IGP and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) are jointly developing a number of animations for public display and use. For our first project, we are developing animations for the ten paintings at the Colorado Convention Center (CCC), and five paintings at the “Ancient Denvers” exhibit at DMNS that were developed by Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen. Shown below are the results of our preliminary efforts.
Late Cretaceous (72 Million Years)(Laramie Formation). Near the end of the Cretaceous, a series of mountain ranges began to be uplifted in Colorado. This scene is from near Boulder, where there was a heavily wooded coastal plain.
Plants depicted: "Artocarpus" lessigiana, Araceae, palmetto (Sabalites sp.), unknown monocot rushes, miscellaneous angiosperm trees
Animals depicted: Triceratops sp.
This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated.
From the painting "Triceratops Swamp" (Colorado Convention Center), and "Finally, the Rockies" (DMNS Ancient Denvers exhibit)(courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input.
Scene by James Adson and Joseph Rogers.
http://igp.colorado.edu
Geologic age: 72Ma
latest Pleistocene, 16,000 years ago. A summer day near Highlands Ranch. In the distance, Mt Evans has glaciers along its flanks.
This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated.
From the painting "Ice Age Summer" (DMNS Ancient Denvers exhibit)(courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input.
Scene is by Joseph Rogers.
http://igp.colorado.edu
Geologic age: 16ka
Latest Pleistocene, 30,000 years ago. Scene shows the extensive sand dunes near Wray Colorado.
Plants depicted: sagebrush (Artemisia sp.) and miscellaneous grasses.
This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated.
Scene is based on the painting "Ghost Predator" (Colorado Convention Center)(courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input.
Scene by Joseph Rogers
http://igp.colorado.edu
Geologic age: 30ka
Permian, 280 million years ago (Lyons Formation). A significant change in the climate led to the development large arid desert across the western US. This scene, near the town of Lyons, shows large sand dunes, similar to the modern Sahara desert. The plants grow primarily near the intermittent streams that cross the dune fields. Plants shown Tinsleya and gigantopterid plants and some of the first conifers and cycads
This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated.
Based on the painting "Sand Planet" (DMNS Ancient Denvers exhibit)(courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input.
Scene by Joseph Rogers.
http://igp.colorado.edu
Geologic age: 280Ma
Early Paleocene (65.5 Million years ago)(Denver Formation). This scene is 500 years after the end of the Cretaceous. A significant amount of life both marine and on-land died after the large meteorite impact in Mexico. These plants represent the earliest plants that began to evolve after the impact. This scene is along the west bank of West Bijou Creek, south of Strasburg, Colorado
Plants depicted: Paranymphaea crassifolia, misc. ferns
Animal depicted: unnamed species of alligator
This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated.
From the painting "After Armegeddon" (Colorado Convention Center), and "Finally, the Rockies" (DMNS Ancient Denvers exhibit)(courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input.
Scene by Joseph Rogers.
http://igp.colorado.edu
Geologic age: 65.5Ma
Pennsylvanian (312 million years ago)(Fountain Formation). Two high, narrow mountain ranges were present in Colorado that trended north northwest. They were surrounded by a shallow ocean in a setting that was somewhat similar to modern Baja California. This scene shows the eastern flank of the ancestral Front Range where streams transport gravel that was eroded from the mountains.
Plants depicted: Sigillaria and Calamites in the foreground, and conifer trees in the background.
This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated.
Based on the paintings "Pole Forest" (CCC), and "Ancestral Rockies" (DMNS)(courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input.
Scene by Joseph Rogers.
http://igp.colorado.edu
Geologic age: 312Ma
Late Eocene (36 million years ago)(Florissant Formation). This scene shows the trees that are preserved at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Florissant, Colorado. A volcanic eruption damned the rivers in the area creating a large lake in which the trees were preserved as fossils.
Plants depicted: palmetto (Sabalites sp.), Rosa hilliae, Sequoia, unnamed fern
This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated.
Based on the painting "Redwoods and Roses" (Colorado Convention Center)(courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input.
Scene is by Joseph Rogers and James Adson.
http://igp.colorado.edu
Geologic age: 36Ma
Late Triassic, 225 million years ago (Dolores Formation). This scene shows the plants developed on a broad coastal plain in western Colorado near Placerville.
Plants depicted: Neocalamites, Sanmiguelia
This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated.
Scene is based on the painting "Triassic Thickets" (Colorado Convention Center)(courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input.
Scene by Joseph Rogers
http://igp.colorado.edu
Geologic age: 225Ma
Early Cretaceous (100 Million years ago). An interior seaway had invaded Colorado, extending from Texas to northern Alaska. This scene shows a beach near Denver, looking similar to the east coast of the US today.
Rivers flowed from mountains far to the west in Utah and brought sand and gravel to the coast. Along the shoreline is a dank coastal forest.
Plants depicted: ferns (Astralopteris and Matodinium), broad-leafed trees (Sapindopsis, Liriophyllym, and Protophyllum), and strange conifers.
From the painting "East Coast Colorado" (DMNS Ancient Denvers exhibit)(courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input. Scene is by James Adson and Joseph Rogers.
This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated.
Geologic age: 100Ma
Late Cretaceous (85 Million Years ago) (Pierre Formation) Colorado sat beneath a shallow seaway that was several hundreds of meters deep. The nearest shoreline was in central Utah 300 km to the west. The scene is near Pueblo, Colorado
This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated.
From the painting "Maritime Colorado" (Colorado Convention Center), and "Submarine Colorado" (DMNS Ancient Denvers exhibit)(courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input.
Scene is by Joseph Rogers.
http://igp.colorado.edu
Geologic age: 85Ma
Early Paleocene (64 Million years ago)(Denver Formation). The Front Range has been elevated and is covered by a tropical rainforest. It has been 1.5 million years since the meteorite struck the Yucatan area in Mexico, causing the mass extinction of plants and animals, including the dinosaurs. This scene shows the diverse plants that have evolved since the extinction.
Plants depicted: angiosperm rainforest trees in kipukas
This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated.
From the painting "The First Rainforest" (DMNS Ancient Denvers exhibit) (courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input.
Scene is by Joseph Rogers and James Adson.
http://igp.colorado.edu
Geologic age: 64Ma
Late Jurassic, 145 million years ago (Morrison Formation). The Stegosaurus, the state fossil of Colorado, is eating the plants in the area of Dinosaur National Monument in northwestern Colorado and Northeastern Utah. No grass or flowering plants existed at this time, and many plants of the Jurassic plants will be extinct by the end of the age of dinosaurs (Cretaceous).
Plants depicted: Bennettite bushes (Zamites arcticus), Tree ferns (Cladophlebis sp.)
Animal depicted: Stegosaurus stenops
This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated.
Scene is based on the painting "Stegosaurus Snacks" (Colorado Convention Center)(courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input.
Scene is by Joseph Rogers and James Adson.
http://igp.colorado.edu
Geologic age: 145Ma
Early Triassic, 250 million years ago (Lykins Formation). The Permian ended with the largest mass extinction in geologic history of 90% of marine life and much life on land. This scene shows the tropical shoreline that developed about one million years later in an arid shoreline setting at Red Rocks Park near Denver. The mounded features are called stromatolites, and consist of cyanobacteria and algae. These features only grow in a few places today, generally shallow, salty areas.
Organisms depicted: cyanobacteria and algae in stromatolitic mounds
Based on the paintings "Slimy Shoreline" (DMNS Ancient Denvers exhibit, and Colorado Convention Center)(courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input.
This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated
Scene by James Adson and Joseph Rogers.
http://igp.colorado.
Geologic age: 250Ma