Research casts new light on Ice Age
Jack Linthicum
Research casts new light on Ice Age
Mon, June 30, 2008
A Valparaiso University professor’s research into the creation of
Kankakee Sand Islands of Northwest Indiana is lending support to
evidence that the first humans to settle the Americas came from
Europe, a discovery that overturns decades of classroom lessons that
nomadic tribes from Asia crossed a Bering Strait land-ice bridge.
Geography professor Dr. Ron Janke began studying the origins of the
Kankakee Sand Islands – a series of hundreds of small, moon-shaped
dunes that stretch from the southern tips of Lake and Porter counties
in Northwest Indiana into northeastern Illinois – about 12 years ago.
Based upon the long-held belief that most of the upper Midwest was
covered by a vast ice sheet up until about 10,000 years ago, Dr. Janke
said he and other scientists surmised the Kankakee Sand Islands were
created by sand in meltwater from the receding glacier.
That belief was challenged, however, when he discovered a year and a
half ago that the islands were composed of sand that had come from
Lake Michigan – something that should have been impossible with the
Valparaiso Moraine standing between the lake and the Kankakee Sand
Islands.
“That created a lot of problems with what we had previously believed
about ice covering this entire area,” Dr. Janke said. “How could it
get over the Valparaiso Moraine and be deposited there?”
Figuring out that puzzle required taking core samples from some of the
remaining islands and the development of a new test by one of Dr.
Janke’s colleagues to determine when sunlight last shone on the sand.
The answer that came back – the Kankakee Sand Islands were born
between 14,500 and 15,000 years ago from Lake Michigan sand – was
startling.
“We thought the area was completely covered by ice at that time,” Dr.
Janke said. “That was a really earth-shattering result for us.”
Yet it also supports research showing that North American Clovis
points – a particular type of arrowhead that represents the oldest
manmade object on the continent –identically match arrowheads found in
Europe and made by humans at approximately the same time. And just
within the last year, new research has provided strong evidence that a
large meteorite struck the ice sheet covering North American and
melted much of the ice shortly before the formation of the Kankakee
Sand Islands.
“My research supports this other recent research because it indicates
there wasn’t a massive ice sheet covering North America that would
have allowed tribes to cross over from Asia via a Bering Strait land-
ice bridge,” Dr. Janke said.
Dr. Janke’s research on the formation of the Kankakee Sand Islands is
continuing this summer, with a focus on determining whether the
islands closest to Lake Michigan are younger than the southernmost
islands.
At one time, approximately 1,200 of the islands stretched out in a
series of curved bands north and south of the Kankakee River that are
separated by a few miles and mirror the southern tip of Lake Michigan.
Though many were destroyed by human settlement, about 700 still exist
today.
Over the past few years, Dr. Janke said about a dozen Valparaiso
students have assisted with his research on islands.
He’s also been active in the Woodland Savanna Land Conservancy, an
organization working to protect the Kankakee Sand Islands. Landowners
have donated a handful of islands to the trust for preservation, and
Dr. Janke is hopeful that others will follow their lead and perhaps
eventually build enough support for some of the islands to be
incorporated into Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore or their own state
park.
“The Kankakee Sand Islands are archaeologically significant, with
numerous Native American artifacts and burial grounds still present in
the surviving islands, and they provide crucial habitat for native
wildlife and plant species,” Dr. Janke said. “I’m hopeful the sand
islands can be protected so we can continue to learn about and
appreciate them.”
Tom McDonald
> No comment, one man's "exactly matched" is another's "similarity".
>
>
>
>
>
> Research casts new light on Ice Age
> Mon, June 30, 2008
> A Valparaiso University professor’s research into the creation of
> Kankakee Sand Islands of Northwest Indiana is lending support to
> evidence that the first humans to settle the Americas came from
> Europe, a discovery that overturns decades of classroom lessons that
> nomadic tribes from Asia crossed a Bering Strait land-ice bridge.
Overturns? Only if it is confirmed.
And what is this 'Bering Strait land-ice bridge' of which
this...person writes? From what s/he writes below, s/he needs a
flashlight, a map and both hands to find his/her ass.
>
> Geography professor Dr. Ron Janke began studying the origins of the
> Kankakee Sand Islands – a series of hundreds of small, moon-shaped
> dunes that stretch from the southern tips of Lake and Porter counties
> in Northwest Indiana into northeastern Illinois – about 12 years ago.
>
> Based upon the long-held belief that most of the upper Midwest was
> covered by a vast ice sheet up until about 10,000 years ago, Dr. Janke
> said he and other scientists surmised the Kankakee Sand Islands were
> created by sand in meltwater from the receding glacier.
Well, not so much. 10,000 ya, the glacial front would have been a
good four or five hundred miles north of the area.
>
> That belief was challenged, however, when he discovered a year and a
> half ago that the islands were composed of sand that had come from
> Lake Michigan – something that should have been impossible with the
> Valparaiso Moraine standing between the lake and the Kankakee Sand
> Islands.
>
> “That created a lot of problems with what we had previously believed
> about ice covering this entire area,” Dr. Janke said. “How could it
> get over the Valparaiso Moraine and be deposited there?”
>
> Figuring out that puzzle required taking core samples from some of the
> remaining islands and the development of a new test by one of Dr.
> Janke’s colleagues to determine when sunlight last shone on the sand.
>
> The answer that came back – the Kankakee Sand Islands were born
> between 14,500 and 15,000 years ago from Lake Michigan sand – was
> startling.
>
> “We thought the area was completely covered by ice at that time,” Dr.
> Janke said. “That was a really earth-shattering result for us.”
IIRC (and I may not), ca. 14,000 ya, there was already a Lake
Michigan, south of the glacial edge but certainly north of the
Chicago and Milwaukee areas. It may be that ca. 1,500 years makes
the difference here, but I'm to be convinced. The rest of this
article does not fill me with confidence in this statement.
>
> Yet it also supports research showing that North American Clovis
> points – a particular type of arrowhead
<snicker>
> that represents the oldest
> manmade object on the continent
<snicker, giggle>
> –identically match arrowheads found in
> Europe and made by humans at approximately the same time.
ROTFLMAO
> And just
> within the last year, new research has provided strong evidence that a
> large meteorite struck the ice sheet covering North American and
> melted much of the ice shortly before the formation of the Kankakee
> Sand Islands.
>
> “My research supports this other recent research because it indicates
> there wasn’t a massive ice sheet covering North America that would
> have allowed tribes to cross over from Asia via a Bering Strait land-
> ice bridge,” Dr. Janke said.
Hahahahahahahhahaha <gasp> Ahahahahahahahahahah <gasp>
Ahahahahahahahahaha <faints>
<wakes up> <can't laugh any more--sides hurt>
>
> Dr. Janke’s research on the formation of the Kankakee Sand Islands is
> continuing this summer, with a focus on determining whether the
> islands closest to Lake Michigan are younger than the southernmost
> islands.
>
> At one time, approximately 1,200 of the islands stretched out in a
> series of curved bands north and south of the Kankakee River that are
> separated by a few miles and mirror the southern tip of Lake Michigan.
> Though many were destroyed by human settlement, about 700 still exist
> today.
>
> Over the past few years, Dr. Janke said about a dozen Valparaiso
> students have assisted with his research on islands.
>
> He’s also been active in the Woodland Savanna Land Conservancy, an
> organization working to protect the Kankakee Sand Islands. Landowners
> have donated a handful of islands to the trust for preservation, and
> Dr. Janke is hopeful that others will follow their lead and perhaps
> eventually build enough support for some of the islands to be
> incorporated into Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore or their own state
> park.
>
> “The Kankakee Sand Islands are archaeologically significant, with
> numerous Native American artifacts and burial grounds still present in
> the surviving islands, and they provide crucial habitat for native
> wildlife and plant species,” Dr. Janke said. “I’m hopeful the sand
> islands can be protected so we can continue to learn about and
> appreciate them.”
One can only hope that Dr. Janke isn't the one who made the
howlers in this article, but rather an inexperienced (and rather
dim) reporter.
<walks away, shaking head, chuckling and wincing>
Peter Alaca
Are you sure it was beer?
Melodious Thunk
> Jack Linthicum wrote:
> > No comment, one man's "exactly matched" is another's "similarity".
>
> > Research casts new light on Ice Age
> > Mon, June 30, 2008
<snip>
> One can only hope that Dr. Janke isn't the one who made the
> howlers in this article, but rather an inexperienced (and rather
> dim) reporter.
>
> <walks away, shaking head, chuckling and wincing>
I guess that, back in my college days, I only read science; not
popular science.
Has popular science writing *always* been bad, or is it simply getting
worse this generation?
Daryl Krupa
> > Geography professor Dr. Ron Janke began studying
> > the origins of the Kankakee Sand Islands –
> > a series of hundreds of small, moon-shaped dunes that
> > stretch from the southern tips of Lake and Porter counties
> > in Northwest Indiana into northeastern Illinois
> > Figuring out that puzzle required taking
> > core samples from some of the remaining islands
> > and the development of a new test by one of Dr.
> > Janke’s colleagues to determine when sunlight
> > last shone on the sand.
>
> > The answer that came back –
> > the Kankakee Sand Islands were born
> > between 14,500 and 15,000 years ago
> > from Lake Michigan sand – was startling.
>
> > “We thought the area was completely
> > covered by ice at that time,” Dr. Janke said.
> > “That was a really earth-shattering result for us.”
>
> IIRC (and I may not), ca. 14,000 ya, there was already a Lake
> Michigan, south of the glacial edge but certainly north of the
> Chicago and Milwaukee areas.
You are correct, sir.
Look at these maps:
http://www.worldbusinesschicago.com/Portals/0/infocenter_files/counties.jpg
http://www.erudit.org/revue/GPQ/1987/v41/n2/032681arf008n.jpg
http://www.erudit.org/revue/GPQ/1987/v41/n2/032681arf009n.jpg
On the "14,000 Years Ago" map,
the arrow beside "Michigan" is pointing to Chicago;
the ice edge approximates the modern shore of Lake Michigan.
On the "10,000 Years Ago" map, the nearest glacial ice is
in the Lake Superior basin.
These maps are more accurate
(but take longer to search and load),
being from 2003 instead of 1987;
look at the "12 14C ka BP" map for 14,000 years ago:
On this page you will see a map for 10,00 years ago,
titled "9 14C ka BP":
Home site, at which you would find the above maps
by searching for the title
"Deglaciation of North America:
http://apps1.gdr.nrcan.gc.ca/mirage/db_search_e.php
Dr. Janke wouldn't, by any chance, be a
cranio-proximal proctologist, would he?
- Daryl Krupa
Eric Stevens
<tmcdon...@charter.net> wrote:
>Jack Linthicum wrote:
>> No comment, one man's "exactly matched" is another's "similarity".
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Research casts new light on Ice Age
>> Mon, June 30, 2008
>> A Valparaiso University professor’s research into the creation of
>> Kankakee Sand Islands of Northwest Indiana is lending support to
>> evidence that the first humans to settle the Americas came from
>> Europe, a discovery that overturns decades of classroom lessons that
>> nomadic tribes from Asia crossed a Bering Strait land-ice bridge.
>
>Overturns? Only if it is confirmed.
>
Are you trying to say that the theme of class romm lessons is not that
nomadic tribes from Asia crossed a Bering Strait land-ice bridge?
You may be right, but what else is being taught in class rooms?
>And what is this 'Bering Strait land-ice bridge' of which
>this...person writes? From what s/he writes below, s/he needs a
>flashlight, a map and both hands to find his/her ass.
Errm. Isn't this 'ad hominem'?
Actually, I have to agree with you. Your argument is entirely
straightforward and makes perfect sense.
Eric Stevens
Tom McDonald
> On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:58:25 -0500, Tom McDonald
> <tmcdon...@charter.net> wrote:
>
>> Jack Linthicum wrote:
>>> No comment, one man's "exactly matched" is another's "similarity".
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Research casts new light on Ice Age
>>> Mon, June 30, 2008
>>> A Valparaiso University professor’s research into the creation of
>>> Kankakee Sand Islands of Northwest Indiana is lending support to
>>> evidence that the first humans to settle the Americas came from
>>> Europe, a discovery that overturns decades of classroom lessons that
>>> nomadic tribes from Asia crossed a Bering Strait land-ice bridge.
>> Overturns? Only if it is confirmed.
>>
> Are you trying to say that the theme of class romm lessons is not that
> nomadic tribes from Asia crossed a Bering Strait land-ice bridge?
>
> You may be right, but what else is being taught in class rooms?
In the better sort of classrooms, students are being taught that
there was an area called Beringia, which was ice-free during the
relevant period; and that at that time, the Bering Strait did not
exist.
The reporter's statement was, at best, garbled and confused.
>
>> And what is this 'Bering Strait land-ice bridge' of which
>> this...person writes? From what s/he writes below, s/he needs a
>> flashlight, a map and both hands to find his/her ass.
>
> Errm. Isn't this 'ad hominem'?
Might be. The reporter, in my not at all humble opinion, earned
every bit of it.
The only argument I made was that the reporter (I hope it wasn't
Dr. Janke) made a number of very laugh-worthy mistakes. Do you
disagree?
Cory Albrecht
>> And what is this 'Bering Strait land-ice bridge' of which
>> this...person writes? From what s/he writes below, s/he needs a
>> flashlight, a map and both hands to find his/her ass.
> Errm. Isn't this 'ad hominem'?
Not necessarily.
An ad hominem is when the argument is of the form "You're wrong because
you're an idiot" with no supporting evidence. But if you show the
mistakes the other person made presenting their side and then proceed to
call them a moron, then it's merely an insult.
For example, say a creationist argues that transitional fossils have
never been found and I reply "No, you moron, have you never heard of
Tiktaalik, Archeopteryx, Kutchicetus and so forth?" That is an insult,
but because the basis of my reply is transitional fossils do exist and
that I gave few examples it is not an ad hominem. IOW, he's a moron
because he's wrong not that he's wrong because he's a moron.
An ad hominem is always an insult, but not all insults are ad hominems.
Norah_J
"Melodious Thunk" <thunk.m...@gmail.com> skrev i meddelandet
news:5b9ad85e-21bc-45e8...@v26g2000prm.googlegroups.com...
<snip>
IEJ: Popular science can only be used as a what IF. Under some special
circumstances the what IF can be proven to be the true initial story of what
then came to be. But before that or before the what IF been shown at least
to be a plausible even if not a proven true factor to take into
consideration, it's only a contra-story to what's assumed. That said,
popular science in many case can give or initiate new questions to ask to
old stories due to facts been presented elsewhere been refered to in popular
science. So don't sit on high horses saying you never read popular science.
In some cases that's better to do than to stick to old conclusion when new
facts arrived since the conclusions was drawn!/Inger E
Peter Alaca
No. Populair science is just science told to non-scientists.
--
p.a.
Tom McDonald
What value did you find in the original article? Do you think
there was any whatsoever?
Jack Linthicum
> Norah_J wrote:
> > "Melodious Thunk" <thunk.melodi...@gmail.com> skrev i meddelandet
Sort of my problem, it seemed to be nutty but with some legitimate
thesis. A Science News item, which I forgot to cite.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080701193203.htm
Melodious Thunk
> "Melodious Thunk" <thunk.melodi...@gmail.com> skrev i meddelandetnews:5b9ad85e-21bc-45e8...@v26g2000prm.googlegroups.com...
> I guess that, back in my college days, I only read science; not
> popular science.
>
> Has popular science writing *always* been bad, or is it simply getting
> worse this generation?
>
> IEJ: Popular science can only be used as a what IF. Under some special
> circumstances the what IF can be proven to be the true initial story of what
> then came to be. But before that or before the what IF been shown at least
> to be a plausible even if not a proven true factor to take into
> consideration, it's only a contra-story to what's assumed. That said,
> popular science in many case can give or initiate new questions to ask to
> old stories due to facts been presented elsewhere been refered to in popular
> science. So don't sit on high horses saying you never read popular science.
> In some cases that's better to do than to stick to old conclusion when new
> facts arrived since the conclusions was drawn!/Inger E
Was I unclear? I was referring to the sensationalism in this article
and much (if not all) of the popular science I read today. "[A]
discovery that overturns decades of classroom lessons..." for example.
Norah_J
"Tom McDonald" <tmcdon...@charter.net> skrev i meddelandet
news:VYxbk.14$rb...@newsfe02.lga...
Hi Tom,
well it wasn't one of my favorites if you want to have it bluntly, but there
were bits and pieces where the importance of new questions to be asked to
the old question re. Ice Age. That part I think of is the piece were the
question of when the Ice had withdrawn where. Why? Well I do believe that
many serious scholars still haven't taken the landrise starting when the ice
disappeared from a place but still was close (less than km away) into
account. But the article as such...... I can find better use for it together
with small branches of wood lighting the fire in the old iron-fireplace in
our summerhouse.....
Inger E
Eric Stevens
wrote:
Do you need to put a nail hole in the corner?
>
Eric Stevens
Tom McDonald
a...break; and passersby might hear my muffled laughter and get
the wrong impression.
Norah_J
"Eric Stevens" <eric.s...@sum.co.nz> skrev i meddelandet
news:dsdu64hc2nogqatdb...@4ax.com...
No I don't.
For that the article is good enough without :-)
Inger E
>>
>
>
>
> Eric Stevens