If we take TKs latest diatom research paper using 377's Cooper bill at face value, he specifically excludes several theories, but one that he does not seem exclude specifically is the dredge.

My interpretation of what the diatom paper states is roughly as follows:  (feel free to correct)

- 377s bill was not a top or bottom bill in the packet/bundola, it was from somewhere in the middle.  He draws this conclusion based
on the fact that a diatom was found sandwiched between two pieces of different bills. 

- That the packet experienced water immersion at which time the bill(s) fanned out.

- While the bill(s) was fanned out, planktonic diatoms (Asterionella and others) attached themselves to the bill.  This diatom species is
active in the spring/summer time, therefore the bills only were in the water during the spring/summer time frame.

- At some point, the packet unfanned and the packet congealed back into a compressed form sealing the edges.

- Once the packet was congealed, there is no evidence of diatom's penetrating to the interior of the bill. 

- There is no evidence of sand based diatom species on the bill.  This implies that while the money was buried, no sand based
 diatom species attached (sand based diatom species are smaller than the diatom species that live in the water).

If the above is true, or at least for sake of discussion, (understanding that everything is debatable and the testing was limited in scope in
terms of it being conducted on only one Cooper bill), can we fit it into a dredge scenario ? 

- Could these three bundles still have been in the main bank bag or
does the evidence pointing to the fanning of the packet require that the packets were free from the bag or parachute wrapping?

I think it could also fit into the scenario where the money was somewhere on dry land, and
transported via one of the spring/summer flood events that have been discussed before.  At the time of this flood event, the money would have been saturated, fanned out, exposed to planktonic diatoms and then transported to rest at the area of Tena bar at which time it unfanned and perhaps buried by a few inches of sand that settled on top as the flood waters receded and congealed. 

But more questions I haven't seen an answer to:

- How long does it take for money to congeal ? 
- What conditions are required for congealing ? 
- If money fans out while under water, does it eventually sink and unfan ? 
- Or does unfanning only take place if it is out of water ?
- Can Asterionella or other diatoms live at the bottom of the Colombia River, does sun light reach the bottom ?

Sorry for the long post, just thinking out loud...

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If we take TKs latest diatom research paper using 377's Cooper bill at face value, he specifically excludes several theories, but one that he does not seem exclude specifically is the dredge.

My interpretation of what the diatom paper states is roughly as follows:  (feel free to correct)

- 377s bill was not a top or bottom bill in the packet/bundola, it was from somewhere in the middle.  He draws this conclusion based
on the fact that a diatom was found sandwiched between two pieces of different bills. 

- That the packet experienced water immersion at which time the bill(s) fanned out.

- While the bill(s) was fanned out, planktonic diatoms (Asterionella and others) attached themselves to the bill.  This diatom species is
active in the spring/summer time, therefore the bills only were in the water during the spring/summer time frame.

- At some point, the packet unfanned and the packet congealed back into a compressed form sealing the edges.

- Once the packet was congealed, there is no evidence of diatom's penetrating to the interior of the bill. 

- There is no evidence of sand based diatom species on the bill.  This implies that while the money was buried, no sand based
 diatom species attached (sand based diatom species are smaller than the diatom species that live in the water).

If the above is true, or at least for sake of discussion, (understanding that everything is debatable and the testing was limited in scope in
terms of it being conducted on only one Cooper bill), can we fit it into a dredge scenario ? 

- Could these three bundles still have been in the main bank bag or
does the evidence pointing to the fanning of the packet require that the packets were free from the bag or parachute wrapping?

I think it could also fit into the scenario where the money was somewhere on dry land, and
transported via one of the spring/summer flood events that have been discussed before.  At the time of this flood event, the money would have been saturated, fanned out, exposed to planktonic diatoms and then transported to rest at the area of Tena bar at which time it unfanned and perhaps buried by a few inches of sand that settled on top as the flood waters receded and congealed. 

But more questions I haven't seen an answer to:

- How long does it take for money to congeal ? 
- What conditions are required for congealing ? 
- If money fans out while under water, does it eventually sink and unfan ? 
- Or does unfanning only take place if it is out of water ?
- Can Asterionella or other diatoms live at the bottom of the Colombia River, does sun light reach the bottom ?

Sorry for the long post, just thinking out loud...

What is a sand based diatom - got an example?   

all of your other questions should go to Tom Kaye or one of the Mayors of Cooperville @ Mountain News: Bruce Smith and Marla site.

Thanks Georger, I guess the sand based term was something I used to represent Tom's discussion about smaller vs larger diatoms (I suppose it's not an official term :-) ).  Where the general point was that smaller diatoms (those smaller than 3 to 5 µm) could live and move between the sand particles where as the larger diatoms would not be able to do this.  One example of the smaller diatom cited in the paper is Melosira.

If I am reading it correctly, the following quote from page 4 identifies these species as smaller diatoms:

"The diatom extraction from the surface sand at Tena Bar showed an abundance of smaller diatoms most below
5 µm in length (Fig. 3C). Genera in order of abundance, Navicula, Cocconeis, Cymbella and Nitzschia."

BTW, for anyone that may not know the paper being discussed, here is a link to the PDF:
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Soil bulb mites as trace evidence for the location of buried money
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Soil bulb mites as trace evidence for the location of buried money
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Was in the area today gridding with the Spectra V3i detector through the dense understory of trailing blackberry, dogwood, himalaya blackberry, and horsetail. I find it fascinating that Caterpillar island is so close, with dense foliage and tall cottonwoods. No way was that island ever thoroughly gridded and hit with a good detector. It's a lot of ground to cover, but I am going to kayak across the river and hit the sandbar nearest Tena bar soon, and then begin gridding and hitting the main parts of the island with the machine. Since we now know the money did not hit the water until spring/summer, I think it is possible that it sat on the beach unseen on caterpillar island before eventually getting ferried the short distance across the water to Tena Bar. The river naturally flows this direction, and it would be a real short transport, couple hundred yards or perhaps a wee bit more.

If Cooper cratered into the sand there or somewhere on the island (or just landed and died), there will be things to find even 50 years on. A backpack will have metal clips, a briefcase made of plastic or even leather will still be largely intact, etcetera. Likely won't find anything, but I will test my hypothesis and report back. Cheers

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Was in the area today gridding with the Spectra V3i detector through the dense understory of trailing blackberry, dogwood, himalaya blackberry, and horsetail. I find it fascinating that Caterpillar island is so close, with dense foliage and tall cottonwoods. No way was that island ever thoroughly gridded and hit with a good detector. It's a lot of ground to cover, but I am going to kayak across the river and hit the sandbar nearest Tena bar soon, and then begin gridding and hitting the main parts of the island with the machine. Since we now know the money did not hit the water until spring/summer, I think it is possible that it sat on the beach unseen on caterpillar island before eventually getting ferried the short distance across the water to Tena Bar. The river naturally flows this direction, and it would be a real short transport, couple hundred yards or perhaps a wee bit more.

If Cooper cratered into the sand there or somewhere on the island (or just landed and died), there will be things to find even 50 years on. A backpack will have metal clips, a briefcase made of plastic or even leather will still be largely intact, etcetera. Likely won't find anything, but I will test my hypothesis and report back. Cheers

Jimmy, you are after my own heart.  Here is some information that you may find useful.  The Garrett Company has assured me that their metal detectors can detect an aluminum soft drink can that is buried two feet deep in the sand.  There should be approximately three pounds of metal that would trigger a metal detector in the parachutes Cooper took with him including items in his clothing such as a belt buckle and probably nails in his shoes and they should react more strongly than an aluminum can.

To end up at Tena Bar and coming from Caterpillar Island, the most likely landing places for Cooper would be on the eastern shore of Caterpillar Island and the western shore of the mainland.  It is highly likely that the money could only end up at Tena Bar if it came down this channel between Caterpillar Island and the mainland.

If the money did not end up in the river water itself for several months, then Cooper probably impacted on solid ground about 10 feet above nominal water level or about 12 to 15 feet above sea level.  He would remain at the point of impact until the spring water runoff reached his elevation and moved at least the money bag downstream to Tena Bar.  By that time, neither Cooper or anything related to him would have any flotation capability and would be moving underwater until it snagged something or grounded at the Tena Bar location where the money was found.

About 10 years ago, Dr. Meyer Louie and I went over the dairy runoff containment area, just up the bank from the money find location, with metal detectors and didn't find anything.  That entire area is extremely soft sand.   

Good luck!