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Comment on Time wars flare up again by Lab Lemming

Lab Lemming — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 05:13:37 +0000

If you want SI units, that’s fine. Just report your ages in petaseconds.

Comment on Time wars flare up again by Steve Drury

Steve Drury — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:43:42 +0000

That would seem to be Christie-Blick’s view, but in fact there never really was a convention, just a mish-mash of at least 5 different symbols relating to elapsed time. To me, the context of a time-related number usually makes it quite obvious whether an author refers to a date or to elapsed time – as I concluded, ‘ago’ is all you need to use or to omit, and in any case even that is rarely needed in a clear context. If geoscientists can adapt to SI ‘pascals’ instead of ‘kilobars’, and you or I to metres instead of yards, I can’t see a problem in 10 years time. If the SI has any redeeming virtue, it is humongous patience! Why, in the US they even have a different gallon from us Brits, but finally this side of the pond we buy in litres and only the non-SI mile remains!

Comment on Time wars flare up again by Lab Lemming

Lab Lemming — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:05:24 +0000

“What is wrong with the answer to the question, ‘When did the Cretaceous begin?’ being 145.5 Ma ago, or ‘80 Ma’ in answer to, ‘How long did it last?’ ”

The problem is that for the last 100 years, the convention used has been the opposite. So people looking up old papers would have to guess at which convention was used, based on the publication date, the stubbornness of the author, the conservativeness of the editorial board for that particular journal, etc.

The proposal would make the literature a mishmash, for no good purpose.

Comment on Late Devonian: mass extinction or mass invasion? by Trilobite Fossils | Rock Hounds

Trilobite Fossils | Rock Hounds — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:44:12 +0000

[...] Late Devonian: mass extinction or mass invasion? (earth-pages.co.uk) [...]

Comment on Geophysics reveals secrets of the beaver by geophix

geophix — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:32:03 +0000

It’s a very interesting study. Other geophysical techniques such as DC resistivity could be used as well. The penetration depth of GPR is limited and the data processing of seismic reflection are complicated. The reflection interface generally needs to deep to get “clean” data. Resistivity method could suit right between these two methods.

Comment on Late Devonian: mass extinction or mass invasion? by winstonregarde

winstonregarde — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:04:46 +0000

Mass extinction or mass invasion?

Comment on Late Devonian: mass extinction or mass invasion? by Steve Drury

Steve Drury — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:06:47 +0000

I don’t think so: the extinction rate from all causes was not high; but the rate of speciation was insufficient to replace extinctions. The author concludes that during the Late Devonian sea-level changes meant less chance of small populations becoming isolated and speciating rapidly, and more generalist species were able to survive in large numbers and didn’t speciate quickly. My own take is that the onset of Pangaea’s consolidation at that time made isolated ecosystems less common, while making it easier for connections between populations around one huge shoreline rather than many separate island continents earlier in the Palaeozoic. But bear in mind that I write as a generalist!

Comment on Late Devonian: mass extinction or mass invasion? by Lab Lemming

Lab Lemming — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:57:40 +0000

Isn’t that just a mass extinction event with a biological cause, not a geologic one?

Comment on Sabotage in Science by Research misconduct | Earth-Pages

Research misconduct | Earth-Pages — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:32:02 +0000

[...] access to the data on, say, a lab server; swapping analytical sample labels; destroying lab records(http://earth-pages.co.uk/2010/11/04/sabotage-in-science-4/); petty theft of ideas (on which there is no formal copyright), for instance through copying poster [...]

Comment on Seafloor mud cores and the seismic record by Scientists Aboard Iberian Coast Ocean Drilling Expedition Report Early Findings « Mb50's "Liquid Mud" Blog

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:56:19 +0000

[...] Seafloor mud cores and the seismic record (earth-pages.co.uk) [...]