Animal Armageddon Videos

Exploring around on YouTube, I came across a video about the Ordovician/Silurian mass extinction that happen some 450 million years ago. The video was shown on the Animal Planet channel in 2009 and was called Animal Armageddon Episode 1 Death Rays. They speculate that the extinction was triggered by a massive gamma ray burst from a dying star.  This radiation exposed the Earth to fatal levels of energy that wiped out 2/3 of species or 85% of animal life.
It is neat to see computer animations of the sea environment with creatures like straight-shelled cephalopods, Eurypterids sea scorpions, trilobites,  Astraspis fish, and Acanthodian fish. Learn more at the Animal Planet web site for the show and on Wikipedia.org.

The total episode lasts 45 minutes and is shown below:



The second episode entitled Hell on Earth is about the Devonian extinction. They speculate that volcanic eruptions could have caused the extinction.

KYANA Geological Society Annual Show 2011

Another good show to attend if you are in the Louisville, Kentucky area November 12-13, 2011. The gym of the Resurrection Lutheran Church was filled with tables selling minerals, jewelry, fossils, geology supplies, art, and holiday gifts.

The main display attraction is a set of fluorescent minerals presented by Danny Settles of Danville, Kentucky. He had three custom cases with shortwave, midwave, and longwave UV fluorescent minerals. The cases were contained in a black curtain area with an illuminated green light button.  Once the viewer pressed the button, the incandescent lights turned off the UV lights switched on.  As Danny explained to me, the lights were custom made with a preheating system to extend the bulb life and cooling fans to keep the bulbs from getting too hot.  After a fixed amount of time the UV lights power off and the white light returns.

The longwave UV case had Weardale, England fluorite (blue-purple), North Carolina opal (green), Canada sodalite (orange), and I think fluorite China and Ohio. Not as familiar with midwave specimens but the red one is from Iran. Shortwave UV specimens are of course dominated by Franklin/Sterling Hill, New Jersey.

Another display case had a very interesting knife with what looks to be an agate handle and meteorite iron blade. The next picture shows what appear to be cut and polished Kentucky agate specimens.

I met a number of friendly dealers and members of the KYANA Geological Society of which I belong. Since I also maintain the web site I tried extra hard this year to get names of people and companies whose material was at the show I was taking pictures of.  Unfortunately, I ran out of time and did not get to see every table at the show but the following is a sampling of people I visited with.

Two dealers I do not believe I encountered before were nice enough to chat with me. John LaMont traveled to Louisville from Brookville, Indiana and runs Lamont's Rock Pile (Jewelry, Carvings, Fossils, Slabs, Cabs, Misc.).  He had some appropriate carving of horses which I thought were very nice. Also on display were a parrot and eagle. In addition, he had a variety of Ordovician trilobites from Ohio (Flexicalymene), fish from Wyoming, ammonites from Madagascar, cephalopods from Morocco, and trilobites from Utah.

A dealer I believe is new to the Louisville show but a veteran of show circuit is Mark Palatas. He had a large selection of Paleozoic shark teeth.  In addition, a good selection of Waldron Shale fossils which I enjoy studying. The following pictures of the Indiana crinoid calyx and Paciphacops Oklahoma trilobites also below to him.

I encountered long time KYANA member and dealer Bob Robinson selling polished spheres and slabs.

Long time mineral and fossil dealer Alan Goldstein had some very nice iridescent pyrite specimens from Kentucky for sale.

Panoramic image of the show floor taken 11-11-11.

So if you are looking for a holiday gift or want to increase your geological collection, visit the show.  Admission and parking are free. Learn more at the KYANA Geological Society web site: http://www.kyanageo.org/showflier.htm




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Fossil Festival Fun

Saturday was a full day at the Fossil Festival at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, Indiana. The morning started out breezy and chilly with a sunny sky.  Good hiking and fossil collecting weather.  The first photo shows a group returning from across the Ohio River spill way which is a path to the outer Devonian and Silurian coral beds.

Visitors started visiting the collecting piles of Silurian and Devonian fossils along with the Illinois mineral pile. I mostly identified brachiopods for visitors but saw a number of Eucalyptocrinus calyx cups being found.  I got worn out digging through the pile to try and find fossils for visitors.  Using a shovel was somewhat successful in breaking up some of the compacted shale but a pick would have worked better.

A young woman found the corner of a clear-to-purple fluorite cube with a phantom cube corner inside.  That was a nice piece to see.  Later some trilobite pieces were found including an imprint of an Arctinerus.  Jack, the fossil dog, showed up to see how every one was doing with their collection efforts.

Later, I was shown a blastoid that might be a Troosticrinus (Shumard, 1866) which is really rare.  It was fun meeting some of the dedicated fossil collectors at the piles.

The Interpretive Center has been receiving upgrades so I checked them out.  The lobby displays have been removed to allow social gatherings to be held there instead.  The mastodon did remain but moved to the side.

Large glass sculptures hang from the ceiling.

I finished out the day at the KYANA Geological Society table selling fossils/minerals/rocks as a fundraiser and telling visitors about the upcoming club show.  We were next to students from Indiana University and University of Cincinnati.  It had really warmed up by the afternoon, I wished I brought some shorts and a T-shirt to change into.

My walk back to the car I came across a flint knapper with some of his work.  I believe his name was Steve and he had some very nice pieces.

2011 Falls Fossil Festival

The Falls of the Ohio State Park will be holding their 17th Falls Fossil Festival highlighting the Middle Devonian coral beds exposed by the Ohio River across from Louisville, Kentucky.  I will be there helping identify fossils and minerals in the collecting piles.  Later, I will help out at the KYANA Geological Society table with the fossil and mineral cartons.

If the spillway gates are closed which exposes the fossil beds, guided tours occur.  Different groups will be on hand to talk about geology and paleontology. The speaking schedule is as follows:

September 17, 2011 (all times EST)

1:30 PM Climate Through Time at the Falls by David Polly
Indiana University, Department of Geological Sciences, Bloomington

2:30 PM Drifting Continents by Dan Phelps
Kentucky Paleontogical Society, Lexington, Kentucky

3:30 PM Stories of the New Madrid Earthquakes 200 Years Age by Dr. Steve Greb
Kentucky Geological Survey, Lexington

4:30 PM Keynote Presentation: The Birth of the Ohio River by Dr. Drew Andrews
Kentucky Geological Survey, Lexington

September 18, 2011 (all times EST)

2:30 PM Fossil Collecting Tips by Rick Schrantz
Kentucky Paleontological Society, Lexington, Kentucky

3:30 PM Mineral Collecting Tips by Steve Garza
Corydon, Indiana

Learn more at the Falls of the Ohio State Park web site: CLICK HERE

Bloomington Indiana Mineral-Fossil Show

For the 46th year, the Lawrence County Rock Club has sponsored the Gem-Mineral-Fossil Show/Swap in Bloomington, Indiana.  It is being held June 24-26, 2011 at the Monroe County Fairgrounds.  I attended for the first time this year and it is quite an event with over 100 dealers.  A number of dealers allowed me to take some pictures of their items for sale.  The first set of fossils were of the famous Crawfordsville, Indiana crinoids.

Learn more at their web site: CLICK HERE.

Some fossils and minerals for sale in one the tents.

Clement Museum Mineral Show June 4-5, 2011

The Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum hosts their 6th annual Gem, Mineral, Fossil & Jewelry Show June 4 and 5, 2011.  The museum primarily houses fluorite found in the area along with mining equipment used when fluorite mines were active.  They have a special room for the fluorescent minerals (some from the area but a lot from Franklin, New Jersey).

The hours will be Saturday 9 AM - 5 PM and Sunday 10 AM - 5 PM which I believe is in the Central time zone.  It is a great time to see the museum and its grounds plus sign up for digs at the local fluorite sites. 

For more information about this event go to their web site clementmineralmuseum.org, e-mail beclement@att.net or call 270-965-4263.  The following pictures are a small sample of items one can see on display at the museum.

KYANA Geological Society Show 2010 Pictures

A very nice show this year with an observed good size crowd.  The Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum display was great with Ben Clement's son hosting the display.  My pictures of specimens from the show are limited to minerals.  The tables I looked at had trilobite fossils from Morocco and fish from the Green River Formation.  I saw some Ordovician trilobites as well.  Lots of jewelry, polished rocks, and mineral specimens were on display.

This next picture is of a malachite with azurite specimen collected in Namibia, Africa.  A very friendly dealer let me take its picture.  A mistake by me in not getting his contact information.  His mineral specimens were very nice.

These last two pictures show specimens from the Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum display.  Mr. Clement was very kind in letting me take pictures and informative in describing fluorite.  Fluorite is known for is use as a flux in steel making, production of hydrofluoric acid, and fluorine for dental use.  One aspect that is probably not known is its use in American nuclear weapons production.  During World War II, the mines were getting orders for fluorite that was being shipped to Oak Ridge Tennessee.  It was thought to be for steel production but it was being used for production of uranium 235 and plutonium 238.

The picture above is of a fluorescent mineral from Franklin, New Jersey illuminated with UV light.

This last picture is of purple fluorite.  Learn more about the museum and its activities: http://www.clementmineralmuseum.org