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AUGUST MEETING
Join us Tuesday, August 26, 2014 at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, 760 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta GA. The meeting social starts at 6:30 pm. This month the speaker is R. Scott Harris and his talk is: A PROBABLE NEW CRETACEOUS-PALEOGENE IMPACT BOUNDARY SECTION IN THE UPPER COASTAL PLAIN OF SOUTH CAROLINA. The abstract and the speaker’s bio are included on the following pages. Our Social is supported by two sponsors; • EON Products • AE Drilling Services, LLC Please come and enjoy the social time, pay your dues if necessary, talk with our generous speakers and learn from an interesting presentation on Tuesday, August 26, 2014.
Next meeting of the Atlanta Geological Society is August 26, 2014
Fernbank Museum of Natural History (Clifton Road) Social begins at 6:30 pm – Meeting begins at 7:00 pm
August 2014
Atlanta Geological Society Newsletter
ODDS AND ENDS Last week I was asked to give a very short geology talk to some non-technical colleagues that might resonate with them. I focused on the mineral gypsum, good old calcium sulphate dihydrate. The hardness is 2 which makes it easy to carve. The name comes from the Greek word gypos or plaster because if you grind it and heat it, it becomes what we know as plaster. And every room in that 25 story building has walls made with gypsum wall board. It is an evaporite mineral and is relatively soluable. And this is important because…there is a dam in northern Iraq near Mosil on the Tigris River built over a zone of gypsum evaporite karst that the Corps of Engineers has called the most dangerous dam in the world. The dam supplies both power and water supplies to this arid land. And it has a DAILY grouting program to keep the dissolving gypsum at bay. So far 50,000 tons of grout has been emplaced! Recently, ISIS soliders took control of the dam and a couple of weeks later the Iraqis took control back, which is probably a very good thing for all the people down stream who would have been obliterated by a 60’ wall of water that would have been released when the dam failed. Whatever ISIS’s goals are, I suspect geotechnical maintenance of their society’s infrastructure is not high on their list of priorities. Ben Bentkowski, Newsletter Editor
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A PROBABLE NEW CRETACEOUS-PALEOGENE IMPACT BOUNDARY SECTION IN THE UPPER COASTAL PLAIN OF SOUTH CAROLINA Evidence of the K-Pg impact has been considered lost to erosion in the Atlantic Coastal Plain south of New Jersey. We have identified a 10 cm section of clay capped by a 7 cm-thick spherule bed at the contact between uppermost Maastrichtian and lower Paleogene sediments exposed near Gaston, South Carolina. The spherules exhibit accretionary textures and contain shocked quartz. Stratigraphic placement, along with similarities to other K-Pg boundary sections, leads us to conclude that the section represents a nearly complete sequence of ejecta emplaced across a delta ~1500 kilometers from Chicxulub.
The clay unit can be divided into three parts. The lowermost 5 cm of gray kaolinite, with minor illite/smectite and lepidocrocite, lie above a sharp contact with white kaolinitic sands of the Sawdust Landing Formation. Rare mm-sized clay spherules are observed. The middle 4 cm is composed of dark brown, organic-rich kaolinite with minor amounts of illite/montmorillonite and greater concentrations of lepidocrocite and a trioctohedral smectite (stevensite?). This zone contains abundant carbon and preserves fossil leaves. The uppermost 1 cm consists chiefly of tan flint kaolin.
The clay unit is capped by a razor-sharp contact along which a thin ferricrete has developed beneath a 7 cm-thick orange, sandy, planar-laminated stratum composed of densely accumulated spherules (including doublets, triplets, and splash-form morphologies), typically 1 to 5 mm in diameter. They exhibit accretionary textures and are composed primarily of very angular quartz sand in a matrix of woohouseite-svanbergite-goyazite. Rare rounded quartz grains contain one to four sets of planar deformation features (PDFs) or basal twin planes. Some spherules contain irregular patches of clay containing diverse assemblages of inclusions, including embayed quartz and feldspar, and one example of an unusual C-bearing Ni-V almandine. We interpret the spherules as diagenetically altered accretionary lapilli that contain shocked, unshocked, and devitrified glassy impact ejecta. Trace element analyses, including PGEs, of the sediments and spherules are in progress.
Speaker’s Bio: R. Scott Harris Scott is a sixth-generation Georgia native who has been involved in geologic research since the age of seven. He received his education from West Georgia College, Arizona State University, the University of Georgia, and Brown University. A former Goldwater Scholar and NASA Space Grant Fellow, he has been a visiting research scholar at Auburn University and a visiting lecturer at UGA and GSU, where he taught mineralogy. Trained as a petrologist and planetary geologist, Scott primarily works on impact craters and ejecta stratigraphy. He is author or co-author of nine peer-reviewed articles and more than seventy proceedings abstracts, including five invited papers. During the last three years, he has put his expertise as a materials scientist and petrographer to work for GDOT as the agency’s Aggregate Geologist. He recently was appointed to the Mineral Aggregates Committee of the National Transportation Research Board. Scott also is a former president of the Georgia Geological Society.
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GEMS & GEMOLOGY, SUMMER 2014, VOL. 50, NO. 2
Three-Phase Inclusions in Emerald and Their Impact on Origin Determination Author: Sudarat Saeseaw, Vincent Pardieu, and Supharat Sangsawong http://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/summer-2014-saeseaw-three-phase-inclusions-emerald
For many years, the observation of three-phase inclusions in emeralds was considered a reliable indicator of Colombian origin. But with the arrival in the market of emeralds from Panjshir (Afghanistan), Davdar (China), and Kafubu and Musakashi (Zambia) that may also display three-phase inclusions, origin determination became more complicated. There are some notable differences, however. Emeralds from the Musakashi deposit are of particular interest, as their internal features are quite different from those found in the well-known deposits in the neighboring Kafubu area. The inclusion scene within the Musakashi emeralds is indeed dominated by multiphase inclusions that are commonly associated with Colombian origin. Nevertheless, the outline and make-up of these multiphase inclusions may be more irregular than those typical of Colombian deposits. Furthermore, the tendency of Musakashi emeralds to have at least two crystals associated with a gas bubble may raise questions about a possible Zambian origin. Emeralds from Panjshir, Afghanistan, are often characterized by elongated needle-shaped multiphase inclusions rather than the traditional jagged type often seen in Colombian material. Furthermore, Afghan emeralds often host up to 10 cubic to rounded transparent crystals, and sometimes small dark, opaque crystals. When examined between crossed polarizers, the cubic crystals appeared to be singly refractive and the small rounded crystals appeared doubly refractive. Such features are not typical of Colombian emeralds. The multiphase inclusions in emeralds from Davdar, China, can be very similar to those in emeralds from Colombian deposits. Many of the multiphase inclusions found in Davdar specimens are jagged and have only one cubic crystal. But the shape of these multiphase inclusions is usually more irregular (sometimes needle-like) than the jagged outline typically observed in Colombian emeralds. Studying the inclusion scene in these emeralds can be quite confusing, but spectroscopy and trace-element chemistry can provide additional valuable tools to distinguish between them. The presence or absence of Fe2+ and Fe3+ and the varying intensity of V3+ absorption may suggest different countries of origin. More generally, plotting the log-log results from the LA-ICP-MS data for Cs, Li, K, Ga, and Fe resulted in population fields that also appear very promising as a tool in determining the origin of emeralds.
Ed: This excerpt of the conclusions does not do this article justice. It is amazing the sophisatication of the investigation tools employed to study these minerals. Please follow the link to read further and be amazed.
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Top: Rectangular multiphase inclusions were visible in emeralds from Kafubu. Bottom: Detail of rectangular multiphase inclusions in an emerald from the Kagem mine reveals relatively large gas bubbles, with and without solid inclusions. Photomicrographs by V. Pardieu, brightfield illumination. Image widths 2.7 mm (top) and 1.1 mm (bottom)
Log-log plot of iron (Fe) versus potassium (K) concentrations in emeralds from the five different localities.
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What makes the “Argyle Cardinal” even more special is the fact that there are only 30 known red diamonds in the world. “These are all one-of-a-kind gems that will take their place in the history of great collectible diamonds,” Argyle Pink Diamonds manager Josephine Johnson said in a statement.
Rio Tinto owns and operates the Argyle diamond mine in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia. The mine has been operating since 1983 and has produced more than 800 million carats of rough diamonds. It is one of the world's largest supplier of diamonds and the world's largest supplier of natural coloured diamonds.
Located in the east Kimberley region in the remote north of Western Australia, the Argyle mine is one of the world's largest supplier of diamonds and is the world's largest producer of natural coloured diamonds.
Argyle mines a lamproite pipe (a form of diamond-bearing rock) known as the AK1 pipe and Argyle operated as an open pit mine from 1985 to 2013. The AK1 pipe continues at depth and in April 2013 the Argyle underground mine was officially opened. By the end of 2013 the open pit was closed and the transition to a fully operational underground mining operation is underway.
THE ARGYLE CARDINAL
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New view of Mount Rainier's volcanic plumbing: Electrical images show upward flow of fluids to magma chamber
Date: July 17, 2014 Source:University of Utah http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140717094607.htm
This image was made by measuring how the ground conducts or resists electricity in a study co-authored by geophysicist Phil Wannamaker of the University of Utah Energy & Geoscience Institute. It shows the underground plumbing system that provides molten and partly molten rock to the magma chamber beneath the Mount Rainier volcano in Washington state. The scale at left is miles depth. The scale at bottom is miles from the Pacific Coast. The Juan de Fuca plate of Earth's Pacific seafloor crust and upper mantle is shown in blue on the left half of the image as it dives or 'subducts' eastward beneath Washington state. The reddish orange and yellow colors represent molten and partly molten rock forming atop the Juan de Fuca plate or 'slab.' The image shows the rock begins to melt about 50 miles beneath Mount Rainier (the red triangle at top). Some is pulled downward and eastward as the slab keeps diving, but other melts move upward to the orange magma chamber shown under but west of Mount Rainier. The line of sensors used to make this image were placed north of the 14,410-foot peak, so the image may be showing a lobe of the magma chamber that extends northwest of the mountain. Red ovals on the left half of the page are the hypocenters of earthquakes.
Credit: R Shane McGary, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
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BENEFITS OF AN AGS MEMBERSHIP • Location – AGS meets at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History,
which is a truly awesome facility central to most of our membership. • Cost – AGS membership ($25 general; $10 student) is the most
inexpensive for any geological society in the SE. • Active – AGS holds nine lectures a year and is one of the most active
geological societies in the SE. • AEG – For one of our lectures, AGS co-sponsors with the Association of
Environmental & Engineering Geologists to annually present the “Richard H. Jahns Distinguished Lecturer” while in Atlanta.
• PDH – AGS is recognized by Alabama, South Carolina, and other professional state boards to provide Professional Development Hours for our lectures, as well as field trips and workshops.
• PG Classes – AGS offers nearly monthly Professional Geologist development training classes in preparation for passing the ASBOG examinations and has been recognized by the Georgia State Geologist as enhancing PG test scores for participants.
• Free Food – AGS offers free pizza and Coke at all of our regular meetings, sandwiches and hors d’oeuvres at the Jahns lecture, and a sit-down BBQ dinner at our June social.
• IMAX – As part of the June social, AGS and Fernbank present a free IMAX movie.
• Networking – AGS meetings include professionals, academics, regulators, and others who all share the same interest in geological sciences.
• Resume – AGS membership and even involvement in one of our many committees will enhance any resume.
Annual membership dues for the Atlanta Geological Society are $25 for professional membership, $10 for students, and $100 for corporate sponsorship (which includes up to 4 professional memberships). Please complete the application form and submit with your payment to the AGS Treasurer. For further details about membership, please contact the AGS Membership Chairman – Ben Bentkowski
cell -770-296-2529 [email protected]
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AGS Professional Geologist Registration Study Class
Date: August 30, 2014 Time: 10:00am to 12:00pm
Venue: Fernbank Science Center
156 Heaton Park Drive, N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30307
http://fsc.fernbank.edu/ 678-874-7102
Speaker: Dr. Jim Kennedy, Ph D, PG
Subject: Geohydrology and Contaminant Transport Jim will give a presentation on contaminant transport, geochemistry, groundwater hydrology and hydrogeology.
Dr. Kennedy is the State Geologist and holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in physics and geophysical sciences from the Georgia Tech and a Ph.D. in geology from Texas A&M where he did research on reclaimed lignite mines. As State Geologist, he has worked on the Coastal Sound Science Initiative to manage salt-water intrusion into the Upper Floridan aquifer, permitting of coastal groundwater supply wells, and the State Water Plan. He also has provided expert testimony at the Office of State Administrative Hearings in support of landfill, quarry, and water withdrawal permits issued by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. Prior to joining the EPD, Dr. Kennedy worked as a consultant and conducted engineering geology, groundwater supply, and environmental remediation projects in various areas of the United States and Europe. Please join us and forward this message to anyone interested in becoming a Georgia Registered Professional Geologist, or anyone who might be interested in the topic. Two Professional Development Hours are available for attendees. The classes are open to all, membership in the AGS is not required, but for $25 per year ($10 for students) it is quite a bargain. The AGS is one of the most active geological organizations in the southeast US, providing networking opportunities, geoscience teacher grants Please consider joining.
Thanks,
Atlanta Geological Society
Professional Geologist Registration Committee
Ken Simonton, P.G. John Salvino
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http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=84065&src=nha
Long-term drought and aggressive seasonal wildfires have consumed property, lives, and farmland in the American West. The dry weather and blazes are battering regional economies and putting residents and agricultural businesses in several states on a path toward water restrictions. At least part of this story of water woes lies underground.
The map above combines data from the satellites of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) with other satellite and ground-based measurements to model the relative amount of water stored in underground aquifers in the continental United States. The wetness, or water content, is a depiction of the amount of groundwater on July 7, 2014, compared to the average from 1948 to 2009. Areas shown in blue have more abundant groundwater for this time of year than comparable weeks over the long-term, while shades of red depict deficits compared to this time of year.
The maps are an experimental product used by the U.S. Drought Monitor and supported by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The measurements are derived from observations of small changes in Earth’s mass and its gravity field—features that are affected by the movement and storage of water and ice around the planet. According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Colorado River basin is now in the driest 14-year period in the past hundred years. Using monthly measurements from GRACE between December 2004 and November 2013, the researchers found that the basin lost nearly 53 million acre feet (65 cubic kilometers) of fresh water, almost double the volume of the nation’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead. More than three-quarters of that loss came from groundwater supplies.
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Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear Opens September 27, 2014
Are you curious about coulrophobia? Paranoid about pyrophobia? Avidly avoiding aviophobia?
Fear is a universal emotion. Regardless of what scares us, we all share the same biological response to fear. Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear examines the physiological, neurological and sociological aspects of this often misunderstood emotion. Immersive and engaging hands-on activities encourage visitors to experience fear in a safe and enjoyable environment, while also measuring their responses and thinking about what it means to them. Exhibit Highlights
Fear of Animals: Reach inside an opaque box connected to terrariums filled with snakes and other creatures - it's easier said than done.
Fear of Electric Shock: Feel your heart beat faster as you anticipate an electric shock. Faces of Emotion: Identify which facial expressions correspond to our basic emotions and
learn about how we communicate our feelings to others. Facial Recognition: Interact with the Facial Expression Analysis system, a software
program that detects movements of the face and tries to match them to their corresponding emotional expressions.
Freeze Game: Play an immersive put-yourself-in-the-picture video game that transports you to a savannah where you find out how important the freeze response is to survival in the animal kingdom.
Make a Scary Movie: Experiment with different soundtracks and sound effects to create your own scary movie. Fear has never been so much fun! Tickets for Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear are included with Museum admission and are free for members. Field Trips *Coulophobia = fear of clowns; pyrophobia = fear of fire; aviophobia = fear of flying.
Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear developed by the California Science Center and supported, in part, by the Informal Science Education program of the National Science Foundation under grant ESI-0515470. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Science Foundation.
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Now Showing (BUT ending real soon) in the Fernbank IMAX movie theater:
Great White Shark Now showing through September 18, 2014 Run time: 40 min Misrepresented, maligned and misunderstood, the great white shark is an iconic predator: the creature we love to fear. Get closer than ever to the “king of the ocean” in this giant screen adventure and discover why this animal is not the menacing villain many believe it to be. Island of Lemurs: Madagascar Now showing through September 1 ,2014 Run time: 40 minutes A real place you could never imagine. Strange creatures you will never forget. Experience the incredible true story of nature’s greatest explorers in the NEW giant screen adventure, Island of Lemurs: Madagascar. The film takes audiences on a spectacular journey to the remote and wondrous world of Madagascar. Lemurs arrived in Madagascar as castaways millions of years ago and evolved into hundreds of diverse species. Now, these charmingly strange creatures are highly endangered. This film features trailblazing scientist Dr. Patricia Wright on her lifelong mission to help lemurs survive in the modern world.
Fernbank Museum of Natural History
Upcoming Public Programs and Events (All programs require reservations, including free programs)
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Coming Soon to IMAX
Pandas: The Journey Home Opens September 2, 2014* Loveable, iconic and highly endangered. This groundbreaking natural-history film tells the story of the pandas of the Wolong Panda Center and their reintroduction into the wild. Witness an incredible story of survival and fall in love with these black and white gentle giants. See pandas like never before—on the biggest screen in town, Fernbank’s IMAX® Theatre. Learn more. Galapagos: Nature's Wonderland Opens October 17, 2014* Travel to a paradise like no other. The Galapagos Islands is a wonderland of nature, a universe of remarkable and unique creatures that learned to survive against all odds on this volcanic archipelago in constant evolution. Meet these friendly creatures and the unexpected friendships they developed in this new giant screen adventure. *Dates and show times are subject to change.
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AGS Committees
AGS Publications: Allison Keefer Phone (404) 657-8642 [email protected]
Career Networking/Advertising: Todd Roach Phone (770) 242-9040, Fax (770) 242-8388 [email protected]
Continuing Education: Currently Open
Fernbank Liaison: Chris Bean Phone (404) 929-6313 [email protected]
Field Trips: Josh Jenkins Phone (770) 421-3412 [email protected]
Georgia PG Registration: Ken Simonton Phone: 404-825-3439 [email protected] John Salvino, P.G. [email protected]
Teacher Grants: Bill Waggener Phone (404)354-8752 [email protected]
Hospitality: Currently open And in need of a volunteer or two. Social Media Coordinator: Carina O’Bara [email protected]
Newsletter Editor and Membership Ben Bentkowski Phone (404) 562-8507,(770) 296-2529 [email protected]
Web Master: Kathaleen Bentkowski [email protected] www.atlantageologicalsociety.org
AGS 2014 Meeting Dates
Listed below are the planned meeting dates for 2014. Please mark your calendar and make plans to attend.
August 26 AGS meeting - R. Scott Harris speaking on The Cretaceous-Paleogene Impact Boundary in the Southeastern US: A New Discovery from South Carolina August 30 PG Workshop – Dr. James Kennedy, State Geologist to speak on Geohydrology and Contaminant Transport September 27 – PG Workshop September 30 – AGS meeting October 25 – PG Workshop October 28 – AGS meeting We’ll have to sort November out with Thanksgiving timing.
AGS Officers
President: Nils Thompson [email protected] Phone (678) 486-2766 Vice-President: Cassidy Sutherland Phone (770) 492-8230 [email protected] Secretary: Rob White Phone (404) 321-5399 [email protected] Treasurer: Shannon George Phone (717)-343-4452 [email protected]
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ATLANTA GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
www.atlantageologicalsociety.org ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FORM
Please print the required details and check the appropriate membership box. DATE: NAME:___________________ _
ORGANIZATION:____________________________________________________________
TELEPHONE (1): TELEPHONE (2): EMAIL (1): EMAIL (2):
STUDENT $10 PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP $25 CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP $100 (Includes 4 professional members, please list names and emails below) NAME: EMAIL: NAME: EMAIL: NAME: EMAIL: NAME: EMAIL: For further details, contact the AGS Treasurer: [email protected] . Please make checks payable to the “Atlanta Geological Society” and remit with the completed form to:
Atlanta Geological Society c/o Golder Associates Attn: Shannon George 3730 Chamblee Tucker Road Atlanta, GA 30341
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