GSW: 1981
MEETING MINUTES
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
14 January 1981
The 1074th meeting of the Society was held
in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium on the 14th of January, 1981. The meeting was
called to order by President Doug Rankin at 8:02 p.m. The minutes of the
previous meeting were read and corrected. The deaths of two members of the
Society were announced.
The names of new members were not
announced, as the names (not the members) were locked in the trunk of a car.
There were four visitors. Carl Thornberg announced
the field trip to view the coral reef at the Smithsonian. In addition, he
suggested that anyone involved in field-related research in the
The scientific program was concerned with
plate tectonics in
Bill Leo presented a paper on "Trondhjemites associated with Oliverian
domes, western
The final talk was by Peter Robinson, who
gave a big, broad picture of New England tectonics in his talk, "Plate
tectonics and the Acadian orogeny of southern
The meeting was adjourned at 10:04 p.m. NO
questioners were left unidentified. The attendance was 94.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Estep, Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
28 January 1981
The 1075th meeting of the Society was held
as usual in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium on the 28th of January 1981. At
8:06 p.m. the meeting was called to order by the 2nd Vice President Ken Towe, who had figured that his title came without
responsibility, that is until that evening. The minutes were approved as read.
Four new members, Peter Beck, Emi Ito, Harry Smedes,
and Dorian Nicol, were elected to the Society. Five
visitors, notably soil scientists from the area, were introduced.
Bickford and Van Schmus discussed
informally their progress on the study of Precambrian geology of the
mid-continent basement. Second, Antonio Segovia,
The formal communications began with Erich Dimroth, who spoke on the comparison between Cenozoic and
Archean pillow lavas as indicators of diagenetic redox reactions, sea-floor metamorphism, and the
Precambrian atmosphere. He concluded that there was appreciable free oxygen in
the atmosphere 2.7 billion years ago at a level approximately one order of
magnitude lower than at the present time. There were questions by Vanig, Hearn, and Sheldon; and one comment by Melson. Towe asked three pointed questions.
The second talk was concerned, again with
"young things", that is, soil and weathering profiles from a locality
in
The meeting was attended by 64 persons and
was adjourned at 9:46 p.m.
Respectfully submitted.
Marilyn F. Estep, Meetings Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
11 February 1981
The 1076th meeting of the Society was held
on the 11th of February 1981, at the John Wesley Powell Auditorium. The meeting
was called to order at 8:04 p.m. by President Rankin. The minutes were read and
corrected. Eighteen new members were elected to the Society. There was one
visitor.
The field trip to view the coral reef
exhibit at the Smithsonian was a resounding success. If you were unable to
attend the previous trip, there is a possibility that a second trip will be
organized.
Jim O'Connor of the USGS presented a series
of bizarre slides concerned with the collapse of a salt dome in
The first formal presentation of the
evening was by H. William Menard of the USGS in
Philip Brown, an NSF Fellow also at the
USGS, then delivered a substantive lecture on tungsten skarn
formation at Pine Creek in the Sierra Nevada of California. The ore deposit
containing Ca-tunstate and molybdenite
was formed at pressures of approx. 1½ kb and 500-600°C. The metals were
conducted to the locality via contact veins mostly likely from massive sulfide
deposits. Sable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios were used to demonstrate large
amounts of fluid flow that occurred during metamorphism. Questions by Chang,
Peck, Eugene Robertson, Leo, Doan, and Ralph Robertson.
The final presentation was by George Rossman from Cal Tech, who delivered an entertaining
discussion on the irradiation of less precious gems to create more precious
gems or in essence, "how to spin flax into gold." In nature,
radioactive uranium decay excites electrons in minerals, which causes
oxidations and. reductions of metal ions and thus color changes. The value of
certain minerals as gems is strangly [sic] dependent
on color, and these colors in gems can now be artificially and inexpensively
reproduced. Helz (2), Roedder, Rankin, Lopez, Morgan, French, and Estep asked
questions.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m. and
was attended by 104 people.
Repectively
submitted,
Marilyn F. Estep, Meetings Secretary
Geological Society of
25 February 1981
The 1077th meeting of the Society was
called to order in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium at 8:04 p.m. by President
Rankin. The minutes were read and corrected. There were two visitors present.
The first formal communication was by
Charles Warren of the USGS, Reston, on the defrosting of the Berkshires. By
mapping the positions of ice dams and end points, glacial grooves, and flow
directions,
Thomas Gibson, just in from Jimmy Carter's
fish pond in Georgia, discussed facies and sea level
changes in Paleogene strata of the eastern Gulf
Coast. The area lends itself to study because of the presence of a 500 ft
relief, good lithologic units, and distinct beds of
red rocks. Those with color blindness were urged to work elsewhere. In
addition, by determining the percent of planktonic
vs. benthic species found in the rocks, the depth of the sea in this area could
be calculated. Tectonic activity was controlling sea level changes even in a
passive margin. Questions by Tracey (2), Hewitt, Menard, Towe (3), Zen, Hayes, Finkelstein, and Repetsky.
The last communication of the evening was
by Antonio Segovia of the
The meeting was adjourned at 10:04 p.m. and
was attended by 71 people. Beer money: since the 1st of January, $64.85 was
collected from four meetings. 333 people attended the meetings and donated an
average of $0.195/person. Accounting for the facts that approx. 1/3 of the
attendees do not partake in refreshments and half of those who do are destitute
graduate students, the figure of cents collected/person is 58.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn F. Estep, Meetings Secretary
Geological Society of
11 March 1980
The 1078th meeting of the Society was
called to order at 8:06 p.m. by President Doug Rankin at the John Wesley Powell
Auditorium. The minutes were actually approved as read. There were 9 new
members and no visitors. A special meeting sponsored by the Society and the
AAPG will be held at 8:00 p.m. on April 2 at the Carmichael Auditorium in the
U.S. American History Museum. Notices have been mailed to all members.
The first speaker of the evening was that
veritable Lion of Limericks, the Guru of Geopoetry,
David R. Wones, of VPI, who spoke on the tectonics of
The Proterozoic
development of the midcontinent region is speculative
as the rocks are largely covered by cornfields and cow manure. Randy Van Schmus
of the
The final presentation was by Clark Burchfiel of MIT, who described an Andean-type margin of
Mesozoic California. A cursory view of the stratigraphy of the
The meeting was adjourned at approx. 10:00
p.m., and 98 people attended.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn F. Estep, Meetings Secretary
Geological Society of
25 March 1981
The 1079th meeting of the Society was
called to order at 8:08 p.m. by President Doug Rankin at the John Wesley Powell
Auditorium. The minutes were read and subjected to minor corrections. There
were no new members, and four visitors, namely the Skinners from Conn. Carl Thornberg, Chairman of the Public Service Committee,
announced that a field trip to
Norman Hatch of the USGS presented the
first talk of the evening on the structural history of, specifically, the
Pre-Silurian Goshen dome in the
There have been no nepheline
normative rocks found in Tahiti, yet Robert Tracy of
The final event of the evening was presented
by Nicholas Hotton, a warm- blooded, bipedal,
predatory mammal weighing approx 70 kg, from the US National Museum. Hotton discussed the possibilities and probabilities that
dinosaurs were warm-blooded and cited vascularized
bone structure, pendular motion of the legs, and the
predator/prey relationships as part of the evidence for warm-bloodedness. In
addition, Hotton compared dinosaurs with mammals,
knowing it was a poor comparison, yet stated he did not want to hear about it,
as this was "the only wheel in town". Cold-blooded animals are slower
to use heat, and the unusually large dinosaurs if cold-blooded should have had
problems of heat dissipation. Hewitt, Thornberg(2), Levy, Menard, and Whitmore asked questions.
The meeting was adjourned at a rather late
10:19 p. m. and was attended by 94 people.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn F. Estep, Meetings Secretary
Geological Society of
8 April 1981
The 1080th meeting of the Society was
called to order by a standin President, the 1st Vice
President Pete Toulmin, at 8:05 p. m. The minutes were read and approved. There
were 3 visitors, including Dr. Cook from Ohio State Univ., a former hostage,
now working at the State Dept. Those interested in attending the spring field
trip on the 25th of April were urged to sign up.
In the first presentation, Roy Bailey spoke
on the volcanic hazards program of the USGS. After describing the geologic
developments of
Did the dinosaurs become extinct as the
result of a great catastrophe such as dust clouds arising from a meteorite
collision or cyanide poisoning from a comet passing through the Earth's
atmosphere? Leo Hickey of the USNM presented paleobotanical
evidence demonstrating the numerous plant extinctions at the
Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, which may have occurred as a result of the above
catastrophes, occurred 50,000-90,000 yrs after dinosaurs themselves became
extinct. Hickey described 2 major pollen provinces: one in NE America and
Europe and the other in W America and
In the final presentation, John Sutter of
the USGS in Reston described the Montagua fault in
The meeting was attended by a crowd of 128
people and was adjourned at 10:08 p. m.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn F. Estep, Meetings Secretary
Geological Society of
22 April 1981
The 1081th
meeting of the Society was called to order by the 1st Vice President Priestly
Toulmin, at 8:05 p. m. The minutes were read and approved. There were four
visitors.
The first presentation was by Emi Ito of
DTM who delivered a complex analysis of the alteration of oceanic crust as a
function of time, temperature, and fluid/rock interactions. The petrography of
rocks collected from the Cayman Rise always showed evidence of deformation and
hence, alteration. Using oxygen and hydrogen isotope analyses of mineral
separates, Ito demonstrated that a higher proportion of seawater reacts with
gabbros to form amphiboles at shallow depths and lower temperatures, whereas
less water reacts with rocks of the deeper sections that are at higher
temperatures. Questions were asked by Barton and Chayes.
Michael Engel of the Geophysical Lab then
discussed the significance of amino acids and hydrocarbons detected in the 3.8
billion year old Isua rocks, or in essence, did bats
excrete guano in the Precambrian? After careful extraction of the Isua rocks by ultra-clean methods and detailed analysis of
the extracted amino acids by chemical ionization mass spectrometry, Engel then
concluded that the D-L ratios of amino acids indicated a much more
recent age for the organic matter than the Precambrian. In fact, the amino
acids in the rocks and those of extant lichens growing on the rocks were
remarkably similar. Engel concluded with the aid of temperature simulation
experiments that because of the extreme metamorphic history of these Isua rocks, there is no way the amino acids are indicative
of great antiquity. Questions were asked by Towe,
French, Barton; and a comment by Hoering.
How wonderful it will be when the
geodynamics program of NASA begins to make measurements! Ed Flynn described a
variable-based laser pulse interferometry system,
which will enable measurements on the present, motion of tectonic plates, their
deformation, formation, and relationships to one another. Currently,
measurements are being taken on the
Quarterly Beer Report: Revenues rose sharply in early March and
continued to remain strong during the end of March and early April: the high
for the 3 meeting period being $29.50, and the low, $22.75. On April 22, perhaps
due to the Reagan administration's hardline on the
budget, revenues plunged to $3.00. Several officers of the Society believe the
decline does not, in fact, reflect an accurate indication of current donation
trends. Beer will continue to flow; keep
those dollars coming. The meeting was adjourned at 9:46 p. m. and attended by
64 people.
Respectfully submitted,
[signed
Marilyn Estep]
Geological Society of
13 May 1981
The 1082nd meeting of the Society was called
to order by President Rank in at 8:10 p.m. The minutes were read, corrected and
approved. Ten new members none of whom were present were introduced. There were
two visitors and Bob Decker, former president of IAVCEI.
There were four announcements including:
(1) Our new delegate to AAPG is Wally de Witt and alternate is Roger deAmato.
(2) GSW conducted a successful and
enjoyable field trip to the Roseland district Ti mine in
(3)
Informal communication:
Roy Clark spoke informally about the
occurrence of pinhead sized diamonds in a rare land of iron meteorite that was
discovered in a "mobile mine" i.e. a glacier in
Talk no. 1
Richard P. Sheldon, former Chief Geologist
at USGS and now at spoke about ice rings
and the formation of atmosphere and hydrosphere on Earth. Sheldon postulated
that Earth once had an ice ring similar to the ones around Jupiter, Saturn and
Uranus. It was the cause of glaciers in low latitude areas and its gradual
disappearance led to the warming of the Earth to its present conditions.
Sheldon used the widespread occurrence of impossible interbedding
of warm and cold climate deposits to explain how his hypothesis would work.
Saturn's ice rings are kept in orbit by its many moons without which the rings
would have collapsed. The shadow of the rings migrates seasonally. A similar
situation on Earth would explain the impossible interbedding
mentioned earlier. According to Sheldon's scenario, the pre Archaean
Earth had a hot and thin atmosphere and a large thick ice ring wrapped tightly
around the Earth. By the Archaean, some of the atmophile elements in the ice ring had been transferred to
Earth's atmosphere which was thin, cold and reducing, and to primitive oceans,
which were acid, reducing, contained a high concentration of rather nasty
chemicals, and small in volume. Glaciers were everywhere.
Concurrent increase in the Earth-Moon
distance caused instabilities in the ice ring about this time and the ring
separated into 3 separate rings. Sheldon held each ring responsible for the
three major glacial periods in the Proterozoic Oceans
gradually changed from icy to warm and from reducing to oxidizing.
Sheldon admitted that his theory was
outlandish and in conflict with other ideas about the outgassing
history of the Earth such as the theory advanced by Rabey.
However, he thinks the theory can be tested in various ways, for example by
examining the changes in stable isotope composition. In closing, Sheldon
challenged the audience to come up with alternative explanations for Proterozoic glaciers if they did not like his ideas.
Questions were asked by G. Helz, D. Rankin, D. Harris, K. Towe,
D. Milton, L Pavlides, and B. Jones.
Talk no. 2
George Helz of U. of Md. spoke on the use
of 210Pb disequilibrium to date sediments and to derive
sedimentation rates. 210Pb has a half-life of 22 years and is
suitable for measuring time span of 50 to 100 years. 222Rn and 220Rn
in the U decay series escape the soil into atmosphere where they decay to 210Pb.
Since 210Pb is not stable in the atmosphere it is eliminated by rain
and fallout. 210Pb is then deposited at the bottom of water bodies.
Most of excess 210Pb in sediments or the amount of 210Pb in
excess of what would be there by in situ decay of U, Th,
and Ra contained in the sediments, is derived directly from the atmosphere.
Only a small percentage is derived from watershed. A typical profile of Pb in the sediment core shows a exponential decrease down
section to a constant level that represents a steady state between production
and decay of 210Pb and is reached after about 100 years. The depth
below the sediment-water interface to where steady state level is reached, then
represents about 100 years worth of sediments and the average sedimentation
rate for that particular location can be calculated. Bioturbation
of sediments artificially increase the sedimentation rate by mixing the upper
section of the sediment column and making it appear as though steady state 210Pb
levels start deeper in the section than if the column were left undisturbed.
The search for undisturbed sediments in such high energy estuarine areas such
as the Chesapeake Bay can give valid but not useful sedimentation rates. Helz
and coworkers measured sedimentation rates ranging from less than 1 mn/gr to 42.6 m/gr in cores from
17 coring sites in the Chesapeake Bay. Most of the measured rates were too high
to fit the known transport modes within the bay. Mass balance calculations
which took into account the input into the Bay from Susquehanna River and shore
erosion and the sinks in the Bay and escape into the Atlantic confirmed that
the assemblage of measured data indicated 4 times more sedimentation rate. Also
the Bay receives about 1 decay/cm2/yr of 210Pb and the
measured sedimentation rates suggested the fallout rate to be 5 times larger.
However, the measured sedimentation rates were valid rates as demonstrated by a
close agreement between the concentration levels of DEHP in the sediments and
production of DEHP in factories located nearby and also by the concentration
profile of 137Cs in the sediments. Helz concluded that even though
each undisturbed core gave valid sedimentation rate for that particular site,
as a group, the measured rates could not be used to arrive at the sedimentation
rate on a regional scale. He attributed the cause of this discrepancy to the
anomalous nature of undisturbed sediments or quiet areas in a high-energy
estuarine environment. Questions were asked [end of ¶ --Ed.]
Talk no. 3
Dick Fiske of National Museum spoke on the
relationships among volcanic activity, scientists, and politicians, in
particular, the [word missing -- Ed.] on the island of Guadeloupe in 1976, and
a successful harmonious operation on St. Vincent in 1979. The residents of
islands in the Lesser Antilles have learned their lesson from the 1911(?) St.
Pierre incident and respect their volcanoes. Therefore in August of 1976, when
increased seismic activity and ash eruption was observed on the island of
Guadeloupe, a French colony, teams of scientists were called in, and the
inhabitants were evacuated from nearby cities and villages. However data
necessary for accurate comparison between the renewed activity and quiescent
states were rather meager, and the droves of scientists who arrived from France
were not experienced volcanologists. Moreover, two
teams, one headed by Taziell and the other by Allegre went to war with each other to the delight of the
French Press. Meanwhile, the volcano continued to smolder but did not erupt in
the catastrophic manner predicted by the team with decidedly alarmist views.
French government was caught between the scientific teams at war with each
other. Unable to decide whether to end the evacuation, the government called in
foreign scientists to pass judgment on the French scientists. At that time
mistakes such as wrong identification of erupted ash particles came to light.
In contrast to this colorful yet unsuccessful attempt by scientists to
contribute their knowledge and skill to protect the inhabitants from dangerous
volcanic eruption, on the island of St. Vincent, a small team of experienced volcanologists made their contribution uneventfully and
quietly. The event was the eruption of La Sonfriere
in 1979. The team member included speaker, Dick Fiske, himself. Volcanologists had already been collecting seismic and
deformation data since 1977. So when eruption started, they had a solid body of
data to base their judgment on. One unified team was in charge of operations
and kept the Government of St. Vincent informed. The Press was informed only
through the Government spokesperson. Fiske compared the two incidents and
stated that the success on St. Vincent was due to existence of complete data
base, presence of experienced scientists who worked together, and made only
factual statements, and because the press was prevented from making outrageous
statements to alarm the public. The lesson seems to be that if scientists must
face the public and politicians, they should keep the disagreements amongst
themselves and present a unified front, and that it helps to have a volcano
that is cooperative. Questons by R. Decker, G. Helz,
F. Chayes, M. Foose, and R.
Tilling.
The meeting was attended by 88 (plus or
minus 3) people, and was adjourned at 10:28 p.m. This was the last meeting of
the year until September. It is the humble opinion of this surrogate secretary
that no matter how interesting a topic, speakers should observe the 20 minute
limit for their presentation.
Respectfully Submitted
Emi Ito, Surrogate for M. F. Estep
Meetings Secretary
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes of the 1083rd Meeting
September 23rd, 1981
The 1083rd meeting of the Geological
Society of Washington was held on September 23rd, 1981 in the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium. The meeting was called to order at 8:05 p.m. by President
Rankin. The minutes of the 1082nd meeting were read, corrected and approved.
Names of new members elected at the September Council meeting were not announced
due to administrative difficulties. Four visitors were introduced. The death of
Henry Faul of the University of Pennsylvania, a
former faithful Society member, was announced.
Mary Mrose,
Membership Committee chairperson, made a strong plea for encouraging new
members to join GSW, pointing out the Fall bargain basement rates. Non-duespaying members were threatened with imminent removal
from the rolls.
Ed Roedder, USGS, gave an informal
communication on the so-called microfossils in 3.8 billion year old sediments
from Isua, West Greenland. These alleged microfossils
had been dismissed by a consortium of distinguished scientists as
"mere" fluid inclusions, thus triggering Roedder's
ire. He demonstrated in a few well-chosen phrases that the objects in question
were actually "negative crystals"--limonite-stained cavities formed
by weathering-out of iron-rich dolomite crystals. They are not fluid
inclusions. Questions by Brian Mason and Dan Milton.
The first paper on the regular program, by
Bob Hazen and Larry Finger of the Geophysical Laboratory, was titled, "The
density paradox and other puzzles: insights from P-T crystallography on
crust-mantle phase equilibria." Bob Hazen, who
presented the paper, described techniques for accurate crystal-structure
determination at very high temperatures and pressures, simulating mantle
conditions. He pointed out some surprising implications of these studies. Cation-oxygen distances may actually be longer in
high-pressure than in low-pressure phases of the same composition, although
density increases due to increased packing efficiency; for example, in the stishovite-versus-quartz forms of SiO2. This
increase in bond distances means the higher--pressure phases may not be as
rigid, and the seismic velocities may be lower; that is, seismic velocities may
not always increase with density. Hazen showed that the results of high
pressure-high temperature crystal chemistry may place limits on models for
convection in the mantle, perhaps favoring a 2-layer model. Questions were by
Toulmin, Roedder, Dan Milton, Robertson and Rankin.
Maria Luisa Crawford of Bryn Mawr College next talked on "Metamorphic and
Structural History across the Work Channel Lineament, Coast Plutonic Complex,
British Columbia." She described work she and Link Hollister of Princeton
have done in this region, especially efforts to relate the complex metamorphic
geology to the regions of "displaced terranes" just to the north in
Alaska. The protolith of the B.C. metamorphics
is unknown. Major differences occur across the work lineament: to the East, low
pressure-high temperature rocks; to the West, fairly high-pressure rocks.
Crawford described four lithologic
"packages" in the region, differing in rock types, degree of metamorphism
and deformation. Efforts to trace this pattern northward into Alaska have
yielded some promising initial indications. Questions by Zen, Arth, Dutro, Lyttle and one
other.
The third talk, by Wayne R. Sigleo, USGS, dealt with "Impact of climatic change
and early man on late Quaternary landscape evolution in Tasmania;
Australia." In studies near Hobart in Southeastern Tasmania the speaker
recognized Pleistocene deposits indicating two sequences of glaciation. The
complex Holocene stratigraphy was unraveled in part by using the evidence of
Aboriginal hearths to demonstrate stratigraphic breaks. Some sand sheets were
definitely attributed to disturbance by man of older deposits. In answer to a
question, the speaker conjectured that humans may have liked to camp on sand
sheets because snakes didn't like to live there, among other reasons. Questions
by Crowley, Crumb and Rankin. The meeting adjourned at 10:05 p.m., attendance:
90±3. Respectfully submitted, Dan Appleman, surrogate surrogate
secretary.
Geological Society of Washington
14 October 1981
The 1084th meeting of the Society was
called to order by the President Doug Rankin at 8:08 p.m. The minutes were read
and approved. There were five visitors and an undetermined number and identity
of new members.
Carl Thornber the
Public Service Committee Chairman is planning a fall field trip on November
21st. Brian Levy will lead the group to the North Culpepper Basin to look at
contact metamorphic rocks.
Marc Einaudi of
Stanford University and the Geophysical Laboratory discussed correlations of
metals, geological environment, and garnet/pyroxene composition in
predominantly calcic skarn deposits. By looking at
the gangue in addition to the ore, he related the oxidation state of various skarns to specific ore metal types and projected that this
technique may be useful in exploration. Skarns are
quenched products of magmatic fluid: their
compositions vary as the fluid evolves from the magmas and the approach of
studying metasomatic effects in conjunction with the mineral and metal
compositions of the ore body will result in the delineation of the events,
which have occurred along the geochemical pathway to ore formation. Questions
were asked by Henley, Sato, Yoder, Zen (2), Robertson, Barton, and Toulmin.
The second talk of the evening was by David
Veblen of Johns Hopkins on the use of high resolution transmission electron
microscopy as a tool for determining non-periodic mineral structures,
solid-state reaction mechanisms, and the structure of fine-grained minerals.
For example, the structure of the silicate chain mineral, Jimthompsonite,
can now be determined, which is much to the relief of many Harvard graduates
and metamorphic petrologists. Questions were asked by
Appleman, Yoder (2), Towe, Millholland,
and Ross. Comments were made by Towe and Robertson.
Isotopic variations of samarium and
neodymium can be used to examine mafic rocks not easily dated with uranium and
lead. Rick Carlson of DTM examined lunar and terrestrial basalts and found that
most of the crustal evolution on the moon occurred
early in its history from 3.1 to 4.6 billion years ago and is indicated by
conservative neodymium isotope ratios. On the Earth, however, continuous
igneous activity has caused continuous isotopic depletion of the mantle.
Differences in bulk chemistry and bulk masses of the moon and Earth may have
caused these differences in planetary differentiation. A question was asked by Towe.
The meeting was attended by 74 people and
one or possibly more projectionists in need of either sleep or glasses or both.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:03 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn F. Estep, Meetings Secretary
Geological Society of Washington
27 October 1981
he 1085th meeting of the Society was called
to order from chaos at 8:18 p.m. by President Doug Rankin. The minutes were
read and approved. There were nine visitors, and at long last, 21 new members
were officially elected to the Society. There were three announcements: First,
the fall field trip will be held on November 22, a Sunday: contact Carl Thornber in order to sign up. Second, the GSA is sponsoring
a short course on Recent Advances in Organic Geochemistry to be held at the
Geophysical Lab in March 1982. Third, the Nominating Committee, consisting of Simkin, Dutro, Rumble, Hatch, and Zen, announced the slate
of officers for 1982.
There were two informal communications:
After stripping the "Wingate Sandstone" in S. E. Utah of its old and
trusted name, Thomas Messenger then proceeded by a highly ingenious method to
rename once again this rock, "Wingate Sandstone". Wingate St. in Moab
Utah, if followed for a sufficiently long distance, will pass by the sandstone
now named after it. Question by Zen. Dan Milton reported on a recent dinosaur
meeting where the geological, biological, and climatological
influences on dinosaurs were discussed. There were no dinosaurs in attendance.
A question was asked by Toulmin.
In the first formal communication of the
evening, Judith Ehlen of the U. S. Army Topographic
Laboratory, described her attempts to define better photographs of rocks by the
relative terms phototone and texture. Without prior
knowledge of the field area, which consisted of bare rocks at the New
Mexico/Texas border, she used shape, relief, and slope arrangement to determine
drainage types corresponding to rock types. Milton, McDade,
Smeed, Robertson, Estep, Greenwood, Dross, and Rankin
asked questions. Brinker commented on the military's use for this information.
Mark Settle of NASA reported on results of
the MAGSAT mission, which was to measure, once the data had been reduced, the
earth's magnetic crustal anomalies. After removing
the main field and the ring currents, positive anomalies can be seen in the
Sierras, the Colorado Plateau, and the Oklahoma Plateau, which in particular is
called the Kentucky anomaly. Questions were asked by Robertson, Haycock,
Carter, and Dross.
Using a series of hieroglyphic, yet
effective, equations to model groundwater movements and fluid properties,
Leonard Konikow of the USGS described an area
surrounding the Rocky Mtn. arsenal, a site where
pesticides and nerve gas products were added to the groundwater for approx. 13
yrs. The comparison of actual pollution and that predicted by Konikow's model was strikingly similar, and this technique
could be useful in future polluted areas. "Pollution by dilution" and
"Pollution by removal" as methods for treating serious, long-term
waste problems are fraught with complications. Prevention is the best cure.
Questions were asked by Segovia, Hatcher, Davis, Wood, Dross, and Milton.
The meeting was adjourned at at least 10:25 p.m. and was attended by 64 people. Semiquarterly beer report: The average meeting attendee
contributed an average of 32.2 cents for refreshments, this value being
significantly higher than a value calculated for only rich, beer drinker in the
first quarter of this year: that value being 19.5 cents.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn F. Estep, Meetings Secretary
Geological Society of Washington
18 November 1981
The 1086th meeting of the Society was
called to order at 8:09 p.m. by President Doug Rankin. The minutes were read
and approved. There were 7 visitors. The Finance Committee reported that the
Society was slightly in the red this year, but no increase in dues is forecast.
The Geological Society of Washington is a tax exempt organization, so donations
are tax deductible.
The first paper of the evening was
delivered with polished style by Anthony Naldrett of
Univ. of Toronto on the bases of prospecting for sulfide ores by finding
tectonic settings where metal-rich magmas will come into contact with sulfur
rich sediments. A number of large and spectacularly rich ore deposits occur on
continental' margins or at previous midcontinental
rift zones. With the use of microprobe data and sulfur isotopic compositions of
ores it is possible to determine genetic models. Questions were asked by Barton
and Foose (2).
The second talk of the evening was by Dan
Miller, the Assistant Secretary of the Dept. of the Interior on the occurrence
of oil and gas in the Western Overthrust Belt. With a
gleam in his eyes only a wildcatter can have, Miller unfurled a tale of a
geologist's heaven, an oil company's dream, and possibly an environmentalist's
nightmare. Increasingly sensitive seismic data has enabled the discovery of
deeply buried oil sediments, which have been curled under layers of granite.
The Western Overthrust Belt is a major tectonic
feature in many states in the West and promises to produce an increasing amount
of America's petroleum. Questions were asked by Barton, Robertson, Kane,
Hewitt, Noble, Appleman, Kinney, Gerrard, and Doan
(2).
The auditorium was packed with 122
attendees and the meeting was adjourned at an early 9:37 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn F. Estep
Geological
Society of Washington
11 December
1981
The 1087th
meeting of the Society was called to order at 8:10 p.m. by President Doug
Rankin. The minutes were read and approved. There were 8 new members and no
immediate recognition of any visitors, however, one or two surfaced at the
Annual Meeting and were introduced. Respects were paid for Nancy Wright.
Doug
Rankin then delivered his Presidential Address, which was punctuated
periodically with morals. For example, "do not underestimate the amount of
time it takes to get data from the computer." Rankin described the
geological setting and chemical composition of two climactic volcanic
eruptions: the Black Cat Formation in Maine and the Wilburn Formation on Mt.
Rodgers in SW Virginia. For 25 years, this President and his wife studied these
areas and were able to map flow units based on pumice lump size. The tufts in
Maine, a volume of approx. 500 cubic km of rock, have been quasi-horizontally
flattened. Those of Virginia with a volume of 250 cubic km were compacted to a
lesser extent, although the formation was subjected to greater deformation. For
comparison, the volume of the Mt. St. Helens eruption was approx. 1 cubic km.
The
chemical compositions of the two formations were distinct: the Wilburn
formation is more highly fractionated, indicating a bimodal magmatic
source. Rankin believed the sources of the Black Cat formation were a
differentiated magma from the lower crust and a component of geosynclinal sediments.
Estep
attempted to open the paper for questions and discussion, and was summarily
dismissed. The attendance was 100 ± 20, the large error due to the fact that
the secretary generally counted heads during question periods.
Respectfully
submitted,
Marilyn F.
Estep
Annual Meeting
9 December 1981
Geological Society of Washington
The Annual Meeting of the Society was
called to order by President Rankin after members had swilled enough beer to be
able to thoroughly digest and appreciate Rankin's Presidential Address. The
first order of business was the reading of the minutes from the last Annual
Meeting by Tina Silber. Silber
apparently had not fully digested Rankin's talk and was no doubt closeted away
somewhere making private notes for later discussion. Estep, thus, proceeded with
her account of the state of the G.S.W. meetings for 1981. The report was
accepted, and a weary but pleased Estep continued out her short stint by
observing the remainder of the meeting with relief. Silber
reappeared amid applause and delivered her addresses, which were accepted. The
status of the Council for 1981 was one of reserve.
Mike Foose then
approached the podium nervously eyeing the crowd for signs of rotten eggs and
tomatoes. After the previous year's debate on dues increases, Foose was prepared this time. He announced no dues
increase, which calmed the wild beasts, notably Dutro, lurking in the audience.
He did project a slight deficit for 1982 of $465.00. The specter of the mailing
list and meetings notices was raised and buried. The Society had $11,407 in
assets on this date.
Mary Mrose then
took the podium and delivered her state of the Union address on membership. The
audience accepted the personal chiding with good humor, and applauded Mrose's good job and valiant attempts. There were 65 new
members last year and a total of 981 members in the Society.
The Chairman of the Public Service
Committee, Carl Thornber, reviewed his term in
office. He charged the Society to continue supporting field trips and local
science fairs of note, during Thornber's tenure as
Chairman of this committee no new field trip guides were published, although he
made repeated attempts to unload old editions.
Joe Arth
presented the Best Paper Award to Leo Hickey of the US National Museum for his
talk on "Plant evidence on dinosaur extinction-out with a bang or a
whimper." Sometime in May or April, Hickey received the highly coveted and
elusive silver cup, but left the meeting with a check for $200 clutched in his
hand. Michael Engel of the Geophysical Lab won the 2nd Best Paper Award for his
talk on amino acids in the Isua rocks of Greenland.
Engel, although not at the meeting, was totally astounded by the award and
promised to treat all of his colleagues to pizza. The Great Dane Award for the
Best Informal Communication went to Ed Roedder of the USGS for a discussion on
the Evaluation of alleged microorganisms in early Archean sediments of W.
Greenland.
The Highlight of the meeting was Norm
Hatch's discourse on the philosophy and potential capabilities of the Sleeping
Bear Award. The audience roared with Norm as he delivered a lengthy treatise;
several members were nominated; the
[that's all there is -- Ed.]