BUCKHORN ASPHALT QUARRY

The Buckhorn Asphalt Quarry (BAQ) in southern Oklahoma, USA, is a very rare occurrence of one of the oldest known mineralogically and chemically unaltered mollusk shells in the world. The rocks are Middle Pennsylvanian in age (about 310 million years old).

Aragonite is a common constituent of fossil and Recent mollusk shell. This biomineral is metastable and eventually recrystallizes into coarse-grained calcite, thereby destroying the original microstructures. There has been very little to no  recrystallization of these kind of shells in the BAQ shells. The inner shell layers of many cephalopods (nautiloids and ammonoids), gastropods, and bivalves from the BAQ contain textures and microstructures identical to pristine, unaltered nacre of modern mollusks. Many shells have also their original Sr, Mg, and stable oxygen-isotope contents. Orthocone nautiloids have their original cameral deposits and conchiolin. Also, some gastropods have their original color patterns.  

This exceptional preservation (also referred to as a “Lagerstatten”) occurred because either during or shortly after deposition, oil migration occurred along nearby wrench faults. This early incursion of oil prevented any diagenetic alteration to the BAQ shells and allowed for only pin-point cementation of the shell and sediment. Conversion of the oil to asphalt occurred later. When the asphalt is extracted via a Soxyhlet extractor (using dichlormethane) from the “rock,” the material crumbles under finger pressure.

The 10-m thick BAQ section of strata are mostly limestone (foraminifera-mollusk grainstones) in the lower part and a foraminifer-cephalopod coquina in the upper part. The strata overall consist of broken and abraded skeletal debris, scattered whole gastropod shells (some minute in size), scattered plant remains, and scattered micro-scour channels and cross beds. Many of the plant fragments and the orthocone nautiloids show preferred orientations. The shells were most likely winnowed by waves/currents in localized areas in a shelf environment affected by fluctuating depths.

                         

The way the BAQ quarry looked in 1970 when I started my field work.

The quarry is within the historic Buckhorn asphaltic region, which was heavily mined in the early 1900's. The quarry was originally dug out by hand in order to obtain asphalt to be used in Oklahoma City. The BAQ, which was originally called the Gilsonite Paving and Roofing Company, No. 2 quarry, was initially mined for its hard, shiny asphalt (gilsonite), and periodically thereafter, until the 1940s, for its natural asphalt. I first visited the BAQ in spring 1970, when I started my doctoral dissertation there. I found only weathered asphalt, and much of it was as displaced pieces of "float," and the old quarry was filled with thick brush (including poison ivy), ticks, and some snakes. Before the 1970s, fossil dealers and weekend collectors had trespassed onto the private property in order to take fossils without asking permission from the land owner. They had picked over the rocks pretty thoroughly in their search for weathered-out orthocone *straight-shelled” nautiloids with some remnant shiny luster.

My doctorate dissertation research at the California Institute of Technology concerned the first integrated geologic, paleontologic, and geochemical study of theBAQ. With the financial assistance of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, I arranged for the old (historic) BAQ to be reopened by means of two bulldozers, a back-hoe tractor, and two days of dynamiting. As a result, foliage and debris were removed, fresh bedrock was exposed, and the quarry proved to be approximately 168 m long, 25 m wide, and with an average depth of 7 m. A continuous 10-m-thick stratigraphic section was exposed near the west end of the quarry. The richest fossil bed of cephalopod remains was exposed for a distance of 38 m by means of the heavy machinery and precision dynamiting. This bed is richly asphaltic with dark black color and odor, and the abundant fossils had undergone no weathering whatsoever. In comparison, weathered rock (especially float) in the bottom of and along the south side of the quarry had a bluish-gray to gray color. Weathering became evident on freshly exposed asphalt even after a single rainstorm. The majority of the fresh bulk material I had uncovered during this excavation was either shipped or taken by me to southern California. A few years ago, I donated this material to the Invertebrate Paleontology Department of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (LACMIP). Other material that I collected and gave to Caltech was later given to LACMIP. In order to facilitate future researchers visiting LACMIP to view all these samples, I recently donated to LACMIP my extensive collection of research papers concerning the paleontology and geology of the BAQ.

The way the quarry looked just after the dynamite process and bull-dozing were finished in 1970.

In addition to the mollusks, other fossils that I found in the BAQ strata are remains of land plants, foraminifera, chaetetid sponges, rugose corals, bryozoans, brachiopods, rare scaphopods and chitons, ostracods, and echinoderms.

Asphalt-impregnated coiled cephalopod shell.

Asphalt-impregnated straight (orthocone) nautiloid shell.

Orthocone nautiloid with asphalt removed, thereby revealing the original iridescence (the play of lustrous, changing colors) of the original organic aragonite layer.

Two views (A, side) and (B, oblique of top) of a Naticopsis gastropod showing color banding after the asphalt was removed.

[For more details, see the reference: Squires, R.L. 1976. Color pattern of Naticopsis (Naticopsis) wortheniana, Buckhorn Asphalt Deposit, Oklahoma. Journal of Paleontology 50(2):349–350].

Since my reopening of the quarry back in 1970, many paleontologists, some from other nations, have visited the site and collected from the available material. Their studies have have revealed some new discoveries: algae, a rugose coral (rare), and isolated fish teeth and fish scales.

In a paper by Vendrasco et al. (2018) (cited below), I wrote a comprehensive summary of the geology of the BAQ and included pertinent references.

Vendrasco, M.J., A.G. Checa, R.L. Squires, and C.M. Pina. 2018. Unaltered nacre from the Pennsylvanian Buckhorn Asphalt, and implications for the arms race between mollusks and their predators. Palaios 33(16(:451-463). 

SACRED CHANK SHELLS

The name “chank” is derived from the Indian word “shanka,” meaning the divine-conch shell.

These seashells are very heavy, thick-walled shells made by shallow-marine gastropods (snails) living in tropical waters in India (especially in the Bay of Bengal) and in Sri Lanka. The gastropods are known scientifically by the name Turbinella pyrum Linnaeus, 1758, which is classified in family Turbinellidae.

Most specimens of T. pyrum are of a right-handed (dextrally) coiled shell, like the one shown below. The aperture (where the animal can crawl in and out of its shell) is on the right side as viewed in the image here. Notice the four columellar plicae (folds or “teeth”) on one side of the aperture. Two of them are large, the next one is about half as big, and the fourth one is quite small. These plicae provide places where the animal can grip onto, in order to hold onto its shell, as well as to prevent being pulled out of its shell by a predator. This specimen is 12 cm (4.5 in.) high and 6.5 cm (2.5 in.) wide.

There are left-handed (sinistrially) coiled shells of this gastropod, but they are rare and considered to be sacred. They are particularly highly valued in terms of religious significance in both Hinduism and Buddhism. These particular shells are commonly referred to as  “divine conchs” and are often carved, decorated (in gold, semiprecious stones, or metals), and placed in altars. Sometimes, a small hole is drilled at the top of the shell and special attachments are made to allow a high priest to use the shell as a trumpet for ceremonial purposes. See my recent post dealing with subject of  "trumpet shells" (of which there are several common ones).

For other interesting details about the Indian chank, see:

Hornell, J. 1914. The sacred chank of India: a monograph on the Indian conch     Turbinella pyrum. Madras Fishing Bureau Bulletin 7, 181 pp. Available as a free downloadable pdf from biodiversitylibrary.com 

MOUNT EVEREST AND OTHER MOUNTAIN PEAKS HIGHER THAN 20,000 FEET

Thirty-one of the world’s highest mountains are 20,000 feet (6, 098 meters feet) or higher in elevation, relative to sea level. Twenty-two of these are in the Himalaya Mountains, and 14 are called the “eight thousanders,” in reference to their elevations being higher than 8,000 meters. Mount Everest is in the eastern part of the Himalaya complex, whereas the other >8,000 m are in the Karakoram Mountains, in the western part of the Himalaya complex. The Karakoma Mountains (also referred to as the Karakorams) are 311 miles in length and represent the most heavily glaciated part of the world outside of the polar regions.

Satellite View of the Himalaya complex, courtesy of Google Earth (2004).

The following list (compiled by me) denotes all of the world's tallest mountains (equal to or higher than 20,000 feet (6,096 meters), in descending height, as well as the name of each peak and in which country it occurs. 

MOUNTAIN	COUNTRY	ELEVATION
Mt Everest	Nepal/China	29,032 ft	8,848 m
K2	Pakistan/China	28,251 ft	8,611 m
Kangchenjunga	Nepal/India	28,169 ft	8,586 m
Lhotse	Nepal/China	27,940 ft	8,516 m
Malaku	Nepal	27,825 ft	8,481 m
Cho Oyu	Nepal/China	26,864 ft	8,188 m
Dhaulagiri	Nepal	26,795 ft	8,167 m
Manaslu	Nepal	26,781 ft	8,163 m
Nanga Parbat	Pakistan	26,660 ft	8,126 m
Annapurna	Nepal	26,545 ft	8,091 m
Gasherbrum I	Pakistan/China	26,509 ft	8,080 m
Broad Peak	Pakistan/China	26,414 ft	8,051 m
Gasherbrum II	Pakistan/China	26,362 ft	8,035 m
Shishapangma	China	26,335 ft	8,027 m
Chogolisa	Pakistan	25,148 ft	7,665 m
Skyyang Kangri	Pakistan/China	24,754 ft	7,545 m
Muztagh Tower	Pakistan/China	23,871 ft	7,284 m
Latok	Pakistan	23,442 ft	7,145 m
Aconcagua	Chile	22,835 ft	6,962 m
Ojos del Salado	Argentina/Chile	22,615 ft	6,887 m
Ama Dablam	Eastern Nepal	22,349 ft	6,812 m
Angel Star	Pakistan	22,316 ft	6,802 m
Monte Pissis	Argentina	22,283 ft	6,792 m
Kawagebo	Yunnan, China	22,110 ft	6,740 m
Denali (Mt. McKinley)	Alaska	21,950 ft	6,190 m
Yerupaja Grande	Peru	21,703 ft	6,617 m
Siula Grande	Peru	20,808 ft	6,344 m
Trango Towers	Pakistan	20,618 ft	6,286 m
Palcaraju	Peru	20,579 ft	6,274 m
Uli Biaho (tower)	Pakistan	20,043 ft	6,109 m
Laila Peak	Pakistan	20,000 ft	6,096 m

Source of Data = Wikipedia (2023)

Additional Comments: 

The Himalaya/Karakoram mountains regions are still being uplifted as the result of on-going collision between two tectonic plates, which began about 55 million years ago. One of the plates is the Indo-Australian plate, upon which the continental crust of India is being subducted underneath the Asian plate, upon which the continental crust of the Himalyas is being uplifted. You might want to see one of my earlier posts that discusses the gradual movement of India northward toward Asia, and the resulting geology.

When I was assembling the most recent data for this post and checking it for accuracy, I noticed that the elevation of most of the peaks have a revised elevation (several feet/meters of revision!) relative to when I made an earlier version of this chart about five years ago. It is true that some mountains “are continutally being elevated because of tectonic uplift, but the rates are typically no more that a few millimeters per year (e.g., 5 mm), not in several feet/meters per year! The reason for the discrepancies is that many of these mountains are periodically remeasured by means of more-and-more sophisticated measuring devices (especially via the use of GPS satellites). So, in a few years, no doubt some of the elevations given in this post will have been revised.

While on the subject of tall mountains, I decided to add the following information:

Earth's tallest mountain, as measured from bottom to top, is Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano in Hawaii. This volcano is 33,477 ft. tall (above the ocean floor—not just above sea level). It is only 13,803 ft. (4,207 m) above sea level.

SPACE MOUNTAINS: Of the 10 tallest mountains in our solar system, five are found on the surface of Mars. The tallest Martian mountain  is Olympus Mons (81,000 ft. = 15.5 miles high!---note: there is no "sea level" on Mars). The tallest mountain on Venus is Maxwell Montes (36,300 ft.) (National Geographic, Sept. 2013).

TYRIAN PURPLE DYE

The deep-blue dye Tyrian purple, which was highly valued, was used in the making of garments for early Phoenicians and later, for Greek and Roman royalty. It is a toxic secretion (to crabs and small fish but is harmless to mammals. Only a few genera and species of predatory gastropods (snails) belonging to the family Muricidae, have this secretion. Most of these gastropods live in the Mediterraean Sea and closely adjacent areas in the Atlantic Ocean (Radwin, and A. D’Attilio, 1976; en.Wikipedia.org, 2022). The majority of these gastropods, colloquially called “rock snails,” are Bolinus brandaris (Linné, 1758), which was originally identified as Murex brandaris Linné, 1758. There are, however, a few additional muricid gastropods and other closely related families of gastropods that have this or similar secretions. These other gastropods can live elsewhere in the world (en.Wikipedia.org, 2022).

Front & back views of Bolinus brandaris: height 6 cm, width 3 cm.

The extraction of the dye from the snails is a time-consuming and tedious process, and one gram requires 100 kilograms of the gastropod animal. One gram sells for between $2800 and $4000! The exact process was not recorded by the ancients, and learning how to do it required years of trial and error by a few modern-day experimentors (who seem intent on keeping the process secret). Additionally, the process produces a foul stench of sulphated hydrocarbons (Radwin and D’Attilio, 1976). For more details about Tryrian purple, see Goddard (1972). 

References Cited:

Bañon, R. and M.G. Tasende. 2008. First record of the purple dye murex Bolinus brandaris (Gastropoda: Muricidae) and a revise list of non-native mollusks from Galician waters (Spain, NE Atlantic). Aquatic Invasions, v. 3, issue 3:331–334.

 en.Wikipedia.org 2022.

Goddard, C.S. 1972. The tale of the Tryian Purple. Of Sea and Shore (summer 1972), pp. 89–90

   

Radwin, G.E. and A. D’Attilio. 1976. Murex shells of the world. An illustrated guide to the Muricidae. Stanford University Presss, Stanford, California. 284 pp. 

SHELL TRUMPETS

This post could could have been called “musical shells.” It concerns the use of certain large-size shallow-marine gastropod (snail) shells that have historically been used for the purpose of signaling. Mariners would cut off the tip (spire) of one of these shells and blow through the shell, thereby producing a distinct and far-travelling note. Although almost any stout shell could be used, the following three, which are illustrated below, are preferred. The bigger the shell, the deeper the tone of the sound, which can be similar to that of foghorns.

Three examples of "shell trumpets":

1) Four views (apertural, dorsal, right side, and top) of the same specimen of the “Helmet shell” = Cassis cornuta (Linné, 1758), length 22 cm, width 15.5 cm; three views: apertural, dorsal, and right side.

2) Three views of the same specimen of “Atlantic Triton shell” = Charonia variegata (Lamarck, 1816), length 15 cm, width 6 cm; three views: apertural, dorsal, and right side. from southeast Florida, West Indies. Note: Except for being smaller in size, this species looks very similar to Charonia tritonis (Linné, 1758) from coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific area.

3) “Queen conch” = Strombus gigas from southeastern United States and West Indies; length 22.8 cm, width 20.3 cm, right side 12.7 cm. Note: There are two colonial corals (lumpy objects) attached along one side of this shell.

Go online to YouTube.com, if you want to see videos describing the process of making a shell trumpet and how to make the associated musical notes. These videos are interesting and educational. One thing they commonly forget to mention is to be sure to wear a mask when cutting through any shell, especially when the cutting is done via a drill or electric grinder. The dust is toxic.

Antonowitz (1972) wrote an article describing shell ochestras comprised of groups of people in New Guinea , Germany, and elsewhere in the world assembling for the purpose of making “conch”

music.

References Cited:

Antonowitz, W. Hear the shells! Of Sea and Shore, Summer 1972, pp. 67–68.