tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57680730434080988142024-02-18T23:23:53.810-08:00Pacific Paleontology, IncA Blog on Monterey Bay Paleontology, Natural History, and BeyondWayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-55289907714548749762023-10-05T07:02:00.007-07:002023-10-05T07:30:17.314-07:00Donations to build fossil sifting screens needed<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXf8EsTmRdEmhupV-bREmcqqO7XLR7MG_N72ah6fY1yqnJ3RttDPGspeFZhj73RgsxNX-rt0HSH4G3x2RyrIPVFgFnJ2DLurlHx9i4iQVBlQ5piVwbWZtB_XNRycNihbCWpKABmduh9m-YrgQVySTtZbDJUuaC7XWyp1mUsXtOkZqNEzk7SiF1Q7SKhf6Q/s4000/PaPa%20Website.7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="4000" height="599" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXf8EsTmRdEmhupV-bREmcqqO7XLR7MG_N72ah6fY1yqnJ3RttDPGspeFZhj73RgsxNX-rt0HSH4G3x2RyrIPVFgFnJ2DLurlHx9i4iQVBlQ5piVwbWZtB_XNRycNihbCWpKABmduh9m-YrgQVySTtZbDJUuaC7XWyp1mUsXtOkZqNEzk7SiF1Q7SKhf6Q/w599-h599/PaPa%20Website.7.jpg" width="599" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Good morning friends. The non-profit arm of our SBE family firm, Pacific Paleontology, is fundraising to build two fossil sifting screens for the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History like the ones seen here. The screens are for an upcoming fossil hunting expedition in Santa Cruz that our company will be leading and that will be sponsored by the museum. The cost to build the two screens is a nominal $200.00 and your donation would be tax deductible. Please DM if you're interested in contributing and I'll explain the other benefits too!</span></span></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-2312126288920629422023-09-25T08:00:00.001-07:002023-09-25T08:00:11.035-07:00<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DitZ9daPwBqjLAVKYzpSOaWEfYVlZil3LJcjJPEJldbSeyUw83pVsoN8SLnoTA6ya3ABd43qvmiZejzq35PlKBwzZP4si3IlSVLYSCU2SErswjI-Op7cojhAxSpWVeCPLN2jZV__3a8wrsvz8ejuIG_qYs7dJ541zuN1TbuL6PmxKi9RvBNeL95AFcmS/s4032/IMG_5850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="735" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DitZ9daPwBqjLAVKYzpSOaWEfYVlZil3LJcjJPEJldbSeyUw83pVsoN8SLnoTA6ya3ABd43qvmiZejzq35PlKBwzZP4si3IlSVLYSCU2SErswjI-Op7cojhAxSpWVeCPLN2jZV__3a8wrsvz8ejuIG_qYs7dJ541zuN1TbuL6PmxKi9RvBNeL95AFcmS/w552-h735/IMG_5850.JPG" width="552" /></a></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Rare 4-petal mutation of the sand dollar Scutellaster oregonensis (Clark, in Dall, 1909) recently donated to our paleontological research by beachcomber and collector Wendy Frye and identified by Richard Mooi of the @California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. This is from the Purisima Formation here in Santa Cruz and is on the order of 2-3 million years old. As you may recall, echinoids typically have pentagonal (5-part) symmetry, making this discovery on par with a 4-leaf clover. This one is on its way to the paleontology collections of the Academy tomorrow on my monthly migration. Thank you Wendy!</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-0a142b3e-7fff-a8f9-b508-6196380bee5c"><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-43699308334101935162023-09-19T06:16:00.002-07:002023-09-19T06:16:19.724-07:00Some fossils are rarer than others...<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Jqi_8QsM_ty-5En8LTNhB2L03GKkCTKsJ5WQmJ1q4p2rKQja0RafI4X8M6g8w6nPo9ttaN-pA9hC7_Guya8we9QZh0gVCNapxXjc-oGixBfy787SxEzLeY28L_RQUlNsSWmEEcLa8G5aHG3G4z5KhDafrYaLqFyoni2JcIGjEBIErQRvrSJe8r2i7xeO/s3375/DSCN2269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2136" data-original-width="3375" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Jqi_8QsM_ty-5En8LTNhB2L03GKkCTKsJ5WQmJ1q4p2rKQja0RafI4X8M6g8w6nPo9ttaN-pA9hC7_Guya8we9QZh0gVCNapxXjc-oGixBfy787SxEzLeY28L_RQUlNsSWmEEcLa8G5aHG3G4z5KhDafrYaLqFyoni2JcIGjEBIErQRvrSJe8r2i7xeO/w605-h384/DSCN2269.JPG" width="605" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Here is one of the more uncommon fossils from the Sandhills Habitat in Santa Cruz; the fossilized upper and lower claw of a crab from the Santa Margarita Formation rock layer. This is 10-12 million years old and I've only seen one of these in over 4 decades. The reason something like this isn't that common is because the Santa Margarita rock layer generally represents ancient higher energy environments consisting of areas of the ocean where course sands and gravels are deposited.</span></span></div><br /><p></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-48217308167023224062023-08-03T07:47:00.001-07:002023-08-03T07:47:13.776-07:00Early West Coast Walrus<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhHpgbpDdmPfr-xj0oezuNCkvk0XvYhLs0sv02GU2SpRYi2WhvzRgUP73I1rtGJxrbZfhGzqcRoikFg9F7cmafYFA0foubChZcbsEW91sWMUwXqXN23J0aNXUx4mhKgTFXeGOAVybUud71NF8g8FqfJ7iCl49CZdtlePdxBqGTXIDRB5SniX8Hy8TV_A0/s1712/Screenshot%202023-08-03%20at%207.44.29%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1218" data-original-width="1712" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhHpgbpDdmPfr-xj0oezuNCkvk0XvYhLs0sv02GU2SpRYi2WhvzRgUP73I1rtGJxrbZfhGzqcRoikFg9F7cmafYFA0foubChZcbsEW91sWMUwXqXN23J0aNXUx4mhKgTFXeGOAVybUud71NF8g8FqfJ7iCl49CZdtlePdxBqGTXIDRB5SniX8Hy8TV_A0/w570-h406/Screenshot%202023-08-03%20at%207.44.29%20AM.png" width="570" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Fossil jaw fragment with teeth collected just over 40 years ago as of last month... This is probably from one of our extinct west coast walruses: Imagotaria of Barnes or "Desmatophocine C" in updated taxonomy thanks to Bobby Boessnecker.</span></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-42996988167489991522023-03-13T09:08:00.001-07:002023-03-13T09:08:14.365-07:00“Under the Sea, Into the Depths of Darkness and Back in Time”<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='599' height='499' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dygKZdsuhzGeeiLllx-4K0EoHj_2CB1N3CIJHQ3xH1CKCU4z9bYtDdRS8v2vvquJx33Iruuo0saRBEketPNZw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d28b6537-7fff-8fdd-c07e-33a6947e6f83"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Traveling back in time taking a dive to the bottom of the sea 4 million years into the past down under Monterey Bay, what creatures await to be revealed in the light of curiosity, we explore what has never been seen before and ask our Selves “what has gone before us”, “how can we learn from this” “what can we use this for ahead”? The journey, Orpheus and Eurydice, Odysseus, Sysiphus, and Psyche and the Return. What lessons will we learn? How will we change? Listen! Hark! Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change.</span></span></p><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">#Paleontologist, #paleontology, #SantaCruz, #Monterey, #santacruzcounty, #mitigation, #mitigationpaleontology, #pacificpaleontology, @pacificpaleontology, #beachfossils, #fossil, #fossilhunting, #fieldwork, #beachcombing, #santacruzmuseum, #MontereyBay, #SCMNH, #universityofcaliforniamuseumofpaleontology, #UCMP, #californiaacademyofscience, #academyofscience, #ucmpberkeley, #LACMIP, #NHMLA, #sierraclub, #Monterey, #fosssilprep, #paleo, #montereycounty, #Purisima, #PurisimaFormation, #gastropod, #myth, #legend, #journey</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div><p><br /></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-83442347598850112732023-02-27T04:57:00.007-08:002023-02-27T04:57:51.304-08:00“Boreotrophon and the Importance of Studying Coastal Erosion; Act II”<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='601' height='500' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzNGe9gxpMwo1sxhUJEjbgZILgk1ZJ5YTDRj34cAEkweLNdWwDWDXiwTxwkWoNLvipz6zS2b6KqOoYiVuRvVA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d5d997da-7fff-af45-42f6-3c61f57f3f72"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Good morning beautiful Monterey Bay! This is a 3 million year old fossil of the small marine muricid gastropod genus Boreotrophon, perhaps something close to B. vancouverensis which was first described as a new species by our colleague Shawn Wiedrick et. al. in 2019. This little fellow is known from living specimens today in the colder waters of British Columbia to Alaska. Up until the discovery of this specimen in a rockfall here in Santa Cruz 4 years ago, this species didn’t have a fossil record, if it is indeed this species. More work is necessary to reveal its taxonomic affinities. This discovery is further evidence of the great changes our Monterey Bay has seen over time, perhaps experiencing colder waters in the past, as well as highlighting the importance of conserving and studying our dynamic coastline for what it reveals about the ancient history of our area. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#Paleontologist, #paleontology, #SantaCruz, #santacruzcounty, #pacificpaleontology, @pacificpaleontology, #beachfossils, #fossil, #fossilhunting, #fieldwork, #beachcombing, #santacruzmuseum, #MontereyBay, #SCMNH, #UCMP, #californiaacademyofscience, #academyofscience, #ucmpberkeley, #LACMIP, #NHMLA, #newrecord, #newdiscovery, #gastropod, </span></p><br /><br /></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-19965129885604891362023-02-12T07:44:00.001-08:002023-02-12T07:44:09.989-08:00“THE DEVELOPMENTAL ARCHITECTURE OF SIX ARTICULATED ROCKFALLS FROM 2020 to JANUARY, 2023: RF10.20A-F”<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='642' height='535' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwZhMcV5jtwjjIEE-Y79RRI140fO1WuB6PFEXZQshmjufLl81SauxyPFDef6Xvqb8fqeCDPPEzhhmolglWj0g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: x-large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the more important pieces that I didn’t fully convey in the video is that from this and other rockfalls happening here, several hundred in all, my colleagues and I have recorded from the rock history record several dozen fossil species that indicate the potential for much warmer periods of water in Monterey Bay if you go back several million years. These species have never been known from this region in the past and, of the ones that are not extinct today, represent species with modern ranges that are much further south. More data needs to be collected and analyzed before we can make definitive conclusions, but the outlook initially is for periods of warmer water in Monterey Bay and Eustatic sea levels much higher than today by several hundreds of feet. And we are also discovering and describing new species that have never been known to science until now as well, all of which is very exciting! </span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“This is the story of six articulated rock falls in Santa Cruz, California, that I mapped over time: it all started very small with a very small rock fall back in 2020…</span></p><p><br /></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-34602872993655510932023-02-11T12:40:00.004-08:002023-02-11T12:46:14.823-08:00"Sand Dollars Under the Sea: Fossil Sand Dollar Extraction and Prep"<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='628' height='521' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzR8ddrAXH-WSWeQzL6Um1M6uVbokZ4RmtM4cafw-qWtnQZ3ZrcYjAeSP-T4FPYhQFbOgJA-rTLJFOwjeVMtA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /> <p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">This is an example of Dendraster ashleyi or Dandraster gibbsii; we believe the two are synonymous. This is one of the most common fossil sand dollars found in Santa Cruz. There are some other specimens from our area that look more closely like Dendraster excentricus but those are extremely rare, only two specimens are known, and there is another species in a different genus called Scuttellaster of the species oregonensis that are found more commonly in the south bay but these are beautiful fossils; They are all extinct species, no longer living today, and they are gorgeous to find along the beach especially in the strand line, and just very beautiful. The genus Dendraster living today out in the Bay form big colonies on the bottom of the ocean if you dive down under surface you can see them there forming a purple carpet, all nestled in the sand at about a 45-degree angle. Here's one of the living species on the left hand side and on the right is the fossil, probably ancestral to the modern one.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">#paleontologist, #paleontology, #SantaCruz #santacruzcounty #pacificpaleontology </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Pacific Paleontology #FossilFriday #beachfossils #fossils #fossilhunting </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">#fieldworkresearch #beachcombing #santacruzmuseum #montereybay </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">#scmnh #universityofcaliforniamuseumofpaleontology #ucmp </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">#californiaacademyofsciences #academyofsciences #ucmpberkeley </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">#lacmip #nhmla #fosssilprep #paleo #purisima #PurisimaFormation #sanddollar </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">#fosssilprep #paleo #purisima</span></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-53132360359285548682023-01-30T10:20:00.005-08:002023-01-30T10:20:44.951-08:00<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3-fv3l2zOXlSIBxNESVFcy__WWa1jUALV55vih37bgNb46qAQwVXWRs35gwuxHG_404VOpBHL2C9jFPluRgQpsl4kxRldsTVkS0H7UdgiGVIBA7gxdxyCNiJdA0OttwkcV6bVAMz2U2Aea7rIjl0ndSLiZuNSS7w7kUyL4RqzwFg_TTn0-vSqiUeLA/s4032/IMG_1848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3-fv3l2zOXlSIBxNESVFcy__WWa1jUALV55vih37bgNb46qAQwVXWRs35gwuxHG_404VOpBHL2C9jFPluRgQpsl4kxRldsTVkS0H7UdgiGVIBA7gxdxyCNiJdA0OttwkcV6bVAMz2U2Aea7rIjl0ndSLiZuNSS7w7kUyL4RqzwFg_TTn0-vSqiUeLA/s320/IMG_1848.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPSEypzyTu-IAwq2ZxeI8JVDzlrAuSg-AsFiSkEDxeGL2mx3282exDBCeh_dhslYh_eNG5pWKI28IrplMOgSwLe2Xw2EDoT6qPLNxB95NUaVVwbq_QBTUWTTGJ_f8Y8mFQY_CoUeNgpmAdJUKPxSwsp76WWFANMBfQJ8SzgKIj0tgXJJZOjU17bTiFBw/s4032/IMG_1849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPSEypzyTu-IAwq2ZxeI8JVDzlrAuSg-AsFiSkEDxeGL2mx3282exDBCeh_dhslYh_eNG5pWKI28IrplMOgSwLe2Xw2EDoT6qPLNxB95NUaVVwbq_QBTUWTTGJ_f8Y8mFQY_CoUeNgpmAdJUKPxSwsp76WWFANMBfQJ8SzgKIj0tgXJJZOjU17bTiFBw/s320/IMG_1849.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1JvS7im8q_V56zLGkBqeH_Fam4aLZaux6EeqVEauJun3wiwq-KtxjczwJhvsZukXXjrqVWfxk2TLRx2AQwdOyA7Fv1famp7Hijik2NIjQJkc1MVJP5NI62wdQeE89BArKHAA_yQVlWh-gbHds9OKQSWYaAhYLwsV44hjDJhWVgssZqXniqfe1Kbsig/s917/IMG_4777.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two gorgeous new microfossil cabinets in support of our study documenting the plankton changes (specifically benthic foraminifers) in Monterey Bay over the past 6my. These are perfect for storing & organizing the growing collection! Thanks out to </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv x1qq9wsj xo1l8bm" href="https://www.facebook.com/marie.alyse.5?__cft__[0]=AZXJiz5jqzzIWUeALH7_hqMmSTsDNuJFyhD0raR8PNAk5WtoXxcDn7L-N2U48CiVRXlIwnynCqwpACObKlej9SGaO43tR5FEffPMV3VGsN54s51JU9wmqjqZIrGWgidNu-FEvoRUumLJ7-Xz_9loe3Ntq3hyum1MxfXF62uLuvVkt8Inf9CPQg5BoDlRLaob2zs&__tn__=-]K-R" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0"><span class="xt0psk2" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">Marie Alyse</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for providing these amazing cabinets perfectly suited to the job!!</span></span></div><br /><p></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-38145696826231210002022-12-17T10:24:00.005-08:002022-12-17T10:24:38.744-08:00“Giant Rockfall”<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='615' height='511' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxF9m0OnAm9BoiwyjrfwR-VVKFwhRKa91Y-gf2M6nhl_9rlCiIyrIFuEdT-PsszdtGlFu7MZJhRCjhVs2J-0A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">https://youtu.be/iJFcIhAAy8I</span> </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Here is a rockfall from 2021 that is a part of my Rockfall Dynamics study site that reveals numerous storm events along with the fossilized creatures that are associated with them. I have been studying and documenting these rockfalls now for several decades and have identified a number of causal factors and numerous patterns and processes involving the coastal geology of this area of Monterey Bay. This study is revealing several never-before documented geological processes involved with coastal rockfall dynamics in active continental margins. In a couple of cases I have been able to reinforce my understanding by accurately predicting events and I hope to be able to eventually make novel non-invasive mitigation recommendations once I have enough longitudinal data. </span></span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-6136856d-7fff-bcc5-20cd-92fcc4e25f93"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#Paleontologist, #paleontology, #SantaCruz, #Monterey, #santacruzcounty, #mitigation, #mitigationpaleontology, #pacificpaleontology, @pacificpaleontology, #beachfossils, #fossil, #fossilhunting, #fieldwork, #beachcombing, #santacruzmuseum, #MontereyBay, #SCMNH, #universityofcaliforniamuseumofpaleontology, #UCMP, #californiaacademyofscience, #academyofscience, #ucmpberkeley, #LACMIP, #NHMLA, #Rockfalls, #Coastalerosion, #Dynamiccoast, #Landslide, #Stratigraphy, #GeologicalProcesses, #Geology,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#FossilFriday. </span></span></span><p></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-79423688971728051432022-12-06T11:20:00.003-08:002022-12-06T11:20:18.825-08:0030 seconds of relaxation with Chacky<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='574' height='477' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy0_ZY-LDjIofi7YfCvSGSEJ37Y47qyOt84GYhvYkKGjrrzgvLGsIKsOGC4jUK2jAuS6OzfZ-b2Q-_MOVULXQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><span id="docs-internal-guid-56475d2f-7fff-b2a3-5db9-1d48ccda1389"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 seconds of relaxation with Chacky</span></span> <p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-63663700708203037252022-11-15T07:25:00.004-08:002022-11-15T07:25:56.109-08:00 “Pacific Paleontology Recognized by the California Small Business Develpment Center, SBDC”<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='587' height='488' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyvfZyDcxN-ebKLggUuvAlvuPnZNv4kTVapfezvYQkV7oE8yr6-Swz7KMl9gUCV0LfNVDBxqTkABTzfqUyJSg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-409d1fa1-7fff-8945-b889-bb9203e34e74"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://calcoastalsbdc.com/success-stories/pacific-paleontology-papa" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://calcoastalsbdc.com/success-stories/pacific-paleontology-papa</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">I am pleased to announce that Pacific Paleontology has been chosen to be featured by the California Small Business Development Center as a Developing Success Story! I could not be more pleased by this recognition for all our hard work that we have been doing over the past year! The CalCoastalSBDC, the central California arm of the statewide organization, has been instrumental in our successes so far, in addition to helping our firm successfully acquire a $5,000.00 startup grant from the state! With these funds we have been able to purchase much-needed equipment to fill important gaps in our collecting, prepping, and archiving abilities as well as onboard essential business insurance. Here you can see some of the field and lab equipment used to extract and prepare the fossils. Large new acquisitions from the British firm Zoic for our “Velociraptor” and “TRex” laboratory air scribes and from Eastwing and Zog for our field hand tools. And of course big shoutouts to @Austin Hendy, @Charles L Powell, @Bobby Boessenecker, #lacmip, #santacruzmuseum, #ucmp, the #californiaacademyofsciences, and so many others for their ongoing instrumental support.</span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#Paleontologist, #paleontology, #SantaCruz, #Monterey, #santacruzcounty, #mitigation, #mitigationpaleontology, #pacificpaleontology, @pacificpaleontology, #fossil, #fossilhunting, #fieldwork, #santacruzmuseum, #MontereyBay, #SCMNH, #universityofcaliforniamuseumofpaleontology, #UCMP, #californiaacademyofscience, #academyofscience, #ucmpberkeley, #LACMIP, #NHMLA, #Monterey, #fosssilprep, #paleo, #montereycounty, #fossil, #Constructionsite, #fossilhunting,</span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-6864930483270467282022-11-01T06:47:00.002-07:002022-11-01T06:48:58.758-07:00“PALEO PUPS; THE OUTCROP DOGS”<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='594' height='494' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwhnTDZNsS8-9qopkYouoEtb7BRv2fYvUvRWnAL5dLMXldIqoQuGWlvXo2dRfXRwxMbymueAoZtNgFcJUpE6Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibwm3m57OG0zO20jcFEx59btI7IFo0Frp6EJkFbAzdU61_huIS5X0aLQFYt2j8Outb4dlB4-RjFYg0NzXBk813ptZehnuHidSEWQhz0SL80GVaLzDHzyRs8Spnegu5nfFaBfrh1JBBfwnl/s964/0.+Portrait+of+Mary+Anning+with+her+dog+Tray+and+the+Golden+Cap+outcrop+in+the+background%252C+Natural+History+Museum%252C+London.+This+painting+was+owned+by+her+brother+Joseph%252C+and+presented+to+the+museum+in+1935+by+Miss+Annette+Anning.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="784" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibwm3m57OG0zO20jcFEx59btI7IFo0Frp6EJkFbAzdU61_huIS5X0aLQFYt2j8Outb4dlB4-RjFYg0NzXBk813ptZehnuHidSEWQhz0SL80GVaLzDHzyRs8Spnegu5nfFaBfrh1JBBfwnl/w520-h640/0.+Portrait+of+Mary+Anning+with+her+dog+Tray+and+the+Golden+Cap+outcrop+in+the+background%252C+Natural+History+Museum%252C+London.+This+painting+was+owned+by+her+brother+Joseph%252C+and+presented+to+the+museum+in+1935+by+Miss+Annette+Anning.png" width="520" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh41IcDFVFhtrti-sLgHeKWDwxLXGx5T-0ibP69Gfw-uxEA46uUmbuC7Pv5lQzw5NIoWTWZT97rqQk_h6xE6jxriT-M2PCYfE89IQMaBmv2qKA1jueQiVeea-uC--UrSRpC3ZV-viodjKm7nbSTQFyzybfOY0o4P1ucM7kRf8czjJEMT2ASIg2knJt4g/s1946/0.A%20man%20who%20found%20a%20190%20million%20year%20old%20ichthyosaur%20fossil%20on%20a%20Somerset%20beach%20hopes%20it%20can%20be%20named%20after%20his%20dogs,%20if%20it%20is%20confirmed%20as%20a%20new%20species..png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1158" data-original-width="1946" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh41IcDFVFhtrti-sLgHeKWDwxLXGx5T-0ibP69Gfw-uxEA46uUmbuC7Pv5lQzw5NIoWTWZT97rqQk_h6xE6jxriT-M2PCYfE89IQMaBmv2qKA1jueQiVeea-uC--UrSRpC3ZV-viodjKm7nbSTQFyzybfOY0o4P1ucM7kRf8czjJEMT2ASIg2knJt4g/w517-h308/0.A%20man%20who%20found%20a%20190%20million%20year%20old%20ichthyosaur%20fossil%20on%20a%20Somerset%20beach%20hopes%20it%20can%20be%20named%20after%20his%20dogs,%20if%20it%20is%20confirmed%20as%20a%20new%20species..png" width="517" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzBPAN5eQ-Ssb11b0NmBUgJxfVzLdm55JI70IIuOHbw9yud77ITshGif9BfwT3wXQpnpILL0rW5AXws69o1vwlRJfIO5tSYLGiohi-spkvy2Sa3TBG1y385wALIIKGS1tSlUmopGxj2I8ybX_xf7j6vX6DFgGvi8tb-hVuSkIUVXelkAugf9HxfhW0g/s1008/0.Me%20&%20Blacky,%20Capitola%20Beach,%20Santa%20Cruz,%20January,%201980.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1008" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzBPAN5eQ-Ssb11b0NmBUgJxfVzLdm55JI70IIuOHbw9yud77ITshGif9BfwT3wXQpnpILL0rW5AXws69o1vwlRJfIO5tSYLGiohi-spkvy2Sa3TBG1y385wALIIKGS1tSlUmopGxj2I8ybX_xf7j6vX6DFgGvi8tb-hVuSkIUVXelkAugf9HxfhW0g/w515-h368/0.Me%20&%20Blacky,%20Capitola%20Beach,%20Santa%20Cruz,%20January,%201980.jpg" width="515" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ohPonULILdAatChQQe5LAojwzc9Lp-Yo9oJ6zOTgIYCx5m8NgpOMquodpfKkiDTe_z57CDmJT2vXmOxgyGE2RmpjP3UWXQPFhOeMRwrA6QZdVALAPo2hUQsmLDozXTNaeJyUP5SUang8VnxUoN1yK-T-yDTBjqKa4GnLm8VQoyCLqvJj0cz0jMOWEA/s1344/0.Mingtoy%20on%20my%20desk%20with%20typwriter,%20fossil,%20and%20journal,%201977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="944" data-original-width="1344" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ohPonULILdAatChQQe5LAojwzc9Lp-Yo9oJ6zOTgIYCx5m8NgpOMquodpfKkiDTe_z57CDmJT2vXmOxgyGE2RmpjP3UWXQPFhOeMRwrA6QZdVALAPo2hUQsmLDozXTNaeJyUP5SUang8VnxUoN1yK-T-yDTBjqKa4GnLm8VQoyCLqvJj0cz0jMOWEA/w501-h352/0.Mingtoy%20on%20my%20desk%20with%20typwriter,%20fossil,%20and%20journal,%201977.jpg" width="501" /></a></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pups and Paleo have a long long history together! Having a good dog or two along on a paleo dig makes the whole experience come alive, so to speak, and sets the tone for a wonderful time for all. Pups in paleo go back into antiquity </span><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/paleo-pets-make-fossil-hunting-less-lonely-180959749/#comment-6027347149" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">from Mary Anning in the 18</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> century to Mary Leakey in the 19</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: super;">th</span></span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Anning, one of the most famous paleontologists in all of history, would regularly take her dog Tray along with her on fossil-hunting expeditions to the English seashore in search of extinct marine reptiles and other creatures. I can only imagine that Tray was named after one of Anning’s trays of fossils! Unfortunately, Tray met his fate with a seashore rockfall, something I know won’t befall Chaco or Yoshi because of what happened 46 years earlier. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2d222f42-7fff-dab3-c529-2aea9cb2bded" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1976 fate nearly intervened and took the life of my paleo pup Blackie and I when I was 16; a rockfall came down besides us both, shaking the ground, and my nerves, to this very day and making me once cautious for the rest of my life. Mary Leakey too would regularly travel with her dalmations on her expeditions in search of the ancestors of our own human lineage. In fact, on July 17th, 1959, Mary’s dalmations were with her when they discovered the famous Zinj, later scientifically named as </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Paranthropus boisei.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More recently, Jon Gopsill and his trusted paleo pups Poppy and Sam were on Stolford beach, England, around Christmas time when the pups </span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-51031114" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">discovered a nearly complete 190 million year old ichthyosaur skeleton!</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> And today, on most every paleo dig except contract gigs on construction sites, one can expect to see these two </span><a href="https://youtu.be/8RWaKO6qvcc" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">digging-est dogs</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Chaco and Yoshi, onsite helping PaPa with sniffing out bones and other fossils, digging, deterring poachers (or attracting them as the case may be), and general paleontological support. In addition to being my paleo pup support crew, they can mostly be found chasing each other, slobbering, pooping, eating sea weed, chewing driftwood, exploring, swimming in the ocean and chasing other dogs to play.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Included here in memoriam; The Blarb or Palo, our yellow lab, and Blackie, my black lab who were faithful paleo pups of ages gone by. Also let’s not forget our supportive paleo cats; my cat Singkoo shown here on my paleo desk in 1975 along with my fossil ledger and old Royal report typewriter.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/paleo-pets-make-fossil-hunting-less-lonely-180959749/#comment-6027347149" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/paleo-pets-make-fossil-hunting-less-lonely-180959749/#comment-6027347149</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-51031114" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-51031114</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://youtu.be/8RWaKO6qvcc" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://youtu.be/8RWaKO6qvcc</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">#paleopups, #Paleontologist, #paleontology, #SantaCruz, #Monterey, #santacruzcounty, #mitigation, #mitigationpaleontology, #pacificpaleontology, @pacificpaleontology, #beachfossils, #fossil, #fossilhunting, #fieldwork, #beachcombing, #santacruzmuseum, #MontereyBay, #SCMNH, </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-54264628612006882802022-10-24T07:12:00.000-07:002022-10-24T07:12:21.745-07:00<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpijhYYkAol2QccMYWPASLcCHHiWjGT6jwrykjyYoh5aGaozHPkf9fCBOcTc-y9z1Gx-8PhWr9HFES7ketpdnke32T_Cx_drvS9gX6TvzsXospgNfJjBFHaJTAkwhFr1lHSwriij4uCiTen3iiZAblH7JISGVj3tq8qhvYuweBj66YN2jgUMG181AhZw/s4000/PaPa.5,%20IMG_2857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2226" data-original-width="4000" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpijhYYkAol2QccMYWPASLcCHHiWjGT6jwrykjyYoh5aGaozHPkf9fCBOcTc-y9z1Gx-8PhWr9HFES7ketpdnke32T_Cx_drvS9gX6TvzsXospgNfJjBFHaJTAkwhFr1lHSwriij4uCiTen3iiZAblH7JISGVj3tq8qhvYuweBj66YN2jgUMG181AhZw/w640-h356/PaPa.5,%20IMG_2857.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“And… That’s a Wrap”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">We are wrapping up our first paleontological mitigation contract here in my hometown of Scotts Valley and we took this opportunity for a promotional marketing photoshoot over the weekend for our new business website. Pacific Paleontology was hired to monitor a small subdivision construction project here that involved digging down into the Santa Margarita Formation layer of rock, which is about 10-12 million years old. This is a rock layer that is common in our area, is one that I have been studying here for the past four decades, and have discovered many hundreds of fossils from, primarily sharks. The marine vertebrate fauna includes toothed and baleen whales, sharks, fish, rays, skates, dolphins, porpoises, sea turtles, birds, pinnipeds (eared and earless seals and primitive walruses), sirenians, and desmostylians, among others. Marine clams, snails, and other invertebrates also occur here and are highly diverse in the local region. Terrestrial vertebrates, such as camels and horses, as well as rare woody plants are also known to occur in the Santa Margarita. No fossils were uncovered during construction in the massive medium-grained unconsolidated sands that used to make up the bottom of the ocean here. Now that the grading is completed, Pacific Paleontology is tasked with producing the reports that will show compliance of the project to federal, state, and local legislation for the conservation of protected historical resources. These regulations are relatively new within the past 20 years, and our understanding of the evolutionary history of life in California and elsewhere has advanced significantly due to the recovery of fossils through these protections. As a coincidental aside, I worked closely onsite with Tracy Miller of MTM Tractor. As it turns out, Tracy and I have a history together! The last time we saw each other he was in jr. high and I was in high school and we were working together at a local restaurant in town; so we had some catching up to do! Small world!!!</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-e2dc61a3-7fff-e6fa-6ee4-1b64b796d034" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For more information on the fossils of the Santa Margarita Formation check out our video on the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History website: </span><a href="https://www.santacruzmuseum.org/naturalist-night-santa-cruz-sandhills/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.santacruzmuseum.org/naturalist-night-santa-cruz-sandhills/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#Paleontologist, #paleontology, #SantaCruz, #mitigation, #mitigationpaleontology, #pacificpaleontology, #fossil, #fossilhunting, #santacruzmuseum, #fosssilprep, #fossil, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#scottsvalley, #Miocene, #SantaMargarita, #SantaMargaritaFormation, </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-44832540185444309082022-10-22T20:47:00.002-07:002022-10-22T20:47:24.984-07:00“How Old Do You Think That Mastodon Is?”<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGQcZg-CHDpnYin29kaR-PpUS0t8jS9SwexgJ7zpMim6XTJT_PTY4Sj-isGobApii6fErmB_dYRXHtcP3c43q7RE2jreOlmPM-bd8EK9oHfX22P1RfWNqdW942fIo76_FjcJWE_43_j7q-KJFFTbR310brAguAyeSrAXSYOPkIZ0DAQNakervRY1Z2YQ/s1834/9.Screen%20Shot%202022-10-18%20at%2010.10.49%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1834" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGQcZg-CHDpnYin29kaR-PpUS0t8jS9SwexgJ7zpMim6XTJT_PTY4Sj-isGobApii6fErmB_dYRXHtcP3c43q7RE2jreOlmPM-bd8EK9oHfX22P1RfWNqdW942fIo76_FjcJWE_43_j7q-KJFFTbR310brAguAyeSrAXSYOPkIZ0DAQNakervRY1Z2YQ/w640-h360/9.Screen%20Shot%202022-10-18%20at%2010.10.49%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRW6LVPTYL0UkljNiVfVmczTdSRH57mI4VRpDClhWmhF_GD4nuHYnEnLRAKrj2FDwapUm7i1yVL7NW1Tunyx7OjULxOkiFWwlHRXLLbljXXk8rfptW1xobjIokKlqfY2IGHuZrl7mEGNmNA02AHOaEfLaSY8lTJjjWHPujDNpSJrDJxsSdKfBCuyVuw/s3984/8.IMG_1609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3984" data-original-width="2656" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRW6LVPTYL0UkljNiVfVmczTdSRH57mI4VRpDClhWmhF_GD4nuHYnEnLRAKrj2FDwapUm7i1yVL7NW1Tunyx7OjULxOkiFWwlHRXLLbljXXk8rfptW1xobjIokKlqfY2IGHuZrl7mEGNmNA02AHOaEfLaSY8lTJjjWHPujDNpSJrDJxsSdKfBCuyVuw/w426-h640/8.IMG_1609.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0Dv7XUVdKmfP02gCWf3y4js2dXTnn80mnTMfLIIPU2JqIGZsJVNDZFkvqsRzrqB9TN33FodZYbnGCh9NEQxE8y7YPeKgg5naiN4oRQQDyM7fqnivRBBtBj6Zc__nUwmQmt2mcmapmWsveM_Pt_TmmrwQYOrrSuVQ3IwZYQwlNVXFHuSt8aMOyFYMhw/s2838/1.5.Screen%20Shot%202022-10-18%20at%205.37.01%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1396" data-original-width="2838" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0Dv7XUVdKmfP02gCWf3y4js2dXTnn80mnTMfLIIPU2JqIGZsJVNDZFkvqsRzrqB9TN33FodZYbnGCh9NEQxE8y7YPeKgg5naiN4oRQQDyM7fqnivRBBtBj6Zc__nUwmQmt2mcmapmWsveM_Pt_TmmrwQYOrrSuVQ3IwZYQwlNVXFHuSt8aMOyFYMhw/w640-h314/1.5.Screen%20Shot%202022-10-18%20at%205.37.01%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-48c93552-7fff-4a81-cba4-3a9c33747df5"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am incredibly excited to announce that after 42 years since its initial discovery, the Aptos Mastodon, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mammut sp., </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on exhibit at the </span><a href="https://www.santacruzmuseum.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, will be formally getting C-14 dated in the coming weeks! Discovered in a creekbed by then-high school student </span><a href="http://www.jstantonphotography.com/-home.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">James Stanton</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, who was searching for antique bottles in the water just after the heavy storm surge of 1980, the skull has been on exhibit at the museum for the past 40 years. Fast forward to this week and the bone and plant samples, once I get them cleaned with distilled water of any attached sediment or other materials sticking to them, will be sent off to NOSAMS the </span><a href="https://www2.whoi.edu/site/nosams/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Lab</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which is a part of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution! The three samples will consist of a fragment of the bone from the inside of the mastodon’s skull, called pneumatic bone due to its looking like swiss cheese, an exterior fragment of skull bone, and a piece of carbonized wood that was discovered in contact with the bone around the skull all those years ago. Specimens need to be younger than 50,000 years before present in order for the C-14 process to work, anything older and an indeterminate age is assigned. Back in 1980, during the reconstruction of the mastodon’s skull, the two largest pieces of its skull were painstakingly reunited over a two-year period, with hundreds of fragments leftover from the process. In true museum detective story fashion, the box that all the fragments were stored in remained unaccounted for over the past 3 years, until I was contacted last week with the amazing news that the box, untouched since I packed it away 40 years ago (see pics below), had been discovered once again! The river gravels that the skull was preserved in, an incredibly rare process, have never been absolutely dated, only relatively dated. What this means is that we might be able to assign an exact age to the mastodon and river sediments, if they are younger than 50,000 years old, instead of having a rough estimate of their age based on other rock layers nearby. And if the mastodon samples come back with an indeterminate age, that is also important information, for then we will be able to say that the sediments, and the mastodon, are older than 50k! And for those of you who may be wondering why in the world would the inside of a mastodon’s skull look like swiss cheese, well it has to do with biomechanics. All proboscideans; mammoths, mastodons, and elephants, have pneumatic bone (see sample pic below), or skull bone with large “air pockets” in it rather than solid bone due to it being much lighter than solid skull bone and yet still strong. Think of all that weight that the proboscidean has to hold up and out; so the lighter the better! Stay tuned in the coming weeks after the tests come back to learn… the rest of the story!</span></span></p><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.santacruzmuseum.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.santacruzmuseum.org/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.jstantonphotography.com/-home.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.jstantonphotography.com/-home.html</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www2.whoi.edu/site/nosams/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www2.whoi.edu/site/nosams/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#Paleontologist, #paleontology, #SantaCruz, #Monterey, #santacruzcounty, #mitigation, #mitigationpaleontology, #pacificpaleontology, @pacificpaleontology, #fossil, #fossilhunting, #fieldwork, #santacruzmuseum, #MontereyBay, #SCMNH, #universityofcaliforniamuseumofpaleontology, #UCMP, #californiaacademyofscience, #academyofscience, #ucmpberkeley, #fosssilprep, #paleo, #fossil, #fossilhunting, #Research, #fossilpreservation, #vertpaleo, #museumcuration, #collectionsmanagement, #fossilcollection, #fossilcollector, #fossilconservation, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#santacruz, #Mastodon, #Proboscidean, #C-14dating, #Holocene, </span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div><p><br /></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-32376004688991603222022-10-14T07:09:00.005-07:002022-10-14T07:09:54.255-07:00“National Fossil Day”<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZ0e8FFEIeKiQZnGkTdjxVZTpnq27vbhOELWLI_qzpZky24d3_uyjuEKCzRRT-huiWwLK2FOYZKBgorpZaBm6JSdZTEYTBtEF96dI_QTZNhX-RHrro9zMxx0aEVVtF_C0jWP9_hD_QstByWcpcMXyRl4TlBHjLwFSknxJZDwQFMSl9HG5VWrhODjhPw/s4032/image_6487327%20(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZ0e8FFEIeKiQZnGkTdjxVZTpnq27vbhOELWLI_qzpZky24d3_uyjuEKCzRRT-huiWwLK2FOYZKBgorpZaBm6JSdZTEYTBtEF96dI_QTZNhX-RHrro9zMxx0aEVVtF_C0jWP9_hD_QstByWcpcMXyRl4TlBHjLwFSknxJZDwQFMSl9HG5VWrhODjhPw/w640-h360/image_6487327%20(1).JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHgdAqfrSLV_Enj56IZGNj-HlHQqRFV42TgXvsPtHiyt2QkB-HXJsMx60UvNPCR8ZxEOwOD253M9U4KuYpc3-1hymwmEDISPvPEWyz7ZIwkd6m1k8O2-kGz-dwkhmnv0k3w3OhJ2SVrValsSsDhhH0eo0XUuRJtYIn1mCeIyr0yTUC1vZy067B8vBlwA/s2000/NFD_2022_Badge.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1485" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHgdAqfrSLV_Enj56IZGNj-HlHQqRFV42TgXvsPtHiyt2QkB-HXJsMx60UvNPCR8ZxEOwOD253M9U4KuYpc3-1hymwmEDISPvPEWyz7ZIwkd6m1k8O2-kGz-dwkhmnv0k3w3OhJ2SVrValsSsDhhH0eo0XUuRJtYIn1mCeIyr0yTUC1vZy067B8vBlwA/w477-h640/NFD_2022_Badge.jpeg" width="477" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUBEG4svUeQlP-yLdyBSaVBA0WGI57bBM5EeZx7VaP--j86sF_TEp15AHhZFJSfrGQ6fI6TOePvWwsHG9tOu3M1jtax04pJo6mdg19GcdvPXSQhROhjhqGBiHkycbjVdieYEfYZ9zipjQRsunRkfwVFnJ2r9tMzz0H_UbGdr1AT8WMAcZQhR2O0LeuVA/s4032/image_6487327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUBEG4svUeQlP-yLdyBSaVBA0WGI57bBM5EeZx7VaP--j86sF_TEp15AHhZFJSfrGQ6fI6TOePvWwsHG9tOu3M1jtax04pJo6mdg19GcdvPXSQhROhjhqGBiHkycbjVdieYEfYZ9zipjQRsunRkfwVFnJ2r9tMzz0H_UbGdr1AT8WMAcZQhR2O0LeuVA/w640-h360/image_6487327.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwC9o_UO2ALCK_PCrDUezX7iCZ4HBfnk4VCUu-pLQECFrGu2XDHh7jbapVMm-lEQJ17rhDscg-5uODXAPXXXIw6xqtu9tV5eR1J93XMp0S6lFmCCLaYZ9IF9X5HhqM97G0QktMm82lUf68j9WEk87KXTTi8-PBi-CpakoXOnPQIiODSSyOH8mhPg-U7Q/s4032/image_6487327%20(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwC9o_UO2ALCK_PCrDUezX7iCZ4HBfnk4VCUu-pLQECFrGu2XDHh7jbapVMm-lEQJ17rhDscg-5uODXAPXXXIw6xqtu9tV5eR1J93XMp0S6lFmCCLaYZ9IF9X5HhqM97G0QktMm82lUf68j9WEk87KXTTi8-PBi-CpakoXOnPQIiODSSyOH8mhPg-U7Q/w640-h360/image_6487327%20(3).JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkpNrajiaRgBLXEgc4drJuf5w8bKNL40vOU-lSeYxY3sIh5GMLXQ0JjSm5eEDVeib-v6HHqkAhY_3TpZ7WCXbGhbaT5IKxVNVXVtlJAW1NzJD126u9FxQIF2dW2oj6bgGbFn1V4IWMb0ovn4lZ7yBClOO6zUagRSug2qtk_mNRpVaClBQZzitfhsys_A/s4032/image_6487327%20(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkpNrajiaRgBLXEgc4drJuf5w8bKNL40vOU-lSeYxY3sIh5GMLXQ0JjSm5eEDVeib-v6HHqkAhY_3TpZ7WCXbGhbaT5IKxVNVXVtlJAW1NzJD126u9FxQIF2dW2oj6bgGbFn1V4IWMb0ovn4lZ7yBClOO6zUagRSug2qtk_mNRpVaClBQZzitfhsys_A/w640-h360/image_6487327%20(2).JPG" width="640" /></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">I could choose from among a wide range of amazing fossils to share for National Fossil Day and for this year there was no question which fossil I wanted to share and celebrate for its meaning. As I transition from many years in k-16 public science classrooms to many more years in business with Pacific Paleontology outside in the rock layers interacting with the fossils I love, I reflect back on the moments with my students. These moments all weld meaning onto my life, and mold who I have become with the unknowing direction my students have gifted to me. The gratitude this student expresses is beyond doubt a mutual one. This sincere fossil specimen-gift sums up the incredible joy and privilege I have had in being a science teacher so well and the beauty of the rock, the ink, the physical distance the specimen has traveled to get here, and the obvious love that my student had for this fossil. It is such a great symbol for me of the mutual gratitude that students and teachers share together in the learning process and it holds a place on my desk where I work daily as a reminder of my timeless purpose in life, beyond science, beyond fossils, teaching, and business. BTW the town of Solnhofen, Germany, is one of the most famous fossil sites in all of paleontology, home to the Solnhofen Limestone Formation, where one of the evolutionarily first fossil birds, Archaeopteryx, was first discovered. More info in the link below...</span></span></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-819dbf22-7fff-cba1-9f7e-a822cf275a6e"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/mesozoic/jurassic/solnhofen.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/mesozoic/jurassic/solnhofen.html</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-74564755419680157312022-10-14T06:15:00.004-07:002022-10-24T07:13:16.649-07:00“Rock Removal is About to Get a Lot Easier!”<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='573' height='477' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwhZvKWZcH2Xy4e7-Xql1_yXjVwxki_VfbsQxjCMB_1ozKWtBWQfKX4y5sOhwLFEJ-2T_wfbYdQHl-emrAdwA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9565a603-7fff-f25d-cce8-c8c3ed340732"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When a fossil is found in the rock, paleontologists don’t actually just dig the fossil itself out of the rock but they remove it along with a block of the surrounding rock, called matrix, to later be prepared further in the lab. Like this 4 million year old ?Macoma sp. clam you see here, the matrix needs to be carefully cut back or completely removed, depending upon the fragility of the fossil. Here you see traditional hand pick removal of the matrix, which fine-tunes the block for later compact storage in a public museum! That method is about to be augmented with pneumatic help.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With our new small business development grant I’ll be purchasing two new air scribes; the “Velociraptor Mark II” and the “T. rex” from Zoic Palaeotech. I’ve wanted air scribes for quite awhile, but have never been able to afford them for prep work until now! Looking forward to upping my prep game now that my business is off the ground.</span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">zoicpaleotech.com/</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-39040908945425471622022-10-10T06:55:00.002-07:002022-10-10T06:55:16.613-07:00“A Good Week for Business, and More”<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQAeDfl2PDJAwa4fJm8naBfX0UD9f90bR7vMetoiJTqe5oBcthG3xOCMD5ovsgilbsneuaK7mzVMkIa_zxUgvgjBWyf0XT58d5mA-L40zhsrJ1xojxjAqHFiI_j09V9W5JLv_bh9KoBwXfvYiEQ4GP1Q-tOMnchnnYoBW39jxnPPRWxl97aWdmVwIbsA/s1187/Sharktooth%20Hill%20Bonebed,%20LACM.1%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="777" data-original-width="1187" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQAeDfl2PDJAwa4fJm8naBfX0UD9f90bR7vMetoiJTqe5oBcthG3xOCMD5ovsgilbsneuaK7mzVMkIa_zxUgvgjBWyf0XT58d5mA-L40zhsrJ1xojxjAqHFiI_j09V9W5JLv_bh9KoBwXfvYiEQ4GP1Q-tOMnchnnYoBW39jxnPPRWxl97aWdmVwIbsA/w568-h371/Sharktooth%20Hill%20Bonebed,%20LACM.1%20copy.jpg" width="568" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSOV8dYcys7MeH24mf5M-bUmiseHmrwPgUmDZUE36AOtbXtX0e12os9qox4vHcOuhMikZw8c-HHEIjuQwCKQ1HG8xvU5EDDX-kncMFDOOllI_n-Yeu_bZmuQRqoHgASN-K8dnj30OoogtFeOE466YhUUMIOCKAhwsj38SPi4xQgeOZGWb_EoSBV1TwOQ/s2176/PaPa%20Mammut%20Hunter;%20low%20res%20Screen%20Shot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1470" data-original-width="2176" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSOV8dYcys7MeH24mf5M-bUmiseHmrwPgUmDZUE36AOtbXtX0e12os9qox4vHcOuhMikZw8c-HHEIjuQwCKQ1HG8xvU5EDDX-kncMFDOOllI_n-Yeu_bZmuQRqoHgASN-K8dnj30OoogtFeOE466YhUUMIOCKAhwsj38SPi4xQgeOZGWb_EoSBV1TwOQ/w582-h393/PaPa%20Mammut%20Hunter;%20low%20res%20Screen%20Shot.png" width="582" /></a></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">I am pleased to announce that “Pacific Paleontology”, our new paleontological mitigation venture, has been chosen to receive a $5000.00 U.S. Small Business Administration Dream Fund Grant! The grant will be used to buy essential equipment that is needed to effectively preserve and archive fossil discoveries made at local construction sites here in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties! </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">And on a related note, Pacific Paleontology received its first contract this week to monitor a small subdivision project right here in Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz County! The site is literally right around the corner from our house and will be excavating down into the very same layer of rock that got me involved in paleontology all those decades ago as a boy roaming the hills around my home; the Santa Margarita Formation. This layer of unconsolidated sands and gravels is widespread throughout central and southern California and hosts an extremely rich and well-known Miocene (12-15mya) marine fauna. I am looking forward to pinning that first dollar bill in my prep lab very soon! </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">And in other related news I have been invited to the Digitization Academy with iDigBio as the Paleontological Collections Advisor for the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. There is a big push today in natural history museums to make their collections available digitally on the web for the wider scientific community to access. My classmates come from institutions in a global community; Africa, South America, Europe, etc., who are making natural history collections available worldwide. So researchers from anywhere in the world who would like to study the fossils in our museum’s collections can login to see photos and other data on the specimens representing the evolutionary history of life in the Monterey Bay! It really is phenomenally exciting to be a part of helping to make that piece happen for our museum and our community. Super exciting!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://calosba.ca.gov/funding-grants-incentives/california-dream-fund-program/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://calosba.ca.gov/funding-grants-incentives/california-dream-fund-program/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://research.nhm.org/ip/santa-margarita-formation/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">https://research.nhm.org/ip/santa-margarita-formation/</span></span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.idigbio.org/content/introduction-biodiversity-specimen-digitization-2" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">https://www.idigbio.org/content/introduction-biodiversity-specimen-digitization-2</span></span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.scottsvalley.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">https://www.scottsvalley.org/</span></span></a></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-bb73bc35-7fff-b598-5b51-316fc0fb4e9f"></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">#CaliforniaDreamFund, #SantaCruzMuseumOfNaturalHistory, #SCMNH, #Collections, #PaleontologyCollections, #Museum, #SpecimenDigitization, #NaturalHistoryCollections, #iDigBio, #Paleontologist, #paleontology, #SantaCruz, #Monterey, #santacruzcounty, #mitigation, #mitigationpaleontology, #pacificpaleontology, @pacificpaleontology,</span></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-545329376145828242022-09-16T04:53:00.007-07:002022-09-16T04:53:59.205-07:00 “The Megalodons of Calakmul” <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='619' height='515' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx8AN2pNSOsrgr2MxKSpQVndJYsrHb5LVEswDcZKjrvLqBt3M1Swm3UhzX33dJVOcIq8hNlonucidpr1SRfqQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This Megalodon jaw reconstruction here, very well-done by the way, as well as a host of other well-reconstructed extinct species discovered from the area, including this Gomphotherium, are to be found at the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Museo de Naturaleza y Arqueologia de Calakmul, Calakmul, Campeche, MX. Susan and I literally stumbled upon this extremely well-done little museum in the middle of the Mayan jungle isolated from any other towns on our honeymoon ten years ago. Calakmul, a biosphere reserve now, is the name of the newly discovered ancient Mayan city that once existed here. It would have been about 7.7 square miles in area with 6,250 structures discovered so far! The base of the great pyramid covers almost 5 acres, making it the largest Mayan construction in existence and while we were there it was actively being explored by researchers! It is a </span><a href="https://www.worldheritagesite.org/list/Calakmul" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">UNESCO World Heritage Site</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and you can </span><a href="https://natpacker.com/destination/calakmul-biosphere-reserve/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">read more here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for a good general introduction to this incredible recent archeological discovery.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.worldheritagesite.org/list/Calakmul" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.worldheritagesite.org/list/Calakmul</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><a href="https://natpacker.com/destination/calakmul-biosphere-reserve/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://natpacker.com/destination/calakmul-biosphere-reserve/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-63430277866104661182022-09-09T06:45:00.008-07:002022-10-14T06:20:22.798-07:00The Lost World: A Boyhood Home in Scotts Valley, CA<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='601' height='501' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz-knGBp26SwdFRXGPL16Zdh3Uzp6HXBZo8fo_P9Q06PNKnwWZRzVuCCpfxVRMTDDm8Wzr--HJRGpnaa_JJOg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A peek inside at my upcoming book by the same title, volume on adds to the experience. </span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My family and I built an amusement park named “The Lost World” in Scotts Valley, CA. My father, Larry Thompson, mother Peggy, and grandparents William and Florence Thompson, helped design and build the park around Axel Erlandson's "Tree Circus", a completely unique grove of grafted trees. In Scotts Valley, my father met Axel, originally a bean farmer from Turlock, CA, who had moved himself and his trees to the town several years before. Then in his 70's, Axel wanted to sell the trees and my dad purchased them to continue Axel’s legacy. My dad tended to the trees, making upgrades to the pathways and added a creek and waterfall, while Axel relaxed and watched the Lost World park grow up around his creations. Because the new Hwy 17 bypass skirted around Scotts Valley Dr. shortly after we purchased the trees, our main avenue of customer traffic was cut off. My dad needed a way to attract visitors back to the growing park. Being influenced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original film “The Lost World” (1925) he then created "Dinosaur Land", where dozens of huge life-size animatronic dinosaurs lived and could be seen from the new freeway, attracting visitors from San Jose going to the Boardwalk back around to our park. My dad died when I was 5, and only a year after opening his park, in 1965. I then grew up, until I went away to college, in Axel Erlandson's "Castle" that he built in the park (seen in the photos) amongst the incredible forest of grafted trees and families of life-sized dinosaurs. When I became old enough, I tended the trees and the dinosaurs too. Not surprisingly, I became a paleontologist and a science teacher, now recently retired from teaching and creating a paleontology business of my own: “Pacific Paleontology” here in Santa Cruz and Monterey. I have been writing a book on the history of our Lost World amusement park and Axel Erlandson’s Tree Circus and would welcome anyone sharing memories, photos, videos etc. to wthompsonctems@gmail.com or just txt to 831-535-8545.</span></span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-68b23fed-7fff-7a28-57d5-3eddb851459e"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #030303; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/LostWorldPark/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.facebook.com/groups/LostWorldPark/</span></a></p><br /></span>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-13218449657931270362022-08-30T05:26:00.012-07:002022-08-30T11:03:29.440-07:00Patterns & Processes in Rockfall Dynamics from 1977-2022<p><span style="color: #990000;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_UybvF4bFNgmgcLNqF4a05xLYijJ85t8xr3mGhGUEt_vkB7gEV430z5O3MZ0Cr2UKhI4deMIzDNgI5zIGVk15YUp-5tajEelPHSY1hjZBY0BA49xoRMezvGYgouG6oetk9OrZ77ZUXMHBeys1Jvhhksde6Lud5grUFGPc4MDKmF91rwDRDNEgVGFdw/s1284/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-29%20at%208.59.29%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img alt="The author in about 1977. My dog Blackie in the foreground for scale." border="0" data-original-height="1284" data-original-width="906" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_UybvF4bFNgmgcLNqF4a05xLYijJ85t8xr3mGhGUEt_vkB7gEV430z5O3MZ0Cr2UKhI4deMIzDNgI5zIGVk15YUp-5tajEelPHSY1hjZBY0BA49xoRMezvGYgouG6oetk9OrZ77ZUXMHBeys1Jvhhksde6Lud5grUFGPc4MDKmF91rwDRDNEgVGFdw/w452-h640/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-29%20at%208.59.29%20PM.png" title="The author in about 1977. My dog Blackie in the foreground for scale." width="452" /></span></a></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The author in about 1977. My dog Blackie in the foreground.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since 1977 when I was 17 I have been fascinated by the dynamic nature of our coast here along the Monterey Bay. I can never go down to the same shore twice; it’s in constant flux, never the same as it was the day before. One of the things that I have been tracking as a paleontologist here are the rockfalls that are continually happening as a coastal erosional process. These rockfalls are singularly amazing, not only in </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDDz3Z1qdzNXvZwi94y7lB6OEK6fK118VOBIEQy1nnGjGGToM-3FqduoX8BhsapBp21TqrYsYLtfiOYsPgSRXSe-ji_CCJD5Nj0wceNXpQOZ2Midh8JJMU0dcf0F0PbGUVH4WILazGnYVj_KaYTbmf9AXcej8w_lMrZZ7m_lL03b9vd9wNOnZDFSITxw/s1470/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-29%20at%207.46.24%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Capitola Beach looking toward New Brighton, early 1900's and 2019." border="0" data-original-height="1470" data-original-width="1128" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDDz3Z1qdzNXvZwi94y7lB6OEK6fK118VOBIEQy1nnGjGGToM-3FqduoX8BhsapBp21TqrYsYLtfiOYsPgSRXSe-ji_CCJD5Nj0wceNXpQOZ2Midh8JJMU0dcf0F0PbGUVH4WILazGnYVj_KaYTbmf9AXcej8w_lMrZZ7m_lL03b9vd9wNOnZDFSITxw/w493-h640/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-29%20at%207.46.24%20PM.png" title="Capitola Beach looking toward New Brighton, early 1900's and 2019." width="493" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"><div style="text-align: center;">Capitola Beach looking toward New Brighton, early 1900's and 2019.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">their size and scope, but in the history of our bay that they reveal. With each new fall, like turning the pages of a book, new information comes to light and a more complete picture of the history of our bay begins to form in my mind. This process is a decadal revelation; only imaginable over long periods of time, with emergent information coming to light in the longer scale that is not visible from year to year. Not year-to-</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxr322_9yERWWPv9-Cvkn8sMmbGUZSXDQ-Fwd8h43jEybJO6B5PkQvYlmwHehyR9LwDyaMYcbaMbuFId0scWsMzJD6XF374UGOkmr_a7fvrUN1Ddt0B6ZYoK2FKhLfAW1J9xEV_GzwLQN_Kd5jhsGga14NBhDL1LgW-8XlbLA_9bo_PSrtAngHFPKTBw/s1999/image5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The scale of some of these rockfalls is immense. Here is Susan for perspective." border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1999" height="437" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxr322_9yERWWPv9-Cvkn8sMmbGUZSXDQ-Fwd8h43jEybJO6B5PkQvYlmwHehyR9LwDyaMYcbaMbuFId0scWsMzJD6XF374UGOkmr_a7fvrUN1Ddt0B6ZYoK2FKhLfAW1J9xEV_GzwLQN_Kd5jhsGga14NBhDL1LgW-8XlbLA_9bo_PSrtAngHFPKTBw/w582-h437/image5.jpg" title="The scale of some of these rockfalls is immense. Here is Susan for perspective." width="582" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The scale of some of these rockfalls is immense. Here is Susan for perspective.</div><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">year; but more expansive time over 10-, 20-, 30-, and 40-years that allows one to understand geological time, Deep Time, better. With each turn of the page, new and varied creatures are revealed that were not known before and more details of the ancient physical oceanography of the California coast emerges with each new strata set that comes to the light of day. Interacting with a single place over a large expanse </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-LvLIuw3Qw-rnea56MFsdDdtkm06wKYIthv-e9gYBSJDiKyfPQkVRzj5-K7jh5yLW2fzNgEZ1MD2lcMELGlogA4TtotkRwOzkNDPaV2Z6eg9rA4La5XnswcxVF-shI1bhHSkSgO385vxJXpQjxiPoTpY93w9x_X99GmrzvNY9uNK3xXdCpN2VyjyLA/s1008/Me%20&%20Blacky,%20Capitola%20Beach,%20Santa%20Cruz,%20January,%201980.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="My dog Blackie and I taking a break from prospecting, The Point, 1980." border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1008" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-LvLIuw3Qw-rnea56MFsdDdtkm06wKYIthv-e9gYBSJDiKyfPQkVRzj5-K7jh5yLW2fzNgEZ1MD2lcMELGlogA4TtotkRwOzkNDPaV2Z6eg9rA4La5XnswcxVF-shI1bhHSkSgO385vxJXpQjxiPoTpY93w9x_X99GmrzvNY9uNK3xXdCpN2VyjyLA/w584-h418/Me%20&%20Blacky,%20Capitola%20Beach,%20Santa%20Cruz,%20January,%201980.jpg" title="My dog Blackie and I taking a break from prospecting, The Point, 1980." width="584" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">My dog Blackie and I taking a break from prospecting, The Point, 1980.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">of time such as this can engage one in processes that are not visible in the day to day. There is a larger periodicity of non-random dynamic processes that overlies a place such as this. Some of those processes present themselves to me, others may only be inferred over even larger expanses of time, not known to a single life span. I will end with a quote from one of my favorite authors, Pulitzer Prize winning Wallace Stegner </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicky9nn6X-AIVG7sW64enxN9xrS1PreaetMYEcdZr3Fqud51XbjYNcrOudfivz1FVjjM6rZU8XKg24Jy_pjn0-KPIwtXBu52YW_ffkHyjo5jKJSaMaZJ2iZl2Hf0E4lKS_557SLPRpto6mLebHfFk6SDg1vDjoUtypWVR5uCn-E4zm8GtiVTId3Mu09g/s743/image8.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Rockfall 10.20 is a series of interconnected and developmentally related rockfalls, 2020" border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="743" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicky9nn6X-AIVG7sW64enxN9xrS1PreaetMYEcdZr3Fqud51XbjYNcrOudfivz1FVjjM6rZU8XKg24Jy_pjn0-KPIwtXBu52YW_ffkHyjo5jKJSaMaZJ2iZl2Hf0E4lKS_557SLPRpto6mLebHfFk6SDg1vDjoUtypWVR5uCn-E4zm8GtiVTId3Mu09g/w606-h470/image8.png" title="Rockfall 10.20 is a series of interconnected and developmentally related rockfalls, 2020" width="606" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Rockfall 10.20 is a series of interconnected and developmentally related rockfalls, 2020.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">who has written some of my most comforting literature on the American west. I came to know Wallace, or rather his writing, through my father, who I did not really know at all in the sense of “father” since he past away when I was 5. From a longing to know who my father was, I was introduced to Wallace, since my father and Wallace <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6V4UQH4xqgDBI33iUCYDz2Yuz0qxnGK31pZc4u-GGh-O9wZYy2QQslHvd1nUUSQW9UTglbjtP7_eoXAoXZ49QxPpo0Aysdz66IiVDLXCfMFux_MtXxvCr9mnoBJ6fMik8Sg0bAIkwX8NE1HTmygBlzZ9V9CV8CTRuM34979LLitKlqzldBEiaZbYheQ/s1999/image20.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1999" data-original-width="1500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6V4UQH4xqgDBI33iUCYDz2Yuz0qxnGK31pZc4u-GGh-O9wZYy2QQslHvd1nUUSQW9UTglbjtP7_eoXAoXZ49QxPpo0Aysdz66IiVDLXCfMFux_MtXxvCr9mnoBJ6fMik8Sg0bAIkwX8NE1HTmygBlzZ9V9CV8CTRuM34979LLitKlqzldBEiaZbYheQ/w480-h640/image20.jpg" title="The author's dog Chaco, June 8, 2022." width="480" /></a></div><br />grew up in the same small Canadian town together, Eastend, in the early 1900’s. In reading the words of Stegner it allowed me to feel close to the father I never knew, and at the same time allowed me to learn an appreciation for a sense of place. This is a quote from one of Wallace’s last essays, the year before he died at age 84; from “The <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCsUeMGbSnr3zY7oQfEKbURnKGB7WZg_iVJIW8KlKakj9WrxaO3HjlZZ5gWSABdnW4TnploI3v_0_INGqS4HfQYBEP99MqRgUZJfYhe-lv3YMrDvw4XYnwemTw5E3_4Y0GieajckbsdbFAUj9PfDRnXR14VxyZUBcqSd1viFq8qBhEB9MKQybVhUKztw/s1999/image3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1999" data-original-width="1500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCsUeMGbSnr3zY7oQfEKbURnKGB7WZg_iVJIW8KlKakj9WrxaO3HjlZZ5gWSABdnW4TnploI3v_0_INGqS4HfQYBEP99MqRgUZJfYhe-lv3YMrDvw4XYnwemTw5E3_4Y0GieajckbsdbFAUj9PfDRnXR14VxyZUBcqSd1viFq8qBhEB9MKQybVhUKztw/w480-h640/image3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />Sense of Place” by Wallace Stegner. Copyright 1992 by Wallace Stegner. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc. “<span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I must believe that, at least to human perception, a place is not a place until people have been born in it, have grown up in it, lived in it, known it, died in it – have both experienced and shaped it, as individuals, families, neighborhoods, and communities, over more than one generation. Some are born in their place, some find it, some realize after long searching that the place they left is the one they have been searching for. But whatever their relation to it, it is made a place only by slow accrual, like a coral reef.</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” I hope you all have a strong sense of place, wherever that may be, however diversified, however tangible or conceptual. In this particular place on Earth I am comforted, because it recalls the work of Wallace Stegner, who in turn certainly knew my father, and by such circuitous routes I, too, can know my father.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk_YyQNKh46oU4WZBMGxJZsFbVLfbT7rZhuRGGyBT1eTW3QwV42VTC5ugaKtQy35qe8XB9Y1HfqYMCY0iFTdipVDgZR067XgV14s8K29SbtqwkV7qre9-ObuUOuY-QkRsESrTcaFtIVZZqMVpJyRLDEROGCQDJ2ZiN9XB8MynTBZA3JwltKT5BxPAsGg/s1999/image22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1999" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk_YyQNKh46oU4WZBMGxJZsFbVLfbT7rZhuRGGyBT1eTW3QwV42VTC5ugaKtQy35qe8XB9Y1HfqYMCY0iFTdipVDgZR067XgV14s8K29SbtqwkV7qre9-ObuUOuY-QkRsESrTcaFtIVZZqMVpJyRLDEROGCQDJ2ZiN9XB8MynTBZA3JwltKT5BxPAsGg/w605-h454/image22.jpg" width="605" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHuqQ6aiVZDuzh4JJZv7Q-yuoTJijIMgkFQe8BHDAUkkwGFe0VmQrWDv4YdDsShIV9kFQdfEVBxDiULKNCnKvNXYSotp1pWhc16Qon5izZHPyAUP3ZBuENyL5fFpHYna6k52Bd3q3IIukHJOTYuVooJfGHhhqYyASoQw07o9V6bRvh-ObXySD6iRPr-A/s1999/image16.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1999" height="457" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHuqQ6aiVZDuzh4JJZv7Q-yuoTJijIMgkFQe8BHDAUkkwGFe0VmQrWDv4YdDsShIV9kFQdfEVBxDiULKNCnKvNXYSotp1pWhc16Qon5izZHPyAUP3ZBuENyL5fFpHYna6k52Bd3q3IIukHJOTYuVooJfGHhhqYyASoQw07o9V6bRvh-ObXySD6iRPr-A/w609-h457/image16.jpg" width="609" /></a></div><br /></span></span><p></p></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-811ef0f8-7fff-0e39-06d5-8b869244fe94"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">#Paleontologist, #paleontology, #pacificpaleontology, @pacificpaleontology, #beachfossils, #SantaCruz, #santacruzcounty, #fossil, #fossilhunting, #fieldwork, #beachcombing, #santacruzmuseum, #MontereyBay, #SCMNH, #mitigationpaleontology, #universityofcaliforniamuseumofpaleontology, #UCMP, #californiaacademyofscience, #academyofscience, #ucmpberkeley, #LACMIP, #NHMLA, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">#sierraclub, #Monterey, #fosssilprep, #paleo, #montereycounty, #Purisima, #PurisimaFormation, #fossil, #gastropod, #Constructionsite, #fossilhunting, #collectingtechniques, #Bivalve, #Research, #Pliocene, #foundartifacts, #fossilpreservation, #invertpaleo, #vertpaleo, #taphonomy,</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">#fossilcollections, #museumcuration, #collectionsmanagement, #fossilcollection, #fossilcollector, #fossilconservation, #digitization, #onlinecollections, #Rockfalls, #Coastalerosion, #Dynamiccoast, #Landslide, #Stratigraphy, #GeologicalProcesses, #Geology, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"> #FossilFriday</span></span></p><div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div></span></span></span></div>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-5032773607868558092022-08-26T05:32:00.003-07:002022-08-29T22:40:42.004-07:00Olivella's graveyard at Pandora's Cave!<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="513" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XR2iIVzNANM" width="617" youtube-src-id="XR2iIVzNANM"></iframe></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><i style="background-color: #fff2cc;">Here is Olivella's Graveyard (now referred to the genus Callianax) at Pandora's Cave, New Brighton State Beach; the first shell bed unconformably overlying the finer sandstone layer immediately below it. One can see here bivalves such as Leukoma and Macoma, a naticid, perhaps Natica clausa, and the Nassariids Demondia californicus and Nassarius. Portions of this shell layer, which does not stretch continuously for the entire length of the section and is thus more aptly referred to as a Lag or Shell Bed or Lens, consists partly of concreted shell blobs and loosely concentrated shells in which the gastropods are preserved mostly whole and the bivalves are predominantly broken prior to burial. Olivella's Graveyard represents a moderately shallow water (27-46m) storm deposit and is one of many dozens of examples of "missing time", or unconformities, in the evolutionary record of our Monterey Bay where once-existing layers have been eroded away by storms during the Pliocene Period about 3 million years ago, never to be seen again.</i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">#Paleontologist, #paleontology, #pacificpaleontology, @pacificpaleontology, #beachfossils, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">#SantaCruz, #santacruzcounty, #fossil, #fossilhunting, #fieldwork, #beachcombing, #santacruzmuseum, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">#MontereyBay, #SCMNH, #mitigationpaleontology, #universityofcaliforniamuseumofpaleontology, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">#UCMP, #californiaacademyofscience, #academyofscience, #ucmpberkeley, #LACMIP, #NHMLA, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#sierraclub, #Monterey, #fosssilprep, #paleo, #montereycounty, #Purisima, #PurisimaFormation, #fossil, #gastropod, #Constructionsite, #fossilhunting, #collectingtechniques, #Bivalve, #Research, #Pliocene, #foundartifacts, #fossilpreservation, #invertpaleo, #vertpaleo, #taphonomy,</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> #FossilFriday</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-41257006869591704502022-08-25T22:13:00.004-07:002022-08-25T22:16:55.406-07:00Life's Perfect Circle...<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPh_baS5xD1WZQXR2gxEX8H2voyUpdDIYiTJjscyvdIn4Zx0oPgQnj-ZIZOA-sDB9LE9T40nqxBAbOmy_cQgJt2R2V9lWy_kKy-veyiar2bqp6N5jVlMWgO3p8wsfThmgWAf__J2uWU554ZVtyZ3P6bN4ygItchLbb3W4eqHFOHrsS-b-W9gZoq_xebA/s1185/SCMNH%20Mastodon%20Skull,%20Santa%20Cruz%20Museum,%20circa%201980.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="1185" height="405" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPh_baS5xD1WZQXR2gxEX8H2voyUpdDIYiTJjscyvdIn4Zx0oPgQnj-ZIZOA-sDB9LE9T40nqxBAbOmy_cQgJt2R2V9lWy_kKy-veyiar2bqp6N5jVlMWgO3p8wsfThmgWAf__J2uWU554ZVtyZ3P6bN4ygItchLbb3W4eqHFOHrsS-b-W9gZoq_xebA/w621-h405/SCMNH%20Mastodon%20Skull,%20Santa%20Cruz%20Museum,%20circa%201980.jpg" width="621" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><i>I am happy to share that I’m adding a new position as Paleontology Collections Advisor at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History to my schedule! I officially began my career as a paleontologist with the museum 46 years ago now, in 1976 when I was 16. It brings me unparalleled joy to now be working with the museum once again, completing my life's circle with the original institution that I began with all those years ago. <a class="en67trww rrjlc0n4 ezidihy3" href="https://www.santacruzmuseum.org/">https://www.santacruzmuseum.org/</a></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#Paleontologist</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#paleontology</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#pacificpaleontology</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#beachfossils</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#SantaCruz</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#santacruzcounty</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#fossil</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#museum</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#fossilhunting</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#fieldwork</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#beachcombing</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#santacruzmuseum</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#MontereyBay</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#SCMNH</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#digitization</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#museumcollections</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#fosssilprep</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#paleo</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#fossil</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#Research</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#career</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#share</span> <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#foundartifacts</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#fossilpreservation</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#invertpaleo</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#vertpaleo</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#taphonomy</span>, <span class="s4swhuz0 rifmn7f6" spellcheck="false">#fossilcollections</span>, #museumcuration</span></div></span><p></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-15436375308690654152022-08-20T07:07:00.010-07:002022-08-20T07:49:32.739-07:00 “Final Extraction, How-To with Frenamya”<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='549' height='457' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw8Zuf0rq27I35Y_KpRJrmIb_zQsq2ZXnJRiEPYMWRLMsDdoL7WF-uvPJWag3-2kqxIZ2NlAPqGvjoge7bUOA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The *last* stage of fossil preparation typically ends with extracting it from the block of rock that it was removed with, shown here with a 4-5 million year old clam</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">#Paleontologist, #paleontology, #pacificpaleontology, @pacificpaleontology, #beachfossils, #SantaCruz, #santacruzcounty, #fossil, #fossilhunting, #fieldwork, #beachcombing, #santacruzmuseum, #MontereyBay, #SCMNH, #mitigationpaleontology, #universityofcaliforniamuseumofpaleontology, #UCMP, #californiaacademyofscience, #academyofscience, #ucmpberkeley, #LACMIP, #NHMLA, </span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia; font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#sierraclub, #Monterey, #fosssilprep, #paleo, #montereycounty, #Purisima, #PurisimaFormation, #fossil, #gastropod, #Constructionsite, #fossilhunting, #collectingtechniques, #Bivalve, #Research, #Pliocene, #foundartifacts, #fossilpreservation, #invertpaleo, #vertpaleo, #taphonomy,</span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia; font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> #FossilFriday</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768073043408098814.post-65590363460279837382022-08-13T19:12:00.007-07:002022-08-20T08:08:14.907-07:00New record of a previously unknown species from the Pliocene of Monterey Bay!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='496' height='412' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy4-hF0oxmrh0GSBn3fvpGf0ZLJNkco7DX37K1-JBSLxASP3okaCfCxWJV9nUFqlZkeWyQDKbd0cmuGFkXLpw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">WY890.1: Turcica brevis was described from the the Pliocene of the Central Valley but this is the first record from Monterey Bay! .</div> <p></p>Wayne Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08878747654525414540noreply@blogger.com0