​The BETA team took a break from our labs and analyses over this past weekend to present and help out at the Cedar Valley’s annual Sunday at the Quarry event. At BMC’s Morgan Quarry in Waterloo, adults and children of all ages were able to spend the day collecting fossils, taking field trips into the quarry, and experiencing programs put on by groups from UNI and the Cedar Valley area. The BETA team split their efforts between hosting a table on our research and assisting with other activities around the event. At our program table, we shared what we do for research and why it matters while having a dry ice fog demonstration and passing out fossils to attendees. It’s always an interesting challenge to explain something with an intimidating name like “Biogeochemical Evolution of the Atmosphere” to a non-scientist audience, especially one with many kids. Another activity headed by BETA members concerned Ag-Lime, a useful product for reducing the acidity of soil. A few of the chemistry students may have felt a little out of their element (pun intended) educating parents on the benefits of Ag-Lime while helping the kids search for fossils and make art out of the material, but it’s often a good thing to push students a little outside of their comfort zone. 

Riley (left) and Will (right) by the BETA table with the fog demonstration and fossils!
*Photo credit: Marcy Seavey

​This weekend was a great chance for the team to get out of the lab to enjoy one of the last nice days of the year, while also getting to share what we do with the local community. Looking forward, we’re excited to get back to our experiments and continuing the exciting work happening this semester.

​The Rock Team is picking up speed. BETA members have already visited the Rockford quarry once this year. On Saturday, September 30, Dr. Sedlacek, Riley McMorran, William Spurr, Kayla Beck, and Tray Hickie met at another local quarry. The team started their early morning learning about the stratigraphic sections with BMC Aggregates geologist Sherman Lundy. They then started working on measuring the strata exposed in the quarry and taking samples.

​​Back in the rock preparation room, Rock Team members have begun cleaning, polishing, and describing rock samples taken during one of last year’s BETA outing at a different local quarry. Team members start the process by washing samples in water. Water brings out many details in these samples that wouldn’t be visible otherwise. Rock Team members then go about polishing a flat face on each sample. To polish a sample, put a small amount of water on a hard surface, something like a cutting board. Mix some fine grained powder in with the water. Take a sample and rub it in small circles in the powder until you start checking your watch every 15 seconds. It’s a simple process, but takes a little elbow grease. Polishing these samples is very important and brings out even more detail in the rocks. It turns sometimes dull pieces of limestone into beautiful records of geologic history!

​The Rock Team has also been working hard at translating field notes taken during one of last year’s BETA excursions into usable data. The data in question holds measurements of rock layers and descriptions of rocks during a previous outing to a local quarry. Once the data has been translated, it can be visualized in a diagram called a stratigraphic column. The columns being made display layers of rock stacked on top of each other. The order and thickness of each layer describe how the rocks look in real life. Each layer is filled in with a different pattern that represents the composition and character of that layer.

​The Rock Team is working on exciting projects in their exploration of Devonian period atmosphere and life. They’re hard at work continuing past projects and starting something new!