4 ms·

500M years ago, this critter had a really bad day

52 points by adrianhoward 12y ago

annnnd 12y ago
> In the case of Marble Canyon, the site’s proximity to the highway means that protection from souvenir hunters is an additional concern. So far, that protection consists of keeping quiet about the site’s exact location. Isn't it kind of trivial nowadays to determine location from such photos?
- tim333 12y ago
  I spent a few minutes trying with Google Earth and it was inconclusive.
  - draven 12y ago
    The site is "dubbed Marble Canyon, after a local trail". They also mention "Burgess Shale, a famous fossil trove 40 kilometres north of Marble Canyon." That could help.
- Zikes 12y ago
  Some years ago in McDonald County, Missouri a new highway was being built when they discovered a cave of Native American artifacts. The new highway was being built alongside the old one, and the existence of the cave was soon made public. For months afterward there was a guard vehicle posted at the entrance to that cave 24/7, until the site could be suitably explored and artifacts cataloged.
  - sizzzzlerz 12y ago
    They were fortunate to have the funds for a guard. Most digs don't have that money so security through obscurity is the best alternative. It's a common problem in the American southwest where, if news of a new site gets out, pot hunters can come in, strip, and destroy a site over-night.
- cjensen 12y ago
  Yep. I haven't been there in 25 years, but the clues in the article told me exactly where it was. Checking Google Earth versus the photos confirmed it.
dvh 12y ago
It always seems to me that these paleontologist still use medieval technology. Hammer and chisel. They hit the rock and hope for the best, where the best case is that there will be fossil split in half. Imagine if they had some kind of "rock MRI" or something like that. Or perhaps using laser to etch thin layers and then combine them in PC into 3D model. Come on!
- jkot 12y ago
  I guess money? How to analyze 1000 tons of rocks on reasonable budget?
- pp19dd 12y ago
  There is no better tool than a geologic hammer. MRI machines weigh tons, as rocks do, so there isn't any practical way to do field sampling. The only portable tool available for field work is a ground penetrating radar, and it requires lots of power. Making even a moderately steep hike to these remote locations with just your survival gear is beyond exhausting, so lugging machines and rocks becomes a huge challenge: impossible. Transporting the equipment mechanically is an incredibly costly endeavor. An image from a GPR looks like this: http://mysite.du.edu/~lconyers/SERDP/figure1_pit_house.jpg http://mysite.du.edu/~lconyers/SERDP/figure1_pit_house.jpg - as you can see, the GPR can go through rock, but, what they're seeing is a pattern difference: signal pattern, that is. The GPR doesn't have an imaging resolution to be able to assemble an accurate point cloud, like you would with photographic imaging to make a 3D model. Instead, it's like watching spray from a water hose encounter an object - you can only really tell the water stream hit something, and its rough shape. I haven't used lasers for imaging in a decade, but they didn't make clean cuts: they burn right through what you're trying to image. I believe it's not a solution for sampling rocks. Though, a hammer can cleave right through a rock and be done with it.
- arethuza 12y ago
  I can recommend Richard Fortey's books to give a taste of what it's like to be a field geologist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Fortey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Fortey His book The Hidden Landscape: A Journey into the Geological Past starts with him traveling from London to Wales to find rocks old enough to hold the trilobites he loves.
nickhalfasleep 12y ago
And now to add insult to injury, you get excavated, mounted, and displayed in the moment you soiled yourself in death.

52 points by adrianhoward 12y ago

> In the case of Marble Canyon, the site’s proximity to the highway means that protection from souvenir hunters is an additional concern. So far, that protection consists of keeping quiet about the site’s exact location. Isn't it kind of trivial nowadays to determine location from such photos?

tim333 12y ago
I spent a few minutes trying with Google Earth and it was inconclusive.
- draven 12y ago
  The site is "dubbed Marble Canyon, after a local trail". They also mention "Burgess Shale, a famous fossil trove 40 kilometres north of Marble Canyon." That could help.
Zikes 12y ago
Some years ago in McDonald County, Missouri a new highway was being built when they discovered a cave of Native American artifacts. The new highway was being built alongside the old one, and the existence of the cave was soon made public. For months afterward there was a guard vehicle posted at the entrance to that cave 24/7, until the site could be suitably explored and artifacts cataloged.
- sizzzzlerz 12y ago
  They were fortunate to have the funds for a guard. Most digs don't have that money so security through obscurity is the best alternative. It's a common problem in the American southwest where, if news of a new site gets out, pot hunters can come in, strip, and destroy a site over-night.
cjensen 12y ago
Yep. I haven't been there in 25 years, but the clues in the article told me exactly where it was. Checking Google Earth versus the photos confirmed it.

dvh 12y ago

It always seems to me that these paleontologist still use medieval technology. Hammer and chisel. They hit the rock and hope for the best, where the best case is that there will be fossil split in half. Imagine if they had some kind of "rock MRI" or something like that. Or perhaps using laser to etch thin layers and then combine them in PC into 3D model. Come on!

jkot 12y ago
I guess money? How to analyze 1000 tons of rocks on reasonable budget?
pp19dd 12y ago
There is no better tool than a geologic hammer. MRI machines weigh tons, as rocks do, so there isn't any practical way to do field sampling. The only portable tool available for field work is a ground penetrating radar, and it requires lots of power. Making even a moderately steep hike to these remote locations with just your survival gear is beyond exhausting, so lugging machines and rocks becomes a huge challenge: impossible. Transporting the equipment mechanically is an incredibly costly endeavor. An image from a GPR looks like this: http://mysite.du.edu/~lconyers/SERDP/figure1_pit_house.jpg http://mysite.du.edu/~lconyers/SERDP/figure1_pit_house.jpg - as you can see, the GPR can go through rock, but, what they're seeing is a pattern difference: signal pattern, that is. The GPR doesn't have an imaging resolution to be able to assemble an accurate point cloud, like you would with photographic imaging to make a 3D model. Instead, it's like watching spray from a water hose encounter an object - you can only really tell the water stream hit something, and its rough shape. I haven't used lasers for imaging in a decade, but they didn't make clean cuts: they burn right through what you're trying to image. I believe it's not a solution for sampling rocks. Though, a hammer can cleave right through a rock and be done with it.
arethuza 12y ago
I can recommend Richard Fortey's books to give a taste of what it's like to be a field geologist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Fortey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Fortey His book The Hidden Landscape: A Journey into the Geological Past starts with him traveling from London to Wales to find rocks old enough to hold the trilobites he loves.

nickhalfasleep 12y ago

And now to add insult to injury, you get excavated, mounted, and displayed in the moment you soiled yourself in death.