©Copyright 2018 GEOSCIENCE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
11060 Campus Street • Loma Linda, California 92350 • 909-558-4548
Brachyphyllum obesum
Fossil branches and leaves of an araucarian tree from the Cretaceous of the Crato Basin, Brazil. On display at the Paleontological Museum of Santana do Cariri
Rt 131 Turbidites
UPLIFTED: Turbiditic deposit near McCoy --- Deposition is by underwater mudflows. Vertical layers are due to later uplift of hardened rock.
Cyclical bedding
Cyclical bedding with alternating beds of black shale and dolomite. Permian Irati Fm., Brazil. A thickening-upwards of the beds is distinguishable. High-frequency cycliclity is one of the many patterns can be found in the sedimentary record. Vertical face is about 3 meters high.
Fossil feather
Fossil feather from the Crato Formation, Cretaceous, Brazil. It is possible that this feather belonged to an individual of the bird species Cratoavis cearensis. Specimen on display at the Paleontological Museum of Santana do Cariri
HangingLakeTrailHeadL
PARACONFORMITY: Hanging Lake area, Glenwood Canyon --- An unconformity occurs between the lower Ordovician Manitou Formation and the upper Devonian Chaffee Group. [The Manitou Fm extends left horizontally from the lone tree on the sloping skyline ridge in the middle of the picture. The formation is about twice as thick as the tree is high. The Chaffee Group is about the same thickness and is the next higher layer with many tree growing along the top of it on the skyline.] The 25 million year-long Silurian period is missing between them, although no evidence is found here for major erosion in the lower layer.
Pterosaur
3D preservation of pterosaur bones, in articulation, is extremely rare and requires special conditions for fossilization. This example comes from a concretion within the Cretaceous Romualdo Formation, Brazil. On display at the Paleontological Museum in Santana Do Cariri
Siltation
After a flooding event, when waters are carrying much suspended sediment, the bed of a river can suffer siltation, becoming extensively covered by relatively fine-grained particles. This picture shows an example of this process from southern Nigeria.
Trail06WtoRiver
PARACONFORMITY: Whirlpool Canyon, Dinosaur N.M. --- The Mississippian Madison Limestone forms the cliff about a third of the way up the canyon walls to the right of the Green River. Below it is the Cambrian Lodore Formation. In between the Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian Periods are missing. The resulting unconformity is barely discernible although it represents a break of possibly 155 million years.
Nevados de Chillan
Basaltic rubble at the front of a lava flow with the stratovolcanoes of the Nevados de Chillan, Chile, in the background.
Araripemys barretoi
Fossilized hatchling of a Cretaceous pleurodiran turtle from the Araripe Basin, Brazil. Specimen on display at the Paleontological Museum in Santana do Cariri, few cm in size.