Wrangel-St. Elias National Park

The Crato Formation lithologies were most likely deposited when there was a marine transgression; which is what the Cretaceous period is renowned for (Hu et al. 2012). The build-up of laminated limestones and different lithologies in the stratigraphic column could suggest that it was a lagoon depositional environment (Martill and Frey, 1998).

The author and his colleagues chose to focus on 375 million year old rocks in their search for fossils because amphibians that look dissimilar to fish were discovered in 365 million year old rocks, while fish without amphibian characteristics were discovered in 385 million year old rocks. Thus, it is possible that the evolutionary intermediary, or the “missing link” between fish and amphibians, would be discovered in 375 million year old rocks, between the two time periods. The rocks examined were sedimentary in composition, as the gradual and relatively gentle formation of sedimentary rock under conditions of mild pressure and low heat are conducive to the fossilization of animal remains. Sedimentary rock is also often formed in rivers and seas, where animals are likely to live. This site provides a resource that describes means by which fossils are formed and how the fossil record may be interpreted, and shows some examples of fossils demonstrating evolution through geological periods: http://www.fossilmuseum.net/fossilrecord.htm. In 2004, Shubin and his colleagues were looking for fossils on Ellesmere Island, in northern Canada. This location was chosen because of its lack of human development, as well as of obstructing natural formations and life forms such as trees, which

* Burgess Shale - One of the greatest fossil finds ever made is the Burgess fauna of British Columbia. Thousands of soft-bodied animal fossils paint us a picture of early marine life.

Sedimentary rocks interpret dinosaur habitats through encased environmental structures of the past. Through sedimentary rocks, paleoecologists’ can examine the arranged formation of sedimentary structures to specify what type of environment the dinosaurs’ lived in. An example of a specific sedimentary rock structure can be seen through formed weathering and ripple marks by how wind and sand formed distinct patterns in the past layered sediment. These arrangements provide interpretations on the structure of the sediment and the habitat of encased fossils, through modern day comparisons

Kathy Conlan is an expert in understanding the weird and wonderful world of marine creatures that live deep under the Arctic ice. She specializes in marine benthic biology and amphipod systematics. Kathy studies how human and natural changes affect marine life in the Arctic and Antarctic, the effects of pollution on marine life as well as global warming. She is past chief officer for Life Sciences in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and is a judge for SCAR’s Martha T. Muse Prize for Science and policy in Antarctica, represents Canada for the Canadian Committee on Antarctic Research, taught at Huntsman Marine Science Centre and Students On Ice, mentors university students and gives speaches and “Show and tells” at the museum.

Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge is a protected park in New Mexico located in the Chihuahuan desert around 20 miles north of Socorro, New Mexico. The Rio Salado flows through the refuge and is a tributary of the Rio Grande joining the Rio Grande just 15 miles north of Socorro, New

There are three different chemical forms that mercury exists in and each has a specific effect on human health, however for the purpose of this paper only two will be talked about. The first is elemental mercury (Hg), which also called metallic mercury. In this form the primary health effect is when it is breathes as vapor where it can be absorbed through the lungs. Symptoms of this kind include tremors, emotional changes, insomnia, neuromuscular changes, headaches, disturbances in sensations, changes in nerve responses, and performance deficits on tests of cognitive functions. At higher doses there can be kidney effects, respiratory failure, and even death. In this form it is emitted into the air from coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, smelting plants, which is by far the leading man-made source of mercury in the Great Lakes. It is released into the air and transported by air currents and will eventually fall and be deposited in soil or water. This is particularly important to the people living in Michigan because in Detroit the mercury found in rain has been

Some fun facts is that there is only one national natural landmark and that is the point of arches. There is over 3,000 miles of rivers and streams, and that is a lot for a park especially for Washington. There is 73 miles of wilderness coast. Wow! 60 named glaciers(not counting the ones that aren’t named). Our legs started to hurt on the second day because there’s over 64 trailheads and we only did about 20 of them. I wish i was a Junior Ranger because in 2005 there was about 8,400 rangers. I guess that’s why the park is popular. The park must be huge because there was about 457 buildings. And i was lucky to get one because there was a lot of people. I should’ve brought my fitbit because there’s 611 miles of trail. I would’ve of gotten all my steps in by the time I was done that day. What I didn’t think would happen is that there would be 2,002 law enforcements reports in 2005 which was a surprise to me. I was kind of scared because I didn’t know what would happen. Also in 2005 there was 31 search and rescue missions. Everything happened in 2005 from the rangers and law enforcement reports to the search and rescue missions. Now that I have learned about all five parks I see that not all have a good

When most of us think of asphalt or tar, our minds wonder to the roads that our cars drive on. Asphalt may appear to be an ordinary everyday thing we see and pay little to no attention to but, in reality, it may hold a treasure of information on Earth’s

Biologists, suited in wetsuits and snorkels, gently lift a large rock underwater before poking a dive light into the crevice. Two small eyes peek out at them, a wide grin and a flattened wrinkled body floating and bobbing with the current. The Eastern Hellbender, ancient giant salamanders that have roamed the Earth for millions of years, living dinosaurs that roam the bottom of non-polluted streams and shallow rivers preying on crawfish and earthworms.

At the intersection of Neva Road and U.S. 36 we examined three different members, the Smoky Hill, Fort Hayes, and Codell, which belong to two different formations, Niobrara and Benton. The Smoky Hill and Fort Hayes belong to the Niobrara formation while Codell belongs to the Benton Formation. In the Niobrara’s Smoky Hill and Benton, Inoceramid clam (giant clam) fossils were found. These three formations are of Late Cretaceous.

The central idea of this article is the study of the Storr Lochs Monster and how its study can be applied to more fossils being found and studied in Scotland and in the Middle Jurassic Period. The author states that very few fossils can hunted down and studied in Scotland, and in the rest of the world fossils from the Middle Jurassic Period, when this creature lived, are very rare. Steve Brusatte, the Paleontologist from Scotland, said "We know that quite a lot was happening during the Middle Jurassic Period" he also said "It's frustrating because it seems like an active period in evolution but one with very few fossils" and also inputted that he hopes after the study of the Storr Lochs monster that an increase in Scottish paleontology can

BIOL2110- Vertebrate Zoology Word count: 1056 Dinosaur extinction: An analysis of events and theories that possibly led to the dinosaurs' demise.

For over a century, paleontologists have been collecting abundant dinosaur fossils from the Western Interior of North America, with many of these fossils found in rocks dating back to the final stages of the Cretaceous Period. Only recently, however, have we learned that most of these dinosaurs existed on a “lost continent” today referred to as ‘Laramidia”. (Switek, 2010)

These techniques led to the discovery of the boundary between the two eras. A single thin layer of clay found within predominantly limestone rocks established this. By comparing the marine life found in, above, and below the clay, the marine life, like the dinosaurs, had been terribly affected by the extinction event. The percentage of life in the upper layers was dramatically lower than that in the lower. This was far more compelling than what was suggested by dinosaur’s fossils.