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UM geologist’s research in Siberia could change view the Earth’s evolution

In the far reaches of Siberia, University of Montana geologist Jim Sears found what he was looking for this summer, and it could mean a dramatic shift in our understanding of Earth’s evolution.

By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian

http://missoulian.com/articles/2004/10/06/news/local/news06.txt

For nearly 30 years, Sears has been alone in the sea of academia with his seemingly radical hypothesis. He argues that Siberia, not Australia, was once attached to the western edge of North America and rifted open the Pacific Ocean basin.

Now, thanks to a rare opportunity to spend the summer scouring Russia’s most remote corners, Sears has some compelling evidence.

That evidence, he said, shows eastern Siberia is home to the exact same rock formations as California’s Death Valley, and he’ll share the news at an international gathering of geologists in December.

By then, results from DNA-like tests of the rocks will be complete and, he believes, will confirm what his trained eye already tells him.

"Once these samples pass the lab test, the hypothesis will become a theory," Sears said. "And then we can move on to lots of other things – such as the behavior of Earth’s magnetic fields and the origin of some fossil species, perhaps unravelling some of our previous knowledge."

Sears, along with his Russian-speaking son, Robert Sears, spent four weeks with two Russian scientists and three Russian science students floating the Belaya River and taking rock samples.

Although the small expedition of seven had good weather when it set out, the bulk of the trip took place under a cloud of horrific thunderstorms, rain and flash flood conditions.

Whatever language and cultural barriers there may have been were quickly diluted by Mother Nature and the need to work as a team.

A puncture in any of the expedition’s seven small rubber rafts would have meant major trouble and possibly the loss of once-in-a-lifetime research to the roaring river, Robert Sears said.

"There was a lot of camaraderie – and adventure," he said. "And it was great to spend time with my dad in that amazing place."

Although the Russian government has long been reluctant to open its country to outsiders, Jim Sears and Don Winston, a retired UM geology professor, were granted access for separate research missions this summer.

While Sears’ mission, which was sponsored by the National Science Foundation, was focused on collecting rock samples and examining geology along the Belaya River, Winston’s Russian-led entourage planned to traverse the Udzha Valley, where the trip’s financial backer, a Russian diamond company, believed enormous mineral deposits resided.

Sears’ journey stayed its course. Winston, who was hoping to find a colorful rock formation just like the "Belt Super Group" found in Glacier National Park, had a dramatic change of itinerary, and ended up floating the Anabar River.

"We never did go where we originally thought we would go," Winston said. "The diamond company changed its mind, so we went to a different area.

"I didn’t find any belt rocks, but I found rocks I’d never seen before," the 73-year-old said joyfully. "I saw geology that was interesting in its own right – stuff I don’t think anyone’s looked at."

And while Sears’ research was filled with bad weather and tense survival moments, Winston, said his journey was like a long leisurely float on the Missouri River.

"It was wonderful," he said. "The landscape was pretty flat – a big plateau where glaciers had not scraped off any surfaces in the Ice Age. It was just a big rubble of rocks with rivers winding through it."

Because his expedition was so far north, the sun shone all day as if it were 5 p.m. on a early fall day in Montana.

"We had a very relaxing time," Winston said. "We just floated all day."

"I may not have found any belt rocks to support Jim’s theory, but it was a grand time," he said. "I would have been a damn fool if I hadn’t gone.

"Now I feel like I can research more of Siberia – with having actually been there."

Reporter Betsy Cohen can be reached at 523-5253 or at [email protected]

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