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October 9th GSW meeting, Bradley Lecture presented by Dr. Isabel Montañez

The 1603rd meeting of the Geological Society of Washington will take place at the Cosmos Club on October 9. We are honored to host Dr. Isabel P. Montañez of the University of California, Davis as our Bradley Lecturer this year with the presentation: “Paleo-CO2 Revisited — New insight into the Earth System of the Deep Past“.

Dr. Montañez is the Director of the UC Davis Institute of the Environment, and is the current Chair of the National Academies of Sciences Board on Earth Sciences and Resources. Learn more about Dr. Montañez and her distinguished career at her website: https://eps.ucdavis.edu/people/faculty/montanez

Come at 7:30 PM to socialize and imbibe, the meeting begins at 8 PM, and ends by 10 PM.

September 4th, GSW Meeting 1602 at the Cosmos Club

This will be an IN-PERSON meeting only. Three excellent talks will be presented:

JANE HAMMARSTROM, U.S. Geological Survey – Critical minerals in the U.S.: Past, present, and potential

TOMMASO MANDOLINI, University of Maryland – 3D microstructure, porosity and permeability in and out of the fault in deformed sandstones.

JOSHUA MARTIN, Geological Society of America – Geoscience’s Role in Shaping Policy Decisions

Come at 7:30 PM to socialize and imbibe, the meeting begins at 8 PM, and ends by 10 PM.

Draft meeting minutes from the GSW meeting of May 8, 2024

The last GSW meeting of the Spring featured three formal talks, two informal communications, and an obituary. A draft of the meeting minutes can be found here.

Updated draft meeting minutes: 1600th GSW meeting

from the meeting at the Carnegie Earth and Planets Lab on April 24 are here. Comments or corrections should be directed to Michael Purucker.

May 8th, GSW meeting at the Cosmos Club

This will be an IN-PERSON meeting only. Three excellent talks will be presented:

ELI MOORE, U.S. Geological Survey: Subsurface Metaproteomics Reveals Diverse Active Microbial Metabolisms in the Antrim Shale

ROBERTA RUDNICK, University of California – Santa Barbara: Metapelites in the lower crust beneath the Potrillo Volcanic Field provide insights into the mysterious 1.4 Ga Picuris Orogeny

ADAM WALLACE, University of Delaware: Reassessment of the Roles of Ion Hydration and Dehydration on the Reactivity of the Calcite-Water Interface

Come at 7:30 PM to socialize and imbibe, the meeting begins at 8 PM, and ends by 10 PM.

March 27: Draft meeting minutes of 1599th GSW

The GSW meeting at the Cosmos Club hosted three talks. A draft of the meeting minutes are available here. Please contact Michael Purucker with any suggestions, changes or corrections.

GSW Spring Field Trip!

The field trip was a great success! Special thanks to Rebecca Kavage Adams (Maryland Geological Survey) for leading the trip.

The GSW spring field trip will be held Saturday, March 30, 2024 in Patapsco Valley State Park: The Potomac terrane, Baltimore terrane, and Baltimore Mafic Complex, led by Rebecca Adams, Maryland Geological Survey

Meet at 9am in the Woodstock parking area of Patapsco Valley State Park, Maryland

Tentative itinerary:

  • Baltimore Gneiss w/pegmatite 9:00-10:00am
  • Patapsco Valley State Park, McKeldin Area:
    •  Setters Quartzite 10:15-11:00am
    •  Baltimore Gneiss at McKeldin Rapids 11-12:00pm
    •  Lunch (bring your own): at shelter (Setters Quartzite)
    •  Cockeysville Marble & Loch Raven Schist 12:15-1:15pm
    •  Marriottsville Rd #2 Talc mines 1:30-2:15pm
  • Soldiers Delight Natural Area, Serpentinite, Choate chromite mine & overlook 2:30-3:30pm
  • Last stop: Howard County Western Regional Park, Sykesville Formation, near field #10 4:00-5:00pm

March 6, Draft meeting minutes

The GSW meeting at the Cosmos Club hosted three talks. A draft of the meeting minutes are available here. Please contact Michael Purucker with any suggestions changes or corrections.

March 6th, GSW meeting at Cosmos Club

This will be an IN-PERSON meeting only. Three excellent talks will be presented:

WILL FOX (Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory) – Bringing celestial plasmas to the laboratory

GENEVIEVE MARICLE (U.S. Agency for International Development) – International climate policy: multilateral cooperation and society-wide action

DOUG WICKS (U.S. Department of Energy) – Addressing the Mineral Abyss for the Energy Transition

Come at 7:30 PM to socialize and imbibe, the meeting begins at 8 PM, and ends by 10 PM. Speaker bios and talk abstracts are available here.

Feb 7 Draft meeting minutes

The GSW meeting at the Cosmos Club hosted three talks and a draft of the meeting minutes are available here. Please contact Michael Purucker with any corrections or suggested changes.