Category Archives: Science

Fresh water and marine snails from 55 million years ago – #365papers – 2017 – 39

#365papers for February 8, 2017

Schmitz and Andreasson, 2001, Air humidity and lake δ18O during the latest Paleocene-earliest Eocene in France from recent and fossil fresh-water and marine gastropod δ18O, δ13C, and 87Sr/86Sr: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 113, p. 774-789.

What’s it about?

This paper describes oxygen isotope ratios from modern freshwater snails and how the values and patterns of intra-shell analyses relate to the overall climate of a region. These patterns are then compared with Paleocene-Eocene aged gastropods to get at ancient climate. Some marine snails were also studied to see how they compare with freshwater snails. Strontium was also used to help get at the amount and timing of precipitation and weathering  in a region.Continue reading “Fresh water and marine snails from 55 million years ago – #365papers – 2017 – 39”

The Effects of Fossilization on Bones – #365papers – 2017 – 37

#365papers for February 6, 2017

Keenan, Engel, Roy, and Bovenkamp-Langlois, 2015, Evaluating the consequences of diagenesis and fossilization on bioapatite lattice structure and composition: Chemical Geology, v. 413, p. 18-27.

What’s it about?

Translating the title into English explains what the paper is about:

When bones and teeth fossilize, their mineral component (bioapatite) changes its crystal shape and size as well as undergoes some chemical changes. How big of a problem is that if you are trying to use the chemistry of the fossil to understand the life and environment of the animal?Continue reading “The Effects of Fossilization on Bones – #365papers – 2017 – 37”

Uranium and Its Love of Organic Matter – #365papers – 2017 – 36

#365papers for February 5, 2017

Bone, Dynes, Cliff, and Bargar, 2017, Uranium(IV) adsorption by natural organic matter in anoxic sediments: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, v. 114, p. 711-716.

What’s it about?

This paper is about the behavior of the element uranium, specifically ‘tetravalent’ uranium, or U4+, with organic matter. How does it react and attach (adsorb)? How toxic is it? Etc.Continue reading “Uranium and Its Love of Organic Matter – #365papers – 2017 – 36”

Snail Shells, Climate, and Weather – #365papers – 2017 – 35

#365papers for February 4, 2017

Yanes, Izeta, Cattaneo, Costa, and Gordillo, 2014, Holocene (~4.5-1.7 cal. kyr BP) paleoenvironmental conditions in central Argentina inferred from entire-shell and intra-shell stable isotope composition of terrestrial gastropods: The Holocene, v. 24, p. 1193-1205.

What’s it about?

This paper discusses the use of geochemistry (specifically stable isotopes) of fossil snail shells to understand past environments. It looks especially on comparing results from whole shell analysis (grinding the whole shell up and putting it into the mass spectrometer) against serial or intra-shell analyses, where multiple samples are collected from a single shell.Continue reading “Snail Shells, Climate, and Weather – #365papers – 2017 – 35”

More Tales from Land Snails – #365papers – 2017 – 34

#365 papers for February 3, 2017

Prendergast, Stevens, Barker, and O’Connell, 2015, Oxygen isotope signatures from land snail (Helix melanostoma) shells and body fluid: Proxies for reconstructing Mediterranean and North African rainfall: Chemical Geology, v. 409, p. 87-98.

What’s it about?

This paper seeks to show that what we’ve been saying we can do with the geochemistry of snail shells (especially oxygen isotopes) can actually be done. This paper shows that there is a relationship between oxygen isotopes in rainfall and those of snail body fluids. The relationship between isotopic signatures of body fluids and shells is then shown.Continue reading “More Tales from Land Snails – #365papers – 2017 – 34”

Snails Tell Tales of Past Climate – #365papers – 2017 – 33

#365papers for February 2, 2017

Abell and Hoelzmann, 2000, Holocene palaeoclimates in northwestern Sudan: stable isotope studies on molluscs: Global and Planetary Change, v. 26, p. 1-12

What’s it about?

By measuring isotopes of carbon and oxygen from fossil snails, the authors were able to determine what the past climate in Sudan was like.Continue reading “Snails Tell Tales of Past Climate – #365papers – 2017 – 33”

Early Early Early Relatives of Both Humans and Sea Stars – #365papers – 2017 – 32

#365papers for February 1, 2017

Han, Conway Morris, Ou, Shu, and Huang, 2017, Meiofaunal deuterostomes from the basal Cambrian of Shaanxi (China): Nature.

What’s it about?

That title. What does it even mean?

As animals grow from a single fertilized egg to a newborn, they pass through a stage where they are a hollow ball of cells with one opening. Deuterostomes are animals for which this opening later becomes the anus. In everything else (called proterostomes), this opening becomes the mouth.

All animals with bones (including us) are deuterostomes, as are all members of the Phylum Echinodermata – Sea stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, sea lilies, sea cucumbers, and a bunch of fossil groups. So our closest non-bony relatives are starfish. Think about that…Continue reading “Early Early Early Relatives of Both Humans and Sea Stars – #365papers – 2017 – 32”

#365papers – How to Read Technical Papers… Quickly

I’ve now been teaching science at the college level for over ten years, and actually practicing science for… longer.

One of the challenges that budding young scientists face, as well as those students that take science classes to meet graduation requirements for non-science majors, is that it’s a huge leap from science textbooks, blog posts, and Wikipedia to reading the original scientific literature. Continue reading “#365papers – How to Read Technical Papers… Quickly”

#Science Curiosity and Political Reasoning – #365papers – 2017 – 31

#365papers for January 31, 2017

Kahan, Landrum, Carpenter, Helft and Jamieson, 2017, Science Curiosity and Political Information Processing: Advances in Political Psychology, v. 38, p. 179-199.

What’s it about?

This paper discusses how curiosity about science (general interest and the desire to learn more) in people counteracts the natural tendency for people to emphasize or ignore information that supports or refutes their political standing.

Furthermore, this paper comes up with a way to actually measure “Science curiosity” in people, a property that previous efforts thought was not real nor measurable.Continue reading “#Science Curiosity and Political Reasoning – #365papers – 2017 – 31”

Rare Earth Elements in Conodont Apatite – #365papers – 2017 – 30

#365papers for January 30, 2017

Zhang, Algeo, Cao, Zhao, Chen, and Li, 2016, Diagenetic uptake of rare earth elements by conodont apatite: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 458, p. 176-197.

What’s it about?

Rare earth elements (REEs) are heavy elements that are uncommon in bones and teeth (composed of bioapatite mineral) in the living animal, but that are often concentrated in the mineral matrix during fossilization. In the past, REEs in conodont bioapatite were thought to be a good record of the REE content of the ocean waters in which they swam.Continue reading “Rare Earth Elements in Conodont Apatite – #365papers – 2017 – 30”