The article highlights his participation in the Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Show Lecture Series. On September 26, he presented a lecture on the “Life and Times in the Pennsylvania Coal Swamp: The Origin of Pennsylvania's Coal Deposits” to approximately fifty members of the public.
]]>Steve joined thirty-five other international scientists in College Station for the week of October 12, 2009, to sample cores, edit the official science report from their expedition (IODP #320 and #321), and talk about their upcoming research plans. These sampling parties are much less of a party and much more of an intense week-long work session.
Steve also had the opportunity to meet with recent department graduate Ashley Hague (’09), a graduate student in the Department of Oceanography at Texas A&M.
]]>His presentation, “Significance of U-Pb Zircon Ages from the Pescadero and Cambria Felsites, West-Central California Coast Ranges,” was coauthored with W.G. Ernst (Stanford University), Use Martens (Stanford University), R.J. McLaughlin (USGS-Menlo Park), and Diane Moore (USGS-Menlo Park).
Their abstract can be accessed at the Geological Socity of America’s annual meeting website.
]]>Abstract: The 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and following tsunami were unprecedented in Aceh, the northernmost province of Sumatra. In this study, we use buried sand sheets on a coastal plain to extend tsunami history 1,000 years into Aceh’s past. The 2004 tsunami deposited a sand sheet up to 1.8 km inland on a marshy beach ridge plain. Sediment cores from these coastal marshes revealed two older extensive sand sheets with similar sediment characteristics. These sheets, deposited soon after AD 1290-1400 and AD 780-990, probably represent earlier tsunamis. An additional sand sheet of limited extent might correlate with a documented smaller tsunami of AD 1907. These findings, a first step towards a paleotsunami record for northern Sumatra, suggest that damaging tsunamis in Aceh recur infrequently enough that entire human lifetimes can elapse between them. Such recurrence adds to the challenge of preparing communities along the northern Indian Ocean shorelines for future tsunamis.
This seminar is part of an ongoing Geoscience Seminar Series that occurs most Fridays from 12:15 to 1:15 in Walsh Hall, room 104.
For further information regarding this event and future seminars, please contact the Geoscience Department at 724-357-2379.
]]>The Faculty Moodle Showcase is being presented by the IT Support Center to highlight creative usage of the open-source Moodle software. Dr. Cercone will demonstrate the pedagogy she has created over the past summer and fall to engage students who prefer web surfing and text messaging to traditional pen-and-paper groupwork.
]]>His talk, “Life and Times in the Pennsylvanian Coal Swamp: The Origin of Pennsylvania’s Coal Deposits,” will take attendees back in time to the Pennsylvanian Period (roughly 300 million years ago) and describe where and how the coal seams of western Pennsylvania formed in swamps near the equator. The talk will also introduce them to the remarkable animals and plants that inhabited western Pennsylvania at that time in Earth’s history.
When: October 14, 2009, 7:00–8:00 p.m.
Where: University Museum, on the first floor of IUP’s Sutton Hall
]]>USAC is the national advisory committee for U.S. participation in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) and wider issues in scientific ocean drilling. Established through the U.S. Science Support Program, USAC is a peer-elected committee of twelve members intended to be broadly representative of the scientific community.
]]>River deltas provide wetlands, biodiversity, industrial shipping lanes, and homes to more than 25 percent of the world’s people. This public
lecture explores the processes that build these deltas, the various shapes they take, and their vulnerabilities to global change.
What: “How River Deltas Work: The Patterns and Dynamics of Distributive Fluvial Systems”
When: Thursday, October 8, 2009, 7:00 p.m.
Where: Weyandt Hall, Room 32
Dr. Rudy Slingerland is a professor of Geology in the Department of Geosciences at the Pennsylvania State University. His research group studies the evolution of morphodynamic systems such as deltas, rivers, and shallow marine shelves by coupling theory, often in the form of dynamical models, with observations in the field and subsurface. The group’s ultimate goal is develop predictive theories for the behavior of these systems and the stratal record of their deposits.
]]>The workshop in Bremen, Germany, called INVEST, is a multidisciplinary, international community meeting whose focus is to define the scientific research goals of a new ocean drilling program that is expected to replace the current Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) in late 2013.
The IODP is an international research organization that conducts seagoing expeditions to study the history of the Earth recorded in sediments and rocks beneath the ocean floor. Two drilling ships and a multipurpose drilling platform are currently used by scientists from more than two dozen countries. The U.S. operates the scientific drillship JOIDES Resolution on behalf of the National Science Foundation.
Read about Dr. Lewis’s recent time on board the D.V. Chikyu in IUP Magazine.
]]>The seminar will take place from 12:20 to 1:10 p.m. in Walsh Hall, room 104.
For further information regarding this event and future seminars, please contact the Geoscience Department at 724-357-2379.
]]>A two-year, worldwide network of observers will measure the changing brightness of the star Epsilon Aurigae. Every twenty-seven years, this star dims for two years, but the cause remains unknown. Coles made measurements of the star and join in outreach to the public to invite their observations of the star. Coles’s participation in the conference was supported by the National Science Foundation.
]]>Joe Clark, emeritus faculty member of the Geoscience Department, recently hosted two Polish scientists for a visit to Western Pennsylvania.
Professor Stanislaw Ostaficzuk, University of Silesia, and Professor Joanna Pininska, University of Warsaw, had a short and busy visit with discussions and tours of some of the environmental issues facing Western Pennsylvania. One such stop was to look at abandoned mine remediation efforts by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission along Bear Run in Indiana County.
]]>Their promotion was the result of recommendations by the department faculty, the department chair, a universitywide committee of peers, and the granting of the new rank by the university president.
]]>The Evergreen Conservancy is a local nonprofit organization working to advance the preservation, protection, and stewardship of natural, cultural, and historical resources in and around Indiana County. Yvonne has taken an active role in the organization, serving as secretary of the board, as well as attending the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association Conference in State College, Pa.
]]>This particular workshop is aimed at graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who are interested in pursuing academic careers. Discussions covered such topics as the academic job search, understanding how different students learn, effective methods for assessing learning, moving your research forward in a new setting, how to balance family and work, and many others.
It is one of the many workshops of the “On the Cutting Edge” professional development program that is supported by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
]]>The article focuses on the need for biostratigraphers to educate their colleagues on the importance of this field. PALAIOS “spotlight” articles are invited contributions that would be on a subject of interest to the broad PALAIOS readership.
View an extract of the beginning of article or contact John Taylor for full article.
]]>Congratulations go to the following students on their accomplishments:
This scholarship is awarded to an outstanding science major enrolled in the college. Matthew has excelled academically since his arrival at IUP. The Geoscience Department extends its congratulations to Matthew on his achievements.
]]>These scholarships are sponsored by ARAMARK, IUP’s food service contractor. This scholarship was awarded to Matthew for his outstanding academic record here at IUP. Congratulations to Matthew!
]]>This special edition of the GSA Bulletin focuses on over twenty years of work done off the coast of Southern California. These two chapters specifically address the sources of sediment and how that sediment is then dispersed along and across the continental shelf in that region.
His review of Glazed America—A History of the Doughnut by Paul R. Mullins brings to light his not-so-secret love of the breakfast confection. This review was done for the Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition, which notes that although he is not a nutritional anthropologist, he is a “devoted aficionado of doughnuts” and thus aptly suited to review this new work.
]]>They were awarded one of the eight awards for their proposal "Improving Systems-Based Reasoning in Students Across Disciplines by Using Qualitative Reasoning Models.” The project aims to develop and bring to the classroom models that can be used by students to develop more fully their understanding of causal relationships in complex systems—for example, climate change. One of the main tenets of science education is instilling an understanding of causal theories of phenomena, including what happened when and what caused something to happen.
]]>Participants discussed and created plans to build on the strengths of their own departments as well as the field of Geosciences as a whole. This workshop was funded by the National Science Foundation and sponsored by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, the American Geological Institute, the Geological Society of America, and the American Geophysical Union.
]]>They will be at sea for two months, and are drilling into the ocean floor in search of evidence of Earth’s climate history.
To find out more information, follow the ship’s blog, watch some YouTube videos, or become a fan on Facebook!
]]>Aaron G. Bowser (Magna Cum Laude)
Ashley M. Hague (Summa Cum Laude)
Benjamin J. Stufft
Chadwick P. Paronish
Christina L. Ritter (Summa Cum Laude)
Joseph J. Ruffini
Michael L. Huff (Dec. 2008)
Matthew J. Sagi (Summa Cum Laude)
]]>The student presentations start at 8:15 a.m. and run until 11:00 am. The keynote speaker, alumus Dr. Kevin Jones ’03, Ph.D. from Columbia University, will speak from 11:00 to noon. His talk is entitled “Neodymium Isotopes in the Ocean and Their Uses as a Tracer of Past Oceanic Conditions.”
More information, including exact times for talks and abstracts, can be found at Geoscience Day 2009.
]]>Katie was recognized at the recent annual awards luncheon sponsored by the School of Graduate Studies and Research and the IUP Research Institute.
Congratulations to Katie for receiving this award!
]]>Tina Ritter ’09 received the Patricia Hilliard Robertson Scholarship for the 2008–2009 Academic Year.
Her outstanding academic and research accomplishments were recognized at this year’s College of Natural Sciences Women in Science and Technology Proram. This award is given to an outstanding female science major in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at IUP.
]]>
Ashley and Tina presented their research on determing our planet’s paleoclimate using wind-blown dust from the seafloor in the equatorial Pacific. Ellen presented her work on the geologic strain in Taiwan determined from earthquake focal mechanisms.
]]>Ashley's project was titled “ODP Eastern Equatorial Pacific Leg 138: Eolian Dust Providing Insight Into Paleowinds and Paleolocation of the ITCZ.” Tina's project was titled “ODP Eastern Equatorial Pacific Leg 138: Eolian Dust Provides Insight Into Past and Future Climatic Conditions.” Both Ashley and Tina have been working with windborn dust particles (eolian dust) from the Equatorial Pacific seafloor to understand past climates and atmospheric circulation patterns through Earth’s history.
]]>
The program schedule is available on line from the Undergraduate Scholars Forum website.
]]>This is an opportunity for educators to join scientists aboard the JOIDES Resolution scientific drilling vessel and work alongside them as they conduct scientific research. The research expedition is to the Juan de Fuca Ridge off the Northwest coast of the United States investigating the tectonics, sedimentology, biostratigraphy, and much more about this interesting region of the ocean floor.
Congratulations to Heather!
]]>They were introduced to well construction, environmental sampling techniques, monitoring equipment, and designing a drilling program. The workshop was offered to prepare students for jobs in the geosciences and to introduce them to professionals in the field today.
]]>His grant will go towards the preparation of thin sections for petrographic study.
]]>Telescopes will be set up for the public to join in on April 2, 3, and 4 from 7:30 to 9:30 each evening (weather permitting). They will be set up on the lawn to the west of the HUB parking lot.
Come join us as we participate in this global event.
For more information, contact Dr. Ken Coles by phone (724-357-5626) or e-mail (kcoles@iup.edu).
See the IUP Planetarium Website for more details about this and future events.
Sponsored by the Geoscience Department and the College of Natural Science and Mathematics.
]]>Date: April 3, 2009, 12:15–1:15 p.m.
Location: Walsh Hall, Room 104
For further information regarding this event, please contact the Geoscience Department at 724-357-2379.
]]>The planetarium is in the east side of Weyandt Hall (the side away from the Oak Grove). Doors open at 6:45 p.m. If the weather permits, after the show we will take a small telescope or two outside for viewing the sky.
Seating for the shows is first-come, first-seated; it’s not feasible for us to take advance reservations. If you want to bring a large group (i.e., ten or more people), do contact us so we can discuss how to accommodate you, as seating is limited. Call 724-357-5626 or e-mail kcoles@iup.edu.
See the IUP Planetarium Website for more details about this and future shows.
Sponsored by the Geoscience Department and the College of Natural Science and Mathematics.
]]>Congratulations go to the following students on their accomplishments:
For further information regarding this event, please contact the Geosciences Department at 724-357-2379 or by e-mail at iup.geosciences@gmail.com.
]]>The Penguin Bowl is a regional competition of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl held each year.
]]>Congratulations and thanks go to Dr. Ken Coles, and his colleagues, for their hard work on the accreditation report.
Graduates of this program are certified to teach Earth and Space Science in grades seven through twelve and go on to teach in schools in Pennsylvania and many other states.
]]>
View full list of authors, abstract, and additional information.
]]>He will talk about what these energetic forms of light are, how they are observed, and what they show us about objects in the sky. A look at the current night sky will also be part of the discussion. The show is free to the public and runs about forty minutes in length.
The shows are first come, first seated; it is not feasible for us to take advance reservations. If you want to bring a large group (i.e. ten or more people), do contact us so we can discuss how to accommodate you, as seating is limited. Contact information: 724-357-5626 or kcoles@iup.edu.
See the IUP Planetarium website for more details about this and future shows.
Sponsored by the Geoscience Department and the College of Natural Science and Mathematics.
]]>Congratulations to Katie on receiving this award!
]]>Dr. Clark was a faculty member at IUP from 1972 to 2004. He taught courses in Environmental Geology and Subsurface Geology and contributed significantly to our understanding of California Fault Zone geology and earthquake hazards through his work with the U.S. Geological Survey. He was a role model to faculty colleagues and students alike with his devotion to learning and his integrity to research science. His mentorship guided many students into graduate programs and into professional careers as geologists.
]]>
Abstract:
Rivers provide the primary link between land and sea, annually discharging about 36,000 km3 of freshwater and approximately 18 x 109 tons of solid and dissolved material to the global coastal ocean. Together with geomorphology and oceanographic setting, rivers help determine the character of the estuarine and coastal environment. Although discharged fluvial water and sediments are generally confined to the coastal zone, if the river is sufficiently large (e.g., the Amazon) or the shelf sufficiently narrow (e.g., western Java), plumes of sediment and water can travel to or beyond the shelf edge. The fate of the discharged material is important for understanding coastal sedimentary environments as well as playing a key role in the cycles of both carbon and pollutants introduced through this pathway. The controls on the delivery, and ultimately the fate of the delivered material, are local, regional, and global in scale. Quantifying these controls will lead to a better understanding of our earth’s past, as well as the future.
]]>Schedule:
9:00–10 a.m. — Coffee and donuts with faculty and students (Walsh 117)
10:10–11:00 a.m. — Q&A with students in Physical Geology (Weyandt 134)
11:00–11:30 a.m. — Discussion about working for “Big Oil” (Walsh 117)
1:30–3:00 p.m. — Young Alumni Achievers’ Reception (Crimson Event Center)
3:00–4:00 p.m. — Careers opportunities with Exxon Mobil (Walsh 106)
]]>Who: Karen Cohen of the U.S. Dept. of Energy
Date: October 20, 2008, 12:15 p.m.
Location: Walsh Hall, Room 104, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Contact: For further information regarding this event, please contact the Geosciences Department at 724-357-2379 or by e-mail at iup.geosciences@gmail.com.
Dr. Ken Coles will present an informational, free planetarium show. Come “See Space in 3-D” at an updated version of one of our most popular planetarium shows. The show is free to the public, and as this is Family Weekend, you must meet at the Hadley Union Building at 9:30 or 11:00 a.m. to get tickets (free) rather than at the Planetarium.
See the IUP Planetarium Website for more details about this and future shows.
Sponsored by the Geoscience Department and the College of Natural Science and Mathematics.
]]>A full report and pictures will soon be available on the Geoscience alumni page.
]]>Ashley Hague (’09) was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship from IUP’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics as well as a highly competitive scholarship from the Scholarship Alliance of the American Council of Independent Laboratories.
Tina Ritter (’09) was awarded the Patricia Hilliard Robertson Scholarship. This award is given to an outstanding female science major in the College of Natural Science and Mathematics here at IUP.
]]>Ashley will present the results of her summer work on “The Natural Gas Potential of Deep Plays in Westmoreland and Indiana Counties, Pennsylvania” on Tuesday to employees and guests of EXCO-North Coast Energy. Her presentation will discuss the natural gas potential of certain deep plays in Westmoreland and Indiana counties, Pennsylvania. Included will be the Marcellus Shale Play and the Huntersville Chert/Oriskany Sandstone Play. Potential tests on EXCO-North Coast Energy leases will be proposed.
]]>Those interested can find abstract and citation information at ScienceDirect.
]]>Where: IUP, Weyandt Hall Planetarium
When: April 25, 2008 8:30 a.m. – noon
Presentations will include:
Dr. David K. Brezinski (IUP 1977): “Influences of Climate on Late Devonian Depositional Systems of the Central Appalachians”
]]>See the IUP Planetarium Website for more details about this and future shows.
Sponsored by the IUP Geoscience Department and the IUP College of Natural Science and Mathematics
]]>
Check out the submission page for more information.
]]>Who: Julie Huber of the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass.
Date: March 28, 2008, 3:30 p.m.
Location: Weyandt Hall, Room 32, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Contact: For further information regarding this event, please contact the Geosciences Department at 724-357-2379 or by e-mail at iup.geosciences@gmail.com.
The world’s oceans are teeming with microscopic life forms, encompassing a staggering amount of diversity. Although they are largely invisible to the naked eye, microbial communities of untold diversity dominate nearly every corner of our oceans, from the deepest marine sediments to the sun-drenched coral reefs. Despite their crucial role in elemental cycling and earth’s evolution, the marine microbial world remains vastly undersampled, and our understanding of these microbial communities severely limited.
The deep sea is one of the least explored parts of the microbial world, and until only thirty years ago, scientists believed that, because it was devoid of sunlight and plants, there was no life there. The discovery of thriving animal and microbial communities at the Galapagos spreading ridge in 1977 changed our fundamental perceptions of life on planet Earth. The chemistry of hydrothermal vents creates many habitats for microbial and animal communities, all of which are intimately linked to and dependent on the geochemistry of their environment. These organisms encounter many conditions that we humans consider too extreme—too hot, too toxic, too little oxygen—but microbes seem to find a way and continue to push the limits of life.
An impetus for studying life at deep-sea hydrothermal vents is that life may have originated and evolved near hydrothermal systems and that organisms currently living in these likely analogues of early habitats may still harbor characteristics of early life. In addition, microbes unique to the hydrothermal vents could provide insight into metabolic processes, strategies for growth, and survival of life on solar bodies with a water history, such as Mars and Jupiter’s moon Europa. With a sample size of only one, the search for life beyond Earth must begin with life as we know it on Earth. Using examples from research expeditions around the globe, we will explore this extreme life on Earth at deep-sea hydrothermal vents.
For more information on Julie Huber, visit her homepage.
]]>Congratulations to Jon on receiving this award!
]]>The Geoscience Department seminar to be presented by Peter Flemings of the University of Texas, Austin, will discuss how sedimentation, combined with changes in climate and the associated sea-level change, can induce large submarine landslides.
When fine-grained sediments are deposited unevenly above a confined aquifer, flow is driven laterally, effective stresses above the aquifer are reduced, and slope failure can occur. This process is like stepping on a water balloon: rapid sedimentation acting as the “heel” drives water toward the “toe,” where its high pressure causes large blocks of sediment to slide downhill. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 308, named “Gulf of Mexico Hydrogeology,” examined pore pressure, fluid flow, and slope stability at the mouth of the Mississippi delta—one of the great sediment dumps of the world. We found an abrupt jump in pressure immediately beneath a zone of large submarine landslides that span hundreds of square miles and conclude that sedimentation, driven by changes in climate and associated sea-level change, generates pressure, drives fluid flow, and induces landslides. In the Pleistocene, during sea level low stands, this process may have set loose significant submarine landslides around the world. Ultimately these studies may allow us to predict in what locations around the world submarine landslides are more likely—and hence what structures and local populations are at greater risk.
See more information about Peter Flemings.
]]>Congratulations to Ken on receiving this well deserved award!
]]>From the Geoscience Department:
Dave Frick
Ashley Hague
Tina Ritter
Joe Ruffini
Mallory Zelawski
From the Biology Department:
Tara Klos
]]>Who: John Harper of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey
Date: March 21, 2008 3:00 p.m.
Location: Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Weyandt Hall, Room 32
Contact: For further information regarding this event, please contact the Geoscience Department at 724-357-2379 or by e-mail to iup.geosciences@gmail.com.
The Geoscience Department seminar, presented by John Harper of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, will discuss subsurface carbon sequestration as a proposed technology to allow for the long-term storage of carbon emissions. This would result in a reduction in overall greenhouse gas released to the atmosphere, potentially having an impact on global climate.
Abstract of Talk:
Removing greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), from the atmosphere in order to affect climate change has become a long-term goal in this country as well as in many other parts of the world. One of the ways to remove CO2 is through carbon capture and storage (CCS), which involves removing CO2 from flue gases and storing it in such a way as to keep it locked up indefinitely. One of these ways is to sequester the CO2 in underground rock reservoirs, or “sinks.” The primary attraction of geological sequestration is the potential for direct and long-term storage of captured CO2 emissions in close proximity to the CO2 source. It is a proven technology in many parts of the world, especially where it is used for enhanced oil recovery. Geological sinks include a variety of reservoirs types, each having unique opportunities as well as problems that must be considered before storage begins.
The Pennsylvania Geologic Survey, in conjunction with the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP), has been involved in geological sequestration studies since 2003. MRCSP is a seven-state partnership led by Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio, that includes government agencies, universities, environmental organizations, and industry from Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. MRCSP has been charged with assessing the technical potential, economic viability, and public acceptability of carbon sequestration within the region. The region is a major source of CO2 – more than 600 stationary facilities are considered CO2 point sources, about half of which are responsible for emitting more than 800 million tons of CO2 per year. During Phase I, the geological team studied the regional geology of the area to delineate the most promising prospective geological reservoirs and sinks for CO2 sequestration through data collection, interpretation, and mapping. Initial results indicate that Pennsylvania’s rock reservoirs have the potential capacity to store an enormous amount of CO2.
In 2006, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), parent agency of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, began efforts to study and make recommendations for managing carbon within the state. The main objective is to develop a meaningful carbon management plan that is compatible with the core mission programs of the department. During this process, DCNR and its multitude of partners hope to understand and effectively exploit both terrestrial and geological sequestration opportunities within Pennsylvania, initially through encouraging (and, perhaps, helping to fund) demonstration sequestration projects, and eventually through such mechanisms as carbon credit trading. DCNR wants to offset at least a portion of Pennsylvania's greenhouse gas emissions while capturing any potential co-benefits such as enhancing the recovery of oil and natural gas and the growth of the state’s large forest and agricultural resources.
]]>
See the IUP Planetarium Website for more details about this and future shows.
]]>“Teaching, learning, and scholarship represent the heart and soul of the university's mission," IUP President Tony Atwater said when he presented Steve with this award in June 2007. "Our faculty members reflect the very best of the teacher-scholar model, and it is most appropriate to honor the "best of the best" with this prestigious honor, which represents extraordinary instructional and intellectual success."
Congrats, Steve!
Learn more about Dr. Hovan's research...]]>