GSW: 2002
MEETING MINUTES
Geological Society of
Minutes
of the 1348th Meeting,
Wednesday, January 9th, 2002, John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club
President Woodward called the meeting to
order at 8:02 pm. The minutes of Meeting 1347 were read and approved without comment.
The President issued the proclamation of,
“more beer... better beer,” in 2002. I intend to monitor this, and invite
others to carry on simultaneous analysis and report back.
No new members were announced.
There were no Announcements.
One visitor was introduced: Neil Moloney (a
geologist new to the area, with what appeared to be an Australian/New Zealand
accent).
There were no Informal Communications.
Three papers were presented:
The first talk was by Jonathan Angier of the
USDA’s
Questions from Julio Friedmann, Cy Galvin and
Mark McBride.
The second talk was by Michael Purucker of
Raytheon ITSS and the
Mike brought some outstanding NASA maps of
Mars for public consumption, and stated that, “there are thousands more just sitting
around at Goddard,” for anyone who wants them.
Questions by Julio Friedmann, Barbara Ransom
and Nick Woodward.
The third talk was by Diane McDaniel of the
Department of Geology, University of
Questions from Hal Gluskoter, Alan Kolker,
Julio Friedmann, Mark McBride, Bill Minarik, Paul Tomascak and Nick Woodward.
President Woodward adjourned the meeting at
9:19 p.m.
The maximum attendance was 44 [9 female].
This was the shortest 3-speaker meeting
recorded among the on-line records dating back to 1980.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul B. Tomascak, Meeting Secretary
Geological Society of
Minutes
of the 1349th Meeting,
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2002, John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club
First Vice President Applegate, standing in
for the absent President Woodward (who was reported to be safely sequestered in
an undisclosed government laboratory), called the meeting to order at 8:07, the
slight delay due to the determination of parts of the dinner party not to be
cheated out of their hard-earned desserts for a second straight meeting. The
minutes of meeting 1348 were read and approved without comment.
Seven guests were introduced: John Kolak
(USGS Postdoc); Tekla Fabian (whose affiliation I missed), Dave Curtis (AGI
Congressional Fellow); two visitors from the
Four new members were announced: Phil Piccoli
(UMD); Karen Wayland (office of Sen. Harry Reid), Joe Marks (adjunct faculty at
NOVA); and Barbara Ransom (ACS-PRF)—it was noted that Program Chair Piccoli was
in fact not a truly new member, but a lapsed member.
There were five announcements:
Sandy Neuzil gave an update on the health of
long-time GSW member Moto Sato, recovering in the
First Vice President Applegate announced the
need for GSW representatives for judging local science fairs. Please contact Nick
Woodward or Gordon Nord, the Public Service Committee Chair.
First Vice President Applegate thanked the
outgoing Program Chair for capable rendering of services.
First Vice President Applegate, at the
suggestion of Roz Helz, reminded the assembled about the potential for making
Informal Communications, going over what an Informal Communication is supposed
to be.
Finally, First Vice President Applegate
announced that January 23 was National Pie Day, making what appeared to be a
veiled threat for speakers to stick to their 20 minute time slots.
There were no formal Informal Communications,
although one might regard the Announcement on Informal Communications informally,
as an Informal Communication.
Three papers were presented:
The first talk was by Rodney Ewing of the
Questions from E-An Zen, Gene Robertson and
Bill Minarik.
The second talk was by Edith Allison of the
Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, "The value of subsurface
data preservation.” Drilling and collecting core is super-expensive. In spite
of this, the recent trend in industry discourages core maintenance. Edie
presented a few case studies of the “successes” of core storage facilities, considering
that public repositories are now >90% full and that at least in some cases
repositories may take ~$350k/yr to operate. The future of core data
preservation appears to be heading to the internet, where access to information
in the successful cases is becoming more and more publicly available, for
instance through the AGI’s GeoTrek project (which, by the way, crashed my
computer when I tried to use it).
Questions from Julio Friedmann, Mac Ross,
Marcus Milling, E-an Zen and Craig Schiffries.
The third talk was by Brent Owens of the
Questions from Jane Hammarstrom, Paul Tomascak,
Rich Walker and E-an Zen.
First Vice President Applegate adjourned the
meeting at 9:33 p.m.
The maximum attendance was 63.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul B. Tomascak, Meeting Secretary
Geological Society of
Minutes
of the 1350th Meeting,
Wednesday, February 13th, 2002, John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club
President Woodward called the meeting to
order at 8:00 pm. The minutes of Meeting 1349 were read and approved without comment.
Six guests were introduced: Karen Phemister
and Brendan Puls (UMD honors undergraduates), Tim Johnson (new UMD postdoc),
Dave Vanko (
One new member was announced: Fangzhen Teng
(UMD).
There were four announcements:
Rick Diecchio announced first that an area
geologist’s large rock collection was up for grabs. Then he pointed out that in
March 2004 there will be a joint NE-SE section meeting of the GSA, to be held
at Tyson’s Corner. A GSW presence was suggested.
President Woodward announced the April 5-6
Assateague Shelf & Shore Meeting. Contact Cy Galvin for information about
meeting and related field trips.
Bill Burton gave what was somewhere between
an announcement and an informal communication, concerning the latest step in a
project he had begun on quantifying light pollution in the DC area. The Baltimore
Sun had joined on in carrying the pertinent information on how the general
public could help in develop a map of
light pollution in the night skies in the Baltimore area, as the DC survey was
enormously successful, enlisting 1500 observations in producing the most
detailed map of its kind in the world. There was one question, from Pete Toulmin.
President Woodward gave an Informal
Communication prefaced by the admonition that Informal Communications be,
“succinct, provocative, timely, and short.” What followed achieved at least one
of those goals under the general heading, “the Dept. of Energy: a rose by any
other name.” The funding structure of the DOE was described in a single
graphic, with the bottom line that the Department of Energy spends only 10% of
its nearly $20B budget on energy (most of the funds going to building bombs or
cleaning up after them). There were no questions.
Three papers were presented:
The first talk was by Jeanne Sauber of the
Aside from good science, this venture was
good public outreach, as Sauber’s group involved a large number of high school
teachers and students in the monitoring.
Question from Craig Schiffries.
The second talk was by Renato de Moraes of
the Department of Geology,
Questions from Julio Friedmann, Bill Burton
and John Spray.
The third talk was by Glen Mattioli of the
National Science Foundation and the University of Puerto Rico, “The dynamics of
an ongoing andesitic eruption: What we have learned from surface deformation at
Soufriere Hills volcano, Montserrat, British West Indies.” Glen gave a colorful
talk (in spite of the projector’s insistence that his computer slides should
all be in shades of blue and yellow) which demonstrated the difficulties and
potential rewards of geodetic monitoring of an active volcanic system. The
sequential nature of eruption at Soufriere Hills allows for careful study,
although several photos of obliterated concrete instrument stations suggest
that even this site presents abundant challenges to uninterrupted GPS monitoring.
The periodicity and response of the expansion and subsidence of the volcano
suggested movement of subsurface magma in both deep and shallow reservoirs.
Although the ultimate goal of predicting edifice collapse through geodetic
modeling is yet to be realized, the study demonstrated that the volcanic
“system remained active and dynamic whether or not lava was emitted at high
rate from the surface vent.”
Questions from Jeanne Sauber and Leonard
Johnson.
President Woodward adjourned the meeting at
9:36 p.m.
The maximum attendance was 45 (with a running
average of 51 [± 21, 2σ] for 2002).
Respectfully submitted,
Paul B. Tomascak, Meeting Secretary
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 1351st Meeting,
Wednesday, March 13th, 2002, John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club
President Woodward called the meeting to order
at 8:05 on what he described as an, “untoward rainy evening.” The start was delayed slightly as we were
waiting for the second speaker to arrive. The minutes of Meeting 1350 were read
and approved with one correction.
Four guests were introduced, although one was
a new member, so really just three were guests: Margaret Oliver (Univ. of Reading,
UK, not Pennsylvania), Chris Gressman (NRC), and Thomas Zack (Univ.
Heidelberg).
Three new members were announced: Dave Vanko
(Towson Univ., no relation to Dave Mango), Jason Cassara (UMD, also introduced
as a guest), and Neil Moloney (Digital Mining Services Zambia, Ltd.).
There were three announcements:
Jane Hammarstrom continued the recent
befuddling trend of giving an informal communication under the guise of an
announcement, concerning the GSW field trip that she and Bob Seal of the USGS
will lead. The trip will look at the environmental significance of historic
metal mining in Virginia, pre- and post-reclamation. With her
multiple-Power-Point-slide forum she described how prospective participants
should bring rubber boots and “grubby clothes.” Ask Jane for details and she
can probably run through the presentation with you in private.
Gordon Nord gave an update and reminder about
science fair judging, including a run-down of the top projects from the northern
VA and the Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fairs.
President Woodward, with an assist from Bill
Minarik, pointed out the talk to be given by Rebecca Bedell at the Univ. of Maryland
on March 20 entitled “The Anatomy of Nature”.
Two papers were presented:
The first talk was by Tom Jones, three-time
NASA space shuttle astronaut and independent consultant, “The space station, human
space exploration, and sampling near-earth asteroids.” NASA insiders suggest it
may be a long time before they send humans beyond Earth’s orbit, and Tom keyed
his talk to defining why near-Earth asteroids (NEO’s) might be the logical
targets for the next extra-orbital manned ventures considering the stagnant
budget of the post-Space Station era. Large NEO’s are relatively abundant and
easy (from a relative velocity and hence fuel standpoint) to reach, and they
are interesting from scientific and future resource standpoints. Such missions
might be useful in “planetary defense” against Earth-crossing bodies, and would
be cheap stepping stones to more challenging targets, like Mars.
Questions from Dan Milton, Bob Beauchamp,
Margaret James, Gene Robertson, Dan Deocampo and Pete Toulmin.
The second talk was given by Henry Teng of
the George Washington University, “Did surface leaching occur during feldspar
dissolution?” Henry gave a picture of the current understanding of feldspar
dissolution, highlighting the pH-dependency of dissolution mechanisms
interpreted from powder experiments and their apparently contradictory results.
Exploiting single crystal, in situ analytical techniques, his experiments
suggest that dissolution over the range in pH is dominantly congruent. The
gel-like layer observed in many older experiments can be explained by
reprecipitation of silica, which does not accumulate in runs with higher
solution flow rates. The development of a leached layer on mineral surfaces
appears to be a short-lived phenomenon.
Questions from Jane Hammarstrom, Thomas Zack,
Tom Blackburn and Dan Deocampo.
President Woodward adjourned the meeting at
9:26 p.m.
The maximum attendance was 50 (with a running
average of 51 [± 17, 2σ] for 2002).
Respectfully submitted,
Paul B. Tomascak, Meeting Secretary
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 1352nd Meeting,
Wednesday, March 27th, 2002, John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club
President Woodward called the meeting to order
at 8:02 pm. The minutes of the
1351st meeting were accepted as read.
No new members were announced.
Visitors included Janet Rudnick (Roberta
Rudnick’s mother), Winnie McDonough (Bill McDonough’s mother), Kelly Taylor (accompanying
Chris Cahill), and Dorothea Hanchar (NSF) were announced.
Gene Roseboom announced the 24th Geologic
Division Retirees Luncheon scheduled for Tuesday, April 9th, 2002, at the Marco
Polo restaurant in Vienna, Virginia.
Hat Yoder asked President Woodward to ask the
audience if anyone knew the whereabouts of the mineral specimens that Lewis and
Clark brought back for Thomas Jefferson from their journey west, and the
whereabouts of their own mineral specimens from their trip. After the meeting someone from the Smithsonian
came by and told President Woodward that the samples were sent to the American
Philosophical Society in Philadelphia (not the one in DC), and some were sent
to Tufts University in Boston.
Grand Prize Science Fair winners Sabrina
Schells of the School Without Walls in the District of Columbia, and Jean Li of
Montgomery Blair High School were announced.
Three papers were presented.
The first talk was by William F. McDonough,
Department of Geology, The University of Maryland, "The composition of the
Earth’s core." Most of what we
know about the composition of the Earth’s core comes from indirect geophysical
measurements and studies of meteorites and mantle derived rock. It is hard to get samples from the core! We
know that the core is mostly iron with some nickel, and some light elements are
probably present too.
Questions from Dallas Peck, Gene Robertson,
Kevin Marvel, and Rich Walker.
The second talk was by Christopher Fedo,
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The George Washington University,
“Is there fossil evidence for life on Earth >3850 Ma ago?” This talk focused on examining the evidence
surrounding the "earliest" life on Akilia Island, in SW
Greenland. A main premise has been that
that banded quartzose rocks on Akilia are >3850 Ma in age and represent
BIF. Contained in the “BIF” are graphite
crystals depleted in C-13, and have been suggested as the oldest life on
Earth. Field evidence showed that
geochronology in nearby tonalite gneiss has little relevance to determining age
of the quartz rock, and structural observations show the banding to be tectonic
in origin, not depositional.
Questions from Rich Walker, E-an Zen, Bill
McDonough, Bob Burruss, and Thomas Zack.
The third talk was by Christopher L. Cahill,
Department of Chemistry, The George Washington University, “Hydrothermal
synthesis of framework uranyl molybdates and oxyfluorides: A chemists interest
in mineralogy.” Synthesis, characterization,
and applications of novel uranyl molybdate and oxyfluoride compounds which are
similar to zeolites in structure were discussed. These materials may have applications in
catalysis and sequestration of heavy metals and radionuclides in different
environmental situations.
Questions from Moto Sato and Mac Ross.
Attendance was 51. President Woodward
adjourned the meeting at 9:36 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
John M. Hanchar, Temporary Vacant Acting
Meeting Secretary
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 1353rd Meeting,
Wednesday, April 10th, 2002, John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club
President Woodward called the meeting to
order at 8:01 p.m. The minutes of the 1352nd
meeting were read and two points were made. Ray Rye revealed himself as
the, “someone from the Smithsonian” mentioned in the minutes related to Hat
Yoder’s question. Mac Ross demanded a correction to the pronunciation from the
minutes (uranyl). Upon further consideration, the stated pronunciation is verified
by all dictionaries consulted.
Two guests were introduced, Callan Bentley
(an new grad student at UMD), and John Tuthill (Roz Helz’s brother).
No new members were announced.
There were no announcements at this point,
but at the end of the meeting Peter Stifel asked about the history of the
placement of the podium on the dais in the Powell Auditorium, as on that night
the podium was situated to the audience’s left, rather than the usual right.
President Woodward suggested veiled political motivations for the move.
There were no informal communications.
Three papers were presented.
The first talk was by David Vanko of Towson
University, “Subseafloor boiling and mixing processes in a back-arc hydrothermal
system determined from Ocean Drilling Program cores.” Dave gave a summary of
work in progress on samples from ODP Leg 193 in the Manus back-arc basin, at a
site where a 500 m ridge of andesites, dacites and rhyodacites were drilled.
Based on isotopic, mineral chemical and fluid inclusion data from these intensively
altered, veined rocks, it became clear that complex fluid mixing had occurred,
although further study would be needed to differentiate fluid contributions
from phase-separated seawater or magmatic brines.
Questions from Craig Schiffries, Sean Brennan
and Moto Sato.
The second talk was by David Harding of the
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, “Airborne laser mapping of deformation
in the Seattle Fault Zone, Washington state: Tilted terraces tell the tale.”
Dave gave a case study of how laser altimetry (LIDAR) can be used to detect
otherwise undetected active faults and to generally pull together tectonic and
paleoseismic interpretations. The example was from the Puget lowland in
Washington where 9000 km2 was LIDAR mapped using this emerging
technology. This technique can penetrate dense vegetation (although not totally
dense, as was revealed during questions) to reveal ‘bald Earth’ images with
stark topographic resolution. Around Puget Sound the LIDAR mapping of shoreline
terraces allowed an estimate of slip magnitudes and demonstration of the significant
along-strike heterogeneity in the nature of deformation.
Questions from Dallas Peck and E-an Zen.
The third talk was by Monica Handler of the
Department of Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian Institution, “Evolution of Marie
Byrd Land, west Antarctica: Constraints from lithospheric xenoliths.” Monica described
the geological features of Marie Byrd Land, the largest of a group of
dominantly Proterozoic terranes accreted to Antarctica during the assembly of
Gondwana. Because of the geochemical
differences between Re and Os, the Re-Os isotope system allows mantle melting
events to be constrained geochronologically, in this case by using peridotite
xenoliths. Using these relations supported melting of the upper mantle >1.5
Ga, made particularly interesting as the oldest Marie Byrd Land rocks are Late
Proterozoic gneisses. The Re-Os systematics of some samples suggest an input of
components from either a subducting slab or an impinging mantle plume; which
interpretation could not be constrained uniquely.
Questions from Nick Woodward and Craig
Schiffries.
President Woodward adjourned the meeting at
9:36 p.m.
The maximum attendance was 52 (with a running
average of 51 [± 14, 2σ] for 2002).
Respectfully submitted,
Paul B. Tomascak, Meeting Secretary
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 1354th Meeting,
Wednesday, April 24th, 2002
John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club
President Woodward called the meeting to order
at 8:09 p.m. after a brief delay to install a functional overhead projector.
The minutes of the 1353rd meeting were
accepted as read.
No new members were announced.
There were two announcements:
The Society observed a moment of silence in
honor of former USGS geologist and GSW member Alice Allen.
Jane Hammarstrom asked for a show of hands
for people considering attending the GSW field trip she and Bob Seal will lead
on May 18. Email Jane for information and a road log if you cannot join the
trip from its start.
Cy Galvin made an informal communication on
the recent earthquake in upstate New York. Questions from Pete Toulmin and Pat
Taylor, and assistance in answering questions from Nick Woodward.
Acting on a reminder from Dallas Peck, three
guests were introduced: Arlena Silver (speaker Lee Silver’s wife), Mark Schmitz
(a DTM postdoc), and Sean Brennan (a rare new full-time employee at the USGS,
Reston).
Three papers were presented.
The first talk was by Lauck Ward of the
Virginia Museum of Natural History, “The John Finch Collection, 1824 --
Important beginning for paleontological studies in Virginia and the Western
Hemisphere.” Buck explained an apparent
contradiction in the early American paleontological literature and used it as a
setting to describe the travels of Finch in the U.S. around 1824. Through this
historical analysis and an examination of Finch’s collection from the British
Museum of Natural History it was determined that locality misinformation lead
to years of taxonomical confusion. This folded into the story of Maryland’s troubled
State Fossil, which was originally an organism not found in Maryland and later
updated to be an organism not able to be seen in Maryland without risking
incarceration.
Questions from Dan Milton, John Wycoff, Cy
Galvin, Tom Dutrow, and a genealogical comment from Pete Toulmin.
The second talk was by Lee Silver, emeritus
of the California Institute of Technology, “Conversations with zircon: Are we
listening?” Lee gave a discourse on why
he thinks modern U-Th-Pb zircon work is not attacking the most important
feature of the system, which is how zircons become discordant, based mainly on
work he did in the 1960’s using extremely large samples. He concluded that the
sometimes overly optimistic precisions cited for U-Pb ages, particularly by ion
microprobe, could disguise real problems such as Pb redistribution within
individual crystals.
Question from Craig Schiffries.
The third talk was by Barbara Ransom of the
Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society, “Microbes and clays:
What's going on between the sheets!”
Considering there are around 109 microbes in every gram of sediment, it
is important to understand the residence of these creatures in this
environment. Barbara described collaborative efforts between clay mineralogy
and microbiology to investigate how microbes live and move in marine sediment.
Noting that different clays have different flocculation properties, she found
positive correlations of differing slope between the organic carbon content of
clayey sediments and the mineralogy of the clay fraction. Culturing experiments
suggested that different minerals promote the growth of different microbes.
Question from Jane Hammarstrom, Cy Galvin,
Moto Sato, and Mac Ross.
President Woodward adjourned the meeting at
10:03 p.m., the first post-10 p.m. adjournment of 2002.
The maximum attendance was 63 (with a running
average of 53 [± 15, 2σ] for 2002), tied for the high in 2002.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul B. Tomascak, Meeting Secretary
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 1355th Meeting,
Wednesday, May 15th, 2002
John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club
President Woodward called the meeting to
order at 8:02 p.m. The minutes of the 1354th
meeting were read and accepted after Cy Galvin pointed out that he had
actually given a hearsay informal communication based on information from a
faculty member at SUNY Plattsburgh.
One guest was introduced: Mark Cherniak (who
has some connection to the NSF).
Two new members were announced: Michael
Linegang and Richard Ryan.
President Woodward announced one last time
that Jane Hammarstrom and Bob Seal will lead the GSW field trip on May 18. Wear
boots.
There were no informal communications.
Three papers were presented.
The first talk was by Helen Kerch of the U.S.
Department of Energy, “Research misconduct and its significance for the
physical sciences.” Helen described her
efforts at DOE to establish a clear set of guidelines for dealing with research
misconduct, especially in view of the erosion of public trust these breaches
bring about. The goal is to have in place a set of criteria which are effective
and yet do not go so far as to be used to punish unconventional-yet-legitimate
researchers. She defined the limits of the main areas of research misconduct
(fabrication, falsification and plagiarism), cited the incidences for some
government agencies in 2000, and gave some examples of the huge costs that may
be consequent in their commission.
Questions from Bevan French, Julio Friedmann,
Fred Simon, Mac Ross, Margo Kingston, and Mary French.
The second talk was by Narciso Benitez of the
Johns Hopkins University, “Effects on Earth of the Scorpius-Centaurus supernovae.” In what is remembered as the red talk owing
to projectorial misconduct, we learned that of the 20 known supernovae occurring
in the last 11 Ma, the explosion of Scorpius-Centaurus may have affected terrestrial
systems. Supernovae produce blast waves, cosmic rays, neutrinos, and radiation,
and at 40 parsecs cosmic ray flux to Earth may increase atmospheric NO
production, which could cause ozone depletion and hence affect marine
phytoplanton. Whether this could be implicated for the Pleistocene-Pliocene
extinction hangs on several caveats, including uncertainties in cosmic ray production,
atmospheric chemical reactions and specific effects on productivity of organisms.
Questions from Bevan French, George Helz,
Julio Friedmann, Dan Milton, Richard Walker, Pete Toulmin and Neil Moloney.
The third talk was by Kevin Pope of Geo Eco
Arc Research, “The K-T mass extinction — Impact dust didn’t do it.” Kevin used modern understanding of how dust
disperses in the atmosphere to conclude that given what we know about the
Chixulub crater and the K-T impact, that insufficient dust of the right size
range was produced to shut down photosynthesis on a global scale. As
micron-plus size particles have short atmospheric residence, an assessment of
the submicron particles in global K-T strata suggest 1014g fine dust was aloft,
well below the 1016 required for global photosynthetic cessation.
Questions from Julio Friedmann, Dan Milton,
George Helz, Bevan French and Hat Yoder (who introduced himself as a former
meteorologist).
President Woodward adjourned the meeting at
9:45 p.m.
The maximum attendance was 57, tied for the
high in 2002 (with a running average of 53 [± 15, 2σ] for 2002).
Respectfully submitted,
Paul B. Tomascak, Meeting Secretary
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 1356th Meeting,
Wednesday, September 11th, 2002, John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club
President Woodward called the meeting to
order at 8:00 p.m. and asked those in attendance to observe a moment of silence.
The minutes of the 1355th meeting were
accepted as read.
Seven guests was introduced: John Dilles
(University of Oregon), Dave Johnston, Sean Timpa, and Heather Njo (all
students at the University of Maryland), John Price (State Geologist of Nevada)
and his wife Beth, and Milt Wiltse (State Geologist of Alaska). It was noted
before the meeting by an anonymous observer that despite living in Nevada John
Price manages to make it to more meetings than many local members.
Two new members were announced: Ellen Leggett
and John Rowland.
There were six announcements, of which
President Woodward announced the first five:
The AAPG Energy & Environment Conference,
a half-day summit, will be held Sept. 23—flyers available.
The 32nd annual VA Field Conference, Oct.
11-13, will look at rocks of the Central VA Piedmont.
The GSA Hydrogeology Division Birdsall-Dreiss
lecture will be given by Graham Fogg, on Sept. 17 at the University of Delaware.
The 3rd annual “Journey Through the Universe”
week in DC, Oct. 21-25. Area scientists are needed to visit area sixth grade
classes at DC public schools.
Reminder that Earth Science Week will be Oct.
13-19 this year.
Lastly, Julio Friedmann came dangerously
close to an informal communication with his announcement of the 3-day conference,
“World Energy Policy in the 21st Century.” Julio described the event as being
“star-studded,” with speakers who included, “policy wonks,” presenting,
“omniclusive views,” and that the conference was to be a “very cheap date.”
There were no (formal) informal
communications.
Three papers were presented.
The first talk was by Paul Tomascak of the
University of Maryland, “Mono Lake, California, from a lithium perspective.” In
a talk that was described by one first time GSW attendee as, “the best GSW talk
he had seen to that point,” the speaker told about how lithium isotopes may
soon be recognized as essential tools for investigating problems in
hydrogeochemistry and paleoclimatology. In a sales pitch that harkened back to
his Feb. 10, 1999 GSW masterpiece, he pointed out the deficits in our
understanding of this system as an unparalleled opportunity for interested students.
Questions from Jane Hammarstrom, Hal
Gluskoter, Blair Jones, Julio Friedmann, and Mark McBride.
The second talk was by Earl Greene of the
U.S. Geological Survey in Baltimore, “Hydrogeologic factors controlling water
intrusion near the Washington METRO Red Line Medical Center Station and
Crossover.” The entire Metro Red Line is leaking, and the portion right around
the Medical Center station is the worst. These tunnels, unlike the other Metro
strands, were not lined, and the pressure relief drainage system installed when
the Red Line was built in the mid-1970’s failed immediately. Earl demonstrated
through examination of the geology of the area, particularly variations in rock
type and fracture geometry, and through numerical simulations of groundwater
flow why leakage is as bad as it is at Medical Center.
Questions from J.K. Bohlke, George Helz, and
Gene Roseboom.
The third talk was by James Farquhar of the
University of Maryland, “Evolution of the Earth's early sulfur cycle.” James
told a story about how his initial examination of sulfur isotopes in a set of
ancient rocks didn’t achieve the desired result, but set him on research that
would ultimately earn him the Geochemical Society’s Clarke Medal (named after
the late USGS Chief Chemist). Initially a search for a non-mass dependent
isotope fractionation of sulfur produced by biological processes, it turns out
that James found staggeringly large fractionations that are best explained by
gas phase reactions. Owing to differences between the Archean and more modern
atmospheres, the isotope anomalies are only seen in samples older than about
2.2 Ga.
Questions from J.K. Bohlke and Bob Burruss.
President Woodward adjourned the meeting at
9:31 p.m.
The maximum attendance was 51 (with a running
average of 53 [± 14, 2σ] for 2002).
Respectfully submitted,
Paul B. Tomascak, Meeting Secretary
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 1357th Meeting,
Wednesday, October 16th, 2002, John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club
President Woodward called the meeting to
order at 8:02 p.m. The minutes of the
1356th meeting were accepted as read, although
Tom Dutro did not seem to remember the meeting as it was recounted. I suggest
that this might be an unfortunate side effect of having sat through as many
meetings as Tom has.
One visitor was introduced: Brooke Carter
(UMD grad student).
The Society observed a moment of silence in
honor of former USGS geologists and GSW members Druid Wilson and Mary Rabbit.
No new members were announced.
President Woodward reported on the activities
of two GSW committees:
The Nomination Committee (chaired by Jane
Hammarstrom) listed continuing and new officers, including new 1st VP Jeff
Grossman, new 2nd VP Bob Burruss, and new Secretary Joe Smoot, an all-USGS platform.
The Committee on Membership and Dues
indicated that dues income currently accounts for 62% of the Society budget.
The Committee concluded that an increase in regular area member annual dues to
$30, and student dues to $15, was in order.
George Helz queried Tom Stern on his role on
a presentation made at GSW 50 years ago, specifically on more recent findings.
There were no informal communications.
Three papers were presented.
The first talk was by E. Bruce Watson of the
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, “Chemical and isotopic consequences of
low-temperature crystal growth.” Birthday Boy Watson described details of what
goes on within a few monolayers of mineral surfaces and how this may impact
isotopic equilibrium. Since the topography of a mineral growth surface is
unlike the lattice, the very outer region is a good place for “impurity” ions
to stick and be incorporated—the process of growth entrapment. the process can
be modeled numerically and the result suggest potential significant entrapment
during low temperature crystal growth.
Questions from Dan Milton, Richard Walker
(who refused to stand up), Gene Robertson, E-an Zen, and Nick Woodward.
The second talk was by William Orem of the
U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, “How sulfur contamination and atmospheric
mercury deposition influence methylmercury production and bioaccumulation in
the Everglades.” Bill reported on efforts to understand the distribution of Hg
in waters of the Everglades which lead to high levels in biota which has
resulted in, for example, declines of >90% in the populations of wading
birds over the past century. Divalent Hg in rainfall is converted to
methylmercury during bacterial sulfate reduction. In cultures, sulfate
stimulates methylation whereas sulfide suppresses it; thus eutrophic sites in
the Everglades, with abundant sulfide formation, show minimal methylmercury
accumulation. Experiments show the rapid removal of Hg from water and its transfer
to fish in methylated form.
Questions from Margaret Carruthers, Bob
Burruss, and George Sellers.
The third talk was by Art Goldstein of the
National Science Foundation and Colgate University, “Intermediate term fault
histories and critical wedge dynamics from analysis of syn-tectonic fluids,
Taconic slate belt.” Critical wedge theory from modern accretionary prisms was
used in an examination of Ordovician thrust sheet rocks in the Taconics. Oxygen
isotopes in fibrous quartz-calcite pressure shadows around pyrite crystals in
footwall rocks of the Bird Mtn. thrust were determined in microsampled domains.
Several samples, presumed to have formed coevally, yield generally consistent
shifts, assumed to reflect temperature increases and decreases, although the
isotopic variability was restricted. Extremely low salinity fluid inclusions in
quartz were interpreted to derive from water expelled from dehydrating clays.
When related to plausible strain rates, the overall results were considered to
reflect cycles of deformation (perhaps ~1 Ma each) within an evolving prism.
Questions from Bob Burruss (2 separate
questions), E-an Zen, and Nick Woodward.
President Woodward adjourned the meeting at
9:49 p.m.
The maximum attendance at Meeting 1357 was 56
(with a running average of 53 [±13, 2σ] for 2002).
Respectfully submitted,
Paul B. Tomascak, Meeting Secretary
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 1358th Meeting,
Wednesday, November 13th, 2002, John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club
President Woodward called the meeting to
order at 8:03. The minutes of the 1357th
meeting were accepted as read.
Three visitors were introduced: Alexey Pankov
(grad student at GWU), Alex Korobeinikov (AGI), and Mark Tyra (grad student at
UMD).
Three new members were announced: Callan
Bentley, Julio Friedmann (both UMD), and David Fountain (NSF).
There were no announcements.
There were two informal communications:
Bill Burton of the USGS, Reston, gave a
pictorial essay of his fast and furious Summer field work, collaborative between
the USGS and the Moroccan Geological Survey.
Gene Robertson discussed a pair of figures
important in the history of Earth Science who managed to avoid financial ruin
in the stock market crash of 1929.
Three papers were presented.
The first talk was by Frank Spear of the
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, “Monazite: A new Rosetta stone?" After a
nine-minute hiatus of technical difficulties, Frank observed that most of the
audience, “didn’t look like metamorphic petrologists.” Monazite records complex
growth histories, and as such can be used in several different ways to assist
in deciphering geological problems. Very precise estimates of crystallization
temperature can be made through a trio of minor-element thermometers and
pressure can be estimated in correlation with major phase reactions. Studies
involving in situ chemical age determination by electron microprobe allow for
some reinterpretation of tectonics, although major uncertainties yet exist
concerning accuracy of the method.
Questions from Pete Toulmin, Bill Burton,
E-an Zen, and a somewhat interminable one from Bill McDonough.
The second talk was by William Burton of the
U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, “Characterizing ground water in bedrock: a geologist's
approach." After another small technical holdup, which caused Bill to
interject that, “Frank’s cursed this machine,” he described USGS efforts in
eastern states to understand geological controls on groundwater flow,
especially in bedrock. The effort is concentrated in areas experiencing rapid
growth and thus high groundwater demand. In various areas the project assessed
probability of achieving high yield wells, rock type dependence on water yield,
and the geometry of the zone of contribution to municipal water supply.
Questions from Hal Gluskoter, Chris Sweazy,
and Fred Simon.
The third talk was by Joseph Dehmer of the
National Science Foundation, "Going deep for science." Joe, a
physicist by training, detailed the efforts to decide on an underground site
for a multi-disciplinary science venture. The former gold-producing Homestake
Mine in South Dakota meets many of the ideal criteria for a deep science site,
particularly in that it is so deep: 6-8000 feet is ideal for most physics experiments.
The site is proposed to house experiments for physics (including studies of
neutrinos, dark matter, proton decay) and geoscience (including studies of geomicrobiology,
fluid flow, rock deformation, and sensitive seismic detection).
Questions from Craig Schiffries, E-an Zen
(two separate questions), Barbara Am-Ende, and Mark McBride.
President Woodward adjourned the meeting at
10:24 -- the longest meeting in 2002 by 27 minutes.
The maximum attendance at the meeting was
(with a running average of 55 [±16, 2σ] for 2002).
Respectfully submitted,
Paul B. Tomascak, Meeting Secretary
Geological Society of Washington
Minutes
of the 1359th Meeting,
Wednesday, December 11th, 2002
John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club
President Woodward called the meeting to
order at 8:04 p.m., as light rain fell outside. The minutes of the 1358th meeting were accepted as read.
One visitor was introduced: Thomas Spec of
SCIC. Steve Huebner suggested his election to membership by impromptu vote from
the rather cozy group assembled.
There were no announcements, new members, or
informal communications.
In accordance with GSW protocol, a single
paper was presented.
The Presidential Address was given by
Nicholas B. Woodward, entitled, “Competitive macroscopic deformation mechanisms
in structural geology.” Nick gave a talk about, “rocks he has known and loved,
but doesn’t get to look at any more,” with the objective to try to understand
the origin of folds, faults and macroscopic structures. He discussed how the
approaches of structural geology have changed (and not changed) over time
toward this goal. When taking into account the need to know how all crystals
and interfaces change during deformation, the process becomes dauntingly
complex. Areas of future importance to understanding deformation include
examining chemical potential gradients as driving forces of cleavage and foliation
development, and the use of supercomputers in numerical modeling of natural
processes.
In accordance with GSW protocol no questions
were asked.
President Woodward adjourned the meeting at
8:50 p.m., and a 10 minute break preceded the beginning of the 110th Annual
Meeting.
The maximum attendance at Meeting 1359 was
35, the lowest attendance at any year-ending GSW meeting since 1900. The last
time a GSW meeting hosted this few persons was Spring, 1936.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul B. Tomascak, Meeting Secretary