent - other than they arrived before creating their invention.
If I invent something in another country, say Greece, I would most certainly have to arrive there in Greece prior to my making said invention. However, I would not be obligated to invent it as soon as I got off the airplane that brought me there. I could design, build, and patent it over the course of fifty years if need be. So, why do we assume ancient peoples did any differently? Humans very well could have been here thousands or even tens of thousands of years before they invented Clovis points. It looks like the evidence speaks for itself.
The impact also may have contributed to the extinctions in the Americas. Another point my argument brings to mind is that humans would have had to colonize or inhabit in some way each subsequent region prior to the extinctions. It would make no sense for the extinctions to occur prior to human arrival to their environments.
I even came across that article about scientists finding evidence of extinctions due to human hunters in Australia. But I noted that the vast majority of the sites and studies were primarily focusing on the Americas. I do not fully understand why they seem to be ignorign the rest of the continents. Maybe because if they do they know damn well that they will happen upon the same pattern as I am attempting to illustrate. They love using the deglaciation as the primary cause - but this too occurred globally - not just here in the Americas. Also, South America would not have been impacted nearly as much by deglaciation. A Hyperdisease is biologically unlikely since diseases rarely if ever jump species. To assume such a process for a mass extinction as extensive as the Pleistocene's is to jump to very erroneous conclusions.
Just like the Bog People exhibit at the Carnegie Museum last year. Most, if not all, of the deaths were assumed to have been religious ritualistic in nature. However, if any person were found dead in a ditch along the side of a well traveled highway today, noone would assume it was religious or ritualistic at all. It would be deemed a homicide. People kill people everyday in this world! Why would our ancient ancestors have been any different?
Also of noteworthiness: the technical writing class I am currently taking is looking at the Helicobacter pylori epidemic that has been a human ailment as long as humans have been around. One article I critiqued for our online workbook was very interesting, even regarding my Pleistocene research. There are at least seven individual strains of the bacteria currently in operation, which in turn evolved from three ancestral strains. Interestingly, they are geographically traceable and can and are being used to determine the relative dates of colonization of various regions - e.g., continents. It would be very interesting to correlate the two series of evidence - the arrival of humans plotted against the beginnings of the extinctions in those regions. I might be able to run a preliminary chart or graph of this evidence. I might even correct for the timing of the Bolivian Bolide event.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Back in action, finally
I wanted to check in and give an update on what's been happening with me. After the summer classes ended, I was busy with a family issue. Once that was over my access to the campus computers was seriously limited. I also think I was suffering from a bit of burnout and have been in some sort of funk for awhile. The uncertain nature of my creer situation is probably partly to blame. though I now have a few options about some actions to take in one or more directions.
I haven't really done anything about the Pleistocene project lately, either. However, that is about to change fairly quickly. I still feel like I'm treading water on a lot of things. I know it's resistance and it's only holding me back. I feel like choosing one idea to run with, so to speak, leaves all the other projects on the back burner. I'd really like to see some progress in at least some of those other projects. I might be able to publish something or make money from some of the other projects. The Pleistocene project is going to be a fairly long one that will take a long time to develop, mainly in bits and pieces. But then again, I'm not really getting started on it very much at all - from my perspective.
I am going to start setting myself two tasks per week regarding my research projects, including the Pleistocene project. I have already started implementing this - though I started with two of my other projects: Jericho Tectonics and the Aegean dual subduction zones. I wrote outlines and did quick write-ups about the main ideas for each. The other task for each week will be to work on my writing and reading for the science writing class I'm taking. Also, I want to start attending the Geology Colloquium on Thursday evenings and start going places and doing things more appropriate to a geoscientist since that is my long term goal in life - at this time, at least. Right now I'm not feeling very enthusiastic, motivated, or determined in any way. I know it's resistance, but it's still there hampering my efforts.
Actually, as far as an outline, direction, and quick write up are concerned - I already have those done for the Pleistocene project. I also have several articles, both major and preliminary, to read on the subject in order to move on. All that paperwork might be overwhelming me - even though it's not really that much to read. Resistance literally has me at a standstill - like as if I cannot see the good my efforts will do. I guess I feel like nobody of importance will find what I have to say to be of any value - and that I would just be wasting my time and energy on nonsense and frivolous silliness. Yes, I am too hard on myself and I am my own worst critic.
Well, tally ho, and all that jazz!
I haven't really done anything about the Pleistocene project lately, either. However, that is about to change fairly quickly. I still feel like I'm treading water on a lot of things. I know it's resistance and it's only holding me back. I feel like choosing one idea to run with, so to speak, leaves all the other projects on the back burner. I'd really like to see some progress in at least some of those other projects. I might be able to publish something or make money from some of the other projects. The Pleistocene project is going to be a fairly long one that will take a long time to develop, mainly in bits and pieces. But then again, I'm not really getting started on it very much at all - from my perspective.
I am going to start setting myself two tasks per week regarding my research projects, including the Pleistocene project. I have already started implementing this - though I started with two of my other projects: Jericho Tectonics and the Aegean dual subduction zones. I wrote outlines and did quick write-ups about the main ideas for each. The other task for each week will be to work on my writing and reading for the science writing class I'm taking. Also, I want to start attending the Geology Colloquium on Thursday evenings and start going places and doing things more appropriate to a geoscientist since that is my long term goal in life - at this time, at least. Right now I'm not feeling very enthusiastic, motivated, or determined in any way. I know it's resistance, but it's still there hampering my efforts.
Actually, as far as an outline, direction, and quick write up are concerned - I already have those done for the Pleistocene project. I also have several articles, both major and preliminary, to read on the subject in order to move on. All that paperwork might be overwhelming me - even though it's not really that much to read. Resistance literally has me at a standstill - like as if I cannot see the good my efforts will do. I guess I feel like nobody of importance will find what I have to say to be of any value - and that I would just be wasting my time and energy on nonsense and frivolous silliness. Yes, I am too hard on myself and I am my own worst critic.
Well, tally ho, and all that jazz!
Friday, August 10, 2007
Just Checking In
Just want to check in and get a plan together regarding getting moving on this Pleistocene project. Hopefully, the time spent on other pressing matters is going to be helpful - giving me a fresh start on the topic. I really need to gather some of my materials together and do something with them. Now that I have a bit of free time I need to get back into the organizing of my paperwork and other materials.
Also, I am planning a trip to the local museum next week and a visit to the arctic world exhibit which I haven't seen in years. Also, I have to start thinking about the subjects of my main career path - dinosaurs. They are not part of this current project, obviously but are the sole reason for my choice of career. I just put them on the back burner so to speak because of other project ideas coming into my life. I already started a wee bit of research on them - just printed out a few articles on them. Hopefully, I'll get to read some of both sets of articles over the weekend and make my usual commentary as I go along. I heard that scientists tend to do that a lot. Then add to this the reopening of the newly updated dinosaur exhibit at the museum this coming November - I already have plans to attend the members-only preview. Maybe I'll get to schmooz with some paleontologists that specialize in them. A really great networking opportunity. Well, until later!
Also, I am planning a trip to the local museum next week and a visit to the arctic world exhibit which I haven't seen in years. Also, I have to start thinking about the subjects of my main career path - dinosaurs. They are not part of this current project, obviously but are the sole reason for my choice of career. I just put them on the back burner so to speak because of other project ideas coming into my life. I already started a wee bit of research on them - just printed out a few articles on them. Hopefully, I'll get to read some of both sets of articles over the weekend and make my usual commentary as I go along. I heard that scientists tend to do that a lot. Then add to this the reopening of the newly updated dinosaur exhibit at the museum this coming November - I already have plans to attend the members-only preview. Maybe I'll get to schmooz with some paleontologists that specialize in them. A really great networking opportunity. Well, until later!
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