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Author: lneuerburg

Groundhog prepares to feast on an acorn
Feb 04 2021

Groundhog Day 2021: Anticipating a beautiful & bright spring!

Posted on February 4, 2021 by Laurie Neuerburg
Groundhog prepares to feast on an acorn
Image credit: Groundhog prepares to feast on an acorn by Ladycamera. 22 October 2011.

While there is no consensus among groundhogs this week about exactly when spring will arrive, there is the reminder that spring will come, and as Punxsutawney Phil would like us to know, “you’re looking forward to one of the most beautiful and brightest springs you’ve ever seen.” Check out the table below to see how groundhogs all over North America have faced (or not faced) their darkest shadows to bring us their prediction! Under the column “2021 Prediction,” you can find a link to an article or video of these famous whistle pigs and other prophetic creatures making their most recent forecast!

Name Location 2021 Prediction
Punxsutawney Phil Punxsutawney, PA 6 more weeks of winter
Bay Beach Bobbie Green Bay, WI Early spring
Staten Island Chuck Staten Island, NY Early spring
Holtsville Hal Long Island, NY Early spring
Malverne Mel Long Island, NY Early spring
Dunkirk Dave Dunkirk, NY Early spring
Milltown Mel Milltown, NJ Early spring
Phoebe the Hedgehog Manchester, CT 6 more weeks of winter
Buckeye Chuck Marion, OH Early spring
Woodstock Willie Woodstock, IL Early spring
Murray the Groundhog Alton, IL Took the day off?
Unadilla Bill Unadilla, NE Final prediction of early spring before retirement
Shubenacadie Sam Nova Scotia, Canada Early spring
Fred La Marmotte Val d’Espoir, Quebec, Canada Early spring
Wiarton Willie Wiarton, Ontario, Canada His prediction was replaced by a fur hat toss this year
Greta the Groundhog Chimney Rock, NC 6 more weeks of winter
Queen Charlotte Charlotte, NC 6 more weeks of winter
Sir Walter Wally Raleigh, NC Early spring
‘Stumptown Phil’ aka Filbert the beaver Portland, OR 6 more weeks of winter
Mojave Maxine the tortoise Palm Desert, CA Early spring

The 1993 film Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray is on DVD for checkout at the UI Libraries!

Posted in Biology, Environmental Sciences, EventsTagged Groundhog Day, groundhogs, whistle pigs, woodchucks
Image of Darwin inside the shape of Iowa
Jan 28 2021

Iowa City Darwin Day 2021

Posted on January 28, 2021February 2, 2021 by Laurie Neuerburg

Iowa City Darwin Day celebrates the benefits of science for humanity, and all are invited to celebrate this year by attending virtual talks by prestigious scientists! All Iowa City Darwin Day events are free and open to the public.

Erich Jarvis’ talk “Evolution of Brain Pathways for Vocal Learning and Spoken Language” will be on Friday, February 12 at 12 PM CST. Erich Jarvis is a professor and head of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language at the Rockefeller University. He uses song-learning birds and other species as models to study the molecular and genetic mechanisms that underlie vocal learning, including how humans learn spoken language. He chairs the international Vertebrate Genomes Project which studies how species are genetically related and how unique characteristics evolve. Jarvis also collaborates on a project to generate a new human pangenome reference that will represent over 90% of genetic diversity.

Dr. Jarvis is the 2002 recipient of the National Science Foundation Alan T. Waterman Award and was awarded the Director’s Pioneer Award by the National Institutes of Health in 2008. He received the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award in 2019

Charmaine Royal’s talk “Race, Genetics, and Health” followed by a panel discussion will be on Friday, February 19 at 4 PM CST.

Charmaine Royal is a 2020 Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor. She is Associate Professor of African & African American Studies, Biology, Global Health, and Family Medicine & Community Health at Duke University. She is also core faculty in the Duke Initiative for Science & Society, senior fellow in Kenan Institute for Ethics, and faculty in the Social Science Research Institute where she directs the Center on Genomics, Race, Identity, Difference and the Center for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation. Dr. Royal’s research, scholarship, and teaching focus on ethical, legal, and social issues in genetics and genomics, particularly the intersection of race and genetics and its policy implications and practical interventions.

Panelists:
UI Professor of History Mariola Espinosa
UI Visiting Professor of Law Phoebe Jean-Pierre
Dr. Brian Donovan , BSCS
Moderator: UI Associate Professor of Law Anya Prince

Race Genetics and Health. Friday February 19 4:00 PM CST

Posted in Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Events, Geosciences, Math, Physics, Research DataTagged Charmaine Royal, Erich D. Jarvis, Iowa City Darwin Day
Photo of study booths and tables
Jan 25 2021

Welcome Back, Hawkeyes!

Posted on January 25, 2021January 25, 2021 by Laurie Neuerburg

You are invited to the Sciences Library for a comfortable, quiet place to study! There are computer stations, study carrels, and booths with USB and outlets for phones and computers. If you have group work to do, there are tables and large mobile monitors to use for sharing your computer screen. The Sciences Library is located between Phillips Hall and the Biology Building on Iowa Ave. The building is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 5 PM for the Spring 2021 semester.  Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we have hygiene stations available with disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer. A face covering is required, and yellow stickers mark off seats that are to remain unoccupied. The book stacks are open so feel free to peruse the shelves!

If you need help with your research, then you can meet with a librarian in a one-on-one research consultation to help you find books and articles that you need for a paper or project. You can search InfoHawk+ to find out what the UI Libraries has that you can use online or check out & take home, which includes print books, ebooks, newspapers, journals, and magazines (both print and online), DVDs and streaming videos. You can request that the library purchase something that we don’t have, or request to borrow something that we don’t have through Interlibrary Loan. You can access all of our ebooks, electronic journal articles, streaming videos, and online resources from off-campus by logging in with your HawkID.

You can ask librarians for help about research and using the library whenever you need it through chat, email, in-person, or by phone. Have a great semester! We’re glad to have you at the Sciences Library!

Photo of computer stations Photo of study booths and tables Photo of table and white board

Posted in Astronomy, Biology, Building info, Chemistry, Databases, Environmental Sciences, Geosciences, Math, Physics, Research Data, StaffTagged hours, research help from a sciences librarian, study spaces
Image of Andromeda galaxy
Dec 14 2020

Finals Week Stress Relief Guide

Posted on December 14, 2020December 14, 2020 by Laurie Neuerburg

When you take a break from your studying, rest and recharge with online puzzles, science coloring sheets, wildlife live cams, and museum and nature virtual tours with the Sciences Library’s Finals Week Stress Relief Guide. You can put together a puzzle of the Andromeda galaxy, The Blue Marble view of Earth, a porcupine having a snack, or a peacock displaying its feathers. The science coloring sheets include Coloring Molecular Machinery: A Tour of the Protein Data Bank, Discovering Biology Through Crystallography, and images from the Biodiversity Library. Animal live cams from Explore.org, zoos, and aquariums can transport you to the sights and sounds of an African safari, a colorful, bustling coral reef, or a soothing waterfall. Immerse yourself virtually in the Badlands, the Grand Canyon, and other National Parks, or attend an online tour of the Field Museum, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, and the British Museum. If you need a laugh, you can find Bird and Moon, xkcd, and other science comics on the Stress Relief Guide!

Image of Geologic Time xkcd comic
Image credit: xkcd.com
Posted in Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Finals Week, Geosciences, Math, PhysicsTagged Finals week break, Finals week stress relief, science stress relief
Image of Thomas H Kent
Dec 08 2020

Dr. Thomas H. Kent: Library Benefactor

Posted on December 8, 2020December 11, 2020 by Laurie Neuerburg

Image of Thomas H. KentDr. Thomas H. Kent, professor emeritus of pathology at the University of Iowa, died November 21 as in-person classes at The University of Iowa came to a close for the fall 2020 term.

Dr. Kent was the youngest son of Frederick W. Kent, who played a key role in documenting life at the University of Iowa through his photography. Kent Park, the largest county park in Johnson County Iowa, was named after F.W. Kent

Dr. Kent was a man of many interests and talents. But to many in the state of Iowa and beyond he is arguably best known for his passion for birds and birding, an avocation he acquired with his father. Like his father, Dr. Kent began to wield a camera to photograph birds at a young age.  Both Dr. Kent and his father had a penchant for documenting their encounters with birds in various locales as is described in the book they co-authored, Birding In Eastern Iowa : twenty-five years of observations from Iowa City (1949-1973).

Dr. Kent founded and served on the Records Committee of the Iowa Ornithologists’ Union for 26 years, including 17 years as committee chair. He served as editor of the I.O.U. journal Iowa Bird Life from 1986 to 1989. He co-authored Iowa Birds in 1984 and Birds in Iowa in 1996, both of which describe the distribution and frequency of wild birds in the state. He was sole author of Annotated references to Iowa birds prior to 1900 updated from Bartsch (1899), and wrote over 160 articles on Iowa birds.

In 2014 Dr. Kent received the American Birding Association’s Ludlow Griscom Award for Outstanding Contributions in Regional Ornithology. ABA Board Member Carl Bendorf, who nominated Dr. Kent for this honor, noted on Dr. Kent’s passing that, “Tom’s contributions to Iowa birding can’t be overstated and he had an enormous impact on ornithology in Iowa.”

Image of Tom Kent with camera in 1949
Image from: Iowa Bird Life 66(4):125.

In 2013 the Sciences Library was the grateful recipient of a substantial portion of Dr. Kent’s collection of books on birds, which became the Kent Ornithology Collection. The collection consists of over 250 titles on birds and ornithology. Many of these books are field guides to birds in nearly all 50 states, not to mention places like Antarctica and Peru, while other titles focus on specific bird families or species. This collection is a resource not only to the University of Iowa community, but is also available to borrowers throughout Iowa from the interlibrary loan services of local libraries.

The contributions from individuals with diverse talents and interests in the University of Iowa community, as well as the state at large, have helped to build the rich and strong collections of the University of Iowa Libraries. We are truly grateful to generous benefactors such as Thomas H. Kent.

Many thanks to Kai Weatherman for writing this post.

 

Posted in BiologyTagged bird photography, Birds in Iowa, Iowa birding, Kent Ornithology Collection, Thomas H. Kent, Tom Kent
Thumbnail image of Daily Iowan article "Handkerchief that cough"
Dec 07 2020

Handkerchief that cough and sneeze! Snippets from the Daily Iowan during the 1918 pandemic

Posted on December 7, 2020December 7, 2020 by Laurie Neuerburg

Image of Daily Iowan article "Handkerchief that cough"In 1918 and 1919, the Spanish flu pandemic swept through Iowa killing over 6,000 people and infecting more than 93,000. The archives of the Daily Iowan from this time period shed light onto what life was like during that time on campus and in the midst of World War I. While cootie garments are mentioned in the April 14, 1918 Daily Iowan, the cootie garments were not meant as protection against the pandemic; they were made by women for the military to keep the soldiers free from bugs and pests in the trenches.

Articles about the Spanish flu are sprinkled throughout the Daily Iowan in the fall of 1918 during the second wave of the pandemic. The Oct 3, 1918 Daily Iowan says: ‘A slogan suggested by Dr. Henry Albert, state bacteriologist, will do much to check the disease. ‘‘Handkerchief that cough and sneeze” is his advice.’ 

Another part of the same issue reads: ‘A new slogan, “Handkerchief that cough and sneeze,” needs no less attention because it is ungrammatical. It means public safety; it means saving of lives. With cases of the popularly termed Spanish influenza on the campus, an uncovered cough becomes an offense against public welfare.’ The article also lists ways to stay safe given by Dr. John H. Hamilton, the state epidemiologist:

  • “Avoid crowds or crowded places whenever possible.
  • Do not place your hands or objects in your mouth unless you know they are clean.
  • Keep in the best possible physical condition.
  • Eat plenty of wholesome, easily digested food at regular intervals.
  • Drink plenty of water—at least, eight or ten glasses a day.
  • Take moderate outdoor exercise.
  • Sleep in a well ventilated room.”

In the Oct 6, 1918 Daily Iowan, President Jessup issued regulations for the campus community to follow:

“1. All members of the University unit,—students, instructors and helpers, will be subjected to periodical health examinations.

2. Students will be directed to cover their mouths and noses with clean handkerchiefs or clean gauze when they sneeze or cough.

3. Instructors will report to the main office, University Hospital, telephone 70, the name of any student who neglects to so cover his mouth and nose when he coughs or sneezes.

4. Instructors will report to the main office of the University hospital, telephone 70, the name of any student whom they believe to be suffering from influenza, a cold, or any other disease.

5. The matrons of dormitories, sorority houses and rooming houses will report to the main office, University Hospital, telephone 70, the names of students who, on account of sickness, are unable to attend classes.”

The headline of the Oct 6 issue was “Iowa Defeats the Cornhuskers 12 to 0.” It was the first time the Hawkeyes had won a football game against Nebraska in 19 years.

Image of Daily Iowan headline "Iowa Defeats the Cornhuskers 12 to 0"

On Oct 10, 1918: ‘“Everyone should avoid getting the feet wet during the rainy weather,” Dr. Henry Albert, state bacteriologist declares. Dampness causes the heat of the body to be lost readily and thus lowers the resistance. This not only favors the development of influenza, but tends to make the cases more severe and complicated, he states.”’

Image of article in Daily IowanAnother article in the Oct. 10th issue lamented the changes for students on campus due to the pandemic: ‘”The last leaf upon the tree,” shivered the senior girl as she hunted for her “pass” and covered a sneeze. “Why couldn’t I have graduated in the good old times, before we turned into West Point II and insolent little men in uniform sent dignified seniors trotting around for passes?”‘

Also, in the Oct. 10th issue, an article stated that nasal sprays were harmful “and may result in very serious operative cases” attributed in part to Dr. H. J. Prentiss, head of the anatomy department. However, this was recanted in the Oct. 13th issue: “The Iowan was mistaken Thursday in quoting Dr. H. J. Prentiss to the effect that the use of atomizers and especially nasal sprays drives influenza germs into the sinuses and may result in serious operative cases.”

One article in the Oct 13, 1918 issue of the Daily Iowan titled “Mental Influenza” proclaimed: “Worry is a waste, a disease. Some people worry over money and some people worry over the weather. Worry over influenza may be in the same class, that is, worry without any aim in view.”

A few days later, the Oct 15, 1918 an article in the Daily Iowan stated “Nurses at the University hospital are all working overtime and many are not taking their regular hours off duty. The day nurses begin duty at 7 a. m. and the night nurses at [illegible] p. m. Out of 135 nurses, 66 are ill and there are 22 probationers too ill for duty. All the probationers are helping and also the junior and senior medical students, dental students and S. A. T. C. men.” (S.A.T.C. stands for Student Army Training Corps; you can read about the history of the S.A.T.C. in an article that our University Archivist has written called “Old Gold: US and SUI enter World War I.”)

World War I ended on November 11, 1918, and the headline in the Daily Iowan on Nov. 12, 1918 was “University Celebrates Peace Holiday.”

Cover image of Daily Iowan headline "University celebrates peace holiday"

The Dec. 3, 1918 Daily Iowan explains that after the university found 16 new cases of the flu, students were told to wear gauze masks and were not allowed to leave the city for around a week to 10 days in order to bring the pandemic under control. All campus activities were canceled, and the high school and elementary schools in Iowa City closed. Classes continued at the university and it was planned that the students would be able to go home for Christmas break. At that point, nearly 1200 students had been infected and were thought to be immune. Dec. 3rd is the final issue of the Daily Iowan for 1918 in the online archive.

In 2005, the Spanish flu was sequenced from the frozen remnants of a person who had died of it in 1918. The person’s remains were found in 1997 in Brevig Mission, Alaska (formerly called Teller Mission). The eight segments of the sequence can be viewed in GenBank. It was called the Spanish flu because it was first reported upon in a newspaper from Spain, but the origins of the Spanish flu remain unknown. The 1918 pandemic resulted in the death of 7 student nurses and thirty-one students at the University of Iowa. The complications of the Spanish flu, known now to be H1N1, were fluid-filled lungs and pneumonia. These severe health effects are thought to be due to the HA gene of the 1918 virus. When the HA gene was replaced with a different strain, lab mice lived rather than died when infected with the reconstituted 1918 H1N1 virus in a 2005 study by Tumpey et al.

If you are interested in learning more about the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, you can view virtual exhibits at the National Archives and the National Museum of Health and Medicine, or check out materials from the UI Libraries. If you need help, contact a librarian at lib-sciences@uiowa.edu.

Book cover image of Pandemic 1918Book cover image of Flu the story of the great influenza pandemic of 1918  Book cover image of Envisioning disease gender and warBook cover image of Pale rider Book cover image of Fever of War Book cover image of The last Irish plague  DVD cover image of Influenza 1918

Pandemic 1918 : eyewitness accounts from the greatest medical holocaust in modern history

Flu : the story of the great influenza pandemic of 1918 and the search for the virus that caused it

Envisioning disease, gender, and war : women’s narratives of the 1918 influenza pandemic

Hunting the 1918 flu : one scientist’s search for a killer virus

Pale rider : the Spanish Flu of 1918 and how it changed the world

Fever of war : the influenza epidemic in the U.S. Army during World War I

The last Irish plague : the Great Flu Epidemic in Ireland 1918-19  

Influenza, 1918 (DVD)

Posted in BiologyTagged 1918 pandemic, 1918 Spanish Flu, Daily Iowan
Cover image of book
Nov 20 2020

Potential COVID-19 Vaccines: What to Know

Posted on November 20, 2020November 21, 2020 by Laurie Neuerburg

Potential COVID-19 Vaccines: What to Know

Two vaccines have shown great promise recently to be successful against COVID-19. Pfizer and Moderna have reported that their vaccines showed close to 95% efficacy in their recent vaccine trials. These vaccines will provide immunity to covid-19, so that those who are vaccinated will not get sick, or if illness does occur, then the symptoms are less severe than they would be without the vaccine. Both vaccines are mRNA vaccines, and if approved by the FDA, they would be the first vaccines made available using this method. An interesting feature of the novel coronavirus has been its spike protein and this is what both vaccines are targeting to build immunity to COVID-19. The sequence data of the novel coronavirus shows the part of the sequence that corresponds to the spike protein and a 3D visual representation of the spike protein sequence in is Protein Data Bank. In “mRNA vaccines — a new era in vaccinology,” Pardi and others explain that vaccines made with mRNA have the potential to be quickly scaled up for widespread distribution as well as being highly effective, which is why they hold so much hope for preventing and alleviating illness due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

If you are interested in learning more about vaccines, here are a few of the resources that you can check out from the UI Libraries. You can search for more in InfoHawk+ and contact lib-sciences@uiowa.edu for help.

Cover image of book

On immunity : an inoculation 

Cover image of book

RNA vaccines : methods and protocols

Cover image of book

Jonas Salk : a life

Cover image of book

The politics of international health : the Children’s Vaccine Initiative and the struggle to develop vaccines for the third world

Cover image of book

Long Shot : Vaccines for National Defense 

Cover image of book
The vaccine book

PBS NOVA video: Vaccines—Calling the Shots

Posted in BiologyTagged COVID-19, mRNA vaccines, spike protein
Image of cliff face
Oct 26 2020

Iowa Rocks!

Posted on October 26, 2020October 28, 2020 by Laurie Neuerburg

Iowa is not known for having an especially dramatic landscape. But in fact there are many hidden gems to be found in this particular plot of so-called flyover country. Among them is Wildcat Den State Park in southeastern Iowa. According to Iowa DNR it is one of the most photographed state parks in Iowa. If you’ve not yet visited this state park to walk its trails and view its remarkable geological features, take advantage of any opportunity to do so before it becomes snow and ice encrusted. The park is 12 miles northeast of the city of Muscatine; from the University of Iowa campus it’s roughly an hour drive by car.

The most prominent landscape feature at Wildcat Den are the spectacular sandstone cliffs and glens whose origins date back to the Middle Pennsylvanian period, or about 310 million years ago, when ancient rivers coursed through this landscape. What makes these cliffs on the south side of the park so visually arresting is due in part to cross-bedding*, as well as iron-oxide stained and cemented zones visible on the exposed sandstone. To walk the trail at the base of these cliffs is every bit as captivating as a visit to a fine arts museum. But there’s much more to the geology at Wildcat Den.

Brian Witzke’s 1999 article in of Iowa Geology (pages 16-19 ) provides a brief, but very informative introduction to the geology of this park, while “The Natural History of Wildcat Den State Park,“ is a more detailed introduction to all aspects of the park, including its history, archaeology, vegetation, and wildlife. Its treatment of the park’s geology is in-depth and somewhat technical, but would still be informative to the novice. In this Geological Society of Iowa (GSI) field trip guidebook Robert McKay details the geological phenomena of cross-bedding* that is so visible in the sandstone at Wildcat Den. It also includes discussions of all the stops on the 1997 GSI field trip, and could serve as either a preview of what to expect on a visit or a review to answer questions raised after first visiting the park.

Two books published by the University of Iowa Press in its Bur Oak series would make excellent companion resources to help contextualize the geology of not only Wildcat Den State Park, but of geology all across the state: Jean Prior’s Landforms of Iowa and Wayne Anderson’s Iowa’s Geological Past: Three Billion Years of Earth History. Both Prior and Anderson note the preponderance of sedimentary rock throughout Iowa in its exposed rock record, evidence of its early marine environment.

Iowa Geology, a small journal published by Iowa DNR Geological Survey Bureau from 1976 to 2001, offers a treasure trove of highly readable articles for a general audience on a variety of topics pertaining to Iowa geology one might imagine, including “The Midcontinent Rift,” “Global Climate Change and the Cretaceous Greenhouse World,” and “The Age of Dinosaurs.” All issues are available in PDF format from Iowa Research Online: The University of Iowa’s Institutional Repository.

For those who wish to explore Iowa’s geology in other parts of the state, the Iowa Geological Survey (IGS) provides a beautiful suite of webpages called Parks of Iowa, which also makes available guidebooks similar to “The Natural History of Wildcat Den State Park” for 12 other Iowa state parks. In fact, IGS makes the Geological Society of Iowa Guidebooks for field trips to over 70 diverse sites throughout Iowa freely available from its publications platform.

Now it’s time to go explore!

Thank you to Kai Weatherman for writing this post, and a special thanks goes to Raymond Anderson for his expert geologic commentary!

Photographs of Sandstone Bluffs at Iowa’s Wildcat Den State Park

Photographs by Kai Weatherman with Text by Raymond R. Anderson

The best-exposed rocks in Wildcat Den State Park are Pennsylvanian-age sandstones, originally deposited in a large river that was flowing to the southwest through the area.  The river was flowing through dense equatorial forests towards an arm of the sea that was advancing from the south into Iowa about 312 million years ago.  The sand formed sand bars and underwater dunes that were constantly being modified as river channels changed directions, eroding and cutting into existing bars and covering them with new sand layers (beds) from different directions creating the spectacular cross-bedding that is displayed in most exposures.  Geologists identify these sandstones as the Spoon Formation of the Cherokee Group.  At some exposures, especially at the Devil’s Punchbowl, the sandstones are resting on a dark gray shale unit, the Caseyville Formation, the oldest Pennsylvanian unit in Iowa.  The Caseyville was deposited on a river delta that developed into an earlier advance of the Pennsylvanian sea into Iowa.

Image of Iowa exposed rock
Image 01.  A view of a large block of Spoon Formation sandstone, popularly known as Steamboat Rock, that has broken free of the exposure bluff, sliding down-slope (probably on underlying Caseyville Formation shale).  The orange coloration is oxidized iron that coats quartz sand grains and sometimes cement them together.
Image of Iowa rock exposure
Image 02.  A block of Spoon Formation sandstone that has broken free of the exposure bluff.  These broken blocks sometimes slide away from the base of the exposure creating a cave-like opening.  This action is called “mechanical karst”, different than the “solutional karst” that creates most Iowa caves by dissolving limestone.
Image of Iowa rock exposure
Image 03.  This image shows an exposure of Spoon Formation sandstone that displays thick beds.  The cliff face displays an overall grayish coloration that is produced by calcium carbonate in groundwater that moved through the sandstone.  The water evaporates at the rock face, precipitating the calcium carbonate (calcite) that cements the sand grains together forming a thin surface crust that resists erosion.  This process is sometimes referred to as “case hardening”. In the light brownish areas this cemented crust has fallen off (due to freeze-thaw or other mechanisms) exposing the fresh sandstone.
Image of Iowa rock exposure
Image 04.  A closer look at the sandstone bluff showing the gray case-hardened areas surfaces and the light orange sandstone where the case hardening has fallen away.  The bluish colored areas are due to lichens coating the rock surface. This coloration can also be seen on image #3, which is the larger cliff face from which this image was taken, and may be accentuated by the photographic process. Some areas of the sandstone display a rust-red color where iron oxides coat or cement the grains more heavily.  The thin beds display a time of slower deposition punctuated by calmer water where silts and shales were deposited.
Image of Iowa rock exposure
Image 05.  A close view of the Spoon Formation sandstone with gray case hardening on some surfaces and brownish fresh surfaces where the varying amounts of iron oxide coat and cement the sand grains.  A block of sandstone near the base has separated from the exposure creating a small scale example of mechanical karst.
Image of Iowa rock exposure
Image 06.  An even closer look at the sandstone reveals cross-bedding, created by shifts in the river channel.  Areas of case-hardened surfaces appear gray and areas where it has fallen away appear brown or orange. The circular light colored spots are lichens and other plants that have grown on the sandstone.
Image of Iowa rock exposure
Image 07.  Cross-bedded sandstone deposited by an ancient river.  Groundwater moving through the sand carries calcium carbonate that precipitated when the water evaporates at the rock face.  Large areas of this face were case-hardened, displaying the gray coloration.
Image of Iowa rock exposure
Image 08.  Another good example of cross-bedding in the Spoon Formation sandstone deposited by an ancient river.  Each of the thin individual layers (or beds) represent a single event, with coarser-grained layers deposited by faster moving water and finer grains by water with less energy.  Each coarse layer represents a high energy event with increasingly finer sand grains deposited as the event dissipated. The coarser layers are slightly better cemented, so are less easily eroded and stand out in positive relief, the finer grains erode in from the face.  Groups of beds all trending the same direction were deposited as an underwater dune, with bundles of beds trending in different directions representing a change in water current direction, crossing the earlier beds; cross-bedding.
Image of Iowa rock exposure
Image 09.   A cliff of sandstone originally deposited about 312 million years ago as sand in a large river that was flowing to the southwest.  A variety of bed thicknesses and orientations can be seen as can areas with gray case-hardening and other areas of brown freshly-exposed stone.  The beds are cut near the right side of the exposure by a near-vertical series of fractures.
Image 10:  A close-up of the sequence of roughly horizontal cross-bedded sandstones that was subsequently modified by tectonic activity that produced near-vertical fractures and deformed some of the beds.
Image of Iowa bluffs
Image 11.  An example of differential cementation created this honey-comb looking features.  Water bearing natural cements such as clay and lime moved preferentially through areas of coarser sand and sub-vertical fractures, cementing the sand grains as it moved.  In nearby areas where water did not move as freely the sand grains were not cemented as securely and eroded away when exposed to the weather. 
Image of Iowa bluffs
Image 12.  This image is a wonderful example of thin-bedded sandstone (separated by thin silty layers) and cross-bedding (identified by the unconformable contact of one set of bedded layers with another set trending in a slightly different direction.

Many of the photographs on this page were taken during the 2000’s. So, some features may appear somewhat different now.

Posted in Environmental Sciences, GeosciencesTagged Iowa geology, Iowa state parks, Wildcat Den
Cover image of Exploring Laser Light
Oct 02 2020

AAPT Book Archive collection: one-year trial access

Posted on October 2, 2020October 19, 2020 by Laurie Neuerburg

Cover image of Exploring Laser LightThe UI Libraries has free trial access to the AAPT Book Archive collection for one year. The AAPT Book Archive collection includes 34 titles originally published in print between 1977 and 2017. In partnership with the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), AIP Publishing digitized a backlist of classic texts, making the full text available in HTML online for the first time.

Titles include Exploring Laser Light by T. Kallard, Amusement Park Physics (2nd Ed.) by Clarence Bakkenand, Making Contributions: An Historical Overview of Women’s Role in Physics.

The free trial access will end September 4, 2021. Please send any feedback about the AAPT Book Archive collection to Laurie Neuerburg.

Posted in Astronomy, Physics
Sep 25 2020

Red, Orange, Yellow: The Science of Fall Foliage

Posted on September 25, 2020September 25, 2020 by Laurie Neuerburg

The autumnal equinox occurred on Tuesday, September 22 this year. This marks the turning point when the sun passes over the Earth’s equator, and the hours of daylight and night are close to equal. From this point on, the hours of daylight will soon begin decreasing each day until the shortest day of the year occurs on the winter solstice. One of the most beautiful effects of the shorter days occurs when deciduous trees prepare for winter by taking on the brilliant colors of red, orange, yellow, and purple. According to the Iowa DNR’s Fall Color Report, the best viewing time for fall colors in central Iowa begins the first week of October.

When deciduous trees stop producing chlorophyll to get ready for winter, their leaves cease being green and turn to red, yellow, orange, or purple. InChemistry’s “Why Do Leaves Change Color in the Fall?” explains the chemical compounds that are responsible for this color change. Red and purple colors are due to anthocyanins present in the leaves, while yellow and orange colors are due to carotenoids and flavonoids.  

In Smithsonian Magazine, you can watch a two-minute time-lapse video showing different leaves changing color, a process that would normally happen slowly over several days. It is interesting to watch the video since the process of a leaf turning orange or yellow is different than when a leaf turns red or purple.

If you’re interested in seeking out fall colors, you can use the UI Trees web application to find maples, oaks, dogwoods, and other deciduous trees on campus. You can also view beautiful fall color displays that have been captured in the Iowa Digital Library’s Geoscience Slides collection!

Image of autumn colorsImage of Autumn colors along bouldery stream

Posted in Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, UncategorizedTagged autumn colors, fall colors, trees

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