Beer and Rocks Meeting, April 19th: The Quantitative Apocalypse

After a brief hiatus, we resume our deep and heady discussions: the next meeting of the BEER AND ROCKS society is scheduled for April 19th, at my digs (see your email for exciting details!).

Anyway, courtesy of Ben, our upcoming topic for discussion is... The Quantitative Revolution in Earth Sciences, Past and Future. A couple of fun papers this week, too! So, without further ado, here they are:

Burma, B.H., 1949, Studies in Quantitative Paleontology II: Multivariate Analysis - A new analytical tool for paleontology and geology: Journal of Paleontolgy, v23, p. 95-103.

Burma 1949

Sepkoski, D., 2005, Stephen Jay Gould, Jack Sepkoski, and the "Quantitative Revolution" in American Paleobiology: Journal of the History of Biology, v. 38, p. 209-237

Sepkoski 2005

March 15th Beer and Rocks Meetin'!

Straight outta the Burgess Shale for the next Meetin', my Droogs! Our very own Dr. Noel Heim, PhD, has sussed out some totally rad TO THE MAX Burgess Shale Papers for our illumination; these range from the AWESOME Gould "arguments" in Paleobiology all the way to sedimentation of Burgess Shale Style deposits! NEAT-O!

NOW, don't be SCARED by the NUMBER of Papers (six; there are six papers); RATHER, recognize that these are some SHORT-ASS PAPERS (that's the technical term), so print em, read em, and come ready for discussin' (and drinkin'). Papers are as FOLLOWS:

Morris 2009:

Morris 2009

GOULD 1991 Discussion and Reply

GOULD 1991

Gaines et al 2008

Gaines et al 2008

Gabbott et al 2008

Gabbott et al 2008

Daley et al 2009

Daley et al 2009

Collins 2009

Collins 2009

Papers for March 1st Meeting - Thinkin' bout Thinkin'

Howdy everyone! We've got yet ANOTHER sed/paleo/strat/beer meeting (seriously...we need a better name, and one NOT affiliated with the hairy foulness of Robin Williams, please) coming on up here. Ben has generously offered his home up for our raucousness, so big round of applause there. Keep an eye on the email for instructions.

Anyway, the papers up for consideration this week are sort "philosophical" in nature (SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T SUGGEST PAPERS!?!?), mostly around the theme of uniformitarianism in geology. As always, if problems persist in getting these papers, lemme know and I'll email em to you:

Simpson, G.G., 1963, Historical Science in Albritton (ed) The Fabric of Geology, p. 24-48

Simpson 1963


Gould, S.J., 1965, Is Uniformatarianism Neccessary: American Journal of Science, v. 263, p. 223-228.

Gould 1965

Ager, D., 1973, Catastrophic Stratigraphy (Ch 4) and Catastrophic Uniformatarianism (Ch 5) in "The Nature of the Stratigraphical Record", p. 36-57.

Ager 1973

Cycles, Climate, and Milankovitch - Papers for Feb 15th, 2010

We've got some awesome climate-flavored cycle papers for consideration this time around. Dr. Noel Heim, PhD, has suggested a completely amazing paper on synthetic stratigraphy and Milankovitch cycles, and we've got some counterpoints to consider as well. The papers are below, and as always, feel free to email me if you have trouble nabbing them of the site.

Enjoy!

Dexter, T.A., Kowalewski, M., and Read, J.F., 2009, Distinguishing Milankovitch-driven processes in the rock record from stochasticity using computer-simulated stratigraphy: Journal of Geology, v. 117, p. 349-361.

Dexter et al 2009

Algeo, T.J., and Wilkinson, B.H., 1988, Periodicity of mesoscale phanerozoic sedimentary cycles and the role of Milankovitch orbital modulation: Journal of Geology, v. 96, p. 313-322

Algeo and Wilkinson 1988

Zeller, E.J., 1966, Cycles and Psychology in Merriam, D.F., (ed), Symposium on Cyclic Sedimentation, Kansas Geological Survey Special Publication 169, p. 631-636

Zeller 1966

First Meeting of 2010 - Arid and Hyperarid paleoenvironments

In honor of the cold, wet winter we are experiencing, let's start off the semester with a discussion of arid paleoenvironments! Below are the three papers up for consideration, all available from SCRIB'D. Should you have troubles seizing em, give me an email, and I'll send em your way!

ENJOY!

Thomas, D.S.G., 1989, Reconstructing ancient arid environments in Thomas, D.S.G. (ed), Arid Zone Geomorphology, Halstead Press, London, p. 311 - 334

Thomas 1989


Wright and Marriott, 2007, The dangers of taking mud for granted: Lessons from the Old Red Sandstone dryland river systems of South Wales: Sedimentary Geology v. 195, p. 91-100

Wright and Marriott 2007


Brookfield, 2008, Paleoenvironments and paleotectonics of the arid to hyperarid intracontinental latest Permian - late Triassic Solway Basin (U.K.): Sedimentary Geology, v. 210, p. 27-47

Brookfield 2008