Non-Traditional Applications of Fire in Fossil Preparation
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PIR/PER) for the State Route 86 / Avenue 50 New Interchange Project, City of Coachella, Riverside County, California E-FIS 0801-000144 (EA 08-0C970
Combined Paleontological Identification Report / Paleontological Evaluation Report (PIR/PER) for the State Route 86 / Avenue 50 New Interchange Project, City of Coachella, Riverside County, California E-FIS 0801-000144 (EA 08-0C970) Submitted to: Kurt Heidelberg, Branch Chief Environmental Studies D California Department of Transportation, District 8 464 West 4th Street, 6th Floor, MS 825 San Bernardino, California 92401-1400 March 2018 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The City of Coachella (City), in cooperation with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 8 and Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG), proposes the construction of a new interchange at State Route 86 (SR-86) and Avenue 50 in the City of Coachella, Riverside County, California. The SR-86 /Avenue 50 New Interchange Project (Project) consists of converting a portion of SR-86 from an existing expressway to a freeway with a new overcrossing structure and access ramps. In addition, the proposed Project includes the realignment and widening of Avenue 50 and the realignment of portions of Tyler Street on both the east and west sides of SR-86. Finally, the Project would construct a new bridge over the Coachella Valley Stormwater Channel (CVSC) to replace the existing low water crossing. At the request of TranSystems, Applied EarthWorks, Inc. (Æ) performed a paleontological resource assessment in support of the proposed Project. The study consisted of a search of museum collections records maintained by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, a comprehensive literature and geologic map review, a field reconnaissance survey, and preparation of this combined Paleontological Identification Report (PIR) / Paleontological Evaluation Report (PER). -
Micropaleontological Association from the Middle Miocene Badenian Gypsum Deposits of Paratethys
geosciences Article A New Preparation Method of Microfauna from Gypsum: Micropaleontological Association from the Middle Miocene Badenian Gypsum Deposits of Paratethys Hans-Peter Bojar 1, Claudia Antoniade 2, Victor Barbu 3 and Ana-Voica Bojar 1,4,5,* 1 Studienzentrum Naturkunde—Mineralogie, Universalmuseum Joanneum, Weinzöttlstraße 16, 8045 Graz, Austria; [email protected] 2 OMV Petrom, Research and Design Institute of Technology Petrom Câmpina, Culturii Bldv 29, Câmpina, 15600 Prahova, Romania; [email protected] 3 OMV Petrom, Coralilor str. 22, 013329 Bucharest, Romania; [email protected] 4 Department Geographie und Geologie, Geologie, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstraße 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria 5 Faculty of Physics, Department of Structure of Matter, Earth and Atmospheric Physics and Astrophysics, University of Bucharest, Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta 4-12, 030018 Bucharest, Romania * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 23 March 2020; Accepted: 26 April 2020; Published: 28 April 2020 Abstract: Evaporitic gypsum deposits represent an important paleoenvironmental record of the Miocene Badenian of the Carpathian Mountains belt. In this study, we developed a nontoxic method to concentrate calcareous microfossils from gypsum (CaSO 2H O), by treating the sulfate with 4· 2 ammonium acetate. We applied the newly developed method to gypsum collected from the Evaporitic Formation outcropping northward of Slănic-Prahova in the Eastern Carpathians. For the first time for this formation, we describe a calcareous microfossil assemblage characterized by the presence of planktonic foraminifera as well as cysts and fragments of calcareous algae. Keywords: chemical preparation method; gypsum deposits; calcareous microfossil assemblage; Miocene; Eastern Carpathians 1. Introduction In the Earth’s history, sulfate rich marine waters are known for late Precambrian (Vendian), Pennsylvanian-Triassic, Miocene to Quaternary [1]. -
A Basal Lithostrotian Titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) with a Complete Skull: Implications for the Evolution and Paleobiology of Titanosauria
RESEARCH ARTICLE A Basal Lithostrotian Titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) with a Complete Skull: Implications for the Evolution and Paleobiology of Titanosauria Rubén D. F. Martínez1*, Matthew C. Lamanna2, Fernando E. Novas3, Ryan C. Ridgely4, Gabriel A. Casal1, Javier E. Martínez5, Javier R. Vita6, Lawrence M. Witmer4 1 Laboratorio de Paleovertebrados, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, Argentina, 2 Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, 3 Laboratorio de Anatomía Comparada y Evolución de los Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 4 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, United States of America, 5 Hospital Regional de Comodoro Rivadavia, Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, Argentina, 6 Resonancia Magnética Borelli, Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, Argentina * [email protected] OPEN ACCESS Citation: Martínez RDF, Lamanna MC, Novas FE, Ridgely RC, Casal GA, Martínez JE, et al. (2016) A Basal Lithostrotian Titanosaur (Dinosauria: Abstract Sauropoda) with a Complete Skull: Implications for the Evolution and Paleobiology of Titanosauria. PLoS We describe Sarmientosaurus musacchioi gen. et sp. nov., a titanosaurian sauropod dino- ONE 11(4): e0151661. doi:10.1371/journal. saur from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian—Turonian) Lower Member of the Bajo Bar- pone.0151661 real Formation of southern Chubut Province in -
Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology EDUCATOR's GUIDE
Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology EDUCATOR’S GUIDE Dear Educator: This guide is recommended for educators of grades K-4 and is designed to help you prepare students for their Alf Museum visit, as well as to provide resources to enhance your classroom curriculum. This packet includes background information about the Alf Museum and the science of paleontology, a summary of our museum guidelines and what to expect, a pre-visit checklist, a series of content standard-aligned activities/exercises for classroom use before and/or after your visit, and a list of relevant terms and additional resources. Please complete and return the enclosed evaluation form to help us improve this guide to better serve your needs. Thank you! Paleontology: The Study of Ancient Life Paleontology is the study of ancient life. The history of past life on Earth is interpreted by scientists through the examination of fossils, the preserved remains of organisms which lived in the geologic past (more than 10,000 years ago). There are two main types of fossils: body fossils, the preserved remains of actual organisms (e.g. shells/hard parts, teeth, bones, leaves, etc.) and trace fossils, the preserved evidence of activity by organisms (e.g. footprints, burrows, fossil dung). Chances for fossil preservation are enhanced by (1) the presence of hard parts (since soft parts generally rot or are eaten, preventing preservation) and (2) rapid burial (preventing disturbance by bio- logical or physical actions). Many body fossils are skeletal remains (e.g. bones, teeth, shells, exoskel- etons). Most form when an animal or plant dies and then is buried by sediment (e.g. -
FOSSIL PREPARATION KIT by Dave Letasi and Terrie Nolinske
p FOSSIL PREPARATION KIT By Dave Letasi and Terrie Nolinske DESCRIPTION This kit includes a real fossil bone from a prehistoric animal and a fossil of a marine animal. A scientific label is also provided with your fossil specimens. The Fossil Preparation Kit instructs you in the cleaning and preparation of invertebrate and vertebrate fossils, following the same process used by paleontologists. By adding several common household items, you can create a fossil preparation lab in your classroom or kitchen. In the first activity, you use basic tools to clean a marine invertebrate fossil. Using a mild household chemical, you will remove the rocky crust found on the fossil and study the details of its anatomical structures. In the second activity, you will preserve fossil vertebrate bone fragments before fitting the fragments back together to create the original structure. GOALS You will be able to… demonstrate procedures used by scientists to reconstruct fossil fragments and turn them into specimens for study or display; learn and implement scientific procedures used in the safe handling of chemicals used for cleaning fossils; and identify at least three ways in which fossils allow scientists to study life forms from the prehistoric past. ARE YOU A TEACHER? The subject matter in this kit is aligned with the following Sunshine State Standards: Grades 3-5: SC. D.1.2.1, SC. D. 2.2.1 SC. H.! 2.1, SC.H.1.2.2, SC.H.2.2.1 Grades 6-8: SC.D.1.3.1, SC.h.1.3.1, SC.H.1.3.2, SC.G.2.3.1 Grades 9-12: SC.D.1.4.2, SC.D.1.4.4, SC.D.2.4.1, SC.G.2.4.1 2 HELPFUL TIPS To complement activities in this kit, you might want to read about prehistory and fossils before you start. -
A Palaeobiologist's Guide to 'Virtual' Micro-CT Preparation
Palaeontologia Electronica palaeo-electronica.org A palaeobiologist’s guide to ‘virtual’ micro-CT preparation Richard Leslie Abel, Carolina Rettondini Laurini, and Martha Richter ABSTRACT This paper provides a brief but comprehensive guide to creating, preparing and dissecting a ‘virtual’ fossil, using a worked example to demonstrate some standard data processing techniques. Computed tomography (CT) is a 3D imaging modality for producing ‘virtual’ models of an object on a computer. In the last decade, CT technol- ogy has greatly improved, allowing bigger and denser objects to be scanned increas- ingly rapidly. The technique has now reached a stage where systems can facilitate large-scale, non-destructive comparative studies of extinct fossils and their living rela- tives. Consequently the main limiting factor in CT-based analyses is no longer scan- ning, but the hurdles of data processing (see disclaimer). The latter comprises the techniques required to convert a 3D CT volume (stack of digital slices) into a virtual image of the fossil that can be prepared (separated) from the matrix and ‘dissected’ into its anatomical parts. This technique can be applied to specimens or part of speci- mens embedded in the rock matrix that until now have been otherwise impossible to visualise. This paper presents a suggested workflow explaining the steps required, using as example a fossil tooth of Sphenacanthus hybodoides (Egerton), a shark from the Late Carboniferous of England. The original NHMUK copyrighted CT slice stack can be downloaded for practice of the described techniques, which include segmenta- tion, rendering, movie animation, stereo-anaglyphy, data storage and dissemination. Fragile, rare specimens and type materials in university and museum collections can therefore be virtually processed for a variety of purposes, including virtual loans, web- site illustrations, publications and digital collections. -