Thread by @MarkBoslough

This will be my final thread of the day on the controversial #BiblicalArchaeology paper published yesterday by @SciReports (Scientific Reports). Here's a link to my previous thread:

https://twitter.com/MarkBoslough/status/1440377970497966089?s=20

It’s hard to know where to start in a critique of a paper so full of data & claims. Kyle Hill @Sci_Phile says “I have yet to see anyone actually refute the 17 different lines of evidence that seem to at least point in the air burst direction.”

https://twitter.com/Sci_Phile/status/1440474182064558081?s=20

“There wouldn't be a team of geologists poring over that sediment looking for impact evidence if it hadn't been brought to them by people convinced it was from Sodom” is a good point made by @joeroe90 & this is a better place to start my next thread.

https://twitter.com/joeroe90/status/1440432828957609986?s=20

First of all, is it a requirement to be a geologist to do geological fieldwork for archaeology? Not necessarily, in my opinion, but a non-geologist would need to be closely supervised by an expert because geology fieldwork requires highly specialized knowledge and skills.

This is an informed opinion. My degrees are in physics & my grad training is in experimental physics & geophysics. Despite my degrees & training, I have a fair amount of experience in the field with geologists. As a grad student I took Jason Saleeby’s geology class at Caltech.

We spent a lot of time driving around the San Gabes & stopping at every outcrop & road cut, while Jason pontificated. Lots of my friends in that class went on to highly successful earth science careers. For example Terry Wallace, who recently retired as the lab director of LANL.

I also took a class from Gene Shoemaker, who took us on a field trip to Meteor Crater. Years later I would come back with Sue Kieffer to collect samples for my own research on shocked Coconino Sandstone in an effort to develop an NMR shock barometer with colleague Randy Cygan.

We collected samples of rocks shocked by nuclear explosions at Nevada Test site & the K/T boundary near Raton & Sugarite, NM, & near Trinidad & Ludlow Colorado, w guidance from Glen Izett who'd identified the first evidence for shocked quartz from that stratigraphic boundary.

Years later I got to visit the K/T boundary in Gubbio, Italy & a nearby rock quarry with Gene & Carolyn Shoemaker, A Montanari, & others who were collecting samples that led to the paper “Geochemical Evidence for a Comet Shower in the Late Eocene “ science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

I also served as a field assistant to help collect, label, & organize carbonate samples. I learned to use a Jacob’s staff to measure stratigraphic thickness in outcrops across NM, Utah, NV, & France. I joined geologists into the field on a research raft trip in the Grand Canyon.

I’ve collected samples for my own research around the world, including airburst glass from the Libyan Desert. I assisted other geologists in collecting rocks & coring trees in forest affected by the airburst at Tunguska for research they later published (more on that later).

I’m not reciting my geological field experience to brag or claim that I’m some kind of expert or specialist. Quite the opposite. It’s only to convince you that I know enough about field geology to be far enough up the Dunning-Kruger spectrum..

..to be aware that I wouldn’t know enough to be able to make definitive claims about the stratographic record & geological setting at Tal El-Hammam or anywhere else. This takes more expertise, specialized knowledge, & training than I have.

I do not think that most of the members of the Tal El-Hammam team can make an equivalent claim. Let’s have a look. According to the “contributions” section at the bottom of the paper:

"Directed/performed fieldwork: P.J.S., M.A.L., R.E.H., G.K., E.C.S., T.W., G.A.H."

P.J.S. is Phillip J. Silvia. He is not a geologist. According to his CV, his PhD is from an unaccredited evangelical Christian institution that currently operates out of a small strip mall office with no evidence of students or faculty.

M.A.L. is Malcolm A. LeCompte. He is not a geologist. According to his CV, his PhD is in Atmospheric, Planetary, and Astrophysical Sciences from University of Colorado.

R.E.H. is Robert E. Hermes. He is not a geologist. According to his CV, his PhD is in polymer science from University of Southern Mississippi.

E.C.S. is Edward C. Swindel. He is not a geologist. According to his CV he has degrees in anthropology and archaeology, and has been working on his PhD in archaeology since 2013.

T.W is Timothy Witwer. He is not a geologist. He was difficult to track down because he has no cv or publication record. His affiliation, according to Scientific Reports, is “Comet Research Group, Prescott, AZ”. According the CRG website, his affiliation is Boston U..

There is a physician named Timothy Witwer with a medical degree from Boston U. He lives in Elizabeth City, NC. That's the location of Elizabeth State University, which is the affiliation of two coauthors. I'm guessing this is the T.W. credited with fieldwork in this paper.

G.A.H. is George A. Howard. He is not a geologist. He is a blogger from North Carolina. His blog profile says he has a BA in political science from U. North Carolina.

G.K. is Gunther Kletetschka. He is the only geologist on the list. All his degrees are in earth science from reputable universities. I've done fieldwork with him at Tunguska & he is a careful & competent field researcher. I respectfully disagree with his interpretations.

I will continue with this tomorrow.

Next chapter starts here:

https://twitter.com/MarkBoslough/status/1440816755161518082?s=20