Ep #93 Cretaceous Kansas Geology with Kate Andrzejewski

Ep 93 Paleo Nerds with Kate Andrzejewski

LINKS

Kate Andrzejewski at the Kansas Geological Survey
Kate’s professional home base at the Kansas Geological Survey, where she studies sedimentary geology, fossils, and the deep-time stories locked into Midwestern rocks.

Kanopolis Lake, Kansas
A scenic reservoir that doubles as a geological time machine, exposing sedimentary layers packed with marine fossils from when Kansas was underwater.

Kolbe Andrzejewski
Kate’s husband and frequent field companion—proof that geology is sometimes a family affair conducted with rock hammers and muddy boots.

Geology of Kanopolis Lake (KGS field report)
A detailed Kansas Geological Survey report breaking down the stratigraphy, fossils, and depositional environments of the Kanopolis area.

Aerial footage of Kanopolis Lake sedimentary layers
Drone footage revealing beautifully exposed sedimentary bands—nature’s own layer cake, filmed from above.

Coquina
A sedimentary rock made almost entirely of shell fragments, formed when waves and currents pile marine debris into cemented shell hash.

Siderite
An iron carbonate mineral that can encase fossils like a geological safe, preserving delicate shells inside hard, rust-brown nodules.

Kiowa Shale
A Cretaceous marine shale deposited during one of the great inland sea invasions, famous for ammonites and other ocean life in Kansas.

Dakota Formation
Sandstones and mudstones recording rivers, deltas, and coastlines as the Western Interior Seaway advanced and retreated.

Siderite nodule
A closer look at siderite concretions—round, rock-hard capsules that often hide exquisitely preserved fossils inside.

Turritella snails
Tall, tightly coiled marine snails that dominate some fossil beds, forming dense shell accumulations in ancient seas.

Convolosaurus marri, the tiny Texas dinosaur
The long-misunderstood small ornithopod finally gets a name, with Kate as lead author—turning decades of mystery bones into a real dinosaur.

Aggregate resources in Kansas
How limestone, sand, and gravel become the literal foundation of Kansas roads—geology you drive on every day.

The Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico
A vast geologic basin preserving layers from the Ordovician through the Permian, recording ancient seas, reefs, deserts, and mass extinction events.

MUSIC

Gotta Go by Ray Troll
Sound Waves by the Ratfish Wranglers
Mellow by Ray Troll