GSW: 1997
MEETING MINUTES
Minutes of
the 1,284th meeting of the
Geological
Society of
Wednesday, January 8, 1997
The 1,284th
meeting started at 8:02 PM, was attended by 84 people, and adjourned at 9:45
PM.
Guests introduced were:
2 Chinese students,
Trudy Harlow - formerly with
NBS now at the USGS,
Melissa Feltmann - New
member of GSW.
There were no new members.
Respects were paid to Jack Dorr who passed away Dec 23, 1996.
Announcements:
1. Cy Galvin announced
upcoming Potomac Geophysical Society
meetings for 1997.
2. Marilyn Suiter announced an NSF Seminar on
"Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and
Engineering" and a summer workshop for undergraduate faculty on "Improving
Delivery in Geoscience."
An informal communication "Connections: What goes around comes around" was
presented by Gordon Eaton, Director of the U.S. Geological Survey. By way of introduction for the second talk of
the evening, Gordie presented the history of the various forerunners of the
Biological Resources Division at the USGS and their convoluted interconnections
with the USGS and the Cosmos Club.
The first talk of 1997 was given by Steven B. Shirey of the Department
of Terrestrial Magnetism on "Old continental lithospheric mantle: New evidence from Os isotopes on peridotites,
eclogites, and kimberlite diamond inclusions." Holy cow, another talk on Os! The "Birth of a Craton" Project is
the result of collaboration among several
institutions in the
Questions
were asked by: Sorena Sorensen, Dallas
Peck, Bevan French, and Gene Robertson.
The second talk was delivered by Dennis B. Fenn
alias "Big Bird" of the U.S.
Geological Survey addressing "Will the Biological Resources Division be a
good thing for the U.S. Geological Survey?" Dennis gave the recent, and
highly political, history of the creation and demise of the National Biological
Service/Survey (NBS), and the compromise to transform the NBS into the Biological
Resources Division (BRD) as the fourth technical division of the USGS. Examples were given for the benefits of
merging biological aspects of BRD with each of the other divisions of the USGS
(Mapping, Water, and Geologic) to give more comprehensive products. In short,
BRD will be great for the USGS.
Questions
were asked by Bevan French, E-an Zen, Sorena Sorensen, Gene Robertson, and Owen
Bricker.
The final talk of the evening was presented by Bevan M. French of the Smithsonian Institution on "Crater in the
fjords: The Gardnos impact structure,
Questions
were asked by Patrick Taylor, Peter Lyttle, Cy Galvin, and a Linda Rowan
These notes
are submitted respectfully
January 22,
1997
by Sandra G.
Neuzil
Minutes of
the 1,285 th meeting of the
Geological
Society of
Wednesday, January 22, 1997
The 1,285 th
meeting started at 8:02 PM, was attended by 81 people, and adjourned at 9:43
PM.
Guests introduced were:
H. Minehart - Volcanology,
Peter Fiske - Whitehouse Fellow,
Jay Zuko -
Katherine Shewey - AGI
There were
no new members.
Informal Business:
1. A letter from 5
members of GSW was received by the council, suggesting that the meetings start
earlier, at 7:30 PM. A straw vote by the
members present showed a near 50:50 split whether to change the meeting
time. The council will look into the
issue.
2. Dues notices have
been mailed out. The council will look
into the mechanics of sending meeting notices via email to members who would
prefer email to a postcard notification.
Cy Galvin gave an informal communication on the results of his
survey questionnaire on the K/T boundary.
Opinion polls may be useful for tracking the history and philosophy of
science but not for drawing scientific
conclusions.
The first talk of the evening was given by Gerald F. Wieczorek
of the U.S. Geological Survey discussing the "Rockfall in
Questions were asked by:
Greg Walsh, Bill Burton, Brooks Hanson, Meyer Rubin, Dallas Peck, and Cy
Galvin.
The second talk was delivered by Timothy J. McCoy of the Smithsonian Institution on "The partial melting
of asteroids."
By analyzing
meteorites one can look back into the earliest years in the history of the
solar system. Mineral compositions,
grain sizes, and fine veins cross cutting mineral grains in primitive
achondrites were interpreted as the result of partial melting and loss of
volatile matter. Igneous processes and
partial melting within asteroids led to their observed heterogeneous mineral
compositions.
Questions
were asked by Mr. Walker, Sorena Sorensen, Jeff Grossman, Rich Vass ?, and Dan
Milton.
The final talk of the evening was presented by Robert H. Webb of
the U.S. Geological Survey on "Rapids, debris flows, and the 1996 controlled
flood in
Repeat photography from 100 years ago compared to the present,
shows how debris flows that enter the Grand Canyon have been reworked less by
the
Questions were asked by Hal Gluskoter, Cy Galvin, George Helz,
Tim McCoy, Bob King, somebody, Meyer Rubin, and Bill Burton.
These notes are submitted respectfully
February 12,
1997
by Sandra G.
Neuzil
Minutes of
the 1,286th meeting of the
Geological
Society of
Wednesday, February 12, 1997
The 1,286th
meeting started at 8:02 PM, was attended by 84 people, and adjourned at 9:43
PM.
Guests introduced were:
Page Chamberlain -
Shel Wesson - TRI
Erica Williams - National
Research Council
Four new members were announced:
Scott Webber - AAPG (Bel Air
MD)
Sara Russell - Smithsonian
Katherine Shewey - AGI (
John Dragonetti - AGI (
Announcements:
There are job opportunities for students at the USGS. Contact the Personnel Office at the USGS.
Informal Business:
A vote by the members present showed: 23 in favor of starting the meetings at 7:30,
26 in favor of keeping the meetings at 8:00, 13 indifferent when the meetings
start, and 6 who could not make it at 7:30.
(Given that 84 attended the meeting, there were another 16 who were so
indifferent as not to vote at all.) This
was not a clear mandate. The council
will discuss the issue at their next meeting.
The first talk of the evening was given by Jeff Wynn of the U.S.
Geological Survey vividly describing the "Wabar meteorite impact site,
The
expediton proved that "hummers" can cross trackless, hot, shifting,
dessert dunes overcoming incidents of rolling a vehicle on the slip face of a
dune and high centering a vehicle on the knife edge crest of a 300 m high
dune. The previously unmapped Wabar
impact site is three craters 116, 64, and 11 m in diameter. Field observations suggest a low angle 6 m diameter
nickel iron bolide that broke apart and detonated when it buried itself in the
sand creating "instant rock" sandstone in the craters and three kinds
of ejecta. Dating loosely constrains the
age as younger than 6500 yr BP and the bolide may have been witnessed and
recorded in 1863.
Questions
were asked by: Jeff somebody??, George Helz, Robin Brett, Arthur Goldberg, a
lady, and Jeff Grossman.
The second talk was delivered by David J. Verardo of the
Charcoal is essentially biologically inert and gives information
on the terrestrial component of total organic carbon in marine sediments, the
plant types and fuel loading in the source area, and atmospheric circulation,
e.g. wind strength and direction.
Analyses of deep sea sediment cores from the Atlantic indicate that (1)
terrestrial carbon is generally more than half of total organic carbon, which
is significantly larger than has been considered in global carbon cycle budgets,
and (2) more charcoal accumulates during glacial times, suggesting that the
transport mechanisms may be more important than biomass productivity and fuel
loading.
Questions were asked by Jane Hammarstrom, Cy Galvin, Bevan
French, and Rick Wunderman.
The final talk of the evening was presented by Jack Herring from the Office of Representative Vern Ehlers on
"The Kuwait oil fires:
Conflagrations at the boundary of environmental science and politics."
Scientists
made predictions of significant atmospheric cooling and dire environmental
consequences if
Questions
were asked by George Helz, Rick Wunderman, Charles Druitt, Bevan French, Rob
Pringle, somebody ???, and Raymond Duri.
These notes
are submitted respectfully
February 26,
1997
by Sandra G.
Neuzil
Minutes of the 1287th meeting of the
Geological Society of
Wednesday, February 26, 1997
The 1,287th
meeting was a special joint meeting with the Potomac Geophysical Society held
at the
In deference
to our hosts, GSW announcements were subdued to a single plea for judges for
science fairs.
One talk was
given by the Honorable Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, the last of 12
astronauts to land on the moon, former senator from
Jack gave an
entertaining and colorful history of the Apollo Program training regimen and
his Apollo 17 Mission, G-forces experienced and 22 hours of lunar surface
wanderings.
His mission,
the 6th to land on the moon, brought back 250 pounds of rocks and contributed
to understanding the geologic history of a small planet. The absence of both an atmosphere and
chemical weathering processes has allowed accumulations of solar wind volatiles
sourced 3He in the lunar regolith that roughly correlate with
titanium oxide concentration and the age of the rocks.
Jack is an
avid proponent of a business venture to mine 3He from the lunar
regolith and use it for an energy source on the earth. Weight for weight 3He has three
orders of magnitude more energy than fossil fuels. 3He would not add greenhouse gases
to the atmosphere as does fossil fuel burning and 3He is not
radioactive as is tritium.
However,
there are hurdles of research and development to overcome to attain sustainable
3He fusion, automate mining in the fine dust of the lunar regolith,
and extract 3He on the moon.
There are also apparently prohibitive costs for transportation (later)
and for R&D (now). Jack suggests
that private investment on the scale of the Alaska Pipeline or the Chunnel
could make it happen and that He3 on the moon will be the "
There were 4
questions.
These notes
are submitted respectfully
March 26,
1997
by Sandra G.
Neuzil
Minutes of the 1,288th meeting of the
Geological Society of
Wednesday, March 26, 1997
The 1,288th
meeting started at 8:03 PM, was attended by 71 people, and adjourned at 9:35
PM, setting a brevity record under our current president.
One new
member was announced: Nora A. Trout of
Six guests
were introduced (and I apologize if I misquote the names): Bill Mineric, Natalie ?, We Ming Boo, Chuck
Nelson, Mike Landsman, and Jordan Allison.
Announcements: Judges for local area high school science
fairs are needed. Contact John Jens
703-355-3176 and have a good time.
The first
talk of the evening was presented by Joe Briskey of the U.S. Geological Survey
on "Earth-science information, Congress, taxpayers and voting, federal
funding, and the future: The perspective of personal staff on Capitol
Hill."
The dilemma
for federal funding of the earth-sciences is that Congress serves its
constituents but only looks ahead as far as the next election. It is the job of the geoscience community to
identify nationally important science issues and explain them to Congress in
concise nontechnical terms so that the politicians can comprehend the
significance and potential impact of these issues. Targeting "proto-congress" people
may be a more expedient method to build rapport with our possible sources of
federal funding than either (a) trying to reach very busy top political big
wigs or (b) educating all citizens through the 12 year school system.
Questions
were asked by (and may I remind you to please sing out your name and
affiliation before asking your question) Bob Neuman, somebody, Chris Neuzil,
Moto Sato, Bruce Lipin, Fred Simon, and somebody else.
Tamara
Nameroff from the Office of Senator Joe Lieberman delivered the second talk
entitled "The paleo-record of trace metals in continental margin sediments
of the eastern tropical north Pacific."
Trace metal
concentrations can be used to study paleo-processes that themselves leave no
record. Mo, Re, and U are conservative
in oxic waters and are fixed in solid phases when pore waters become
anoxic. In sediment depths representing
glacial to interglacial periods, changes in Mo, Re, and U concentrations
compared to average shale (and normalized to Al to compensate for detrital
influx) are greater than can be accounted for by anoxia due to changes in
carbon flux. Dr. Nameroff concluded that
paleo-circulation controlling oxic to suboxic conditions in the water column
above the sediments is more important for controlling oxic to anoxic conditions
in the sediment pore waters than is paleo-productivity carbon flux to the sediments.
Questions
were asked by Barbara Anne am Ende (actually she snuck in three questions),
Melissa Feldmann, and Blair Jones.
The third and final talk was delivered by Pat McGovern
of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism on "Deep structures of large volcanoes
on Mars and Venus."
The
structure and shape of large volcanoes is controlled by whether there is
crustal flexure, basal detachment enhanced by sediments with pore fluids, and
plate motion over a hot spot magma plume.
The volcano cited on Venus is a huge conical edifice with an almost flat
flow apron filling the moat whereas the volcano cited on Mars is 100 km in
diameter and 10 km high with 6 km high marginal cliffs. Both volcanoes are/were stationary over the
magma plume. On Venus the volcano cone
projecting up is only a fraction of the volcano as a result of crustal flexure
during magma accretion. On Mars the
volcano base is welded in the central area as a result of pore closure beneath
the volcano mass. However the aureole
may be partially detached at shallower depths in the cryosphere, resulting in
landslides off the margins and steep cliffs.
Questions
were asked by Dan Milton and Chris Neuzil.
These notes
are respectfully submitted
April 9,
1997
by Sandra G.
Neuzil
Minutes of the 1,289th meeting of the
Geological Society of
Wednesday, April 9, 1997
The 1,289th
meeting started at 8:02 PM, was attended by 83 people, and adjourned at 9:57
PM.
New members announced were:
Leonard E. Johnson from the local
D.C. area with NSF and Judy F. Weller of
Guests who attended were:
Marty Goldhaber, Peter Bukano (?), Roger Lee, Wolfgang somebody ? from
Sandia Labs, Leoned Poponoff, and Martha Hays.
Announcements:
1. The GSW Spring Field
Trip will be on May 24th to Calvert Cliffs, MD.
If you plan to go, contact Bill Burton at the USGS, 703-648-6904. He needs a head count.
2. Jeff Williams
announced the 23rd Assateague Shelf and Shore Workshop to be held this Friday
and Saturday April 25th and 26th at Towson State
University. Contact Randy Kerhin of the
3. Cy Galvin announced
the next monthly Potomac Geophysical Society Meeting for April 17th.
4. Last but not least,
E-an Zen presented information from an American Geological Institute factsheet
on a proposed cut of nearly 50% by the USGS for funding of the USGS Library periodicals
and books acquisitions. If implemented,
this deep cut would have a severe impact on the "Crown Jewel of the USGS,
a national treasure." Zen strongly
encouraged anyone who would be effected to write to the Chief Geologist, Pat
Leahy, or the Director of the USGS. Applause
from the audience suggested that members were in accord with Zen.
The first talk "Geology and public health in
Bob
presented a travelogue of the rugged terrain of this remote region, the cool
damp climate, the energy dependence for the past 60 years on local Permian
bituminous coal, and the unventilated indoor ovens used for heating, cooking,
and vegetable drying. High levels of
arsenic, fluorine, thallium, and mercury in the local coal, clay, and mine
wastes have all contributed to unprecedented toxicity levels of these elements
in chili peppers, maize, and cabbage that the people eat. The geology, climate, and culture conspire to
both nourish and kill the population.
Ten questions were asked by: E-an Zen, Sorena Sorensen, Karen Prestegaard,
George Sellers, Cy Galvin, Jane Hammarstrom, George Helz, Mary Rankin, Michael
Collins, and Martha Hays.
Peter Fiske
from the Office of the Secretary of Defense gave the second talk "Downsizing and the future of science careers in government."
The culture of science in the government is experiencing a tremendous
change as a result of level funding, downsizing, and reorientation of
priorities. The government personnel
system is changing, to hire and promote the best scientists. In the new paradigm scientists will have to
be proactive, cooperate with industry and academia (sometimes on a rotational
basis), work with customers from the outset (in Integrated Product Teams), and
be conversant with and utilize the latest off the shelf technology.
Six questions were asked by: Jane Hammarstrom, Blair Jones,
Klaus Schulz, E-an Zen, Gene Robertson, and Sorena Sorensen.
The third talk "The Chesapeake Bay bolide impact" was
delivered by Wiley Poag of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Recognition
of this 35 million year old bolide impact unfolded through observation of (1)
breccia in drill cores, (2) an age range that is the same as a tektite layer
off New Jersey, (3) the presence of shocked quartz, and (4) river course diversions. Seismic tracks across the ring structure
revealed large rotational fault block slumps at the margins, breccia fill, a
central peak ring structure, and overlying horizontal bedding. Immediate catastrophic impacts on the biosphere
are not well documented in the paleorecord.
However, long term consequences in this heavily populated corridor
include more than 100 faults to near surface, fault disrupted aquifers, and the
potential for aquifer contamination from up to 1.5 times sea water salinity
pore water.
Thirteen
questions were asked by: Bob Schneider, Dick Fiske, Dan Milton, Cy Galvin,
Sorena Sorensen, Klaus Schulz, Bruce Wardlaw, Doug Rankin, George Helz, Peter
Stifel, Jim O'Connor (or Ed O'Donnell ?), Gene Robertson, and Rick Wunderman.
These notes
are respectfully submitted
April 23,
1997
by Sandra G.
Neuzil
Minutes of
the 1,290th meeting of the
Geological
Society of Washington
Wednesday, April 23, 1997
Let’s see, I
hope I am remembering this meeting, four and a half months ago, at least as
well as all of you.
The 1,290th
meeting started at 8:04 PM, a little late because of a major crisis ...
concerning the beer. The meeting was attended
by 54 people, and adjourned at 9:51 PM.
No new
members were announced.
Guests who
attended were: Lynn Brewster-Wingard,
USGS; Tom Scott; Tom Nicholson, NRC; and Jill Rockwell, who was looking for a
job.
There were
three announcements:
1. The then next Potomac Geophysical Society
Meeting May 15th, 1997,
2. The GSW Spring Field Trip to Calvert Cliffs,
MD, May 24th, 1997, and
3. Thanks and a round of applause were given to
our retiring projectionist, Sharon Givens, who stepped down to enter a PhD.
program at Penn State.
The first
talk "The ecosystem history of Florida Bay: The role of paleoecology in environmental
reconstruction" was presented by Lynn Brewster-Wingard of the U.S.
Geological Survey.
Five groups of fauna and flora plus chemical and
physical factors at 20 modern sites were used to establish representative
environmental indicators in the Florida Bay area and interpret paleoenvironments
from sediment cores. Fluctuations and
changes in family abundance and diversity document a natural range of paleoenvironments
in the pre 1850's sediments at each core location. Historical storm events and drought years are
recognized in the post 1850's sediments.
In the 1900's a trend of increasing average salinity and greater
fluctuations in the salinities has led
to an increase in species diversity, although not necessarily more stable
populations. These are interpreted as a
result of man’s management of the water flow systems around Florida Bay.
Nine
questions were asked by Dallas Peck (2), George Helz, Cy Galvin, E-an Zen, Jane
Hammarstrom, Peter Stifel (who wondered "does Mother Earth have
Medicare?", Gene Robertson, and Sandy Neuzil.
The second
talk was presented by Judy Ehlen of the U.S. Army Topographic Engineering
Center entitled "Predicting fracture characteristics in weathered
granite."
A primer on
the progression of granite weathering to saprolite was followed by field
measurements of joint size, spacing, and orientation in weathering
granites. Field observations were statistically
compared to satellite imagery observation data.
A model predicting jointing patterns in inaccessible areas would be
useful for predicting slope stability and planning engineering for construction
projects.
Eight
questions were asked by Karen Prestegaard, Dallas Peck (2), E-an Zen, Someone
Smith (Maryland Department of Natural Resources), Peter Stifel, Cy Galvin, and Gene
Robertson.
The third
talk was given by Kevin Houghton of the University of Maryland: "Turbulence in natural channels: Methods of measurement and analysis."
Time series
measurements were made of flow velocities at several depths in turbulent portions
of Goose Creek, northern Virginia. Observations
document large vortices near the bottom of the stream develop over rough
surfaces and spin off into smaller, higher energy eddies near the surface of
the stream. Understanding turbulent flow
is necessary to understand channel shaping forces and nutrient transport paths
and to maintain suitable habitats for
stream dwellers.
Five
questions were asked by Hendrik van Oss, Chris Neuzil, Louis Pribyl, Gene
Robertson, and Lynn Brewster-Wingard.
These notes
are submitted respectfully
Sept 10,
1997
by Sandra G.
Neuzil
Minutes of
the 1,291st meeting of the
Geological
Society of Washington
Wednesday, September 10, 1997
The 1,291st
meeting started at 8:03 PM, was attended by 73 people, and adjourned at 9:32
PM, a new brevity record under Bruce.
Two new
members were announced: Owen Bricker and Joe Briskey, both with the USGS in
Reston.
8 Guests
attended: Jessica Warren (intern at the
Smithsonian), Henry Fric ? (postdoc at ?), Catherine Runden (intern at AGI),
Christina Gallup and Jay Kaufman (both faculty at the University of Maryland),
Bill McNulty (USGS Climate graphics lab), David Haffner (USGS Minerals
Program), and Chuck Estabrook (visiting
from Potsdam, Germany).
We had a
moment of respectful silence in honor of our colleague Gene Shoemaker.
There were
two announcements:
1. USGS Director Gordie Eaton will retire effective the end of September.
2. Bill Burton announced the upcoming GSW Field
Trips. The fall field trip, sometime in
November, will be led by Scott Southworth to the Maryland Piedmont. The spring field trip will be led by Nick
Fraser to a Dinosaur Dig in Caroline County, Virginia, about an hour south of
here.
The first
talk "Going to extremes in the western Great Basin: Geological,
biological, archaeological and other novelties of the northern White Mountains,
California" was presented by Brooks Hanson of Science Magazine.
Talk about
extremes -- 10 kilometer displacement thrust faults, more than 180 degree
overturned folds (from the arc collision 100 million years ago), Cretaceous
batholith intrusions, geomorphology of alluvial fans developed over 50 million
years, the worlds oldest trees (5000 year old Bristlecone pines used to
calibrate carbon 14 dating), highest elevation house and village sites in North
America (about 2,000 years old, at and above the treeline) -- all set in the extremely
photogenic White Mountains.
Three
questions were asked by David Applegate, Blair Jones, and Bill Burton.
The second
talk was presented by Nick Woodward of the Department of Energy entitled
"The role of models in structural geology."
Various conceptual, mechanistic, and computational
models have been developed by geologists in an attempt to interpret the
structures we observe in rock strata.
However, when the interpretation of a model does not fit the
observations in the rocks, such as the thrust sheets in the Absoraka Mountains
where the folds alternate between symmetric and asymmetric, it is time to go
back to the model and consider another parameter, such as the physics of the
rocks.
Three
questions were asked by Chris Neuzil, Bill Burton, and Gene Robertson.
The third
talk was given by Bruce Marsh of Johns Hopkins University: "The exotic magmatic system of the Dry
Valleys region of Antarctica."
Bruce
presented a new concept, that the presence or absence of crystals in a sill,
and the size sorting of the crystals, is not controlled by the rate of cooling
of the magma. In the Dry Valleys region
of Antarctica, there are hundreds of kilometers of exposure of two sills that
illustrate that injecting magmas either DO or DO NOT entrain phenocrysts as
they come up through the rocks. If the
sill does entrain phenocrysts, these are sorted in a magma/phenocryst slurry
such that the larger crystals remain in a central tongue in the sill and the
finer crystals are sieved through these, toward the margins of the sill.
Five
questions were asked by Gene Robertson, Chuck Estarbrook, Blair Jones, and two
other people.
These notes
are submitted respectfully
September
24, 1997
by Sandra G.
Neuzil
Minutes of
the 1,292nd meeting of the
Geological
Society of Washington
Wednesday, September 24, 1997
The 1,292nd
meeting started at 8:04 PM, was attended by 79 people, and adjourned at 9:22
PM, unduly brief as a result of the nonappearance of one speaker.
One new member was announced: Sean M. Smith of the Maryland Department of
Natural Resources, Watershed Restoration Division, Annapolis, Maryland.
We had a
moment of respectful silence in honor of our deceased colleague Jessie
Witlow.
One guest
attended: Adrian Freda, a student at the Univesity of Maryland.
There were
two announcements:
1. Bruce Lipin asked if any GSW member is
interested in attending the monthly board meetings of the Washington Academy of
Sciences.
2. Reminder that the George Washington
University, Geology Department Fall Seminar Series, held every other Tuesday
afternoon, is in full swing. For more
information contact Chris Fedo or Will Logan at GW.
The first
talk "Isotopes, ice ages, and terminal Proterozoic earth history" was
presented by Jay Kaufman of the University of Maryland.
600 and
700-750 million years ago may represent the most severe refrigeration in earth
history. Ice ages may have been synchronous
but not of the same magnitude at different locations on earth based on
comparisons of diamictite / cap carbonate sequences in NW Canada, Norway, and
SW Africa. Carbon isotopes track the
enhanced organic-carbon burial leading into glaciation and the rapid
carbonate-carbon accumulation in the cap carbonates of the postglacial marine
transgressions.
Four
questions were asked by: John Farrell, Sorena Sorensen, George Helz, and E-an
Zen.
The second
paper was presented by John Lassiter of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
entitled "Crustal recycling in the mantle:
evidence from the Hawaiian hotspot."
More isotopes (Rubidium, Neodymium, Lead, Oxygen,
Rhenium, and Osmium) were used to explain the primitive mantle / oceanic
lithosphere mix of the Hawaiian hotspot volcanoes. All Hawaiian
basalts are distinct from mid ocean ridge basalt. Two volcanoes were cited as representative
end members of Hawaiian basalt composition.
One end member volcano was interpreted to contain both recycled oceanic
crust and pelagic sediments and upper mantle material. The other end member volcano was interpreted
to contain a mix of upper and lower mantle material.
Seven
questions were asked by: Sorena
Sorensen, Brooks Hanson, Al Brandon, Dan Milton, Roz Helz, Rick Mack, and
Richard Walker.
The third
speaker did not come to the meeting.
These notes
are respectfully submitted
October 8,
1997
by Sandra G.
Neuzil
Minutes of
the 1,293rd meeting of the
Geological
Society of Washington
Wednesday, October 8, 1997
Sorena
Sorensen presided over the 1,293rd meeting, which started at 8:00 PM sharp, was
attended by 69 people, and adjourned at 9:45 PM.
A full fall
harvest of eight guests were introduced:
Henry Rickey and a colleague (whose name I didn’t catch)
from the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism; Kay Gilstrap, U.S. Department of
State; and five Washington, D.C. teachers:
Patricia Goodnight, Eaton Elementary
School; Carolyn Harris, McGogney Elementary School; Allessia Price,
Green Briar East Elementary School; Leesa Warrick-Thomas, Hobsen Middle School;
and Karen Griffen, McFarlane Middle School.
There were
two announcements:
1. Marilyn Suiter, AGI, announced an AGI
sponsored summer workshop on “Improving Delivery in Geoscience: Techniques and strategies in undergraduate
geoscience teaching.” The workshop will be July 18-24 at the University of
South Carolina.
2. David Applegate, AGI, announced there is an
exhibit at the National Gallery of Art of “Early Expeditions out West” pictures
by Thomas Moran.
The first
talk "The acid hot springs of Thera volcano, Santorini, Greece -- analogs
for banded iron formation and terraforming Mars" was presented by Eleanora
Robbins, U.S. Geological Survey.
Norrie
Robbins enlisted Greek high schools students to help make observations and
collect microbial samples from the acidic hot springs / Mediterranean marine
embayment on Santorini, Greece, which is a popular tourist bathing haven. The transition from pH 8 in the water, to pH
7 in red sediments at the water/sediment interface, to pH 5.3 at 30 cm depth in
the sediments (now green), in conjunction with various filamentous bacteria and
diatoms, suggests that these micro-life forms are involved in iron redox. The process may be similar in kind, if not in
areal extent or vertical repetition, to microbial processes that may have built
the huge banded iron formations of North America. Hidden in this microbial process might be a
mechanism that could be utilized to release oxygen for sustaining human life on
Mars.
Nine
questions were asked by: Hal Gluskoter,
???, Moto Sato, Jay Kauffman, Sorena Sorensen (2), Leesa Warrick-Thomas (2),
and Dallas Peck.
The second
talk "A glaciogenic origin for the Late Neoproterozoic Mechum River
Formation, Blue Ridge Province, Virginia" was delivered by Chuck Bailey,
from the College of William and Mary.
The Mechum
River Formation outcrops near Charlottesville, Virginia in an area about 100 km
long (NE-SW) by only a few km wide. A
previous interpretation suggested this was alluvial sediments filling a graben,
with cross beds indicating flow from west to east. (Chuck suggests the cross
bedding may have been misinterpreted from curvilinear foliation.) New detailed mapping shows the formation is
a shingled stacking of a sedimentary package.
The package is a structureless coarse grained diamictite with large 1 m
clasts below, and fine grained sediments with varvelike parallel laminations
above. Cross beds have only been found
in the northern end and they indicate flow to the south or southwest. Chuck would now interpret the formation as
glaciogenic with large ice-front dropstones, fine grained subaqueous glacier-front
deposits, and a source area to the east.
The rocks are sugestive of a paleoclimate conducive to alpine glaciation
in the Late Neoproterozoic.
Six
questions were asked by: Jay Kaufman, Bevin French (2), Cy Galvin, E-an Zen,
and Mr. Brown.
The third paper was "A return to the Red
Planet " by James Zimbelman, National Air and Space Museum.
A true success story.
The Mars Pathfinder Mission landed on target on the surface of Mars; was
unscathed though the deceleration, bounces, and tumbles on the rock surface;
deployed the Sojourner robot rover; collected pictures and chemical data; and
sent them back to earth for a period longer than was predicted possible. In near real time, information, data, and
pictures from the mission have been made available to the public on the
WEB. A great first mission in a new
series of lower cost smaller missions to Mars.
Six
questions were asked by: Chuck Bailey, Moto Sato, Steve Shirey, Gene Robertson,
Cy Galvin, and George Helz
These notes
are respectfully submitted
November 12,
1997
by Sandra G.
Neuzil
Minutes of
the 1,294th meeting of the
Geological
Society of Washington
Wednesday, November 12, 1997
The 1,294th
meeting started at 8:03 PM, was attended by 70 people, and adjourned at 9:47
PM.
Five new
members were announced.
1. David
Haffner, an Earth Science intern with the Mineral Resource Program at the USGS
in Reston.
2. William
McNulty, a geologic intern with the climate / hazards team at the USGS in
Reston.
3. John R.
Wilder, of the U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center, Terrain and
Environmental Division and a graduate student at George Mason University.
4. Alan Jay
Kaufman, at the Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College
Park.
5. Eugene
Roseboom, Jr., a retired USGS geologist.
Five guests were introduced,
one from the University of Maryland Kur??? and four ?? students from George Washington
University (help me out with names here) Chris Elliott, Melissa ?, Matt Tracy,
and Emma Sheret.
There were three announcements:
1. Bruce Lipin announced that the Washington
Academy of Sciences is planning a centennial publication on “The biological
hierarchy of life ....” and they are looking for contributions. Ask Bruce for more details.
2. Bill Burton, USGS, announced the GSW Fall
Field Trip Saturday December 6 (that is in three days) to a diabase quarry in
the Culpeper Basin near Centreville, Virginia.
--------- Fliers at back or contact Bill Burton at 703-648-6904 or bburton@usgs.gov.
3. From a recent council meeting, Bruce Lipin
announced the very subtle changes to the Society’s dues. The Corresponding Member category no longer
exists. Rather, there is only one
membership category. Dues will be based
on proximity to Washington DC. So, the annual
dues remain $22 for members, with reduced dues of $11 for members living
outside of the Metropolitan DC area. The
Society will continue Student memberships at $11 annually. The good news is that only four members were
effected by this change to a geography-based dues structure, and their dues
went down, not up.
Cy Galvin
presented an Informal communication on reverse imbricate stacking of rocks
observed near Walker Lake, Nevada, where the slope and imbrication are
unexpectedly in the same direction.
Questions
were asked by: Bill Burton, Pete Stifel,
and Dan Milton.
The first
talk "Amazonite-bearing pegmatites in the Appalachian province: examples
of primitive to highly evolved NYF-type pegmatites" was presented by
Michael Wise of the National Museum of Natural History.
Amazonite is
blue-green microcline but why is it such a small proportion of microcline and
what gives it that color? We were
treated to stunning pictures of in situ amazonite, pegmatite mineral
combinations, and trace elements signatures from pegmatites up and down the
Appalachians. Observation of rare
alteration “rims” suggest that there may be a mechanism that alters the tannish
microcline to amazonite. The bottom
line, both the presence of lead and water are necessary to get the color and
form amazonite.
Eight
questions were asked by: Bill Burton, Sorena Sorensen, Cy Galvin, Jane
Hammarstrom, Paul Tomascak, Chris Neuzil, Gene Robertson, and Bruce Lipin.
The second
talk "Late Holocene Lake Superior isostatic and climatic lake level
change" was delivered by Curt Larsen, from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Curt
summarized the post glacial changes in lake size and drainage pathways until
Lake Superior was established 2000 years ago, essentially as we know it
today. Observations along the southern
shore of arcuate beach ridges, marshes, and submerged trees along with
historical lake level records suggest there is rotation of the lake around an
east west axis such that the southern shore is falling while the northern shore
is rising. The geologically controlled
ongoing isostatic rebound of the lake outlet at Sault St. Marie has resulted in
rising lake levels at Duluth of approximately 30 cm per 100 years relative to
Sault St. Marie. There are obvious
profound societal impacts of shoreline erosion and destruction of urban
structures in the great lakes region that are primarily geologically
controlled.
Seven
questions were asked by: Dan Milton, Bill Burton, Sorena Sorensen, Gene
Robertson (2), Cy Galvin, and Pete Stifel.
The third
paper "Constraints on the marine uranium budget from the uranium-isotopic
history as recorded by fossil corals" by Christina Gallup, University of
Maryland.
Because
there is no Th incorporated in corals during growth, if you assume that the
concentration of U in sea water was approximately equal to its present
concentration, you can calculate coral age from their U/Th ratios. One can ask, is the concentration of U in sea
water constant? Now, with improved
analytical techniques, using multiple samples of coral from one terrace, you
can calculate the concentration of U in sea water. At 83 and 200 ka the concentration was within
20 ‰ of today’s values. One can go on
from there to constrain the U budget in sea water and examine whether the U output
is proportional to the U concentration in sea water.
There were
no questions.
These notes
are respectfully submitted
December 3,
1997
by Sandra G.
Neuzil
Minutes of the 1,295th meeting of the
Geological Society of Washington
Wednesday, December 3, 1997
The 1,295th
meeting started at 8:00 PM, was attended by 73 people, and adjourned at 9:42
PM.
Four new
members were announced.
1. Christina
Gallup, Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, University of Maryland.
2. Amelia
Logan, a geologist with the Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological
Survey.
3. Blaine
Cecil, a geologist in Energy Resources, Geologic Division, USGS.
4. Bob Burrus,
also with Energy Resources, Geologic Division, USGS.
No guests
were introduced.
There were
two announcements:
1. Bill Burton, USGS, gave a quick reminder for
the GSW Fall Field Trip December 6th to a diabase quarry in the Culpeper Basin
near Centreville, Virginia.
2. Mike Brown, chair of the Nominating
Committee, told his tale of tracking down people (thank goodness for email) who
have time in their schedules to fill posts for GSW in 1998. The slate, with approval by the GSW Council
and to be voted on at the Annual Meeting, is as follows: 1st Vice
President & President elect Steve Shirey DTM; 2nd vice President
John Slack USGS; Treasurer Judy Ehlen DOD; Meeting Secretary Nick Woodward DOE;
New Councilors for 1998-1999 Christina Gallup U Maryland, Margo Kingston USGS,
Linda Rowan AAAS; and Replacement Councilor
1998 Barbara am Ende U Maryland.
Doug Rankin
presented an Informal communication on
a Rockfall in late June 1997 in Franconia Notch, New Hampshire. The rockfall started near the Old Man in the
Mountain, ended very near a bike trail, and did not damage either.
The first speaker, W. Gary Ernst of Stanford University, had a
feisty introduction by his former student
Sorena Sorensen. His talk,
"Hornblendes experimentally synthesized from MORB -- a new
semiquantitative thermobarometer."
Newer,
better, hotter, longer, higher pressure lab equipment has come closer to
equilibrium conditions in synthesis of hornblendes. Prediction suggests larger diameter Ti can be
accommodated in crystal lattices at higher temperatures but will be kicked out
at higher pressures relative to Si.
Also, four-fold Al will replace Si at higher temperatures and
six-fold Al will replace Mg at higher
pressures. Experimental work seems to
bear out predictions and looks promising for determining temperature and
pressure of crystallization based on elemental composition of hornblendes.
Six
questions were asked by: Jane
Hammarstrom (2), Sorena Sorensen, Bruce Doe, Alan Kolker, and Roz Helz.
The second
talk "Vegetational response to environmental changes in south Florida over
the last two millennia" was delivered by Debra Willard, U.S. Geological
Survey.
Man is attempting to replumb the Everglades and managers
need to know what are the sustainable possibilities. Floral, faunal, and fire history of the
Everglades region have been determined based on sediment core analyses to
establish the natural range of hydroperiod and water salinity before
disturbance by humans. Dr. Willard’s
role in this multi-agency multi-institutional cooperative research has been the
pollen record calibrated with modern surface vegetation. The paleorecord can be correlated to changes
in climate and water depth.
Two
questions were asked by: Jane Hammarstrom, and Abraham Silverman.
The third
paper was "Earth’s magnetic field over the past 5Myr: from the outcrop to the core-mantle
boundary" by Catherine Johnson, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism.
Earth’s core
is a dynamo generating a magnetic field, a field that is not constant with
location or over time. Is the variation
in the magnetic field the result of lateral variation in the lower mantle (e.g.
temperature) and does the mantle convect over millions of years? Historical magnetic field measurements and
paleomagnetic data sets from lake sediments (an average over time) and lava
flows (near instantaneous) have been compiled to refine a model of the earth’s
magnetic field at the core-mantle boundary.
Persistent flux lobes can be mapped and differences between the Atlantic
and Pacific can be explained. Results so
far are promising.
Four
questions were asked by: Bruce Doe, Dave
Stewart, Richard Walker, and Dave Haffner.
These notes
are respectfully submitted
December 17,
1997
by Sandra G.
Neuzil
Minutes of
the 1,296th meeting of the
Geological
Society of Washington
Wednesday, December 17, 1997
The 1,296th
meeting started at 7:59 PM when then President Bruce Lipin requested the GSW
members present to “sit down and let’s get this over with.” The meeting was attended by 76 people, who
didn’t have much to say after that.
Only two new
members were announced.
1. David
Verardo, currently a Geological Society of America, Congressional Science
Fellow with the U.S. Senate, and
2. Stacey
Verardo, a Research Associate at the Virginia Museum of Natural History.
Only one
guest was introduced, Florian Maldonado, USGS Denver. There were no announcements and no Informal
communications. “Bless you,” sighed
Bruce.
Incoming GSW
President Sorena Sorensen introduced the only speaker, Bruce Lipin, USGS
Reston, who gave his Presidential Address entitled "The Stillwater
Complex, Montana: the untold
story."
The
Stillwater Complex is about 40 by 40 km by 8 km thick. It consists of a basal series (basal bronzite
cumulate zone) overlain by an ultramafic series, which in turn is comprised of
a peridotite zone overlain by a bronzitite zone. The peridotite zone consists of up to 20 cycles
of, in ascending order, olivine cumulate (that may or may not contain a
chromite layer), followed by a transitional olivine-bronzite cumulate, followed
by a bronzite cumulate. Not all cycles
in the peridotite zone are complete and this zone contains discordant
dunites.
Bruce
addressed three topics. First, how did
the cycles of cumulates form in the peridotite zone. Second, how did the discordant dunites form
without transitional margins or iron or platinum enrichment, as in the Bushveld
Complex dunite pipes. And third, did the
liquid magma enter the Stillwater Complex by turbulent flow “fountaining” or
laminar flow “oozing.”
In a
nutshell. Erosive bases of cumulate
cycles suggest successive parent liquid intrusions on top of crystallized
cumulate packages. Remelting can not
explain the successive cycles. Mechanical
emplacement of the discordant dunites into the peridotites (sort of like the
emplacement of sand dikes) is suggested by both the sharp, nontransitional
contact with the host peridotites and the same iron and platinum contents in
the dunites and in the peridotites they cut through. Plausible density, viscosity, and dimensions
for the intrusion of the parent magma suggest it entered the Stillwater Complex
system by laminar “oozing” flow. The
density of parent liquid is predicted to have been slightly greater than the evolved
liquid remaining over each successive cumulate package. The next pulse of parent liquid magma could
have spread out beneath the evolved liquid, buoying it, and eventually mixing
with and adding to it. Thus, finally, a
very thick bronzite zone formed at the top of the peridotite zone.
In keeping
with GSW tradition, no questions were asked.
The meeting
adjourned at 9:08 PM.
These notes
are respectfully submitted
January 14,
1998
as written
by Sandra G. Neuzil and read by Nick Woodward
Minutes of the 105th Annual Meeting of the
Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday December 12, 1997.
Outgoing
President Bruce Lipin called the meeting to order at 9:17 PM.
Council
Meeting Secretary Ian MacGregor gave a brief ad-lib summary as a proxy for the
minutes of the 104th Annual Meeting.
His presentation was approved by the members.
Meeting
Secretary, Sandy Neuzil, gave an overview of the 1997 Meetings, the 1,284th
through the 1,295th, discussing their teleconnection to the El Nino Southern Oscillation.
Council
Secretary Ian MacGregor gave an even briefer ad-lib 1997 Council Report.
Treasurer
Kevin Crowley gave the Treasurer’s Annual Report.
The
Auditing Committee Report was delivered by Janet Crampton.
Susanne
Weedman presented the Membership Committee’s report on behalf of the Membership
Committee chair, Leslie Ruppert.
There was
no Public Service Committee Report.
The Awards
Committee report was presented by Tom Dutro for Chair Steve Shirey, who was out
at sea somewhere. No Great Dane Prize
was awarded for the best Informal Communication. Two honorable mentions were bestowed on Wiley
Poag, U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, for his presentation “The Chesapeake
Bay bolide impact” and on W. Gary Ernst, Stanford University, for his talk
“Hornblendes experimentally synthesized from MORB -- a new semiquantitative
thermobarometer.” The second place
winner of the Bradley Prize was Lynn Brewster-Wyngard, U.S. Geological Survey,
Reston, for her presentation “The ecosystem history of Florida Bay: the role of
paleoecology in environmental reconstruction” and the first place winner of the
Bradley Prize for the Best Presentation in 1997 was awarded to Timothy J.
McCoy, Smithsonian Institution, for his presentation "The partial melting
of asteroids.”
The
Sleeping Bear Award Committee’s Report, more like a mimed poetical ballet with
visual aids, was enacted by Jane Hammarstrom (disguised as a bear) and her able
assistant Carter Hearn, and was bestowed upon President Bruce Lipin. Bruce asked those members present at a GSW
meeting, which incidentally had started at 8 o’clock like they always do,
"How many would not be able to make it if we started the meetings at 8
o'clock?"
New
Business, there was none.
Election
of Officers and new Council Members President
Lipin read the Slate of new Officers and Councilors, nominated by the Nominating
Committee and approved by the Council, to the patient, if dwindling, mass of 30
members present. With no nominations
from the floor the slate was duly elected.
Outgoing
President Lipin “presented” (in quotes because he forgot to bring them)
“presented” the official Gavel and copy of Robert’s Rules to Sorena Sorensen,
the New President, who adjourned the meeting at 10:03 PM.
Respectfully
submitted by Council Secretary (then Meeting Secretary)
Sandy
Neuzil, Dec 16, 1998.