Fossil Hunting on Mars and in Central London A talk by Michael Morris Franks For the Astronomical Society of Harringay 20 th May 2010
Fossil Hunting on Mars and in Central London
A talk by Michael Morris FranksFor the Astronomical Society of Harringay
20th May 2010
Strangely Mars has no Limestone rocks which is surprising given that it has CO2 and appears to
have had open water which should have caused the
formation of limestone. Maria Zuber , Itay Halevy and Daniel
Scrag of Harvard University have suggested that thought that the reason is due to sulphur from
volcanoes which prevented the formation of limestone.
The two Mars Rover, Spirt and Opportunity have a battery of cameras and have been spending pictures back to earth for over five years. Some people have claimed to see evidence of Fossils in the photographs. Sir Charles W. Shults III has produced a CD with photographs which he claims show fossils.
Ockham's Razor
The Knoll criterion, named after Andrew Knoll author of “Life on a Young Planet. The Knoll criterion is that
anything being put forward as a fossil must not only look like something that was once alive—it must also not look like anything that can be made by non-biological means.
Preparing for a trip to MarsBy Looking for Fossils in Central London
1) Portland Stone
a) Roach Stone
b) Whitbed
c) Basebed
2)Flint
3) Sandstone
4) Slate
An artists' impression of the Jurassic sea bed at the timeof the formation of the Portland Stone.
From The Ecology of Fossils, by Dr Stuart McKerrow as Editor, Pub. Duckwork. 1978
Keya. Ostrea - the oyster (Liostrea)b. Calcareous algal mould (Solenoprara)c. Boring bivalve, burrowing into the agal (Lithophaga)d. Ostrea - a small curved species (Pleurotomaria)e. A fossil Top-shell: a marine snail (Pleurotmaria)f. a tall spiral marine snail (Protocerithium)
Calcareous algae are rubbery mats which trap fine lime sand and partly precopate calcite (lime) from sea water. The algae has no internal structure as such and no tissue is fossilised.
By kind permission of the author
British Library
Fossilised sea sponges in Hauteville limestone located outside the Conference Centre