Geological Society of Washington

Minutes for the 1525th meeting

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.

 

President Karen Prestegaard called the meeting to order at 20:03 EST

 

Minutes

 

The meeting began with the approval of the minutes from the previous meeting (1524th).  The minutes of the 1524th meeting and the Annual Meeting had been posted on-line and were not read aloud at the 1525th meeting, although  it was agreed that beginning with the next meeting (1526th) a summary “Minutes Minute” would commence, in the tradition of the previous administration.  There were no noted corrections to the minutes and they were approved by an oral vote with ne’er a nay to be heard.

 

Guests and New Members

 

The president asked that any guests be formally acknowledged and introduced.  Three were introduced.  Phil Loomis introduced himself.  Carol Frost introduced Ellen and Eric Nye.  Bill Leith (USGS) and wife also were acknowledged.  Lindsay Davis [USGS] also introduced herself to the secretary at the end of the meeting.

 

The chair of the membership committee was not in attendance.  Thus if there were any new members, we were not informed of them and they did not speak up.

 

Announcements

 

There were two announcements at the 1525th meeting:

1)      Callan Bentley (in absentia) submitted a short video (complete with timely and witty subtitles) reminding members of the upcoming quisquicentennial dinner, talk and celebration of the Geological Society of Washington to be held at the Cosmos Club on Friday January 26, 2018.  Roberta Rudnick will give a talk on “The Origin and Evolution of the Continental Crust: Earths Unique Continents”.  A prixe-fixe dinner will be served afterward.  The talk is free, the dinner not so much.  But the fee covers an open bar, all courses, AND parking. Please make reservation by January 15th.

2)      Kori Newman, of the Public Service Committee announced the 2018 campaign to recruit judges for the upcoming science fairs and donations for the awards (time to pare down your trophy rocks and geologic oddities in your collections)

 

Informal Communications

 

There were no informal communications at the meeting.

 

Formal Program

 

The formal program commenced at 20:15 EST and consisted of three speakers (Murray Hitzman, Thomas Crafford, and Kathryn Miles) each presenting 20 minute talks.  The talk were as follows:

 

Murray Hitzman (Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO) presented his talk on “The Role of Salt Tectonics in the Central African Copper Belt” (CACB).  Dr. Hitzman described the occurrence, origin and evolution of the Central African Copper Belt (CACB), from its Neo-Proterozoic (1100 Ma to >750 Ma) origin within meta volcanic and metasedimentary rocks deposited during the Rodinian rifting of the continent, to its later Paleozoic (~600 to ~480 Ma) deformation during the Pangean assembling of the continent.  The geology was based on thousands of cores and lithofacies analyses due to the lack of any sequence stratigraphy in the region.  Salt diapirism played a major role in the creation of the CACB  creating capping diapiric breccias.  These deposits resemble similar deposits in Poland showing a common process for creating such deposits.

 

Questions were asked by: Jane Hammarstrom (USGS), Carl-Henry Geschwind (Independent Scholar), Mike Purucker (NASA), Larry Meinert (USGS), Bill Burton (USGS), Dan Doctor (USGS), and John Repetski (USGS)

 

Thomas Crafford (USGS, Reston, VA) presented his talk titled “Critical Minerals – Recent Developments”.  The long awaited Professional Paper 1802 "Critical Mineral Resources of the United States - Economic and Environmental Geology and Prospects for Future Supply" was finally released the week before Christmas (Dec. 19).  It's release was followed by an Executive (Presidential) Order, "A Federal Strategy to Ensure and  Secure Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals" on Dec. 20 which, in turn, was followed by the signing of Dept. of Interior Secretarial Order No. 3359 "Critical Mineral Independence and Security" on Dec. 21.  The talk provided summaries of the Executive and Secretarial Orders, and USGS's plans for responding to those orders.  The talk addressed these recent events regarding critical minerals, which will shape the near future activities of the Mineral Resources Program.

 

Questions were asked by: Mark McBride (retired), Jamie Allan (NSF), Mike Purucker (NASA), Bill Burton (USGS), John Repetski (USGS), Karen Prestegaard (UMD), Anna Norman (AGI), Dan Doctor (USGS), and Pat Carr (NGA)

 

Kathryn Miles (author) presented her talk “Unknown Knowns: Preparing for America’s Next Devastating Earthquake”.  The talk focused on the authors new book “Quakeland: On the Road to Americas Next Devastating Earthquake”, in which the author took a road trip across America with the goal of uncovering the widespread risks of earthquakes across the country.  She specifically did not focus on the widely known and reported risks associated with major faults such as the San Andreas and Cascadia faults, but instead focused on the often greater risks associated with smaller or moderate earthquakes occurring in regions that are less prepared for their occurrence.  These include Boston, Memphis, Salt Lake City, and New York City.

 

Questions were asked by: Carol Frost (NSF), Mike Purucker (NASA), Maeve Boland (AGI), John Repetski (USGS), Ben Mandler (AGI), Mark McBride (retired), and Pat Carr (NGA).

 

The meeting was concluded at 21:56 EST.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Victor Zabielski (GSW meeting secretary)

 

 

 

Geological Society of Washington

Minutes for the 1526th meeting

and

125th Anniversary Dinner

Friday, January 26, 2018

Second Floor Ballroom, Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.

 

Open bar 18:00 EST

Dinner seating 19:00 EST

Short celebratory presentation were given by Past Presidents Craig Schiffries, Jane Hammarstrom, Jeff Grossman, and Brooks Hanson during dinner.

President Karen Prestegaard called the meeting to order at 20:06 EST.

 

Minutes

 

The meeting began with the approval of the minutes from the previous meeting (1525th).  The minutes had been posted on-line and a Minutes Minute was read aloud at the 1526th meeting.  There were two noted corrections to the minutes and they were acknowledged.

 

Guests and New Members

 

There was no introduction of new guests and visitors.

 

Announcements

 

There were no announcements at this meeting.

 

Informal Communications

 

There were no informal communications at the meeting.

 

Formal Program

 

The formal program commenced at 20:11 EST and consisted of one speaker, Roberta Rudnick (Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara) of 45 minutes.  The talk was as follows:

 

“Earth’s Unique Continents”.  Continental crust contains a complex mixture of lithologies requiring a similarly complex explanation for its origin.  The upper crust (upper 10-15km) is rich in silica and contains mostly major elements.  The lower crust is composed of hydrated metamorphic rocks of granulite facies.  Granulite xenoliths are of mafic composition, but granulite terranes show a more intermediate to mafic composition.  The terranes are formed by accretion of andesitic island arcs created through a two-step process of relamination of granitic material and remelting of basalt.  Comparison with Venus (active tectonics, no water) and Mars (water, no active tectonics) implies that both water and active tectonics are required to create continental crust and possibly also life.

Questions were asked by: Ved Lekic (UMD), Sorena Sorensen (Smithsonian MNH), Murry Hitzman (former USGS), Graham Lederer (USGS), Dan Doctor (USGS), Tom Crafford (USGS), Ben Mandler (AGI), Pete Toulmin (USGS), Dick Smith (USGS), and Bill Burton (USGS).

 

The meeting was concluded at 21:15 EST.

 

Respectfully submitted

Victor Zabielski (GSW meeting secretary)

 

 

 

Geological Society of Washington

DRAFT Minutes for the 1527th meeting

Friday, January 26, 2018

Second Floor Ballroom, Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.

 

 

Draft minutes for the 1527th meeting of the Geological Society of Washington

February 7, 2018

John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.

 

President Karen Prestegaard called the meeting to order at 20:02 EST

 

Minutes

 

The meeting began with the approval of the minutes from the previous meeting (1526th).  The minutes of the 1526th meeting had been posted on-line and a Minute’s Minute was read aloud at the 1527th meeting.  The Minutes were approved with no corrections or additions.

 

Guests and New Members

 

There were thirteen guests introduced at the meeting: Pete (?)(EPA?), Brian Flynn (LAI), Rob Smith (?), Richard Cosentino (NASA), Yasmina Martos (NASA), Perry Oddo (NASA), Phil Kong (ARI), Abraham Padilla (USGS-NMIC), Beverly Walker (USAP), David Prester (Forrest Environmental Services), Gail Gordon (?) (USGS), Daniel Ford (NVCC), Abby Ackerman (AGI).  Two people signed the guest book but did not introduce themselves: Maddy Turner (UMD) and Gus Raggambi (AECOM)

 

Erik Hankin, chair of the membership committee announced the following new members: Sarah Hayes (USGS), Adam Blankenbicker (AGI), Simone Runyon (Carnegie Geophysical Lab), Lindsay Davis (GSA), Diego Gonzalez (Amec Foster Wheeler), Thomas Doggett (NVCC), Ioan Lascu (Smithsonian Institution-NMNH), Rob Wardell (Smithsonian Institution-NMNH)

 

Announcements

 

There were two announcements at the 1527th meeting:

1)     Kori Newman, of the Public Service Committee announced the 2018 campaign to recruit judges for the upcoming science fairs and donations for the awards There are seven science fairs in March.  The winners of the fairs will be invited to attend the April 18th Meeting.  Any donations of SWAG should be made prior to the April 18th Meeting

2)     Madeline Shaffer (UC Santa Barbara) is looking to reestablish the DC Chapter of the Association of Women Geologists (AWG).  She needs at least ten members, and is looking to form a steering committee.  Please contact her if you are interested in joining the effort.

 

Informal Communications

 

There were no informal communications at the meeting.

 

 

Formal Program

 

The formal program commenced at 20:14 EST and consisted of three speakers (Emma Locatelli, Robert Wesson, and Shelbi Bensi) each presenting 20 minute talks.  The talk were as follows:

 

Emma Locatelli (US State Department) presented a talk titled “It’s not just rust: Biofilm-mediated clays help preserve fossil leaves”.  While microbially mediated iron oxides have long been known to enhance the preservation potential of leaves, the role of microbially mediated aluminosilicate clays in leaf fossilization has not previously been explored. This research combined fossil analysis and leaf decay experiments to show that authigenic aluminosilicate clays enhance the preservation of leaves. The results of the study lead to the development of a taphonomic model for fossil leaves that can be applied to leaves from multiple depositional environments. Biofilms grow on the surface of leaves decaying in water, which initiates the precipitation of authigenic clays and clay precursors onto the surface of the leaf, forming a biofilm-clay-leaf template. This leaf-clay template enhances the preservation of leaves in various ways, depending on the surrounding sediment matrix, and helps to explain the variety of leaf adpression modes found in the fossil record. 

 

Questions were asked by: Phil Kong (ARI), Jamie Allan (NSF), Dan Doctor (USGS), Gus Raggambi (AECOM), Mark Tyra (NIST).

Robert Wesson (USGS, retired) presented the second talk titled “Darwin’s First Theory: Darwin and Tectonics? Who Knew”.  Everybody knows―or thinks they know―Charles Darwin, the father of evolution and the man who altered the way we view our place in the world. But what most people do not know is that Darwin was on board the HMS Beagle as a geologist―on a mission to examine the land, not flora and fauna. Or about Darwin’s seminal role in demonstrating and exploring the ups and down of the Earth’s crust. This is the story told in Rob Wesson’s book, Darwin’s First Theory, and that he will share with us.

Retracing Darwin’s footsteps in South America and beyond, Rob trekked across the Andes, cruised waters charted by the Beagle, hunted for fossils in Uruguay and Argentina, and explored sites of long vanished glaciers in Scotland and Wales. As he followed Darwin’s path―literally and intellectually―he experienced the land as Darwin did, engaged with his observations, and tackled the same questions Darwin had about our ever-changing Earth.

Upon his return from his five-year journey aboard the Beagle, after examining the effects of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and more, Darwin conceived his theory of subsidence and uplift―his first theory. These concepts and attitudes―the vastness of time; the enormous cumulative impact of almost imperceptibly slow change; change as a constant feature of the environment―underlie Darwin’s subsequent discoveries in evolution. And this peculiar way of thinking remains vitally important today as we enter the human-dominated Anthropocene age.

As the New York Time Book Review wrote, Rob’s book “dares, thank goodness, to work some of the rare Darwinian territory that is actually underexplored. Tracing the young Darwin’s tracks …Wesson relates how Darwin hatched his first, favorite, and most overlooked substantive theory, on the origins of coral reefs. In both method and vision—imagining forms changing slowly over time in response to changing conditions—this precocious, even audacious idea anticipated and possibly inspired the theory of evolution Darwin would publish two decades later.”

No questions were asked.

 

Shelbi Bensi (UMD) presented the third talk of the evening titled “Working Across Disciplines to Improve Resilience to Natural Hazards”.  Ensuring the reliability and sustainability of infrastructure systems under normal operating conditions and resilience in the face of hazards is critical to the health, safety, and security of communities. Civil infrastructure systems face increasing service demands while they deteriorate as a result of inadequate maintenance, material degradation, and exposure to increasing loads. In addition, these systems are subject to a variety of natural and man-made hazards, including hazards that may evolve and become more severe over time due to factors such as climate change or changes in land use and land cover. Despite their inherent importance, limited resources are available to address deficiencies with infrastructure systems and there is a need for infrastructure-specific decision support tools that will help owners optimally allocate scarce funds. Engineering risk and decision analysis involving infrastructure systems necessarily requires an inter-disciplinary approach that leverages advances in engineering, data analytics and computational science, natural hazards, and social sciences.

 

Questions were asked by: Mike Purucker (NASA), Jamie Allan (NSF), Carl-Henry Geschwind (Independent Scholar), Karen Prestegaard (UMD), Dan Doctor (USGS), Perry Oddo (NASA), Mark McBride (retired)

 

The meeting was concluded at 21:45 EST.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Victor Zabielski (GSW meeting secretary)