Salt Marsh Diary is Restorative

Salt Marsh Diary writer Mark Seth Lender was featured on Living on Earth last week, and I was led to his online diary. It is a welcome respite from the snow covered mud outside the library's windows, where no bird or even a lone squirrel is visible from this vantage point and the remains of a snow sculpture is but a hulk of frozen dirty slush.

Lender's words practically sing: "In the glass-calm morning the wading birds come walking, with their long feet talking, tickling at the bottom as they stop, then stride." [from Upon Reflection I]. Escape from northern Ohio briefly with the Mountain Bluebird in Wire to Wire. The photos and prose alike are beautiful. Thank you, Mr. Lender. Salt Marsh Diary is syndicated by the Connecticut River Gazette.

PLoS One to be indexed by Web of Science

As announced on the PLoS Blog, PLoS ONE will be indexed in Web of Science [access for OhioLINK users]. This is good news for our students and faculty, who have long relied on Science Citation Index, a core component of Web of Science, as an essential part of the research process. Read the PLoS Blog post for the whole story. While there, read the post for Jan. 6 as well - it's an excellent indication of the growing importance of PLoS ONE across many science disciplines ["PLoS ONE in the Science Superlatives"].

New publication: Simonson, Bruce, et al. Precambrian Research.

The newest faculty publication listed in Science Citation Index:

Simonson, Bruce M. (Oberlin College Geology Department); McDonald, Iain; Shukolyukov, Alex; Koeberl, Christian; Reimold, Wolf Uwe; Lugmair, Guenter W.

Geochemistry of 2.63-2.49 Ga impact spherule layers and implications for stratigraphic correlations and impact processes.

PRECAMBRIAN RESEARCH 175 (1-4): 51-76 DEC 2009 [access for OhioLINK users]

Partial abstract:
Thin layers rich in spherules formed during impacts by large extraterrestrial objects have the potential to shed new light on impact processes and aid in the long-distance stratigraphic correlation of Precambrian successions. Seven formations in Western Australia and South Africa clustered around the Archean-Proterozoic boundary each contain a single spherule layer...
Cr isotopic compositions are consistent with the formation of the oldest layers on both continents by a single impact event about 2.63Ga.