LOUISIANA Rocks and Minerals Rebecca Tedford and Dr. Sophie Warny

1. LOUISIANA Rocks and Minerals Rebecca Tedford and Dr. Sophie Warny

2. The Mission of theLSU Museum of Natural Science • Acquisition, • Preservation, and • Study of research collections to generate knowledge of: • Regional and global biodiversity, • Geological history, and • Human history and prehistory for the benefit of the people of the state, the nation, and the world.

3. Divisions of the LSU MNS • 7 main fields of RESEARCH • Ornithology (Birds) • Genetics • Ichthyology (Fishes) • Mammalogy • Herpetology (Reptiles and Amphibians) • Paleontology • Anthropology (Archaeology and Ethnography) • EDUCATION

4. THE PALEONTOLOGY COLLECTIONS

5. Invertebrate Paleontology: Palynology Dr. Sophie Warny What is palynology? • Palynomorphs = • both plant and animal structures • microscopic in size (from about 5 µm to about 500 µm) • made of compounds that are highly resistant to decay • abundant in most sediments and sedimentary rocks • can be extracted by chemical processing (acids digestion & sieving) Spores Pollen grains Dinoflagellate cysts Acritarchs Leiospheres

6. Vertebrate Paleontology Dr. Judith Schiebout Collections: • Over 17,000 specimens from over 1000 localities with emphasis on Louisiana.  • Research statement: Dr. Schiebout's focus is on: • Paleoecology • Biostratigraphy and paleogeography of southern North America and China in the Tertiary • Early and middle Tertiary mammals • The Cretaceous-Tertiary and Paleocene-Eocene transition • Louisiana fossil vertebrates, particularly in the Miocene

7. Large collection of Tertiary fossils including this whale: • Vertebrae and ribs of the Eocene whale Basilosaurus • at Montgomery Landing, Louisiana. • Large collection of middle Tertiary mammals from the Fort Polk region • Large collection of Tertiary mammals from Tunica Hills, • such as early elephant, rhino, hedgehog and camel relatives.

8. 2. Associated Collections: Minerology And Petrology and Louisiana Geological Survey Mineral and rock collections On-line resources

9. Rock and Mineral Collections located in Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex • Available upon request: • LSU Geology Loan trunk

10. Louisiana Geological Survey (LGS) on-line resources Down-loadable Stratigraphic and Geologic maps

11. 3. FIELD TRIP: PRACTICAL DETAILS

12. General Info & Tours Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm FREE! Scheduling Materials Rules Parking

13. 5. BACKGROUND AND HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES • ACTIVITIES: • Making a Geologic Map of Louisiana • SOAR Activities • Rocking Out • Sand Secrets • Mining for MMM…Minerals • Investigating the Layer-cake earth

14. Geology: The Basics What is Geology? Study of the origin, history, and stucture of the Earth as recorded in the rock record. The Earth is composed of different types of rocks and minerals. Geologists are the scientists who study these rocks and minerals.

15. MINERALS • Naturally occurring • man-made substances would not be considered a mineral • Inorganic solid - Inorganic substances are those that are not living or formed by living processes • Specific chemical composition • Unique crystal structure and properties • Atoms are arranged in a orderly, repeated pattern • Physical properties include color, luster, streak, cleavage, etc.

16. Rocks Rocks- An aggregate solid of one of more minerals in different proportions. Chocolate chip cookie analogy Cookie = rock Ingredients = minerals Oven= Earth’s heat • Rocks are divided into three different types based on how they are formed: • Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary

17. Igneous • The word, igneous means from fire or heat. Igneous rocks form when molten lava (magma) cools and turns to solid rock. There are two types- • Intrusive- cools slowly inside the Earth (Examples= Granite). They have large mineral grains • Extrusive- Magma that reaches the earth’s surface and cools relatively quickly. (Examples- Basalt, obsidian, pumice). The mineral grains are small. Note: MAGMA- inside the Earth, LAVA- outside of the Earth

18. Metamorphic • These are rocks that have changed (Examples- marble, schist) • From the Greek words “meta” and “morph” which means to change form. They were originally sedimentary or igneous rocks that changed due to heat and pressure often from eh movement of the Earth’s crust. • Sedimentary • Rocks composed of grains of clay, mud, sand, and dirt. (Examples- sandstone, limestone) • These form when sediments are weathered and deposited as layers into streams, oceans, rivers, and lake. After thousands and millions of years the weight and pressure of all these sediments eventually turn them into sedimentary rocks!

19. Activity 1: Making a Geologic map of Louisiana* GEOLOGIC MAPS Definition: Map designed to show the distribution of geologic features such as different rock types and faults in the area. • Only show geologic units that are exposed on the surface • Different colors symbolize a different geologic unit * This activity can be used in conjuction with the Fossil gravel activity

20. Generalized Surface Geology of Louisiana http://www.lgs.lsu.edu/deploy/uploads/gengeotext.pdf • Holocene Alluvium (= youngest rocks) • These are the abundant sand and clay riverine deposits deposited by the Mississippi, Ouachita, Red, and other rivers within coastal environments. These represent over 50% of surface exposed rocks. • Pleistocene terraces • These deposits consist of sand, gravel, and mud that are remnants of preexisting riverine flood plains. They are found near modern rivers and coastal plains. ~25% of surface exposed rocks. • Tertiary rocks (= oldest rocks) • These are associated with rver flood plains, coastal plains, and shallow sea environments that occurred due to fluctuating sea levels. Oldest rocks are Late Cretaceous marine rocks (70-82 million years old) outcrop in Bienville parish. These are highly fossiliferous marls and chalks.