Author Archives: Daniel Doctor

Theme of the event: Ice

ELIZABETH TURTLE, Johns Hopkins University (JHU) APL — Exploring the Ocean Worlds Europa and Titan with Europa Clipper and Dragonfly

SINEAD FARRELL, University of Maryland (UMD) — Pole to Pole: Earth’s Declining Sea Ice

MARC NEVEU, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / UMD — How depressurization during cryovolcanic eruption affects relative abundances of amino and fatty acids sought as biosignatures on ocean worlds

Come at 7:30 PM to socialize and imbibe, the meeting begins at 8 PM, and ends by 10 PM.

The meeting will be held in the Greenewalt Building, Tuve Hall at the Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory, Broad Branch Road Campus. Directions are here: https://epl.carnegiescience.edu/about/our-campus/directions-to-epl

Parking is free on the campus, or on-street in the vicinity

Dear members:

We are in the process of updating our membership management services and dues renewal process. If you received an email message on Dec. 23 asking you to renew your dues by going to a WordPress website, please ignore the request as it was simply a test that was sent out by mistake.

An email reminding members to renew dues will be sent in late January, 2025 using the same process as in the past via the PayPal service. If you need your membership number in order to renew, please contact Ann Benbow at MSA via the Membership tab on the home page.

In mid-2025, we intend move to a more secure membership management system for which each member can establish an individual account and manage their access to membership more directly. Thank you for your continued support of the Geological Society of Washington while we make this transition!

The 132nd Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of Washington will take place on December 4th, 2024 in the auditorium of the American Geophysical Union headquarters, 2000 Florida Avenue, NW, Washington D.C.

This will be a HYBRID meeting. In order to participate via online attendance, please register at this link before 4:00 pm Eastern time on Dec. 4th.

Dr. DANIEL DOCTOR will deliver the Presidential Address entitled “The Allegory of the Cave, redux: perception and reality in karst science“

Annual awards will be announced, and election of the 2025 GSW slate of officers and councilors will also take place.

Slate of Officers for 2025:

• President:  Ved Lekić* (Univ. of Maryland)
• 1st VP & President Elect:  Michael Ackerson* (Smithsonian)
• 2nd Vice President: Michael Walter (Carnegie EPL)
• Past President: Dan Doctor* (USGS)
• Treasurer: Andy Campbell** (NRC, retired)
• Meeting Secretary: Jessica Bersson (Smithsonian)
• Council Secretary: Beth Doyle* (NOVA Community College)
• Councilors: 
  • Linda Rowan (CRS)
  • Ross Salerno (USGS)
  • David Vanko (Towsen Univ., retired)
  • Pat Carr (Brooking Legislative Fellow, U.S. Congress)*
  • Mark Tyra (NIST)*
  • Anne Pommier (Carnegie EPL)*
• *Officers and councilors carrying over from 2024
• **Completing term of Treasurer Mark Fuhrmann

Please come at 7:30 p.m. to enjoy refreshments ahead of the meeting, which will begin at 8:00 pm.

FALL FIELD TRIP DECEMBER 7th to CORRIDOR H IN WEST VIRGINIA!

Please join us for fun half-day to full-day field trip along West Virginia Corridor H! We will delve into the fascinating Appalachian Paleozoic stratigraphy in the Valley and Ridge Province of Virginia and West Virginia. Our stops will provide the opportunity to explore the relations between the Paleozoic sedimentary rock record and the major tectonic events that shaped North America.

Trip Details:

• Meeting Point: Haymarket Commuter Park and Ride, 14861 Heathcote Boulevard, Haymarket, VA 20169
• Date: Saturday, December 7th
• Meeting Time: 8:30 AM

We will meet as a group and encourage carpooling to facilitate a smoother trip, though parking at the stops will not be an issue.

Rough Itinerary:

• Morning: Visits to key geological sites in Virginia and West Virginia.
• Lunch:  ~1:30pm A break in Moorefield, WV, where participants opting for the half-day can choose to depart.
• Afternoon: Continued exploration of outcrops west of Moorefield for full-day attendees.

Registration:

Please contact Alan Pitts at pitts.alan@gmail.com to register and receive pre-trip reading materials. Please click here for more details: GSW DEC. 7 FIELD TRIP TO CORRIDOR H

This will be an IN-PERSON meeting only. Three excellent talks will be presented:

ANDY CAMPBELL, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (retired) – Geochemistry of hydrothermal vents in the Gulf of California

CHRISTINA DEVERA, U.S. Geological Survey – USGS Geoheritage Sites of the Nation Inventory: Connecting geologic mapping and societal values to reach a broad audience

RYAN MCALEER, U.S. Geological Survey – Microtextures and microchemistry in retrograde shear zones and their implications for geochronology, deformation mechanisms, and rock strength

Come at 7:30 PM to socialize and imbibe, the meeting begins at 8 PM, and ends by 10 PM.

FALL FIELD TRIP: DECEMBER 7 – CHANGE OF DATE!

The GSW fall field trip has been changed to Saturday, December 7th. Check back here for updates and details.

This will be an IN-PERSON meeting only. Three excellent talks will be presented:

JANE HAMMARSTROM, U.S. Geological Survey – Critical minerals in the U.S.: Past, present, and potential

TOMMASO MANDOLINI, University of Maryland – 3D microstructure, porosity and permeability in and out of the fault in deformed sandstones.

JOSHUA MARTIN, Geological Society of America – Geoscience’s Role in Shaping Policy Decisions

Come at 7:30 PM to socialize and imbibe, the meeting begins at 8 PM, and ends by 10 PM.

This will be an IN-PERSON meeting only. Three excellent talks will be presented:

ELI MOORE, U.S. Geological Survey: Subsurface Metaproteomics Reveals Diverse Active Microbial Metabolisms in the Antrim Shale

ROBERTA RUDNICK, University of California – Santa Barbara: Metapelites in the lower crust beneath the Potrillo Volcanic Field provide insights into the mysterious 1.4 Ga Picuris Orogeny

ADAM WALLACE, University of Delaware: Reassessment of the Roles of Ion Hydration and Dehydration on the Reactivity of the Calcite-Water Interface

Come at 7:30 PM to socialize and imbibe, the meeting begins at 8 PM, and ends by 10 PM.

The field trip was a great success! Special thanks to Rebecca Kavage Adams (Maryland Geological Survey) for leading the trip.

The GSW spring field trip will be held Saturday, March 30, 2024 in Patapsco Valley State Park: The Potomac terrane, Baltimore terrane, and Baltimore Mafic Complex, led by Rebecca Adams, Maryland Geological Survey

Meet at 9am in the Woodstock parking area of Patapsco Valley State Park, Maryland

Tentative itinerary:

• Baltimore Gneiss w/pegmatite 9:00-10:00am
• Patapsco Valley State Park, McKeldin Area:
  •  Setters Quartzite 10:15-11:00am
  •  Baltimore Gneiss at McKeldin Rapids 11-12:00pm
  •  Lunch (bring your own): at shelter (Setters Quartzite)
  •  Cockeysville Marble & Loch Raven Schist 12:15-1:15pm
  •  Marriottsville Rd #2 Talc mines 1:30-2:15pm
• Soldiers Delight Natural Area, Serpentinite, Choate chromite mine & overlook 2:30-3:30pm
• Last stop: Howard County Western Regional Park, Sykesville Formation, near field #10 4:00-5:00pm