UW–Madison Geology Museum

TheUW–Madison Geology Museum(UWGM) is a geology and paleontology museum housed in Weeks Hall, in the southwest part of theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madisoncampus. The museum's main undertakings are exhibits, outreach to the public, and research. It has the second highest attendance of any museum at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison,exceeded only by theChazen Museum of Art.The museum charges no admission.

UW–Madison Geology Museum

Coordinates	43.070661°N 89.406411°W/43.070661; -89.406411
Type	Natural history museum
Public transit access	Metro Transit
Website	museum.geoscience.wisc.edu

History

The museum was founded in the 19th century, and for many years resided with the earth science departments inScience Hall.After the construction of Weeks Hall in the 1970s, the museum moved to its present location in 1981.

Exhibits

Almost 1,000 items are on display in 66 exhibits covering 3,000 square feet (280 m²). Major sections are devoted to rocks and minerals, invertebrate and fish fossils, and vertebrate fossils. There are also cases of glaciers, meteorites, and fossil plants.

Highlights of the museum include:

Rocks

• An excellent specimen of the mineralkermesite;
• Twoglacial erraticpieces ofcopperweighing hundreds of pounds each;
• A case exhibiting 85mineralsfrom the recent Greiner donation;
• Ablacklightroom that shines both long- and short-waveultravioletonto rocks, demonstratingfluorescenceandphosphorescence;
• A walk-through model of alimestonecave, complete with sound effects.

Fossils

• A slab of sea floor from theCretaceousperiod inTexas,containing impressions of many clams;
• Shells of giant thecephalopodEndocerasfrom Wisconsin;
• Thetype specimenof the fossilcephalopodActinocerasbeloitense.
• A window showing the workings of the preparation laboratory, wherevertebratefossils collected in the field are cleaned for storage or display;
• Animals from theBurgess Shale,including thechordatePikaia,thehyolithHaplophrentis,and fragments of thestem-arthropodAnomalocaris;
• Several skeletons from theCretaceousNiobrarachalk ofKansas:
  • Hesperornis,a swimming bird with teeth;
  • A slab of chalk containing thesharkSqualicorax,including its teeth, vertebrae, and some bones from its last meal;

    

    The Boaz mastodon in the vertebrate fossil room

  • An exceptionally well-preserved slab of a floating colony of thesea lilyUintacrinus;
  • A nearly complete skeleton of themosasaurPlatecarpus,suspended from the ceiling. It has some distinctivepathologies,including injured ribs and a rear right flipper with arthritis;
  • A suspended replica of thepterosaurPteranodon;
• Vertebrate skeletons from other places:
  • ThePermianreptileCaptorhinus;
  • A composite skeleton of theduck-billed dinosaurEdmontosaurus,the first dinosaur on display in Wisconsin;
  • The skeleton of anAmerican mastodon,aPleistocenerelative of elephants. It is a composite of bones from two individuals, both found in the 1890s in southwestern Wisconsin. Since one was found near the village ofBoaz,the entire composite was once called theBoaz mastodon.

Biosignatures exhibit

This exhibit highlights the chronology of the Earth and the signal left by life on the planet. Features include

• A block containing debris from theSudbury impact1.85 billion years ago
• Stromatolitesfrom theOrdovicianof southwesternWisconsin
• Soft-bodied fossils, such as the Enigma ticGrypaniaand aSilurian-agecycloneuralianworm.
• A largeWinogradsky column

Cycloneuralianworm, misidentified as the earliestleech,from theSilurianWaukesha Biota,Wisconsin.

Extraterrestrial exhibits

• A large fragment of the Canyon Diablo meteorite that leftMeteor Craterin Arizona.
• Several small meteorites, both stony and metallic, that fell in Wisconsin.

Outreach

Every year hundreds of school groups from around the state tour the museum, led by student guides. Staff and students at the museum also travel to schools in the area to teach children and their teachers about geology.

The museum hosts periodic family events, such as the annual Open House. These sometimes have a special theme, such as the one in 2006 that focused onpterosaursand in 2009 on theMazon Creek fossilswhich includes theTully Monster(Tullimonstrum gregarium).

Research

Wyoming dig

The museum has conducted fossil digs in many Western states. The Late CretaceousNiobraraFormation in Kansas has yielded many marine fossils. TheHell Creek FormationinMontanaandSouth Dakotahas producedduck-billed,horned,andtyrannosauriddinosaurs, as well as some noteworthy fish.

There is an ongoing summer dig in theJurassicMorrison FormationinWyoming,which has producedsauropodandtheropoddinosaurs, as well as other remarkable vertebrates.

The museum also conducts local research, such as the study ofPleistocenemammalfossils fromMidwesterncaves.

Collections

Like most museums, the Geology Museum has far more specimens stored in its collections than on display. It holds a majority of the meteorites ever collected in Wisconsin, and an abundance of rocks and minerals collected by faculty and donated by friends of the museum.

The museum's fossils include impressive collections from the White River Badlands, the Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation, and a remarkableSiluriansoft-bodied fauna from a quarry nearWaukesha.

External links

• UW–Madison Geology Museum website