News and Information: News-March 2004

Previous editions of newsletter, and PDF versions.

CONTENTS

Seven Summits of the Solar System

Olympus Mons on Mars is the solar system’s highest mountain, rising 15 miles above the surrounding plain. What would it take to climb such a peak and the highest summits of six other planets? Find out by attending the 2004 Family night presentation by Joe Romig and Glen Porzak. Joe Romig is an astrophysicist associated with the University of Colorado who has been a member of the Voyager space probe science team. Glen Porzak is a climber who has scaled the highest peaks of all the continents on Earth. Romig will provide a guided tour of the solar system and will serve as Porzak’s “consultant” on certain lofty summits in the solar system. Porzak will then describe how these might be scaled by climbers in the 21^st century, relying on his own ascent of Mount Everest. The talk will be illustrated with slides and videos in the spectacular Fiske Planetarium at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Be sure to come early to enjoy the planetarium exhibits in the lobby.

Please fill out the form later in the newsletter if you plan to come to the presentation. Considering the late date for the announcement, you can either send in your registration no later than Friday, April 16, or bring the completed registration form and your payment to the Fiske Planetarium before the presentation on April 20. The doors to the Planetarium will be open at 6:30 PM. Make your checks out to the Colorado Scientific Society. See the map with the registration form for the location of the Fiske Planetarium and where to park.

As many of you know, the CSS Symposium on the Geology of the Front Range and its associated field trip was a great success. The lecture hall at the Benson Earth Sciences Building at the University of Colorado was essentially filled for the entire day of the symposium. One hundred eighty people signed the guest book, and of these 55% were professional geologist, 32% were amateur geologists, 7% were students, and 6% were nonuniversity teachers. The attendance shows there is a great local interest in the geology of Colorado. Many thanks to the University and to the Department of Geological Sciences for donating the meeting hall. I also thank the speakers for their participation, the Colorado Geological Survey (especially Vince Matthews and Matt Morgan) for producing the abstract volume, Mary-Margaret Coates for her editorial work on the abstracts, the Department of Geological Science for providing refreshments during the breaks, and Augustina’s Winery in Boulder for wine during the postsymposium reception.

The field trip’s 65 participants visited five stops between Golden and Coal Creek Canyon. The leaders, Bob Weimer, Tom Davis, Lisa Lytle, and Thom Fisher, with help from Randy Ray, did an excellent job of showing the Laramide structures and Precambrian rocks. The leaders’ comments sparked animated discussion among the participants, many of whom had given talks the day before. Finally, many thanks goes to Kathy Brill for arranging the lunches and snacks, and to the drivers, Terry Hiester, Chris Morrison, and Bart Weis. After a rainy day Saturday, the Sunday field trip day was sunny and cool—perfect weather for a great trip.

It is my hope that the Society will continue sponsoring symposia on the geology of Colorado and the surrounding areas. I propose that the next symposium be on the timely topic of the geology and ground water resources of the Denver basin— either next year or the year after. I encourage the CSS members to let me know what they think about future symposia and how to keep this program continuing.

The Society runs on the contributions of many people. CSS needs people to fill the positions of Membership chair, Publicity chair, chair of the Best Paper Award, and Webmaster.

The Membership chair will develop and distribute a new society flyer (simple but effective folded pamphlet), devise ideas for encouraging students and more USGS people to join, provide membership fliers during the talks, field trips, and symposia, and make available a guest book for guests to sign at meetings. The chair should be able to attend CSS events regularly. The chair will also track the status of the Society’s membership and present this information at the Council meetings.

The Publicity chair will announce upcoming activities by preparing information for local newspapers, the CSS newsletter and webpage, e-mail reminders, and by arranging for fliers to be posted. The Publicity chair should also attend Council meetings to keep abreast of upcoming activities.

A chair for Best Paper Award committee will, with two other committee members, judge each talk during the year. The award recipient will be announced during the December meeting.

The Society needs a new Webmaster who can continue developing our webpage—adding information about field trips, abstracts of all talks, perhaps abstracts from the symposia, and monthly updates on news and events. (Bill Wingle, our current webmaster, will step down this year.)

Please consider a one-year commitment to one of these positions. Contact Emmett Evanoff at emmettevanoff@earthlink.net if you are interested in volunteering.

May 29 (Saturday) The Colorado Front Range – Anatomy of a Laramide uplift. Leaders: Karl Kellogg, Bruce Bryant, and Jack Reed    August 14 (Saturday) Continental accretion – Colorado style: Proterozoic Island arcs and back arcs of the central Front Range. Leaders: Lisa Lytle and Thom Fisher June 19 (Saturday) The Cenozoic geology and fossils of the Pawnee Buttes area, northeast Colorado Leader: Emmett Evanoff    September 2–26 (Thursday–Sunday) The Black Hills and Badlands, South Dakota. Leaders: John Lufkin, Jack Redden, and Emmett Evanoff Dinosaur Ridge—Call for volunteers By Marge Mac Laughlan Love to talk about dinosaurs? or about sedimentary depositional processes? or the Precambrian? Volunteer to guide school tours at Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison or at the Parfet Golf Course in Golden. Volunteers are needed during the week and on weekends. Volunteers will be trained at Dinosaur Ridge in April. For more information call: 303-697-DINO Vince Matthews appointed Colorado State Geologist By Emmett Evanoff Congratulations to Vince Matthews, CSS President-elect, who on March 3 was appointed State Geologist of Colorado. Vince has been at the Colorado Geological Survey for the past four years as Senior Science Advisor. He has over 20 years experience in the petroleum industry and at various universities, including the University of Northern Colorado. Vince has studied extensively Laramide structures and modern active faults in Colorado, and he has published on the San Andreas fault, global tectonics, subduction zone tectonics, and igneous and metamorphic petrology. Vince is now the steward of the state survey that oversees the identification and mitigation of geologic hazards in Colorado, promotes responsible economic development of mineral and mineral fuel resources, and helps to educate the citizens of Colorado on their geologic heritage. “Did You Know?”—Colorado sand dunes By Vince Matthews, Colorado Geological Survey Did you know that Colorado has more than 30,000 square miles of wind-blown deposits and an example of virtually every kind of sand dune known—including fossil sand dunes? Colorado is rich in spectacular sand dunes of all ages, including huge modern-day dunes, extensive Pleistocene dunes and fossilized, 250 million-year-old dunes that supply most of the flagstone to the Front Range metropolitan area. The state has examples of most of the types of eolian deposits: loess, parabolic dunes, star dunes, barchan dunes, transverse dunes, sand sheets, compound dunes, reversing dunes, crescentic dunes, and blowout dunes. Eolian deposits are widespread in Colorado. Deposits are located in the southwestern part of the state in the Paradox Valley, in the northwestern part near the Little Snake River, in the north-central part along the eastern edge of North Park, and along the eastern edge of the San Luis Valley. However, the largest eolian deposits are found east of the Rocky Mountains on Colorado’s high plains where 30,000+ square miles are covered by wind-laid deposits of loess (70%) and sand (30%). The South Platte and Wray dune fields of northeastern Colorado are Colorado’s two largest dune fields. Together, they cover nearly 5000 square miles. Colorado’s most famous dunes are found in the San Luis Valley of south-central Colorado in Great Sand Dunes National Park where the mounds of sand grow to the height of a 70-story building, 20 stories higher than the tallest building in downtown Denver. Mineral auctions By Bruce Geller The Colorado Mineral Society (CMS) will have its annual silent auction of mineral hobby items on May 8. The event will be held at the Lakewood Link Recreation Center (1295 S. Reed St., five blocks east of Wadsworth Blvd. and two blocks south of Mississippi) from 1:00 to 4:00 P.M. The auction offers reasonably priced minerals, fossils, faceted stones, lapidary equipment, books, and jewelry to the general public. Visitors can view and bid on fluorescent minerals in a special ultraviolet powered Fluorescent Room. Door prizes are awarded every half hour, and museum-quality specimens will be auctioned at 2:30 P.M. There is abundant parking, refreshments, and easy handicap access. As always, a few auction tables are reserved for children to bid on. A special invitation is extended to non-CMS members. Sellers are requested to preregister by phoning Leslie Osgood (303-986-4488). The Colorado Chapter of the Friends of Mineralogy will hold its annual silent auction of mineral hobby items on May 22 at the Glendale Community Center located at 999 S. Clermont (near the intersection of Mississippi and Colorado Blvd.), from 1:00 to 3:00 P.M. This auction offers reasonably priced minerals, faceted stones, books, and mining paraphernalia to the general public. Museum-quality specimens will be auctioned at 2:00 P.M. Admission is free to both auctions. All interested sellers and buyers are invited to phone Bruce Geller at 303-237-2947 for further details April Skies By Terry Hiester April hosts a rather rare event—the five planets visible to the naked eye will still be aligned in the southern sky during the beginning of April. On April 1 Venus will put on a spectacular show just south of the Pleiades in the southern sky. Venus waxes and wanes like the moon and it will be just about full on April 1. The Moon will wind its way close to Venus and Jupiter near the beginning and end of the month. The Moon will go through the constellation Leo (the lion) near the end of April. Leo is one of the few constellations that does look like its namesake. Leo’s head looks like a reversed question mark (?) with a long body that extends to the left (east). If you happen to be in southern Africa on April 19, you will be able to see a partial solar eclipse. Sadly, our next solar eclipse won’t be seen in Colorado until May 20, 2012. The eclipse will be seen only in the southwest corner of Colorado, so I guess we’ll all have to do field work near Cortez at that time. A word on measuring distances in the sky. The units of arc are in degrees, minutes and seconds. To measure these for yourself, the side to side distance of your fist with your arm outstretched is 10 degrees. Your first three fingers at the end of your outstretched arms covers 5 degrees. Put together a fist and three fingers and you can measure 15 degrees of arc, about the distance a star directly overhead will move in one hour. Amaze your friends by using this method to tell time even at night. and coming in May... Changes in loess and dune deposition in response to Quaternary climatic fluctuations, Columbia Plateau, Pacific Northwest, by Alan Busacca Search for Life on Mars, by Bruce Jakosky Register for CSS Family Night—Tuesday, April 20 Registration for the Colorado Scientific Society 2004 Family Night Presenation: Seven Summits of the Solar System Name: _______________________________ Phone: _______________________________ E-Mail: _______________________________ Number of Participants: ____________ Total CSS Members: ___________ @ $5/person $ _______ (includes spouses) Nonmembers: ___________ @ $6/person $ _______ Students*: ___________ @ $3/person $ _______ *Name of School: ___________________________________________________________ secondary school, college, or university Total for all attending $ _______ For early registration, send this form and your check to Emmett Evanoff, Department of Geological Sciences, 399 UCB, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0399 Map showing the location of the Fiske Planetarium in Boulder, and where to park. Earth Science Meetings and Talks Newsletter items must be received by the 4th of each month. Items may include special events, open houses, etc...thanks! Colorado Scientific Society's regular meetings are held the third Thursday of the month (unless otherwise advertised). Social time begins at 6:30 p.m. and presentations start at 7:00 p.m. For info., contact Jim Cappa at (303) 866-3393, jim.cappa@state.co.us. Denver Mining Club meets every Monday (except when noted) at Country Buffet near Bowles and Wadsworth (at 8100 W. Crestline Ave.) 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. For additional information contact Dick Beach, (303) 986-6535. See past and future DMC talks at the web site: http://www.china-resources.net/. Mining in Greenland, March 8—Lou Cope, Process/Placer Consultant. An Overview of U.S. Gold: 27 Years and Still Going, March 15—Bill Reid, President, U.S. Gold Corp. Mining motifs in pictures and art objects of the last five centuries, March 22—W. Tony Seiler, Mining Engineer. I left gold (Addwest Minerals) during the price downturn. Do I go back? March 29—Charlie Williams, President, Water Remediation Technology (zeolites). Denver International Petroleum Society meets the 2nd Friday of each month at the Wynkoop Brewing Co., 18th and Wynkoop Streets. Reception begins at 11:30 a.m., luncheon at 12 p.m., program at 12:30 p.m. Make reservations (required) by leaving message at (303) 623-5396. Reservations accepted after 8 a.m. on Friday until 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday prior to the meeting. Cancellations accepted until 11:00 am Wednesday prior to the meeting. Cost: $15 for lunches; talk only is available for $2 (make checks payable to "D.I.P.S."). Keith Murray at (303) 986-8554 for information. Denver Region Exploration Geologists' Society (DREGS) meets in the Mutual Consolidated Water Building, 12700 West 27th Avenue, Lakewood. Social hour 6:00-7:00 p.m. Technical presentation at 7:00 p.m. Meetings are normally scheduled for the first Monday of each month. For information contact Jim Piper, (303) 932-0134, or the website http://www.dregs.org/. Denver Well Logging Society (DWLS) meets on the third Tuesday of each month, Sept. through May. Lunch and a technical talk at the Wynkoop Brewery begins at 11:30 a.m., 18th and Wynkoop Sts. in Denver. Subject matter usually deals with the application of well logs to oil and gas exploration. Call Elice Wickham at 303-573-2781 for reservations. Web page: http://dwls.spwla.org/. Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) Reception at 11:30 a.m., lunch at 12:00 p.m., talk at 12:30 p.m. Reservations are taken by recording at 303-623-5396 until 10:30 a.m., Wed. before the luncheon. Cancellations are taken until 11:00 a.m. on Wed. at 303-573-8621. Luncheon cost is $20 payable to RMAG at the door. Reservations are not required for talk only---cost is $3. Meeting location: Denver Petroleum Club, Anaconda Tower, 555-17th St, 37th floor. TBA, March 19. The Real Father of Geology, April 2—Ray Thomasson, Thomasson Partner Associates. Web page: http://www.rmag.org. Friends of Dinosaur Ridge and the Morrison Natural History Museum 7:00 pm at Red Rocks Elementary School in Morrison, CO. Join now. Web page: http://www.dinoridge.org/. University of Colorado at Boulder, Geological Sciences Colloquium Wednesdays, 4:00-5:30 p.m., Rm. 180. Refreshments at 3:30 p.m on the 3rd floor. For info., call 303-492-8141. Web page: http://www.colorado.edu/GeolSci/. H2 and HD in Earth's atmosphere: A little something for everyone, March 10—Thomas Rahn, Los Alamos National Laboratory. Fossil mammals, stable isotopes, and C3/C4 communities in deep time, March 17—Bruce McFadden, Florida Museum of Natural History. TBA, March 31—Kevin McKeegan, UCLA. Core Complex: Insights from both the continents and oceans, April 7—Barbara John, University of Wyoming. Colorado School of Mines Van Tuyl Lectures Fridays 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Berthoud Hall, room 108. TBA, March 12. Warren Hamilton, CSM. The Hugo Dummett Cu-Au Porphyry Deposit, Oyu Tolgoi, Mongolia: Thrill in the Gobi Desert, March 26—Elisabeth Ronacher, CSM. TBA, April 2, Robert S. Anderson, University of Colorado, Boulder. Web page: http://www.mines.edu/academic/geology/calendar/vantuyl.html For a constantly updated, online geo-calendar, visit the Colorado Geological Survey at: http://geosurvey.state.co.us/pubs/outreach_cal/GEOCALENDAR.htm