Big Muddy Speaker Series

Presentation by geologist Richard J. Gentile, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Geosciences, University of Missouri- Kansas City

Tuesday, October 25, 7:00 p.m. 

Where – Westport Coffeehouse Theater – 4010 Pennsylvania Ave. Kansas City, MO

6 p.m. – Social Hour
7 p.m. – Presentation. Presentation will be filmed – After 7 PM, Please enter through Green Room Burgers

PLUS – This presentation audio will be streaming live on KCDV.tv!
(See past videos here)

Presentation is FREE and open to the public!

Geological layers represented in the South Dakota badlands. Courtesy of “Earth Science in our National Parks”.

Just west of the Missouri River in South Dakota is the Badlands, a semi-arid region of spires, buttes and inaccessible cliffs in southwestern South Dakota adjacent to the Pine Ridge Reservation. Drained by the White, Bad and Cheyenne Rivers, the region is also the final resting place for the skeletal remains of a vast array of mammals that lived in the Late Eocene Epoch about 30 million years ago. At that time, the climate was sub-tropical, with lush vegetation and sluggish meandering streams.

Classes of budding paleontologists from the Dept. of Geosciences, UMKC have for many years collected specimens from the Badlands near Scenic, S.D. under Special Use permits issued by the U.S. Forest Service. The finds include the skeletal remains of tiny mouse-sized creatures to massive rhino-sized beasts and numerous tortoises.

Dr. Richard Gentile, professor of Geosciences at UMKC will give us a window into this unique world of mud and bone that lies upstream from us and share a glimpse into the past of our ancient watershed.

Drawing courtesy of National Park Service.

The specimens from the Badlands are on display at the Richard L. Sutton, Geoscience Museum, Rm 271, Flarsheim Hall, Volker Campus, UMKC. The Museum is open to the public at no charge from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on days when classes are in session.

Directions

Westport CoffeeHouse – 4010 Pennsylvania Kansas City, Mo – www.westportcoffeehouse.com

The Westport CoffeeHouse is in the Westport entertainment area, midtown KC, south of downtown and north of the Plaza.  The main intersection is Westport Rd and Broadway.  From this intersection, go west on Westport Rd one block to Pennsylvania. Turn north (right).

OR you can get there from the intersection of Southwest Trafficway and Westport Rd.  Go east on Westport Rd to Pennsylvania. Turn north (left).

Westport Coffee House is approximately one block down on the west side of Pennsylvania.  Parking can be had either south of the coffee house in the large parking lot or just north of the coffee house alongside the building.  Enter through Green Room Burgers or Westport CoffeeHouse.