GSW: 1978 MEETING MINUTES

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
January 11, 1978

The 1030th meeting of the Society was called to order by President Dutro at 8:03 p.m.  on Jan.  11, 1978, at the John Wesley Powell Auditorium.  Petrologist's Club meeting at the Geophysical Laboratory January 17, a  Paleontological Society meeting January 18, and the dates for this year's meetings were announced by President Dutro.  The death of Karl Stephenson was acknowledged by the Society.  The minutes were read by 1st V.P.  Dan Appleman and approved.

Greg Sohn gave an informal communication by formally introducing us to ostracods.  One of his conclusions was that ostracods are carried from place to place in D.C.  by birds.  A question was asked by a man who reluctantly identified himself as Bill Outerbridge.

Bruce Lipin gave an informal communication about the Geologs, a socialtific organization formed in 1914 and dissipated in 1941.  Lipin, not wishing to answer any questions, then ran from the podium.

Meyer Ruben, in the last informal communication of the evening, told us about a high-energy accelerator that can measure 14C/13C or 14C/ 12C ratios of very small samples nondestructively.  He then asked for small samples that he rejected in the past.  Discussion by French and Hower.

The regular program began at 8:40 p.m. with a historical talk by F. J. Flanagan (USGS) about "W.F. Hillenbrand, the father of standards in geology."  Flanagan informed us that back around the turn of the century there was a problem with interlaboratory precision in rock analyses.  According to Flanagan, in an effort to eliminate discrepancies, many laboratories analyzed fertilizer.  One Survey employee was overheard to say "nothing has changed." Everyone present was so shocked at the news that, interlaboratory discrepancies exist there were no questions.

Undaunted by the previous presentation, John Morgan (USGS) informed us that he could tell what kind of meteorite made Ries crater by chemical analysis of the ejecta.  Morgan pointed out that siderophile element concentration of ejecta can tell us much about the nature of the meteorite responsible for the crater.  Examples of this technique from lunar craters were given.  Fifteen minutes into his twenty-minute talk, Morgan started telling us about Ries.  Then we found out why; the results from Ries were disappointing.  The usual indicators of meteoritic contamination OS and IR were low.  Morgan then concluded the Ries meteorite was an Enstatite achondrite.  Discussion by McQueen, Speidel, Zen, Flanagan, and Lipin.

Bob Tilling (USGS) representing the Hawaii Volcano Observatory staff erupted on the scene with "Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii: past activities and possible future behavior." We learned that historic flows from Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea came as close as 2 km to the city of Hilo and that on average every 3-4 years a flank eruption (larger than summit eruption) would occur.  At this point, Tilling tried to get our sympathy by showing a slide of himself in winter clothes in Hawaii.  Having failed miserably in this ploy, Tilling went on to tell us that in 1974 after 24 years of inactivity Mauna Loa inflated, seismic activity increased, and 30 million cubic meters of lava erupted from the summit on July 5, 1975.  Fears were heightened that Hilo would be threatened by a flank eruption.  Lava diversion techniques were discussed, including Bombs and barriers.  I apologize for the fact that I cannot report on the last part of Tillings talk as there was a strange buzzing in my ear.  Discussion by Sato, who suggested the power of prayer in diverting lava, Fiske, Ryan, Ruben, Robertson, Roedder, Milton, and Peck, who threatened to decrease HVO's budget with the deflation of Mauna Loa.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:01 p.m.  Beer money on the "Free Beer Night" totaled $10.30.  Attendance 129. 

Respectfully submitted,

Bruce R.  Lipin

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
January 25, 1978

The 1031st meeting of the Society was called to order by President Dutro at 8:11 p.m.  on January 25, 1978, at the John Wesley Powell auditorium.  It took some time for the disgruntled crowd to settle down as the beer didn't materialize until 8:10.  The minutes were approved as read, after new members were announced

President Dutro announced that there is, as of yet, no stamp for the U.S.G.S. centennial.  An unidentified kibitzer from the floor suggested a centennial frank.  An unofficial search was undertaken for anyone at the Survey named Frank and is 100 years old.  So far, 28 candidates have been located.

Bob Neuman presented the cup for the Best Technical Paper of last year to George Wetherill of DTM.  Treasurer Peter Lyttle then reminded President Dutro to announce something about parking that Dutro did not want to announce.' Therefore, I will not report on what Dutro did not announce.

Dan Milton gave an informed, informal communication about the inability of the members of the Society to spell Hillebrand and Chamberlin.

The scheduled program began at 8:25 with fascinating glimpses of "Popularization and poetry of geology in 19th century America" by an impeccably dressed Robert Hazen (Geophysical Laboratory).  Through Hazen's excellent readings, we learned that: Farmers and doctors depended on geology, miners were a respected group, and geologist's wives were not very enthusiastic about long field seasons without their husbands.

Tony England (USGS) then guided us a "Motor toboggan traverse of the Dufek intrusion, Antarctica".  We learned that the Dufek's economic potential, if any, is in its ultramafic zone and that mapping of cryptic layering is ambiguous under 1.1 km of ice.  We also saw some lovely slides of Russian garbage.  Discussion by Rankin and Howar.

The last paper of the evening was presented by Stephen Brush (Univ. of Maryland) on "a geologist among astronomers: T. C. Chamberlin's role in the overthrow of the nebular hypothesis." Brush told us how Chamberlin crossed swords in print with Kelvin on the origin of the solar system.  Finally, Chamberlin, using a mathematical argument, convinced the scientific community that his "close encounter" of a large body with the sun was more probable than Kelvin's nebular hypothesis.  Most scientists were so surprised that geologists knew anything about mathematics, they swallowed Chamberlin's arguments.  Lively discussion by Howar, Speidel, Hubbard (twice), and Robertson.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:46 p.m.  Attendance 89.  Receipts from refreshments is not known.

Respectfully submitted,

Bruce R.  Lipin

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
February 8, 1978

The 1032nd meeting of the society was called to order by President Dutro at 8:00 p.m. in the John W. Powell Auditorium on Feb. 8, 1978.  The minutes were approved as read.  New members welcomed into the society were: Edwin A. Noble, John R. Keith, and Karin Malycke, U.S.G.S.-Reston; Fred J. Gunther, Computer Science Corp.; Stephanie Miller, Univ. of Maryland; and Raymond G. Bridge, Dewberry, Nelon and Davis Engineering.  Lou Pavlides introduced Hank Williams of the University of New Foundland.

President Dutro informed us of the upcoming AAAS meetings and a Paleontology Society meeting.

Then Dr. Williams told us of a tectonic map of the Appalachians that will go on sale for about $20.  The scale will be 1:1,000,000.  This works out to a dollar every 50,000 feet, Malcom Ross, U.S.G.S., Reston, opened the scheduled program with a paper on "Geology, asbestos, and health." Ross informed us that, in spite of studies indicating that crocidolite and smoking are the real culprits in giving people lung cancer and mesothelioma, Dr. Selikov of Mt. Sinai, N.Y.C., and OSHA consider any mineral 5 μm long or less, with a length/width ratio of 3:1 to be dangerous at a concentration of greater than 0.1 fibers/cm3 air.  The 6th district Court listed almost every mafic mineral in Dear Howie & Zussman as a hazard.  Selikov, in that venerable scientific publication, The Washington Post, accused the Rockville Quarry of being a health hazard because it contains 1/10 of 1% crysotile.  Ross concluded that, if Selikov’s influence spreads, the ridiculous conclusion would be the closing of every mine in the United States.  It appears that T. C. Chamberlin's multiple working hypothesis has died at Mt. Sinai hospital—probably of mesothelioma.  Discussion by Speidel, Ryan(2) Tilling, Roedder(2), Dan Appleman(2) Zen, who told us there are no geoscientists in Kansas City, Sato, Fester, Fiske, and Robertson.

Bill Cannon, U.S.G.S., Reston, continued the program with "Small scale bottom features associated with manganese nodules in the Northeast Equatorial Pacific." Cannon revealed that the economic interest in the nodules is in their Cu, Ni, Co which total to about 3%.  In the next 10 years., if legalities of ownership of the ocean floor can be worked out, there should be 2-3 major producers.

Photographs of the nodules in situ look like high a density of cowpies in a field.  The nodules occur at the sediment-water interface even though growth of the nodules is an order of magnitude slower than sedimentation rates.  Of the two theories Cannon mentioned for the nodules position (1) Critters turning them over; and (2) they occur in areas where erosion is taking place, he prefers the latter for two reasons: (1) possible evidence of erosion is seen in nodules lying on nodules and (2) only one photo in 15,000 showed positive evidence bottom dwellers moving nodules.  The distribution of nodules within a rich area is mostly random and at present there is no way to predict where these rich areas will be.  Discussion by Helz, Milton(2), Sato, Finkelman, Tilling, Peck, Peggy Appleman(2), Kinney, Zen, Dutro(2), , Hearn, Hemley, Speidel, and Martin. 

The last presentation of the evening was by Anthony J.  Fleming of Beloit College and J,V.  O'Connor, Univ. of D.C. on "D.C. Piedmont: new evidence from outcrops and construction sites in N.W." Fleming showed us the trials and tribulations of urban geology.  But through studies along stream valleys and new construction sites Fleming and O'Connor were able to recognize many lithological units among the rocks in the D.C. piedmont.  The varied mineralogy of the rocks comprising the Georgetown mafic complex was described.  The metagabbros and peridotites, according to the authors, were tectonically emplaced although some arrived at their present positions by the suggestive mechanism called permissive intrusion.  It was generally agreed by all present that D.C. is a health hazard because of the large amount of model amphiboles present in the rocks.  Discussion by Lipin(2),Drake, and Hazen.  Attendance=138.

Respectfully submitted,

Bruce R.  Lipin

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
February 22, 1978

The 1033rd meeting of the Geological Society of Washington was called to order at 8:06 p.m., February 22, 1978 at the J.W.  Powell Auditorium by President Dutro.  Dr.  D. Basset, National Museum of Wales was introduced to the society by Ellis Yochelson and Phil Schaeffer of Flagstaff was introduced by some guy.  The minutes were read and amended by Yochelson and Zen, while Bruce Hanshaw kibbitized.  Peter Stifel asked for volunteers to judge local science fairs.  After a truly heart warming show of enthusiasm the regular meeting began. 

Byron D. Stone, USGS, showed us spectacular deformation features in "Recumbent folds, thrust faults, and cleavage at Skunk Hill, southeastern Massachusetts: gravity slide or ice-shove?" Glacial gravel, silt and clay layers were shown to possess a stunning variety of folds and faults which increased in intensity from the southern to the northern end of the exposure, culminating in, what Stone described as a classic nappe.  Stone than went on to discuss the pros and cons of two possible mechanisms for the nappe: a gravity-glide model, and a thrust-fault model in which the delta was dragged under the weight of the ice.  Discussion by Denny, Lucy Force, George Helz, Robertson, Lipin, Rankin, Sellers, and Zen.  Stone then called for a vote to determine which mechanism was most popular among the audience for the genesis of nappes.  Rankin wanted to know if it was possible to abstain if one napped during the presentation.  The vote was 38 for gravity glide vs. 19 for thrust.  Inasmuch as the attendance for the evening was 88, gravity-glide nosed out the sleepers by a mere 7 votes.  The cumulative grade of the sleepers was GS 452.

Mike Foose, U.S.G.S. was next with "A structural and stratigraphic interpretation for the northwest Adirondacks." Foose documented 3 periods of folding and 2 periods of faulting.  In unraveling the structure of the Adirondacks he interpreted the gneiss domes as part of a coherent stratigraphic succession rather than intrusions into noses of folds as interpreted by Buddington.  Differential flow during folding and a structural discontinuity during the first deformation with two other periods of folding superposed on folds could have caused the observed configuration of the units in the Adirondacks.  Discussion by Lucy Force (4 times), Yochelson, Charles Milton, and Daniel Milton. 

Bruce R. Lipin and T. P. Thayer, U.S.G.S. presented "A geological analysis of world chromite production to the year 2000." The authors combined production data and geologic information showing that the traditional sources of chromite podiform deposits, are rapidly giving way to the less numerous by tremendously larger stratiform deposits.  The authors concluded that while there is enough discovered chromite to last for thousands of years, over 99% is restricted to 2 deposits in South Africa and Rhodesia.  These countries will dominate the world market by the year 2000.  Dis­cussion by Peck, Daniel Milton, Zen, Robertson, Stifel, Sato and Ross.

V.E. McKeJvey introduced Dr. W. H. Menard, a consultant at Interior.  The meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m.  Attendance was 88 and Beer money totaled $17.40, American money.

Respectfully submitted,

Bruce R. Lipin, Meeting Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
March 8, 1978

The 1034th meeting of the Society was called to order at 8:10 p.m.  at the J.W.  Powell Auditorium March 8th, 1978.  President Dutro announced the death of Ian Campbell.  Peter Stifel told us of the D-C.  science fair April 10 and the AAPG meetings April 7-9 were announced. 

R. L. Wesson (USGS) began the scheduled program with a talk on "Seismicity and Quaternary geology, Garm region, Tadykikistan [Ed: yes, Bruce spelled it this way], USSR." This region, near China has been subjected to many earthquakes in recent times.  The largest recorded earthquake in the area occurred in 1949, it was 7.7 magnitude.  Extensive landslides as a result of the quakes has caused much damage in the area.  Evidence of geologically rapid movement in recent history is found in a 21 meter offset of a man-made wall.  Discussion by Hower, Toulmin, and Robertson.

Karl Bowser (U. of Wisconsin) was next with "Manganese and Copper geochemistry in equatorial Pacific sediments: relation to nodule-forming pro­cesses." We learned that high-copper nodules are concentrated in zones in which the nodule density is high.  Chemical data shows that Mn, Ni, and Cu increase from top to bottom in the nodules while iron decreases.  Bowser's calculations of flux vs. accumulation rate for various metals shows that manganese is trapped at the sediment-water interface under almost all conditions while copper would only tend to accumulate in the presence of silicic ooze-just where high-copper nodules are found.  Discussion by Towe, Fiske, Lipin, McKelvey, Bethke, George Helz, Dan Milton, and Kostick.  Howar had a second comment about sea cucumbers being high in copper and suggested these are the copper source of the nodules.  Unlike Byron Stone, he did not ask for a vote on his suggestion.

Ken Towe (Smithsonian Institution) closed the program with "Photosynthesis and Precambrian oxygen, colon, the cart before the horse, question mark.  Towe believes that photorespiration, rather than photosynthesis, was the mechanism that produced free oxygen in the early Pre­cambrian.  Blue-green algae, found in very old rocks, has been taken as prime facie evidence for photosynthesis.  However, recent work shows that blue-green algae can thrive on only H2S and produce no oxygen when half of their photosynthesis system is cut off.  Towe suggests that Precambrian algae may have operated in this manner.

Discussion by Doan (three times), George Helz (three times), Howar, Bethke (twice) Mary Padaikovich (twice), Toulmin (twice), Gair, Jones (twice, then Towe asked Gair a question, and finally, Dutro.  This paper established a new record for questions: 19, including the one Towe asked Gair. 

The meeting degenerated into an argument at 10:15 p.m.  Attendance was 56.  Beer money totaled $18.20

Respectfully submitted,

Bruce R. Lipin

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
March 22, 1978

President Dutro called the 1035th meeting of the Society to order at 8:02 a.m.  on March 22, 1978, at the John Wesley Powell Auditorium. The minutes were read and accepted as amended by Tina Zen.  New members were introduced to the society were:

Douglas F. B. Black                    USGS     Reston

Jerry C. Stephens   USGS           Reston

Robert A. Matthews                    USGS     Reston

T. Helaine Walsh    USGS           Reston

Barbara  Bascle AGI                   Falls Church, Va.

Robert Bascle    USGS                Reston

Caroline Hulick  AGI                   Falls Church, Va.

David Kraus      AGI                   Falls Church, Va.

Joe Langdon      AGI                   Falls Church, Va.

Ghassan N. Rassam                     AGI        Falls Church, Va.

John P. Schafer  USGS                Reston

Corresponding members

Larry D. Woodfork                     W.Va. Geol. Survey        Morgantown, WVA

Elizabeth G. Alien   USGS           Denver

Students

Eric Nelson        Univ. of Md.      College Park

E. Lawrence Libelo                     Univ. of Md.        College Park

President Dutro announced the deaths of Dwight Lemon and Merle Israelsky.  The membership was reminded of Harrison "Jack" Schmidt's talk on April 3.  Ray Rye told us that the Calvert Cliffs fossil site is now closed to due to a fatal rock fall.  Jim O'Conner reminded us of the National Association of Geology Teachers Convention April 7-11.

Ari Blackwelder of Southern Illinois University, Ron Posley of Tulane, John Bingham, and Butch Grossman were introduced to the society by people who are presumably members.

The first informal communication was delivered by Ann Doar and was co-authored by E-An Zen, Barton, and Hemley.  We were told that the Earth Sciences had been excluded from the approved list of disciplines to be sponsored by the new Office of Environmental Education.  Effective lobbying finally convinced Congress that Earth Sciences may be remotely connected to the environment.  Therefore, geology is now an "approved" discipline under the act.  Ms. Doar then asked that we all consider what would be appropriate proposals for the OEE.

Frank Whitmore then showed us breathtaking slides of a dead elephant named Ginsburg, being dismembered with flint, chert, and obsidian.  The tools were fashioned by Dennis Stanford to resemble those found in ancient mammoth kill sites.  Flakes from the tools were very useful in separating the skin from the inner tissue.  It took the team about 40 minutes to get one leg off, a modern record.  Ginsburg was the female lead, opposite John Wayne, in the movie Hatari. 

John E.  Repetski, USGS, Washington, then showed us dismembered fish in a talk titled "Cambrian Chordates: a fish story." The first documented case of fish older than the Ordovician vertebrates discovered by Walcott was by a German group.  Subsequent histological examination confirmed that fish existed about .20 million years before these found by Walcott.  The author later discovered scales in Wyoming Cambrian rocks that turned out to be Anatolepus.  This discovery pushed back the appearance date of vertebrates even further to about 510 million years.  Since the author's discovery, about ½ dozen Anatolepi of Cambrian age have been found.  Discussion by E-an Zen, George Helz, Clark and Dutro.

Milan J. Pavich, USGS, Reston, lectured on "The stripping of the Piedmont: a look at the history of saprolite." By comparing rates of saprolite formation, about 10 m/million years, vs. estimated uplift and erosion rates; Pavich concluded that saprolite could have formed on a piedmont that was constantly being uplifted and eroded.  A peneplane with no tectonic movement is not a necessary ingredient, according to Pavich.  Discussion by John Perry (4 times) Speidel (4 times), Stewart (twice), Neuman, E-an Zen, Howar, and Yochelson.

James A. Whitney, Univ. of Georgia, was last with "Crustal evolution of the southern piedmont provinces during the late precambrian and early paleozoic." Detailed mapping of the Elberton area in Georgia on my mind, revealed a profound break between the Elberton Batholith of the inner piedmont and the ultramafic-mafic rocks to the west.  The boundary between the two units is.a cataclastic zone containing fragments from both rock-types, geophysical evidence suggests that the contact is a major tectonic feature in the piedmont.  Whitney tentatively proposed that the boundary between the granite and mafics could be a suture of a precambrian rift that created an oceanic basin of uncertain size. The slate belt might have formed during the opening and later closing of the basin could account for the field relations in the Elberton area and evidence of obduction further south. Discussion by Wones, Pavlides, Clark, Perry, Turman (twice), one man with a southern accent and another with a northern accent. Since they did not give their names, they will be called Mason and Dixon.

The meeting adjourned at 10:12 p.m.  Attendance:  136; Beer Money: $6.60 on a Free Beer Night.

Respectfully submitted,

Bruce R. Lipin

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

1036th meeting, April 12, 1978

The 1036th meeting of the Society was called to order at 8:08 p.m., Wednesday, April 12, 1978 by President Dutro in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium. The minutes of the 1035th meeting were read by vice-president Appleman and approved after minor corrections. The following visitors were introduced: Greg Gohn, USGS, Reston (by Rankin) and Harry Lotis, CCD, USGS, Reston (by himself). Dutro announced that a questionnaire was being circulated by Mrs. Doar to inform the Washington Council of Governments how the populace really felt about water quality and water pollution in the region. The death of Robert Moxham, USGS, was announced. There were no informal communications.

The first paper of the evening was by Gregory S. Gohn, USGS, Reston: "Geologic Investigations in the Charleston, South Carolina area.11 Gohn summarized the work of the Charleston Project of the USGS, begun in 1974 under NRC auspices. Goals of the Project are (1) to ascertain the cause of the great earthquake of 1886; and (2) to investigate the regional geologic setting - is it unique? The work involves seismologists, other geophysicists and geologists. Preliminary results have appeared (just now) in Professional Paper 1028. Gohn described the subsurface geology as consisting of fault-bounded mesozoic basins. Triassic and Jurassic basalts, much like other early Mesozoic basalts in Eastern North America, were described from drill cores. Thick red beds underlie the basalts; fine grained in the upper parts of the section, conglomeratic below. Correla­tions with the Newark group are possible. Gohn postulated a major rift basin extending across the Southeastern U.S. from coastal Florida to the Atlantic. Questions by Bob Schneider, Rabchevsky (2), E-an Zen, Gene Robertson, Blair Jones, Speidel (2), Davidson, Rankin and Dutro.

The second paper, by Thomas A. Ryer, USGS, Denver, was titled "Strati­graphy, Environments of Deposition, and Origin of Coal in the Upper Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone of Central Utah." He described a basin on the Western flank of the San Rafael swell, in Central Utah and Southeastern Wyoming, with inter-tonguing marine and nonmarine rock types. Cyclic sedimentation patterns in the rocks were attributed to changes in the deltaic environments: pro-delta, delta front, delta plain and alluvial. Particular coal beds are associated with individual delta cycles. Delta-switching was considered preferable to enstatic changes to explain the patterns. Questions by Lucy Force, Speidel (2) Woodring, Kinney, Rabchevsky and Blair Jones.

The third paper, by James E. Case, USGS, Menlo Park, was titled "Tectonic Evolution of the Caribbean Region.” He discussed new tectonic maps now being compiled in the light of post-plate tectonics thinking. New off-shore data is especially important to the revised picture. A tour of circum-Caribbean geology turned up several nifty features, such as a mini-spreading center in the Cayman Trench. In response to the ubiquitous Speidel, who kindly asked for his conclusions, Case said that the next task was to compile detailed lithofacies maps at one-million-year intervals. Questions by Guild (2) and Cox. Dutro announced that the next meeting would be May 10, and read the program. The meeting adjourned at 10:05 p.m.; attendance 90.

Daniel E, Appleman

Vice-president and quondam secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
March 8, 1978

The 1037th meeting of the society was called order, by President Dutro at 8:06 p.m..  May 10, 1978, at the JWP auditorium, Beth Heiser, Barbara Christy, Jim Arenson, and Isara Matthews were introduced to the society.  The minutes were read and approved.  President Dutro announced the deaths of Bill Schlecht and Ed Speiker.

Mary Mrose asked why no new members were announced.  President Dutro respond that no new members were announced because there weren't any.  A search committee, headed by Bill Davies was formed.  A report is expected this meeting.

The first talk of the evening was authored by Odette B. James U.S.G.S., Reston, and O. A.  Schaeffer, SUNY, Stony Brook.  Odette James told us of the uses to which a new K-Ar dating have been put.  Instead of isotope dilution, which requires mineral separation, or neutron activation, laser beams are used to activate very small portions of a sample.  This method is similar to electron microprobe analysis for major and minor elements.  The beam can sample an area as small as 10 microns in diameter.  The older the sample less is needed.

James than gave an example of how this method may be used.  Results were presented on efforts to date various parts of a lunar breccia.  The oldest parts of the breccia are the plagioclase clasts at 4.13-4.17 billion years.  The glassy parts range in age 3.85-4.01 billion years.  A classic case of the whole being less then the sum of its parts.

The USGS is considering adding this technique to their arsenal of isotopic dating tools.  Stony Brook is so far the only place employing this method, and only on extraterrestrial samples.  Twenty million years is a lower limit for terrestrial rocks.  The secretary was threatened with bodily harm if any puns about dates appeared in the minutes, so there will be none.  Discussion by Dan Appleman, Bill Leo, E-an Zen, Moto Sato, Ken Towe, Bruce Lipin, Greg Sohn, Gene Robertson and Jim Arenson.

Woody [Thomas W.] Henry and Ken Englund, USGS, Reston was next with an evaluation of West Virginia strata, which will soon be proposed as the type sequence for the Pennsylvanian.  According to Henry, the lower Pennsylvanian is about 500 meters from the Pocahontas to the Nettall formation.  The middle series is from the New River formation to the upper Freeport coal in the Alleghany formation, about 512 meters.

The upper series is the rest of the Alleghany formation through the Dunkard group, about 360 meters.  The top of the Pennsylvanian will be determined by committee, which means it's sure to have a hump.

A strange thing happened during Henry's talk: he was running overtime, and just as President Dutro was about to "buzz him off," Henry cleverly showed a slide of Pennsylvanian fossils, thereby buying himself 5 more minutes.  Discussion by K. Y. Lee, 3 times.

The last paper of the evening was by A. J. Boucot and Douglas Rumble III who reported on Devonian brachiopods discovered in sillimanite-facies rocks in New Hampshire.  The shells are now quartz + calcite, or quartz + calcite + wollastonite.  Rumble promised to offend the paleontologists and the geochemists.  Then he promptly fulfilled that promise by mispronouncing the fossil names and misidentifying the igneous rocks in the area.

Rumble cited evidence of CO2 entering the quartz-monzonite dike from the marble during the SiO2-CaCO3 reaction and that Ca diffused from the marble layers into the mica schist.  Rumble also concluded that the maximum P+T encountered in these rocks was somewhat less than the aluminum silicate invariant point.  Rumble than hinted that age dating of these rocks might push back the beginning of the Devonian about 15 million years because of cross-cutting relations with supposedly Ordovician quartz-monzonite.

Discussion by Felix Chayes, Bill Melson (2), then President Dutro exercised his presidential privilege by labeling any evidence for pushing back the Devonian as "hogwash" because it violates Dutro's Law which states that "any igneous rock older than 400 million years is pre-Devonian." Other discussion by Arth, Hazen  (twice), E-an Zen (thrice), Dan Milton, Douglas, Sato, Towe (twice), Rankin (twice), Sohn, Robertson, and Jacobeen.

The meeting adjourned at 10:05 p.m..  Attendance was 69.

 

[Minutes of 1038th meeting are lost]

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
September 27, 1978

The 1039th meeting of the society was called to order by President Dutro at 8:06 p.m., Sept.  27, 1978 at the John Wesley Powell Auditorium.  Dutro then announced the dates of the remaining meetings this year.  Greg Gohn, Brent Fabbi, Doug Ramble, Doug Rankin, Mike Foose, and Bob Schmidt introduced a whole bunch of people.  New members elected to the Society were: John Brady, Phillip Woodside, Richard Wendlandt, Carol Shifflet, Charles A. Wood, James McGee, Beth J. Caroll, Robert J. Bodnar, and Phillip M. Bethke.  The deaths of E. Dale Jackson and Ed Sampson were announced.

President Dutro informed us of the upcoming Guggenheim Lecture Series on the bArth and the 8th International Geochemical Exploration Symposium in Hannover, Germany in April 1980, Greg Sohn gave an informal communication on ostracod-containing coprolites in India.  Sohn deduced that recent reconstructions of Southern Pangea are not correct because India's position in those reconstructions is not compatible with the climate in which the ostracods must have existed.

 The first presentation of the formal program was by Robert J. Bodner, USGS-Reston, on "Fluid inclusion study of the porphyry copper prospect at Red Mountain, Arizona" Bodner presented evidence for two mineralizing fluids, one at high temperature and low salinity, the other at low temperature and high-salinity.  The quartz-bearing veins formed at a depth of 2-4 kilometers.  .  Discussion by Bethke, Sohn, Hemley (twice), Dykester, and Wright.

The second presentation was by Bill Leo of the USGS, Reston who spoke on "Andesite-Rhyolite volcanism in western Sumatra, Indonesia." Sumatra is a classic Island Arc with most volcanic rocks less than one million years.  However, some are as old as late Triassic.  Leo and his colleagues found a bimodal distribution of andesites and rhyolites defining a calc-alkaline trend.  The volcanics of Sumatra were found to be more fractionated than oceanic andesites.  Discussion by "the Indian fellow” introduced by Greg Sohn, Wilford, Zen, Lipin, and Stewart who asked Lipin a question.

The last communication of the evening was by Isidore Zietz, USGS, Reston on "Exploration of the continental crust using aeromagnetic data".  Zietz lamented that only 15% of the United States is adequately covered by magnetics.  Zietz showed the society how aero-magnetics can locate ophiolites, Cenozoic igneous and deep vertical fractures in the western U.S.  Buried volcanics in the midwest; and determining the type of bedrock under deep saprolite cover in the Eastern U.S.  Discussion by Sato (twice), the Indian Fellow who was introduced by Greg Sohn, Boyd, Wood, Robertson, Warner, and George Helz.

The meeting was adjourned at exactly 10:00 p.m. for the first time this year.  The attendance was 82 and receipts for refreshments is a mystery to the secretary.

Respectfully submitted

Bruce R.  Lipin

Meetings Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
October 11, 1978

The 1040th meeting of the society was called to order by President Dutro at 8:05 p m Oct.  11, 1978 at the John Wesly Powell Auditorium.  Mike Rubinak, Mary Gates , and Paul Weiblen were introduced to the Society The minutes were read and accepted as amended by Bethke and Dutro.  New members were: 14 students, Univ. Maryland (Angela Lanham, Karl Dydak, Diane Simpson, Sara Mathews, Joseph Steel, George Overhaltzer, Judith Richardson, Theresa Anoskay, John Boylan, Robert Najewicz, Guillermo Accame, Elizabeth Wetherell, Bernard Waitzenegger, James Bergen), Mrs. Deborah Hamel, Gaithersburg, Md., Ian MacGregor, Dept. Energy, Jon Dykstra, Earth Satellite Corp., Bethesda, Richard Sanford, USGS, and Jeffrey Warner, NASA.

Bob Neuman announced field trips to the Caledonides or Caledonides, whichever you prefer, of the U.S.A.  Neuman advised us that we may ignore the deadline on the application.

The first formal presentation was by David Elliot of Johns Hopkins University on "The Breeding of Thrust Faults".  The thrust of Elliots paper was that most thrusts start as patches in semi-plastic that are subjected to stresses that may exceed the regional stress by a factor of 5.  Stresses concentrate at intersections and many thrusts are born there.  So thrusts are born, grow, and die, just like organisms.  And birth and death rates may be calculated.  Shales are especially good thrust breeders.  Discussion by Robertson, Tilling, Zen, Leo, Warner, Michael (4 times), and Cox.

The second presentation was by Z. S. Altschuler, Christina C. Silber, Meyer Rubin, and Jack H.  Medlin, all of the U.S.G.S., Reston titled "The Everglades of.Florida as Coal-Forming Basins".  The authors showed that vegetation, that could eventually become coal, will only form in ponds that have a marl substrate.  Carbon 14 dating indicate that peat will accumulate at about 2.5 cm per year.  Peat will accumulate in closed basins and fresh water limestone deposition may replace peat deposition because of small shifts in sea level in the Everglades.  Discussion by Tracey (twice) Hedenquist, Toulmin, Christian, Berry, and Stanley.  After fielding all the questions Altschuler stole the microphone.

The third presentation was by Edward C. T. Chao, U.S.G.S., Reston on "Current Geological Activities in the Peoples Republic of China.” There are four kinds of Earth Science institutes in China: The Academy of Sciences, the State Bureau of Science, the equivalent of the U.S.  Geological Survey, Geological sections under various ministries; and Universities.  The State Bureau of Science, their U.S.G.S. employs 380,000 people, 90 percent of those are technicians involved in drilling.  And I can't even get one crumby P.S.T.  Chao showed pictures of the staffs of many of the geological organizations and we noted that the directors wear blue shirts while the staff wears white.  We also saw oil fields and coal pits.  Discussion by Stanley, Maness, and Jack Reed who told Dave Stewart to pick up his package.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:03 p.m.  attendance was 111.

Respectfully submitted,

Bruce R. Lipin Meetings Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
November 8, 1978

The 1041st meeting of the Society was called to order by President Dutro at 8:05 P.M., November 8, 1978 at the Powell Auditorium.  Doug Kinney introduced Eli Coher of Israel.  The minutes of the 1040th meeting were accepted as read.  New members introduced to the society were: John West of GWU and the U. S. G. S.; Timothy Cullen of Bechtel Corp.; and Roger E. Thomas of the U. S. G. S., Reston.  Patrick Taylor of NASA was reinstated.  The deaths of Montis Klepper, Leo Heindl, and J. M. Schopp were announced.

President Dutro also announced the list of nominees for offices in 1979.  They are: President, Daniel E. Appleman; 1st Vice-Pres., William C.  Prinz; 2nd Vice-Pres., Raymond C. Douglass; Meeting Secy., John R. Keith; Council Secy., Bruce R. Lipin Treasurer, Peter T.  Lyttle; Council (1-year term), T. Robin Brett; Council (2-year terms), Eugene C. Robertson, Rosalind Tuthill Helz, Carl Koteff; Council (carryover members), Norman Hatch, Christina C. Silber.

We were told of a Petrologists Club meeting Nov. 21 and the Paleontological Society meeting Nov. 15.  Ellis Yochelson then asked if announcements were limited to those who carpool with the President? In denying President Dutro instructed the awards committee to ignore this incident when considering nominations for the Sleeping Bear award.  Nevertheless Dutro forbad Yochelson to announce that the 9th International Carboniferous Conference with technical sessions will be at Urbana, Illinois, May 21-25 with an abstract deadline of January 1 - presumably all these dates are in 1979.

E -an Zen, U.S.G.S. informally communicated the fact that a new bedrock map of Massachusetts will soon be available.  Zen commented on the remarkable accuracy of the map by B. K. Emerson.  Discussion by Towe; Hatch, who commended Zen for his fine and speedy work; and Dutro, who reminded Hatch that Zen had a good 60 year old map with which to work.

The first formal presentation of the evening was by Charles R. Warren, U.S.G.S., Reston, on "Glacial Lake Housatonic and Related Ice Fronts".  Warren showed us how outlets for ancient glacial lakes may be deduced by present-day topography.  As an example he presented evidence that Ice Glen Cull rather than Concopot Cull was the outlet for Glacial Lake Housatonic.  Warren's talk ended with a sales pitch for his publication MF 1016 even though he admitted that some of the lines needed to be changed on the 2 week-old publication.  Warren then tried to steal the microphone as he left the stage.

The next presentation was by John B.  Brady, Geo­physical Laboratory on "Metasomatism or Why Some Atoms Won't Sit Still for Metamorphism".  Brady told us there are two types of metasomatism, infiltration and diffusion.  He then showed the society the differences between the two.  Infiltration metasomatism leads to zoning and relatively simple mineralogy, while diffusion metasomatism leads to zoning and relatively simple mineralogy.  Brady described an experiment whereby he grew forsterite around a large MgO crystal in the presence of quartz + H2O.  Brady believes forsterite grows on MgO rather than quartz because quartz is more soluble in water than periclase, and silica is the mobile component.  Discussion by Zen (twice), Fisher, Fiske, Hazen, Sanford, Towe, and Steifel.

The last presentation was entitled "The Appalachian Piedmont: A Cross Section Near Baltimore", by William Crowley, Maryland Geological Survey.  One of the fascinating revelations of Crowley was, that in 11 years of mapping in the Piedmont he has come across 4 graded bed localities, which is one every 2.75 years.  This means that Crowley will find another one in August, 1981.  Interested parties will be notified 2 weeks in advance.  Small folds in the rocks across the piedmont lead Crowley to believe that the Frederick Valley Anticline is not real but is more probably a crinkle in the broad piedmont syclinclorium.  Furthermore the Frederick Limestone probably correlates with the Cockeysville Marble further east.  Crowley attributed the observed relationships to westward thrusting of the piedmont rocks.  Discussion by Melson (twice), Drake (twice), Fisher, Zen, Rankin (twice) Yochelson, Robertson, Dutro, Schofield (twice), Rosalski and Doan. 

The meeting degenerated into a brawl at 10:00 P.  M Attendance was 123.

Respectfully Submitted,

Bruce R. Lipin

Meeting Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
November 29, 1978

The 1042nd meeting of the Society was called to order by Presi­dent Dutro at 8:03 p.m., November 29, 1978 at the J.W.  Powell Auditorium.  The minutes were accepted after a correction by Yochelson.  Guests introduced to the society were Mahmood Kholief of Egypt, Jack Peters of the U.S.G.S. in Albany; Arden Albee of CIT, JPL, NASA, and LSMFT.

There was an announcement by someone who claimed to be Peter Lyttle our treasurer that some of us should ignore our dues notices.  Specula­tion that the announcer was not Peter Lyttle was fooled by the fact that no one could remember the last time a treasurer of the Society advocated ignoring dues notices.

Fred Simon, U.S.G.S., gave an informal communication about a new journal called the Journal of Organic Geochemistry.  He also informed us that the American Chemical Society has established a division of Geochemistry.  Symposia are planned for the Spring and Fall meetings.

Ellis Yochelson then gave us a lesson in packaging by showing us the logo for the 9th International Carboniferous Conference and the wonderful things that can be done with the new U.S.G.S. centennial emblem.

The first formal presentation of the evening was by Jacob Gair and John Slack of the U.S.G.S., Reston on the "Plate Tectonic Setting of Stratabound Massive Sulfide Deposits of the U.S. Appalachians".  The deposits range in age from late Precambrian to early Devonian and are found in three zones in the Appalachians corresponding to 3 different pressure and temperature zones.  Discussion by Pavlides (twice) Arth, Drake, Hearn, Helz, and Maness.

Roy S. Clarke Jr. of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, next spoke on "Structure Development in Iron Meteorites Viewed through the Ternary Fe-Ni-P System.  According to Clarke, Schreibersite is part of the Widmanstatten pattern development when considered as part of a diffusion-controlled exsolution process.  All in all a pretty NIPFE idea.

The last presentation of the evening was "World Oil Discovery Rates: Outlook for Production", by David H. Root and Emil D. Attanasi, U.S.G.S., Reston.  The authors, who seemed to be very proud of their not being geologists, extrapolated discovery and production rates for the past 30 years and concluded that a peak in world oil production would occur in the 1990's.  Thus our regular sources of oil will be depleted.  In which case we will be forced to use premium.  Discussion by Morgan, Lipin (twice), Hubbard (twice), Barton, Pavlides, Hewitt, Robertson, Toulmin, Sato (twice), Yochelson, and Maness (twice).

The meeting ran out of gas at 9:54 p.m..  Attendance was 121.

Respectively submitted,

Bruce R. Lipin

Meeting Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

December 13, 1978

The 1043rd meeting of the Society was called to order by President Dutro at 8:01 p.m. at the Powell Auditorium.  Dutro then turned the meeting over to 1st Vice-President Appleman explaining that because of the President's perfect attendance record, the 1st Vice-President had no experience.  That situation is being remedied this year.

Visitors introduced to the Society were Elana Clark, Gunard Schleder, Rolfe Stanley, Dan Murry, Jerry Brophy, George Marlow, Kirk Nordstrom, and Jean Spenser.  The membership stood in silent tribute to Bill Crowley.  New members were: Naomi Belkin, a former USGS employee; Thomas J. Rowland, Jr., U.S.B.M.; William V. Sliter, U.S.G.S.; Elaine Schweitzer, U.S.G.S.; and Rolfe Stanley, University of Vermont.  E-an Zen, not Moto Sato corrected the Secretary on the number of signatures on the napkin on which Stanley's application was written.

Appleman introduced the only speaker of the evening, Tom Dutro, who presented his presidential address.  Dutro and his colleagues have done extensive field studies in Alaska to determine the paleozoic stratigraphy in the Brooks Range.  There are 3 groups of Devonian sections in north, central, and southern Alaska which are generally carbonates, terrigenous and detrital sediments, and volcanic rocks, respectively.  The stratigraphic section in the central Brooks Range as worked out over several field seasons is non-marine shales over marine limestones and shales.  Cu, Pb, Zn, and Ag anomalies associated with deposits of sphalerite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite, and galena are localized around domes where marine shales, imediately below the non-marine sediments, are exposed.  Dutro's model shows that the metals are of oceanic origin and are concentrated in structural traps.  These deposits could be economically significant in the future.

The meeting adjourned at 8:48 for 10 minutes so the membership could tank up for the annual meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Bruce R Lipin

Meeting Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

ANNUAL MEETING

The 86th annual meeting of the Society was called to order by President Dutro at 9:10 p.m. on December 13, 1978 at the John Wesley Powell Auditorium.  The minutes of the 1977 annual meeting were read and approved because nobody present could remember that far back.

Bruce Lipin delivered the meeting's secretary report and Bill Davies gave the council secretary report.  Peter Lyttle told us how rich we are in his Treasurer's report and Doug Kinney, Auditor for 1978, praised Peter Lyttle's effort and recommended that $5,000 of the Society's money be put in a high- interest account.  Woodring moved that the reports be accepted as read.  The vote was unanimous for approval.

Next, Mary Mrose gave the report of the membership committee; we were lectured on the meaning of A, C, and R after our names.  A=active, C=corresponding, and R=retired.

The awards committee, represented by Gene Robertson, commended Bill Prinz on a high-quality, diverse program in 1978.  The Great Dane Award for best informal communication went to Frank Whitmore for his presentation on how primitive man skinned mammoths.  Myer Rubin, Greg Sohn, and Mac Ross received honorable mention.  The Best Paper Award was won by Thomas A. Ryer for his paper on deltaic origins of coal beds in central Utah.  Second Prize went to Doug Rumble and Art Boucot for their talk on the diffusion of calcium and C02 from brachiopods into mica schist and a quartz monzonite dike.  The many fine talks that got honorable mention were given by Bob Hazen, John Brady, Ken Towe, John Repetski, and Mac Ross.

Ray Douglass, the chairman of the Sleeping Bear Award Committee, took the stage in a mask and went through the list of people whose feeble attempts at humor failed to impress the committee.  Unsuccessful bids to win the prize were made by Doug Rankin, who after sleeping through dozens of meetings, finally got a chance at a pun about napping; John Repetski for his fish model, Dan Appleman for his hard time reading the minutes, Moto Sato for "phaseless paleontologists," Izzy Zietz for proclaiming all subsequent data would agree with his conclusions, Tom Dutro for his patter with Bill Oliver, and Bruce Lipin for a humorous interpretation of one of the meetings.  But by far, the most feeble attempt was by Ellis Yochelson whose communication could have been called "What you can do with your centennial decals." There was a collective sigh of relief when Yochelson didn't make an acceptance speech.

The next order of business was the presentation of the slate of officers for the following year by the chairman of the Nominating Committee, Bob Neuman.  Toulmin moved that the slate be accepted by acclamation.  However, no one named acclamation was there, so the slate was elected unanimously.

Old President Dutro turned over the gavel and clock to New President Appleman.  Appleman announced that he was adding 10 seconds to the allotted time for each speaker.  The meeting was adjourned at 10:11 p.m.

Respectfully submitted

Bruce R. Lipin

Secretary