Oolite Bulletins

There can be few places quite as strange and the planet I was born on...

http://recyclingtheworld.us/wordpress/w ... tambo2.jpg

[edit] It goes without saying that the jointing is of an unmatchable quality but it's the jaunty bevels on every edge that really make me scratch my head - who had time to do that? [/edit]

The Giant's Causeway?

It is maintained that the causeway is a natural formation but I'm unconvinced of that... similarly it is maintained that pitchblende is naturally occurring but the evidence for that is even more sparse. The whole fossilisation saga... there is no theory that can explain a fossilised dinosaur turd and they are found in abundance. Curiously fossilised bones are very often highly radioactive and often mistaken for fissile deposits.

http://www.zuko.com/CrypticSphere/OOPar ... teries.asp

Anyone for Hobbits?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3948165.stm

Greyth wrote:

... there is no theory that can explain a fossilised dinosaur turd...

Well, I expect even dinosaurs got constipation...

Lol Smivs, I meant there is no theory that adequately explains a process that turns turds into stones.

I think it's the same theory which explains how bones, skin, feathers, insects, and even jellyfish get fossilised.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossilisat ... eservation

Well, most things almost invariably end up flattened/distorted but coprolitic deposits are often found pretty much as they were deposited which seems to indicate whatever process turned them to stone happened very suddenly.

Small to medium sized fossils tend to be less distorted - think of things like the Archeopteryx who's famous fossil looks just like any other dead bird. The distortion of large fossils is most likely due to the events immediately after the death of the creature. The carcass would have been destroyed by scavengers who would tend to disrupt and even scatter the skeleton, and the skeleton of something truly huge (eg Tyranosaur) would collapse under its own weight once the flesh was removed.

Greyth wrote:

It is maintained that the causeway is a natural formation but I'm unconvinced of that.

Basalt can be witnessed in its cooling as it is formed from lava. This makes it very easy indeed to identify the source. It is also very common around the world. These few words on columnar basalt - the stuff the Giant's Causeway is made from - should help reassure you they are natural. Which is a shame, as the legend is a good one.

Greyth wrote:

it is maintained that pitchblende is naturally occurring but the evidence for that is even more sparse.

It is typically found in the same rock as silver deposits in lots of parts of the world. In what way is it not naturally occurring?

Greyth wrote:

The whole fossilisation saga... there is no theory that can explain a fossilised dinosaur turd

a) the surrounding material lasts longer than the organic turd and the decomposition of the turd leaves a gap in the mud / soil which is filled with mineral deposits over time. You get a turd-shaped rock that is not made of dinosaur poo.

b) the organic turd absorbs minerals from the surrounding material as it loses moisture. You end up with a squished rock that does not quite match the surrounding rock which, when you break it open, contains chewed up bones.

Those are the only two theories I know of.

Greyth wrote:

Curiously fossilised bones are very often highly radioactive and often mistaken for fissile deposits.

That's interesting. Got any links for that? I expect it could happen downstream of mountains containing rocks with radioactive material, e.g. pitchblende.

Greyth wrote:

http://www.zuko.com/CrypticSphere/OOPar ... teries.asp

Oh, goody. An 'unsolved mysteries' site. I love tearing them to pieces. I got into "the unexplained" in a big way when I was 11; it was what interested me in science. It is amazing how easy they are to debunk. Point out which stories on there you want researched and dismantled. Don't go for the "The Baghdad Battery", that one is too easy: it was a battery used for electroplating. (The Salzburg Cube is a piece of scrap cast iron; Occam's Razor says the Maine Penny was a hoax and the Kensington Rune Stone is a poorly made fake.)

<chortles>

Greyth wrote:

Anyone for Hobbits?

Don't mind if I do. Do they taste like chicken?

My all-time most favouritist conspiracy site, ever: The moon landings were faked. NASA has lied! Proof is here.

Radioactivity in fossils at the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
Journal of Environmental Radioactivity
Volume 99, Issue 8, August 2008, Pages 1355–1359

Abstract
Since 1996, higher than background levels of naturally occurring radioactivity have been documented in both fossil and mineral deposits at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument in south-central Idaho. Radioactive fossil sites occur primarily within an elevation zone of 900–1000 m above sea level and are most commonly found associated with ancient river channels filled with sand. Fossils found in clay rich deposits do not exhibit discernable levels of radioactivity. Out of 300 randomly selected fossils, approximately three-fourths exhibit detectable levels of natural radioactivity ranging from 1 to 2 orders of magnitude above ambient background levels when surveyed with a portable hand held Geiger-Muller survey instrument. Mineral deposits in geologic strata also show above ambient background levels of radioactivity. Radiochemical lab analysis has documented the presence of numerous natural radioactive isotopes. It is postulated that ancient groundwater transported radioactive elements through sand bodies containing fossils which precipitated out of solution during the fossilization process. The elevated levels of natural radioactivity in fossils may require special precautions to ensure that exposures to personnel from stored or displayed items are kept as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA).

Keywords
Fossils; Hagerman Fossil Beds; Uranium; Natural radioactivity

I never knew that some fossils were radioactive. You learn something new every day!

The fossils were probably contaminated in the lab on Magrathea!