Re: Geology Question (KRS related)


"Eric Stevens" <eric.stevens@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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On Fri, 3 Feb 2006 11:47:51 -0500, "Steve Marcus"
<smarcus_spamout_@xxxxxxx> wrote:



"Eric Stevens" <eric.stevens@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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On Thu, 2 Feb 2006 18:35:27 -0500, "Steve Marcus"
<smarcus_spamout_@xxxxxxx> wrote:



"Eric Stevens" <eric.stevens@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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On Thu, 2 Feb 2006 05:46:13 -0500, "Steve Marcus"
<smarcus_spamout_@xxxxxxx> wrote:



"Eric Stevens" <eric.stevens@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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On 1 Feb 2006 16:14:34 -0800, "Daryl Krupa" <icycalmca@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


Steve Marcus wrote:
Eric Stevens wrote:
<snip>
I know you were discussing the difference between rain and snow
as
precipitation but just to correct any misapprehension arising
from
your final paragraph, on p39 the authors also stated that:

"Subsequent below-grade studies have not been performed due to
the
difference in pH of the soil in Hallowell, Maine and the
Kensington
Rune Stone discovery site".
<snip>
However, now that you mention it, would you consider it fair to
say that the authors originally didn't collect samples
due to the ground being frozen and snow covered?
Then, when they later went back,
they didn't collect samples because of
the pH difference in the soils.

Steve:
Perhaps the investigators never did go back to Hallowell,
having learned something about soil pH differences and their
possibly differential effects on rock weathering after the
initial tombstone-observation expedition.
Is there some mention of a follow-up expedition to the
cemetery at Hallowell in the book?
Is there any mention that they took soil samples from the
cemetery?
(I would be surprised if they did; cemetery managers tend to
frown on excavations by outsiders, however small the effort.
It just looks bad to visiting family members.)
Is there any indication that they knew the pH of the soil
in that cemetery?

Daryl, you don't need to take soil samples away to determine soil
pH.
You can even buy kits to do this on site in all the better gardening
stores. See http://tinyurl.com/d3njy for example.

Yes, there is an indication that they knew the soil pH in both the
cemetery and at the KRS site. They said they were different.

They also said that when above ground samples were taken in the
cemetery,
there was a foot of snow on the ground. And the ground was frozen.
Do
you
know whether those kits work in such conditions??

I have no idea of what they actually did. If they used one of the
simple 'litmus paper' like indicator kits it certainly would have
worked with a pinch of thawed soil.

Eric, I'm trying to have a discussion here. I have repeatedly stated
that
I
have no firm conclusion regarding the authenticity of the KRS, but to
date,
have felt that the evidence favored it being other than an authentic
circa
1362 runestone. Now, however, there is no evidence in the form of a
rather
large book that purports to advance evidence, both geological and
linguistic, that would tilt the balance in favor of "authentic."

The authors stated that they intended to take a sample of the slate
tombstones from below ground. Presumably, this was of some importance,
since the entire KRS was, when found, below ground. They further stated
that no such samples were taken at the time that they took the above
ground
samples, because the ground was frozen and covered by a foot of snow.
Yet
you now hypothesize that they dug through the snow, secured some frozen
ground and thawed it to test pH.

I'm not hypothesizing. I'm answering your (hypothetical?) question
about whether or not soil pH testing kits would work in those
conditions. I prefaced my answer by saying that I don't know what they
actually did but explained that 'indicator' type kits could be used
even if the soil sample was initially frozen. I have no idea about the
cheap garden probe type instruments but suspect they might have
trouble.

Why then, didn't they also take a below
ground sample of the tombstone?


But, that aside, how does the scientist in you feel vis-a-vis the
failure
to
take samples as originally intended (one presumes they considered a
comparison of the below ground samples to be important), and the
failure
to
explain why the pH differences matter?

You are jumping to conclusions. We don't know what they did.

My G-d man, they've written a 519 page book, exclusive of
Acknowledgements,
Preface, Introduction, Index, Bibliography and References, and Index of
Photos and Illustrations, in which they claim new and definitive
evidence
to
support their conclusion, and "we don't know what they did?" Shouldn't
we
be able to "know what they did" by reading the book???

Not everything. I've never read a technical paper yet where I've
learned the full methodology.

That's an incredible statement.

Pick an example which you feel shows me to be wrong.

Try the the Framingham Heart Study, found here:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/framingham/


Eric Stevens


Steve



Eric Stevens


Steve
--
The above posting is neither a legal opinion nor legal advice,
because we do not have an attorney-client relationship, and
should not be construed as either. This posting does not
represent the opinion of my employer, but is merely my personal
view. To reply, delete _spamout_ and replace with the numeral 3


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Geology Question (KRS related)
    ... having learned something about soil pH differences and their ... cemetery at Hallowell in the book? ... You can even buy kits to do this on site in all the better gardening ... have felt that the evidence favored it being other than an authentic ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Geology Question (KRS related)
    ... having learned something about soil pH differences and their ... cemetery at Hallowell in the book? ... You can even buy kits to do this on site in all the better gardening ... Now, however, there is no evidence in the form of a rather ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Geology Question (KRS related)
    ... difference in pH of the soil in Hallowell, ... cemetery at Hallowell in the book? ... You can even buy kits to do this on site in all the better gardening ... there is an indication that they knew the soil pH in both the ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Geology Question (KRS related)
    ... having learned something about soil pH differences and their ... cemetery at Hallowell in the book? ... there was a foot of snow on the ground. ... Now, however, there is no evidence in the form of a rather ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Geology Question (KRS related)
    ... due to the ground being frozen and snow covered? ... having learned something about soil pH differences and their ... cemetery at Hallowell in the book? ... have felt that the evidence favored it being other than an authentic ...
    (sci.archaeology)