Geobulletin alpha

Trace fossils in the Juniata and Tuscarora Formations 

Route 33 in Pendleton County, West Virginia cuts across the lower Paleozoic stratigraphic section. I went there this past spring on a sedimentology and stratigraphy field trip with the GMU sed/strat class. The trip was orchestrated by professor Rick Diecchio. Here are some scenes from two of the stops – the upper Ordovician Juniata formation (red sandstones and shale intepreted as Taconian molasse) and the overlying Silurian Tuscarora Formation (thick

Chesapectin jeffersonius pelecypod from the Yorktown formation of Virginia 

I acquired this shell at a rock/fossil/mineral show this past spring from someone who collected it themselves. It's a Chesapectin jeffersonius pelecypod from the Yorktown formation (Neogene, Pliocene epoch, Zanclean stage) of Virginia and was found along the James River.  The shell is enormous and I can just imagine what the scallops would have tasted like! It's only a single valve, I'm not sure if it is the left or the right but was a host to some epibionts. There are large barnacles [...]

Our newest little turtle: Jubal 

Apparently TPI is the new home for the small turtles of the Niobrara chalk. We've already prepared, molded and cast our tiny Chelosphargis advena, Prepared a new Prionochelys matutina, and show prepped a nice Toxochelys latiremis that we discovered this past spring, all with nice skulls.Our Prionochelys matutina specimen from MU5 (Coniacian)You'd think that we would be content with our fossil turtle stash, but no. You can never have enough of these little guys. This week we prepared from start [...]

Some Lake Mead seismic activity due to quarry blasts 

Some of the events recorded on seismographs as earthquakes around or under Lake Mead, were likely blasts from quarries in the region. AZGS seismologist Lisa Linville confirmed this in discussions with colleagues at the Nevada Seismological Lab in Reno. Despite this, has there been increased activity around the lake during the past spring and summer, as the lake filled at a record rate due

Induced seismicity under Lake Mead 

Seismic activity under Lake Mead appears to have increased this past spring and summer, which I speculated was due to the rapid refilling of the lake from melting snowpack upstream and releases from Lake Powell. [Right, Satellite images of Lake Mead taken between 1990 (upper left), 1995 (upper right) and 2009 (lower left) show the dropping lake level. The red color in the lower right image