A visit to Badlands National Park in South Dakota feels a bit like going to see a miniature replica of the Taj Mahal instead of seeing the real thing after you have hung out for a week in Moab UT and traveled around southeastern Utah. But that isn't to say that it isn't worth seeing. On... Continue Reading →
One of the great privileges of my job is that I get to participate on committees of graduate students. This allows me to get up close and personal with data from sub-disciplines of biology that often extend far from those of my particular expertise. You know by now that I carry a particular fondness for... Continue Reading →
It is cold and snowing outside and it is supposed to get much colder. I feel so far away from when I was standing at the overlook of the Goosnecks of the San Juan River in 99 degree heat taking in the desert southwest. Six month later I'm still sorting through my pictures... Continue Reading →
Anyone who has spent time in a desert has probably noticed many dark streaks or patches on the rocks. I expect that most people simply look at these dark streaks and think they are simply stains like a stain on a cement driveway or that line of rust color running down a wall from a... Continue Reading →
Travel to most any desert region and you will observe black, brown or orange streaks or crusts on the surface of many rocks. These stains on the rock have been called desert or rock varnish. The origins have been scrutinized for many years and still are not fully understood. I will explore some of what... Continue Reading →
Down a 43 foot vertical shaft, another 40 foot slope, and buried under thousands of cave bear, lion and lynx bones, lies the partially fossilized bones of at least 30 individual humans. Welcome to a chamber of horrors otherwise known as Sima de los Huesos (the pit of bones). This pit is but a small... Continue Reading →
Just how fast are some rocks on Mars eroding? A few months ago I asked a Martian rock that question (see: My Interview with a Martian: A Story of Origins) and I was not given a very satisfying answer. Well, that rock can be excused for being a bit confused about time given how boring... Continue Reading →
One headline reads “Giant Prehistoric Toilet Found” another refers to the discovery of an ancient latrine. Don’t know how I missed those a few weeks ago. Surely had I seen that headline I would have had to clicked on it to find out what that was all about. The actual title, The oldest known communal latrines... Continue Reading →
Update (Nov 2013): Please be aware this article was written as a first impressions of an ongoing expedition as an outsider onlooker. I updated this information (Rising Star Update) as more data came to light a few weeks later. It now seems fairly clear that this location will become a significant one in the study of... Continue Reading →
Curiosity keeps chugging away across the floor of Gale Crater. A few weeks ago we talked to a rock (My Interview with a Martian: A Story of Origins) that it met as it is working its way to the base of Mt. Sharp. I had mentioned that the trip has been a tad boring compared... Continue Reading →
Inverted valleys formed from lava "rivers" and ancient stream beds are one of many unusual geological phenomena found in Utah. The rocks speak in Utah and they speak very clearly because they readily reveal so many clues about their origins since they are so visible to us. Some of the most powerful testimonies of... Continue Reading →
How does a hill get a flat top? The picture below is a Google Maps satellite image of St. George Utah. To the left you can see an airport. This airport is on top of a long hill whose top is well over 100 feet above the city below. The airport was built here because... Continue Reading →
Everything has an origin.* Some stories of origins are relatively simple (eg. Niagara Falls) while others are much more complex (eg. the Grand Canyon). The study of origins is the study and reconstruction of past events. We have eyewitness accounts of some events from the past but mostly we use circumstantial evidence left behind as... Continue Reading →
There is a strange circular scar on the earth found amongst the meandering incised canyons of southeastern Utah. Called upheaval dome because it was originally thought to be the result of the slowing rising of a massive salt dome from below, this highly eroded structure has long been an oddity among the many spectacular sandstone... Continue Reading →
What museum can you go to where you can see real dinosaur bones, you don't pay any fees, you can touch all the exhibits and there are no security cameras watching your every move (at least I don't think there are:-)? The answer is The Mill Canyon Dinosaur Trail near Moab, Utah. This outdoor "museum"... Continue Reading →
Naturalis Historia 