013 : Triassic Park Updates (Work In Progress)

Here's an update on the virtual Triassic world.

We have included some flora from the Triassic period; cycads, araucarias etc. Land has been expanded to showcase more flora and fauna (in the near future.

A view from one of the higher points of the landscape. As you can see, there is a layer of water running through places where flora was thriving. The Triassic period had highly seasonal monsoon climate that prevailed nearer to the coastal regions. Although the climate was more moderate farther from the equator, it was generally warmer than today with no polar ice caps.

Another high point overseeing the coastal region of the landscape.

Above are some work in progress shots from the game engine.

012 : Field Studies , The Return to Dairy Farm

We paid Dairy Farm Nature Park a visit over the weekend to study the Western Ridge. As "Circuit Breaker" was over, we used the opportunity to spend more time studying the environment and how it could help us with our work in progress.

Going up to the "viewpoint" was not an easy task. There were fixed ropes for the first 8 meters but it was all scrambling to the first checkpoint. Above is an image of Kathy using the branches of a tree to get up to the first checkpoint.

The first checkpoint was covered entirely with ferns and there were a few trees littered around the area.

Trail was densely packed with flora but it was clear enough for us to navigate through.

We noticed a section of the Eastern Ridge had disappeared due to a landslide. This might have been caused by the torrential rain that had occurred two weeks before this. It also showed how loose the soil was around the area.

Rocky paths laid ahead of us when we were making our way to the second checkpoint.

The second checkpoint is a barred granite surface.

Evidence of a fireplace. This space might have been a possible camping ground.

An anchor bolted to the rocky surface. This was probably done by the regular climbers who frequent the space.

A view from the second checkpoint facing the "valley".

Carnivorous plants like the pitcher plant was also found flourishing around the area.

The field visit gave us an insight into the different types of flora that flourished around the area and also how different it was from the space below.

011 : Field Studies, Sentosa ( part ii)

The lower part of the Sentosa sequence consists of medium and coarse-grained sandstone, pebbly sandstone and conglomerate alternating with purple-red mudstone and stiltstone with worm burrows.

Coral Skeletons

Slideshow : Coral fragments found around the beach head

Coral skeletons are made of aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate. To grow up toward sunlight, corals construct a framework of aragonite crystals. At the same time, they buttress this framework with bundles of additional crystals, which thicken and strengthen the skeletons to help them withstand breakage caused by currents, waves, storms, and boring and biting by worms, molluscs, and parrotfish.

3D Scanned coral skeleton

Fossil?

We chanced upon this rock during our field trip and suspected it to be a fossil? The textures on the rock had stark similarities to that of fossils. Rock type has not been identified for now.

3D scanned version of the rock with the possible fossil.

Extra : Fossil Purchase

Lepidodendron, extinct genus of tree-sized lycopsid plants that lived during the Carboniferous Period (about 359 million to 299 million years ago). Lepidodendron and its relatives—Lepidophloios, Bothrodendron, and Paralycopodites—were related to modern club mosses. They grew up to 40 metres (130 feet) in height and 2 metres (about 7 feet) in diameter. During their juvenile stages, these plants grew as unbranched trunks with a shock of long, thin leaves that sprouted near the growing tip. They branched at later stages, either in even dichotomies at the growing tip or in lateral branches that were later shed. After branching, the leaves became shorter and awl-shaped. As the plant grew, it shed leaves from older parts of the stem that left diamond-shaped leaf bases. Stems were characterized by a slender central strand of wood and a thick bark. Since Stigmaria—the underground parts of the plant—resembled stems, they are not considered true roots. The shape of leaf bases and the arrangement of their vascular strands distinguish the different genera within the group of arborescent lycopsids.

A lepidodendron fossil purchased from Poland

3D scanned version of the lepidendron