GSW: 1999
MEETING MINUTES
Geological Society of
Minutes of the 1310th Meeting of the Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday,
January13, 1999, Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club.
President
Shirey called the meeting to order at 8:02 P.M. The minutes of the 1309th
meeting were accepted as read. The president acknowledged the presence of Elizabeth King at the meeting and noted that
she had co-authored a paper presented to the Geological Society of Washington
50 years ago, at the 671st meeting of the Society held on the second
Wednesday in January, 1949. The paper was similar to one on satellite
reconnaissance presented at this 1310th meeting in that it concerned the interpretation
of geologic phenomena from observations taken from above the earth
(aeromagnetic data).
Two informal
communications were presented. The first, by Beven M. French announced the
recent publication, by the Lunar and Planetary Institute of a book entitled
“Traces of Catastrophe: A Handbook of Shock-metamorphic Effects in Terrestrial
Meteorite Impact Structures”, by Beven M. French. Many of the publication’s
virtues were enumerated, including the extremely low cost per page index for
the volume: the 120 page handbook is essentially free, available for only the
cost of shipping and handling.
Rick
Wunderman’s informal communication described a recent submarine volcanic
eruption that occurred approximately 10
km west-northwest of the
The first
formal paper of the evening, by Walter H. F. Smith, National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration, was entitled “Ocean floor reconnaissance from
satellite altimetry”.
The
topography of the ocean floor, as mapped by echosounders on ships, is poorly
known, with gaps in data as large as the State of
The topography of the ocean floors can be indirectly
inferred using Geosat and ERS-1 satellite radar altimetry measurements of the topography
of the ocean surface. Mountains and valleys on the ocean floor add and subtract
minute amounts of gravity to the Earth’s gravity field, causing the ocean
surface to bulge outward and inward over these features.
This method
works best at length scales between 10 and a few hundred kilometers. Many
uncharted features have been discovered from the 1600 km long Foundation
Seamounts in the South Pacific to shallow banks, the latter being the habitat
of large numbers of fish, making this technique the most expensive fish
finder yet conceived.
Questions
by, James F. Allan (2), Gene Robertson, and Pete Stifel; the latter involving
the proffering of a libation to the speaker, the gravity of which was not made
completely clear.
Ellis
Yochelson, Smithsonian Institution, presented “Charles Doolittle Walcott:
U.S.G.S. Employee No. 20, 1879-1894.
Walcott,
although without formal scientific training had, at the age of 29, a reputation
such that he was hired in 1879 as one of the original members of the United
States Geological Survey, as Employee No. 20. (Not many of the original
group are still around, and those that are would necessarily be in an emeritus
status, such as Phil Bethke). His first year on the job was as a temporary
geological assistant at $50 per month.
Within a year his salary doubled to $100 per month and he was given a
permanent position. (Clearly demonstrating that upward mobility at the USGS
was much easier 120 years ago than at the present).
Walcott
worked in the Eureka District of Nevada; the Colorado Plateau, including a
winter in the Grand Canyon, and in the Taconics in
Yochelson’s
narrative ended as of 1894 when Wolcott succeeded John Wesley Powell and became
the third director of the USGS. In addition to directing the USGS from 1894
until 1907 and then the Smithsonian Institution, Wolcott continued to do real
geology, including the studies of the Burgess Shale.
A volume entitled
“Charles Doolitle Walcott, Paleontologist”, by Ellis Leon Yochelson, published
in mid 1998, is still in print. The 584 page volume has a cost of only 8.4
cents per page and is currently maintaining sales rank of 375,345 at a well
known on-line bookseller that just reported a loss of approximately $45 million
for the past year.
Questions
from Bill Oliver and Tom Simkin.
Attendance
was 74. President Shirey adjourned the meeting at 9:42 P.M.
Respectfully
submitted,
Meeting
Secretary,
Hal Gluskoter
Geological Society of
Minutes of the 1311th Meeting of the Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday,
January 27, 1999, Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club.
President
Shirey called the meeting to order at 8:01 P.M. The minutes of the 1310th
meeting, following a minor disputation with Tom Dutro, were accepted as
read. The president announced two new members, James F. Allan, who was in
attendance, and Jie Li.
Bill Burton,
Field Trip Chair, announced plans for two GSW field trips, one on May 1, 1999
to a quarry in
Sorena
Sorensen, suffering obvious withdrawal from recently stepping down as GSW
president, seized the day and substituted for Paul Kimberley in announcing
the need for volunteers to judge local science fairs.
Carol
O’Donnell of the National Science Resources Center (NSRC) presented the first
talk of the evening “Science and technology concepts for middle schools: an inquiry-centered
approach to science education” The NSRC is operated by the National Academies
of Sciences, and of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the Smithsonian
Institution to improve the teaching of science in the nation’s schools.
The NSRC is
currently developing a new program, Science and Technology Concepts for Middle
Schools, which will include eight instructional units for the seventh and
eighth grade. A unit, currently under
development, with a great amount of
earth science content, is “Catastrophic
Events” wherein hands-on experiences are incorporated early in the learning
cycle. Future modules will include another earth science module “The Earth in
Space”. Ms O’Donnell announced that, in the very near future, Ian MacGregor,
of the National Science Foundation would be joining her curriculum development
team, causing a stampede of NSF Division Director wanttobes rushing to update
their resumes.
Questions
by: Jane Hammarstrom, Suzanne Weedman, Tina Gallup, Sorena Sorensen, Moto Sato,
Dave Haffner, President Shirey (two), Mack Ross, David Wunch, and Blair Jones,
for a total of 11!
The second
talk of the evening by John Slack, of the USGS, discussed “ Coarse garnet
schists at the Elizabeth Mine,
The origin
of distinctive coarse garnet schists in the vicinity of the
Questions by
The final
paper of the evening, presented by Mary Bourke, Center for Earth and Planetary
Studies, National Air and Space Museum, was titled “Australian desert floods during the late
Pleistocene and Holocene”. Flood
deposits can serve as a proxy for extreme rainfall events. In arid central
Questions by
Bill Burton, who inquired if Dr. Bourke could tell him more about the
application of this study to Mars and received the shortest , and , probably,
one of the more accurate responses heard in the auditorium: which was “NO!”,
also by Dan Milton, Dallas Peck, Tina Gallup (2), and one question by Joe
Smoot, followed in rapid succession by six additional follow-up questions from
Joe, also by Dave Haffner, Blair Jones (2), and Gene Robertson.
Summing the number of questions posed to the speakers
during the evening is somewhat ambiguous, with multiple parts to queries and
rapid-fire follow ups. However, the nearly three dozen questions put to the
speakers seems a large number and suggests something; I considered loss of
inhibition through libation, but ruled that out because an organization can not
lose something that has never existed.
Attendance
was 68. President Shirey adjourned the meeting at 9:50 P.M.
Respectfully
submitted,
Meeting
Secretary,
Hal
Gluskoter
Geological Society of
Minutes of the 1312th Meeting of the Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday,
February 10, 1999, Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club.
President
Shirey called the meeting to order at 8:00 P.M. The minutes of the 1311th
meeting were accepted as read. The president announced three new members,
Dorothy Stout (NSF), Blessing Etim Asuquo (Univ. MD) and Joseph P. Smoot
(USGS), who was present, not only because he was anxiously anticipating the
intellectual stimulation from the talks of the evening, but also because he was
presenting one of them.
President
Shirey announced that GSW member Terry Offield had passed away on February 5
and a moment of silence was observed.
A suggestion
was made that it would be most appropriate to invite science teachers to
participate in the May 1, 1999 GSW field trip to a quarry in Caroline County,
Virginia, wherein vertebrate fossils are to be found. The suggestion seemed
to originate with E-an Zen, but was conveyed by Judy Ehlen, apparently because
of the reluctance of Dr Zen to speak up in so public a forum.,
Paul B.
Tomascak, most recently at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, presented the
first talk of the evening. “Bringing lithium into the isotopic mainstream with
multi-collector ICP-MS”. Thanks to the
development and availability of VG Plasma 54-30 multi-collector magnetic sector
ICP-MS it is possible to add lithium isotope geochemistry to the geochemists’
toolbox. The technique has been applied to a variety of materials ranging from
groundwater to mantle derived materials. Although the amount of data on lithium
isotopic variation is limited, (and the field is immature to the extent that
some recent publications report delta 6Li and others delta 7Li, thereby reversing
the polarity of heavy and light), there have been several analyses on
mantle derived materials. Data from
Questions by
Jay Kaufman, John Slack, President Shirey (2), John Slack -again, and an
especially difficult one from his former colleague, Rich Ash.
Allan
Kolker, USGS, gave the second paper, “Arsenic in southeastern
Questions by
Jay Kaufman, Rich Ash, Will Logan, Cy Galvin, Blair Jones, Margaret Chauncey,
Gene Robertson, Moto Sato, John Slack and Natalie Marchildon.
The final
paper of the evening, “Sedimentary record of the 1872 earthquake and “tsunami”,
Owens lake,
Questions by
Brooks Hanson, Cy Galvin, Margaret Chauncey (3), Dan Milton, Pete Stifel, and
Margaret Johnson.
Some time
ago Joe Smoot had, as an assignment for a course at the
Attendance
was 68. President Shirey adjourned the meeting at 9:38 P.M.
Respectfully
submitted,
Meeting
Secretary,
Hal
Gluskoter
Geological Society of
Minutes of the 1313th Meeting of the Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday,
February 24, 1999, Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club.
President
Shirey called the meeting to order at 8:05 P.M. The minutes of the 1312th
meeting were accepted as corrected. Five guests were introduced. The first
four, Peter, Frank, Erin, and Kevin each had a family name quickly mumbled by
their respective host. The Secretary
earnestly requests that, when introducing guests, hosts enunciate clearly and
project their voices. The fifth guest was the spouse of our first speaker
of the evening and who, for the lack of further information, is herein referred
to as Ms. McLaughlin.
Pail
Kimberley announced that the acquisition of judges for the Spring round of
Science Fairs was going well, but that there were still some slots to be filled
and he asked for volunteers.
Keith L.
McLaughlin, Center for Monitoring Research, presented the first discussion of
the evening: “Comprehensive test ban treaty international monitoring system
location calibration: Can we meet the 1000 square kilometer requirements?”
The
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty states: “ The area of an on-site
inspection shall be continuous and its size shall not exceed 1000 square
kilometers”; therefore the goal of the International Monitoring System (IMS) is
to locate continental seismic events with an accuracy of 1000 square
kilometers. Several methods have been used for location calibration, most
recently involving purported natural seismic events of 3.5 - 4.0 magnitude in southern Nevada (in
the vicinity of AREA 51!!). The 1000 square km location accuracy is a very
ambitious goal for the IMS network but “doable” with calibration.
Questions by
Jamie Allan, David Applegate, Dave Stewart (2), Frank Vernon, Ian Zen (3), Fred
Simon, Steve Shirey, and Craig Schiffries.
The second
paper was “Rhenium-Osmium fractionation in eclogites and the implications for
recycling of MORB”, and was presented by Harry Becker, University of
Maryland. The decay of 187Rhenium to
187Osmium provides an important tracer to constrain crust-mantle recycling
processes. Re/Os ratios in mid-ocean
-ridge-basalts (MORB) are a factor of 200-1000 higher than in the mantle.
Recycling of subducted ocean crust has been proposed to explain the high osmium
isotopic compositions in some ocean island basalts. Using eclogites and
blueschists as proxies for subducted ocean basalts, it is suggested that Re may
be variably lost during dehydration.
Questions by
President Shirey and Jamie Allan quickly evolved into a spirited three-way
discussion, the speaker being the third participant. They seemed to be enjoining themselves and
the consensus comment picked up by the, always alert Secretary was “Rhenium is
different from osmium”. One additional question was from Al Brandon.
The final
talk of the evening was by Yoseph Yechieli, Geological Survey of Israel, and
was entitled “ Will the Dead Sea die? The geohydrologic outlook”
The level of
the Dead Sea (the lowest surface on Earth) is currently declining at a rate of
0.8 m/yr, and has dropped about 20 m since the beginning of the twentieth
century, 9 meters in the last 30 years; its elevation currently is approximately
-410 m. A numerical model, developed to determine the water balance, accounts
for the increase in salinity and the concomitant decrease in the rate of evaporation
that accompanies reduction in the activity of the water. Simulations based on
ranges of water withdrawal suggest that the Dead Sea will not "die";
rather, a new equilibrium is likely to be reached in about 400 years, at which
time the density of the water will be 1.36, the surface area will be decreased
and the water-level will drop an additional 100 to 150 m.
Questions by
Dan Milton, Richard Walker, Moto Sato, and Cy Galvin,
Attendance
was 60. President Shirey adjourned the meeting at 9:46 P.M.
Respectfully
submitted,
Meeting
Secretary,
Hal
Gluskoter
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes of the 1314th meeting of the Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday,
March 10, 1999, Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club.
President
Shirey called the meeting to order at 8:05 PM. The minutes were accepted as
read by the back-up meeting secretary. Guests Chris Shuman and Lisa Oxboel were
introduced. Steve's off the cuff manner was blamed on his children who rightly
demanded that his first priority that day was to go sledding. Go Kids, get the
old guy out of the office.
The first
presentation was by Priscilla Nelson of the National Science Foundation
speaking on "Digging rocks", by which she meant how engineers dig
rocks and why engineers and geologists should be help each other, RIGHT. Modern tunnels rely on tunnel boring machines,
and the success of tunneling is strongly dependent on rock stability and cutter
head performance. Both of these issues are closely tied to understanding the
geology of the interval being penetrated. The "stand-up-time", ie how
long till the tunnel collapses without support, is critical in tunnel safety
and how fast machines can advance before tunnel linings, rock-bolting or other
processes have to be implemented. Ultimately the utilization rate (tunneling
time) of tunnel boring machines is only about 35-40% because of stand-up time
limitations. In addition, there are no fundamental models for indentation
mechanics of cutter heads which would allow optimization of machine cutter
geometries and processes. There are many opportunities for geosciences to make
essential contributions to engineering, although we will be insulted and
spurned as we do, especially if we're successful, since they knew it all along.
Questions by Kingston, Frizzel, McLaughlin, Stifel, Roseboom, Robertson,
Shirey, Mumble and Galvin.
The second
presentation was by Dave Wunsch, AAAS and AGI Congressional Science Fellow on
the subject of Hydrochemical facies model for dissected, coal-bearing strata in
the Appalachian Coal Field. Dave is clearly a scientist gone wonk. Near-surface
coal-bearing strata have characteristic ground water flow regimes because of channeling
by the coal into high permeability zones. New geochemical sampling over limited
stratigraphic intervals in coal fields provides much higher resolution data on
water chemistry. Interactions between the groundwater and the coal interval
during varying residence times results in a really varying geochemical reaction
products which are called hydrochemical facies. These facies reflect the
chemical evolution of the system during weathering. Questions by Hansen, Woodward
and Shirey.
The third
presentation was by William Minarik of the Geophysical Laboratory and
University of Maryland on "Jadeite radiolarians from the Franciscan,
CA: high (highest?) pressure fossils
from a metasomatic high-strain melange".
This talk will be best remembered for the surfing T-rex that is begging
to be made into a new GSW T-rex Shirt. The conundrums faced in this project
were how to explain microscopic ring-shaped quartz structures within the
Franciscan Formation without appealing to Martian Microbes (note this study was
not funded by NASA), and how to defend oneself from the audience members who
had worked in exactly the same area during the Paleocene. The ring structures
are surrounded by jadeite needles both within and without, but have maintained
their shape during metasomatism, albitization, deformation and uplift. It was
proposed that local radiolarian-bearing Franciscan formation was extensively metasomatized,
but by a fluid which had both wetting and non-wetting behavior with respect to
the mineral surfaces in the protolith. The surface on the interior of the
radiolarians may have permitted the high-pressure clinopyroxene to have
crystallized first, sealing off some fluid pathways and preserving the shape
through later deformation and further mineral growth. Questions including
extensive preambles and alternative theories were presented by Gene Robertson I
and Gene Robertson II, and Steve Mumble I,II,... N+1. Again the last talk
provoked the most discussion.
Attendance
was 50. President Shirey adjourned the
meeting at 9:50PM.
Mostly
Respectfully Submitted
Back-up/Make-up
Secretary,
Nicholas B.
Woodward
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes of the 1315th Meeting of the Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday
March 24, 1999, Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club.
President
Shirey called the meeting to order at 8:01 PM. The minutes were accepted as
read. Three guests, Alicia Wilson, Ellen Herman and Mrs Diodato were
introduced. Four new members were announced, Wormington, Oxboel, Janney and
Appleman. Jeff Williams announced the
Assateague Shelf and Shore Workshop for April 16-17 in Lewes Delaware. Steve
complimented the GSW members who participated in Science fair judging last
weekend.
E-an Zen
presented a short communication on evaluating current rates of downcutting of
the Potomac River. Flood gauge records and historical records since 1773 appear
to be consistent with one another indicating that the Potomac's ability to move
large rocks during regular flood events has remained significant throughout the
historical period, including today.
Questions by Hammarstrom, Toulmin and Milton.
The first
presentation of the evening was by Dave Diodato of the USGS on
"Frac2000: a tool for numerical
investigations of multiphase fluid flow and contaminant transport in fractured
unsaturated rocks." Frac2000 includes a flow module, a transport module
and a visualization module. It explicitly couples discrete fractures into the
modeling grid system. A wide range of flow velocities can be handled, air injection
and gas withdrawal can be modeled, and advective, advective-dispersive and
phase partitioning transport are included. Examples were given of Frac2000
results for Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and a TCE remediation site. Questions by
Roseboom, Jones, Ross, Neuzil and MacLaughlin.
The second
presentation was by Alan Linde, a lapsed geophysicist, from the Department of
Terrestrial Magnetism, on the Continuous evolution of the 1986 eruption of
Miharayama (the volcano), Izu-Oshima, Japan. The team went out to monitor
earthquakes, but instead discovered that their highly sensitive strainmeters
were able to monitor dike formation and propagation of magma at depths of several
kilometers. The Nanostrain sensitivity provided the potential to map progressive
intrusions in real time with indications of fissure eruptions up to 2 hours
before they occurred and flank eruptions up to 1 hour before they occurred.
Questions by Neuzil, Sato, Robertson, Wright and Ross.
The third
presentation was by Louis Pribyl of the FDA and the Smithsonian on Biodiversity
and Taphonomy of Fossil Insects from the Green River Formation, Piceance Basin,
Colorado. The study has collected information at 6 sites and has identified 20
orders of insects across the basin. Insects disarticulate easily when trapped
on active lake surfaces however so some sites may have up to 40% of the insect
remains as "parts" rather than as individual insects. The insect
bearing strata do not usually have fish preserved and are inferred to be
mudflat or very shallow water environments, similar to where insects get
trapped on lake shores today. The identification of insect types including
flies, wasps, beetles, etc allow comparisons with climates where similar insect
fauna are present today. Continuing taphonomic studies, as well as studies of
plant remains at the same and adjacent sites, will build a more complete
environmental picture of the Green River ecosystem. Questions by Sato (plus
follow-up), Sellers, Huebner, Jones, Milton, and Wright.
Attendance
was 63. The meeting was adjourned at 10PM.
Mostly
Respectfully Recorded by Back-Up/Make-Up Secretary,
Nicholas B.
Woodward
Read By
Regular, Unfiltered Meeting Secretary, Hal Gluskoter
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes of the 1316th Meeting of the Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday
April 7, 1999, Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club.
In the
absence of President Shirey, First Vice president Jane Hammarstrom called the
meeting to order at 8:01PM. The minutes of the 1315th meeting, which
were graciously prepared by Nick Woodward because of dereliction of duty by the
meeting Secretary, were approved as read. Two guests, Janet Crampton and
Florence Katrivanos were introduced.
Janet
Crampton announced that Rockville Science Day would be April 25 on the
Rockville campus of Montgomery College and invited our attendance and
participation. Rick Diecchio requested that those who might be interested in
teaching geology courses at George Mason University this Summer and beyond,
contact him, soon.
An informal
communication by Jeff Grossman, archivist extraordinaire of the GSW, called our
attention to a presentation made to the Society 25 years ago by the, then,
Chief Geologist of the USGS, Richard Sheldon; it was a kinder, gentler, time
when significant increases in appropriations were anticipated. Grossman read
from the eloquent minutes that had been prepared by Secretary Doug Rankin,
invoking feelings of wonderment and awe from the current secretary.
The first
formal presentation of the evening was “Understanding Paleoecological Preferences
of Late Cretaceous Calcareous Nannofossils: Implications for Stratigraphy and
Paleoceanography.” By Jean Self-Trail. Due to
the ease of preparation and their great abundance in marine sediments,
calcareous nannofossils have become increasingly important to Mesozoic
biostratigraphy and paleoceanography. It
has become apparent, however, that the biogeographic distribution of certain
taxa is restricted by paleoenvironmental factors such as temperature, salinity,
water depth, and nutrient influx. These factors determine the calcareous
nannofossil assemblages and therefore control the biostratigraphic utility of
certain taxa or genera, the names of which tripped from the tongue of the
speaker as nimbly as a soliloquy from Shakespeare; a feat that may be difficult
for others since Arkhangelskiella cymbiformis is not atypical.
Questions by Joe Smoot, Christina Gallup,
and Peter Stifel
Eileen McLellan presented the second paper:
“The Watershed Project” - A learning tool for environmental geology. This project
involves students, who often describe themselves as “terrified of science’ in individual
investigations of the geology, resource use and environmental concerns of their
home watersheds and reinforces skills learned in the classroom. A second
component of the project involves the students as researchers in a long-term
study of the Paint Branch watershed on the University of Maryland campus. The
project has led to increased student enthusiasm for environmental geology. This
is likely due to the happy combination of a well designed course and the
infectiousness of a enthusiastic instructor.
Questions by Hammarstrom, Mack Ross, Bill
Burton, Dan Chadwick, Janet Crampton, Ian Zen, Margaret Chauncey, Joe Smoot,
Arthur Goldberg, who wanted to use the study as a sedimentological
prospecting tool for golf balls, and Bill Burton, again.
The final presentation of the evening by
Robert A. Craddock was; “Evidence for Rainfall on Ancient Mars”. We began this century excited by the possibility that
intelligent life existed on Mars. Oddly we leave this century in much the same
way it began. Analyses of the Martian meteorites reveal putative evidence for
life--microbial life. Results from the Pathfinder mission confirm the hypothesis
that Mars had abundant liquid water on the surface at one time. However, the
debate continues as to the nature of the early Martian climate. Perhaps some of these ideas can be tested with the upcoming
missions, which may allow us to understand why life did or did not start on
Mars. We might then address the question whether there is intelligent life
on any other planet in our solar system.
Questions by Bill Burton, David Wunch, Bill
Burton, Mark McBride, and Bill Burton.
Attendance was 68. Meeting adjourned by
vice-president Hammarstrom at 9:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted
Meeting
Secretary
Hal
Gluskoter,
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes of the 1317th Meeting of the Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday
April 21, 1999, Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club.
President
Shirey called the meeting to order at 8:01 PM. The minutes of the 1316th
meeting were approved as read. Guests
were introduced, including, Professor Christian Koeberl and Heinz Huber, of the
University of Vienna: Zhenhua Ding of China, Zhongsheng Li of New Zealand, Frank Bruce, and Jennifer Baldwin and Harry
Baldwin.
Hal
Gluskoter announced a pending symposium in honor of Michel T. Halbouty and
those who served as judges in local science fairs were thanked.
An informal
communication concerning the Lost Nation Pluton of the Upper Connecticut River
Valley was presented by Doug Rankin. Rankin’s studies show that the Pluton is
442 +/- 4 Ma, not latest Silurian to Devonian as previously interpreted, and
the western contact is not a fault, as earlier interpreted, so that the
Piermont-Frontenac allochthon does not extend that far north, as previously
interpreted. So there!
The first
formal presentation of the evening “Eggshells to Ashes: Climate Change in the
Australian Outback” was by Marilyn Fogel of Geophysical Laboratory of the
Carnegie Institution of Washington. Carbon isotopes in contemporary and fossil
emu egg shells vary in response to the diet of the flightless birds. Paleo-diet,
paleo-vegetation and paleo climate can be inferred from the composition of the
egg shells. Changes in the type of
plants, brought about by the burning practices of the first human colonizers,
just over 50,000 years ago, may have caused the extinction of at least one
Australian megafauna. This is the
reason that even, the most avid of birdwatchers in this body has never glimpsed
the flightless bird Genyornis newtoni and must settle for sightings of the
common emu, who was able to adapt and to gastronomically appreciate the grasses
du jour - post flambe.
Questions by
Dallas Peck, Robin Brett (something about impact structures - surprised?), Dan
Milton, President Shirey, Joe Smoot - with several follow ups, Christina Gallup
who during the discussion admitted that she was or was not a casual dating person,
Ian Zen, and Joe Smoot - again.
The last
presentation was by Larry Nittler of NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center and
entitled, “Dishing the (presolar) dirt on exploding stars”. Some meteorites contain tiny dust grains
whose unusual isotopic compositions indicate they formed in the remnants of exploding
stars (supernovae) and predate the solar system. These presolar supernova
condensates include
diamond, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, graphite
and aluminum oxide. The silicon, carbon and titanium isotopic compositions of
the grains indicate significant and heterogeneous mixing of different zones
within the supernova source. To the utter amazement of all present
Nittler concluded that important puzzles remain; include the paucity of
supernova oxides and whether the detailed isotopic compositions of the dust
grains can be quantitatively explained by theoretical models.
Questions by
Jamie Allen, President Shirey, Bevan French, Rich Walker, Richard Ash, Rhonda
Stroud, and Moto Sato, Moto Sato, Moto Sato.
The two
presentations at the top and bottom of the evening’s program were as crisp,
well formed, and satisfying to the intellect as the top and bottom wafers of an
oreo cookie are to the palate. However,
the middle presentation was as ambrosial,
delectable, and, probably, artery clogging, as the sweet soft center of
the oreo, and as true afficionados of oreos are want to do I will carefully
separate the synopsis of it from the reminder of the tripartite sandwich so
that it can be uniquely savored. This secretary must admit that of all the
presentations he has attempted to summarize, this one was the most intelligible,
comprehendible, and unambiguous.
In his
discussion, “Increase in Fossil Fuel Use in the 21st Century: So
What are you going to do about it”, Hal Gluskoter of the U.S. Geological Survey
elucidated that there are many people in the world and gobs more on the way;
energy is good for people; there is a whole bunch of cheap, easy to mine coal
in the world, especially in developing countries; coal oxidizes exothermically
- producing energy; and unless something is done to perturb the trend,
worldwide coal consumption will continue to increase for, at least, decades.
Even though
his presentation was absolutely pellucid, there were still questions from Dave
Stewart, Mack Ross, Margo Kingston - who thinks that women should be educated,
Ian Zen, Gene Robertson, Moto Sato, and Bob Neuman
Attendance was 79. Meeting adjourned by
President Shirey 9:56 p.m.
Respectfully submitted
September 8, 1999
Meeting
Secretary
Hal
Gluskoter,
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes of the 1318th Meeting of the Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday
September 8, 1999, Warne Lounge, Cosmos Club.
President
Shirey called the meeting to order at 8:07PM. The minutes of the 1317th
meeting were approved as read, a
commentary on the undiscriminatingness of those in attendance. Guests were
introduced, including, Blessing Asuquo, Jason Kenworthy, and Claire Coine, of
the University of Maryland; Dazhi Jiang, Also of the University of Maryland,
and from whom we will hear later; Robin Petrusak, a petroleum geologist; and
Tim Cohn, USGS.
A moment of
silence was observed in memory of Charles Masters, who passed away on August
19, 1999.
Sean
Solomon, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution Of Washington,
spoke on “First Rock From the Sun: The Scientific rationale for a Mercury
Orbiter Mission”. Mercury is a planet of many mysteries that evokes
superlatives. The closest planet to the Sun, Mercury has the largest diurnal
range in surface temperature yet has polar deposits thought to consist of water
ice. It has the largest uncompressed density and, by inference, the greatest
mass fraction of iron-nickel of any planet or satellite, a compositional anomaly that is a critical
clue, not yet deciphered, to the processes by which the inner planets formed.
Mercury has a strong internal magnetic field and presumably a hydromagnetic dynamo
in a fluid outer core, yet the
known portion of the surface has a density of impact craters indicating
that geological activity largely ceased early in planetary history. To probe
these, and other, mysteries, the NASA Discovery Program recently approved
MESSENGER, a tortured acronym derived from “MErcury Surface, Space
ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging” mission to orbit Mercury for one Earth
year after completing two flybys of that planet. That’s not an easy flyby and
will take 5 years to effect.
The first
question was a gently lobbed softball from our President, Steve Shirey, to his
boss. Other questions were from Richard
Walker, Mike Brown, Gene Robertson and Jay Kaufman.
The second
presentation of the evening “Noble metal recycling in subduction zones:
Implications for the metallogenesis of porphyry-epithermal copper-gold
deposits.”, was presented by David Lambert of The National Science Foundation
and Monash University. Veined peridotite xenoliths from the mantle source
region of the giant Ladolam Au deposit on Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea are 2
to 800 times more enriched in Cu, Au, Pt, and Pd than surrounding depleted arc
mantle. Osmium and oxygen isotopic studies of these samples reveal that only a
fraction of these elements was introduced by hydrous fluids emanating from
subducted Cretaceous oceanic crust. Preferential partial melting of the
metasomatic vein assemblages generated metallogenically fertile arc magmas,
capable of producing magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposits enriched in Au, Cu and
Pd. Gold ores from the Ladolam mine have
osmium isotope compositions similar to the underlying subduction-modified mantle
peridotite source region, indicating that the primary origin of the metals contained
within the giant Ladolam Au deposit is the mantle - even though the mantle is
relatively depleted in Au, Cu, and Pd.
We would
certainly be remiss if we did not acknowledge the geo-philosophical message
found hidden in this talk; which is that there is probably some good in all of
us, no matter how little, and the problem is bringing it to the surface.
Questions
from Dallas Peck, Moto Sato, Jim Luhr, and Steve Shirey.
Mark McBride
of “Capital Environmental” spoke on
“Legal Geology: What Does a Geologist Do in a Law Firm?” Capital Environmental
is an affiliate firm (wholly owned) by the third largest law firm in
Washington; Howrey and Simon. Such
"affiliate firms" are a hot idea in the legal field today. Clients
like having one-stop shopping for a variety of needs requiring technical input
in environmental litigation, real estate transactions, and insurance recovery.
Much of this consulting concerns contamination of the environment and therefore
hydrogeology. Geologists have few illusions about the simplicity of the world
as it really is; which is an asset when dealing with messy real-world problems (an
asset with no utility at all when it comes to raising teen age children). The
tone of McBrides presentation suggested that the detective work involved would
better suit a Hercule Poirot and his gray matter, than a Sam Spade type, even
though Sam did get the girl. McBride
concluded by suggesting that alternative careers such as his be considered by
geologists, with the caveat that we would have to learn to write first.
Questions by
Moto Sato, David Applegate, President Shirey, Jamie Allen, and David Mitchell.
Attendance was 70. Meeting adjourned by
President Shirey 9:42 p.m.
Respectfully submitted
September 22, 1999
Meeting
Secretary
Hal
Gluskoter
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 1319th Meeting of the
Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday September 22, 1999, Warne Lounge,
Cosmos Club.
President Shirey called the meeting to
order at 8:04PM. The minutes of the 1318th meeting were approved as read. Guests were introduced,
but in a act that borders on dereliction of duty, the meeting secretary did
not record the mumbled names of those introduced. We may want to begin thinking about his replacement.
Washington Post columnist, Bill
Burton announced a forthcoming GSW field trip to Old Rag (Blue Ridge in
Shenandoah National Park) that will be led by Paul Hackley on November 13,
1999.
An informal communication was presented by
Cy Galvin and this informal communication had a co-author, Julia Nord.. He has identified a failed attempt at
manufacturing millstones from the Occoquan granite in Southern Fairfax
County. The partially excavated millstones
are in the bed of South Run Creek, approximately 190 feet from junction with
Pohick Run. The block containing the proto millstones was probably quarried 470
feet to the northwest of their resting place between 1860 to 1880. Cy realized that there was something
exceptional about this site as he scaled the razor wire topped fence to access
the exposure. It is on the grounds of the District of Columbia’s soon to be
abandoned Lorton Reformatory.
Adriana Ocampo of the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, presented the first talk of
the evening “The Chicxulub impact crater and the K/T mass extinction” Two sites
in Belize have been identified as containing ejecta from the collision that created
the Chicxulub crater on the northern coast of Yucatan and brought to a close
the Cretaceous Period, the Mesozoic Era, and the existence of 75 percent of the
animal species on earth. The two sites, 360 km and 500 km from the impact are
characterized by ejecta blankets of diamictite, huge lapilli, shocked quartz,
and a piece of dolomite that has been interpreted to have been rudely
blasted from its Caribbean resting place, found itself 100 km above the earth
and then suffering the effects of reentered the atmosphere before falling to
rest 500 km to the south of its place of genesis. The fluidized ejecta lobes from Chicxulub are
possible models for ejecta lobes surrounding many Martian craters. We had to
say that: Ocampo is employed by NASA.
Questions by ace reporter Bill
Burton, Moto Sato, and Jeff Grossman.
The second paper “ Geologic sequestration
of carbon dioxide: An energy perspective.” was presented by Robert Burruss of
the U.S. Geological Survey.
Reducing atmospheric emissions by storing
carbon dioxide in oil and gas reservoirs, deep saline aquifers, deep oceans,
unmineable coal beds, or as solid carbonate or carbon are geologic sequestration
options. Other solutions to the problem are enhanced energy efficiency, changing
energy mix, and non-fossil energy sources. Storage of all CO2 from
U.S. coal-fired powerplants would eliminate 34% of U.S. fossil fuel emissions,
slightly more that the target of the Kyoto Protocol. This would not be easily
accomplished. This amount of carbon dioxide is equal to about 1.9 times U.S.
annual natural gas production. Therefore, the gas processing, compression,
transport, and injection systems needed for CO2 sequestration would
be almost 2 times the present size of the US natural gas industry. An
alternative, changing the energy mix by replacing all coal combustion with natural
gas would requires doubling U.S. production or increasing natural gas imports
by a factor of 10.
Questions by Chris Neuzil, E-an Zen, newspaper
science writer Bill Burton, Moto Sato, George Helz, who’s chutzpadik
question appeared to suggest that we could avoid all CO2 emissions
from fossil fuel combustion if we built nuclear powerplants, Jeff Grossman,
and President Shirey.
Dazhi Jiang of the University of Maryland
presented a discussion “Progress in the understanding of natural shear
zones”. A common feature of natural deformation
are shear zones that range in scale from shear bands visible microscopically to
the scale of an orogenic belt. The current paradigm with which structures
observed within shear zones are interpreted is a monoclinic shear zone model.
Such a model fails to explain many current observations. A triclinic deformation
path has been recognized and that results in a model that better fits the real
world. This study puts another nick
in William of Ockhams Razor; sometimes the world gets complicated. Perhaps the
church was right in accusing him of heresy (Ockham, not Jiang).
Questions by President Shirey, and
special correspondent to the Post Bill Burton.
Attendance was 65 Meeting adjourned by
President Shirey 9:51 p.m.
Respectfully submitted
October 13, 1999
Meeting Secretary
Hal Gluskoter,
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 1320th Meeting of the
Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday October 13, 1999, John Wesley
Powell Auditorium (recently renovated and resplendent with faux rock - of
some kind- columns and baseboards).
President Shirey called the meeting to
order at 8:03PM. The minutes of the 1319th meeting were approved as read. Guests were introduced,,
including James Scott, a post doc at the Geophysical Lab, Masahito Ohta, of
Wasada University in Tokyo, Daniele Gaspard, University of Paris, Tyr Scherer,
University of Maryland, and Steve Richardson, University of Capetown.
Three new members were announced; Sonia
Esperanca, NSF; William E. Brooks, Consultant, Reston; and David L. Cook, University
of Maryland, who was actually present when his membership was announced and
helped to set a record, this being the second such occasion in a year. Don’t
you hate it when things novel become ordinary?
Bill Burton announced that the Fall 1999
Field Trip will take place Saturday, November 13, 1999 to Old Rag
Mountain, Virginia to be led by Paul Hackley, University of Maryland.
The first paper of the evening, “ Age and
metasomatism of the continental mantle lithosphere underlying the Canadian
Cordillera: constraints from Re - Os isotopes.” was presented by Anne Peslier,
Smithsonian Institution. Osmium isotopes provide evidence for different geneses
(it is so rare that I ever get to use the plural of genesis) for
lherzolite and harzburgite xenoliths of the Canadian Cordillera, a continental
setting well off the craton. 187Os/188 Os - Lu (as proxy for Rhenium, of
course) correlation is used to calculate a 1.1 Ga age for the lithospheric
mantle throughout the Canadian Cordillera, appreciably older than the 0.5 Ga for the crustal
terranes in the region. Os isotopes determined in peridotites from post-archean continental
regions show that the off-cratonic mantle lithosphere may be formed by ancient
melting (as in the lherzolites), followed by recent metasomatism (as in the
harzburgites).
Questions came at a hot and heave pace from
Brooks Hanson, Steve Shirey (2), Natalie Marchedon, John Slack, and Ian
Zen. The secretary lost count of the
number of questions as decorum collapsed and the discussion degenerated into several
side conversations.
Suzanne Nicholson, USGS, spoke on “
Precambrian LIPS and mantle plumage: An intact example of a large igneous province
in the US mid continent.” LIPS (large
igneous provinces) are enormous accumulations of dominantly mafic extrusive and
intrusive magmas. Mantle plumes are
considered to be the origin for many of these. The 1.1 Ga Midcontinent rift
system in the U.S. Midcontinent has structural, compositional, and geochemical
characteristics which are similar to those associated with younger continental
flood basalt provinces. This rift system
is one of the first continental flood basalt provinces attributed to a mantle
plume.
You may have noted how exciting a time it
was 1.1 billion years ago, if you were a mantle. Both Peslier, the first
speaker and Nicholson reported the 1.1 Ga age for pieces of lithospheric mantle
in Canada, and mantle progeny in the Midwest.
Questions by John Slack (2), Moto Sato,
Bill Burton (2), and comments by president Shirey.
The final presentation of the evening was
“Measuring wind-driven surface water flow in the Everglades and in the
laboratory: Four fans and a whole lot of plywood.” by Harry Jenter and Michael
Duff, and was presented by Jenter. A project
to study the effect of wind on water movement in the Everglades wetlands and
bordering sub-tidal embayments has provided key information to those modeling
surface water flow in the area. As part of the study, a series of experiments
using an enclosed wind cowling constructed on top of the indoor flume at
Stennis Space Center has looked at vegetative effects. The enclosed flume is
the cite of the four fans and the plywood of the title. Wind can
substantially alter the flow of surface water through saw grass and needs to be
included in the models. Jenter did enlighten us to the fact that there is a
greater effect when the wind blows in the downstream direction than when it
blows upstream.
Questions by Moto Sato, Cy Galvin, Joe
Smoot, Dallas Peck, E-an Zen, Martha Hayes, Chris Neuzil, Gene Robertson, and
Bob Schneider.
Attendance was 79. Meeting adjourned by President Shirey 9:56
p.m.
Respectfully submitted
November 10, 1999
Meeting Secretary
Hal Gluskoter,
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 1321st Meeting of the
Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday November 10, 1999, John Wesley
Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club.
President Shirey called the meeting to
order at 8:03PM. The minutes of the 1320th meeting
were approved as read. Uwe
Weichert, of the Swiss Federal Institute of technology (ETH), Zurich was the
only guest introduced, apparently the only one without agoraphobia.
The slate of officers for the first year of
the new millennium or the last year of the current millennium, take your
pick, proposed by the nominating committee and approved by a majority vote
of the Council on November 3, 1999 is as follows:
President*: Jane Hammarstrom, U.S. Geological Survey,
Reston
1st Vice President (2000) & President-Elect
(2001): Peter Lyttle, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston
2nd Vice-President: J. Alexander Speer, Mineralogical
Society of America
Treasurer*: Judy Ehlen, U.S. Army Topo. Eng. Center
Meeting Secretary: Mark McBride, Capital Environmental
Council Secretary*: Hal Gluskoter, U.S. Geological
Survey, Reston
New Councilors (2000-2001):
Martha
Hayes, U.S. Geological Survey, Baltimore
Steve
Huebner, independent
Suzanne
Weedman, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston
Continuing Councilors* (1999-2000):
Jay
Kaufman, Univ. of Maryland
Ted
Maxwell, Natl. Air & Space Museum
Chris
Neuzil, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston
Note: * denotes officers and
councilors carrying over from 1999.
The first paper of the evening, “A
Fractured Fairy Tale: Structural Hydrogeology of Sweden’s Hard Rock Laboratory”
was presented by Cliff Voss of the U.S. Geological Survey. Despite intensive
surface and borehole investigations in heterogeneous fractured hard-rock, a
less than precise description of subsurface structures that conduct fluid may
result, as was demonstrated in a study at the Aspo Hard Rock Laboratory,
Sweden. A model created from abundant surface data was checked in tunnels
following excavation. The second model
was constructed from more than 25,000 observations made along 3.6 km of the
excavated tunnels. In a region as structurally
complex as the Aspo HRL, surface based models provide some useful
information, but they must be refined significantly on the basis of the
underground truth. If the GSW were to give an award for the most elegant,
and esthetically pleasing,, computer representations of fractures and flows,
Voss’s visuals would win hands down. If you are into brilliantly colored
modern art his stuff is good!
Questions by Dave Stewart, who wanted to
know just what it would take to disqualify the area for nuclear waste disposal;
Cy Galvin, with follow ups, Mark McBride, Lennie Konikow, Raymond Wright,
Pierre Glynn, Bill Burton, and Dave Stewart, who wanted to know just what it
would take to disqualify the area for nuclear waste disposal. There are two possible reasons for the
repetition of Stewart’s question: one, he might have been slightly frustrated
by the less than candid response to the question the first time, and two, – I
seem to have forgotten - a senior moment perhaps?
The second presentation, related
geographically to the first, was “Geofantasy, The Potential for Deep
Penetration of Oxygenated Waters into the Fennoscandian Shield and Consequences
for Disposal of High-Level Radwaste” was given by Pierre Glynn of the U.S. Geological
Survey. The presence of high concentrations of dissolved oxygen in glacial
meltwater may be a source of concern in the performance of high-level
radioactive waste repositories such as those planned in Sweden. Oxidizing ground waters could impair the
stability (read, rust out) of waste canisters and would increase the
potential solubility of many radionuclides (U, Pu, Tc, Np) by several orders of
magnitude. The waters that can be expected from the melting glaciers during the
next 120,000 years has been addressed in a series of models. Models and field
evidence suggest that oxygenated waters may reach repository depth in 100's to
1000's of years.
A lesson to be learned from our
hydrogeologist colleagues, in addition to how one should model, is that the
models should project thousands to hundred’s of thousand’s of years into the
future - not much danger of being proved wrong there.
Questions by, Jamie Allen, Cy Galvin: a
comment by Cliff Voss, additional questions by Bill Burton, and Brooks Hanson.
The final presentation of the evening was “Physico-chemical
Conditions of Formation of the Gualilan Au-bearing Zn Skarn Deposit, San Juan,
Argentina.” and was presented by M Amelia Logan, Smithsonian Institution.
The Gualilán Au-rich distal Zn skarn,
located in San Juan, Argentina, resulted from the interaction of hydrothermal
fluids associated with Middle Miocene calc-alkaline magmatism in a tectonic environment
of transitional post-subduction in the Tertiary back-arc basin of the
Precordillera thrust-belt. The skarn is structurally and lithologically
controlled and selectively replaced a cherty unit in Ordovician limestones.
Mineralization occurred in three main stages, which alternated with
faulting: (I) prograde skarn, (II)
retrograde alteration of the skarn and (III) lead-rich veins.
Questions from Tom Dutro and Jamie Allen.
Attendance was 85. Meeting adjourned by President Shirey
9:59p.m.
Respectfully submitted
December 8,
1999
Meeting Secretary
Hal Gluskoter
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 1322nd Meeting of the Geological
Society of Washington, Wednesday December 8, 1999, John Wesley Powell Auditorium,
Cosmos Club.
President Shirey called the meeting to
order at 8:09 PM. The minutes of the 1321st
meeting were approved as read.
Inasmuch as this meeting was the last of
the calendar year and the last for the program and administrative year for the
Geological Society of Washington, the “Presidential Address” comprised the program:
a venerable tradition of the Society.
President Steve Shirey, Department of
Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, presented an address
entitled “New Perspectives on Subcontinental Lithospheric Mantle Evolution from
Mantle Eclogites and Eclogitic Sulfide Inclusions in Diamonds.”
President Shirey had, during his tenure in
office, worked industriously, stealthily, and effectively to educate the GSW membership
in the efficacy of Rhenium/Osmium isotopes in the investigation of mantle
derived materials. His method was to subtly influence the Program Committee to
liberally infuse the 1999 GSW programs with presentations of such an ilk, so
that, when it became time for delivery of his presidential address he would
have an audience primed for his valedictory.
Eclogites make up a small fraction of the
subcontinental lithospheric mantle, but they are important diamond hosts and
carry unique information about cratonic evolution. If they are not exactly a
window on the soul of the earth, they are at least tools in interpreting
how an Archean continent was created, and are found in African kimberlites such
as the Roberts Victor kimberlite of South Africa. The Os concentration, MgO content, δ18O
range, Re/Os, and Os/Os ranges are interpreted to support a model whereby the
Roberts Victor eclogites formed by recycling of picritic oceanic crust shortly
following the stabilization of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, about 3
to 3.4 Ga.
Perfectly good diamonds (at least crack free) from the Orapa kimberlite, in
the Kaapvaal craton Botswana, were broken apart in order to remove syngenetic
sulfide inclusions for, surprise, Re-Os isotopic studies. The Re-Os
identified two groups of sulfides, one with a 2900 Ma age and the other with a
990 Ma age. The older age is the first firm Archean age for eclogitic diamonds.
There were two episodes of diamond growth, separated by 2 billion years and
related to eclogite emplacement on the Kaapvaal craton.
The striking similarity of eclogitic
sulfide inclusions from the Orapa kimberlite with those from the Koffiefontein
kimberlite, 800 km to the south suggest that synchronous eclogite emplacement
into the cratonic lithosphere may be more widespread than previously thought.
As is the custom concerning Presidential
Addresses, questions were not taken from the floor. The meeting was adjourned
at 8:52 p.m. to allow for liquid refreshment prior to convening the annual
meeting of the Society.
Attendance was 78.
Respectfully submitted,
January 12, 2000
Meeting Secretary
Hal Gluskoter
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 107th Annual Meeting
of the Geological Society of Washington, Wednesday December 8, 1999, John
Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club.
President Shirey called the meeting to
order at 9:15 PM.
Nick
Woodward, Council Secretary, read the minutes of the 106th Annual
Meeting. They were approved as read.
The 1999 Annual Report of the Meetings
Secretary was presented by Hal Gluskoter. The 36 talks presented during the calendar
year spanned a wide range of topics and subdivisions of the geosciences, with
hardrock and mineral papers only slightly more prevalent (9) than groundwater
and hydrology talks (7).
The Council Secretary’s report was
presented by Nick Woodward. Major
actions of the Council were to raise dues and to recognize the future financial
difficulties that will result from ever increasing costs of the meetings at the
Cosmos Club.
Judy Ehlen presented the Treasurers
report. She projects that the General
Fund balance will decline to less than $3000 by the end of 2002, if dues remain
constant and the proposed increases in charges for the Cosmos Club are
imposed. Judy was not completely happy
with the manner in which her overhead visuals were being projected and chided
Ian Zen, the projectionist, about it.
The Auditing Committee report was presented
by Dallas Peck, who informed the Society that all was in order with the
financial records.
The report of the Membership Committee was
given by Leslie, a k a Jingle, Ruppert. There were 18 new members in 1999 and a
loss of 9. Total membership stands at 497.
The awards for the best informal
communication and the best paper for 1999 were presented by Suzanne
Weedman. The Great Dane Award for the
best informal communication went to Ian Zen for his short communication on
evaluating current rates of down cutting of the Potomac River (current rates -
get it?).
The Bradley prize for the best paper of the
year went to Joe Smoot for his presentation “Sedimentary record of the 1812
earthquake and tsunami, Owens lake California”.
A second place, which carries no monetary award nor does one get their
name on a silver bowl, was given to Sean Solomon for his presentation of “First
rock from the sun: The scientific rationale for a Mercury orbiter mission.”
The Sleeping Bear Award was presented by
Tom Dutro, who was able to find humor in much of what transpired during the
year. He did not, however identify
anything that was knee-slapping and, at the same time, spontaneous. He therefore awarded the Sleeping Bear to Hal
Gluskoter for some lame attempts at humor that appeared in the meeting minutes.
He probably felt that Gluskoter could be trusted to not abuse, too much, the
cuddly figure representing the auspicious award.
The following slate of officers and
councilors was presented to the Society by Roz Helz, chair of the Nominating
Committee. The slate was approved by
acclamation and the following were duly elected to serve for the year 2000.
vote
of the Council on November 3, 1999 is as follows:
President*: Jane Hammarstrom, U.S. Geological Survey,
Reston
1st Vice President (2000) & President-Elect
(2001): Peter Lyttle, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston
2nd Vice-President: J. Alexander Speer, Mineralogical
Society of America
Treasurer*: Judy Ehlen, U.S. Army Topo. Eng. Center
Meeting Secretary: Mark McBride, Capital Environmental
Council Secretary*: Hal Gluskoter, U.S. Geological
Survey, Reston
New Councilors (2000-2001):
Martha
Hayes, U.S. Geological Survey, Baltimore
Steve
Huebner, independent
Suzanne
Weedman, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston
Continuing Councilors* (1999-2000):
Jay Kaufman,
Univ. of Maryland
Ted
Maxwell, Natl. Air & Space Museum
Chris
Neuzil, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston
Note: * denotes officers and
councilors carrying over from 1999.
President Shirey announced that Bob
Burruss, USGS, will serve as program chair for the coming year. He then passed the gavel to the incoming
President, Jane Hammarstrom, who thanked him for his service during the past
year.
Attendance was 75
Respectfully submitted,
December 13, 2000
Council Secretary
Hal Gluskoter