Geological and Mining Engineering and Science News

Category: News

Tech Researcher Gets Mine Safety Grant

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The iStock_000006629083Large_0US Mine Safety and Health Administration has awarded $10,537,000 in mine safety grants, including $249,257 to Michigan Tech. The funds are intended to reduce mining accidents, injuries, and illnesses by supporting safety and health courses and other programs.

Grant recipients will use the funding to provide miners with the federally mandated training required for all miners working at surface and underground coal and metal/non-metal mines.

Principal investigator on the grant at Michigan Tech is Matthew Portfleet (GMES), assistant director of the University’s Mine Safety Program.

 

(Original post by Jenn Donovan in Tech Today, November 20, 2017)

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University of Maryland Grant for Simon Carn

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Volcanic SO2 PlumeSimon Carn (GMES/EPSSI), is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $71,762 research and development grant from the University of Maryland.

The project is titled “Advancing NASA OMI SO2 Product: Enabling New Science Analyses, Applications, and Long-Term, Multi-Satellite Monitoring.”

This is the first year of a three-year project potentially totaling $219,881.

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Chemistry Rocks Event

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VolcanoChemistry Rocks!, a day of fun and learning, takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 11, 2017) in the Forestry Building atrium. Participants can:

  • Make Mineral Snowflakes
  • Grow Mineral Crystals
  • Explore “Copper and More”
  • See Local Rocks and Minerals
  • “Why do gemstones have different colors”
  • Other Fun Geochemistry Activities

There will be a volcano contest, so bring and erupt your volcano and compete against other schools for prizes.

Chemistry Rocks! is sponsored by the Michigan Tech Student Affiliate Chapter of the American Chemical Society, Portage Lake District Library, Quincy Mine Hoist Association, Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative and the Geology Club at Michigan Tech.

By the American Chemical Society Upper Peninsula Local Section.

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Sullivan Mineral Collection Donated to Museum

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A. E. Seaman Mineral MuseumThe A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum announces the recent generous donation of a mineral collection by Kate Sullivan of Ann Arbor. Sullivan’s late husband, Don (DJ) Sullivan, assembled the collection of about 500 specimens over several decades.

The collection consists mostly of minerals, but also a few fossils including a fossil dinosaur egg from China. There are a variety of mineral specimens such as polished spheres and freeforms, amethyst geode slices and an outstanding polished agate slice.

Among the more notable specimens are emerald in matrix from China, tourmaline in quartz from Pariaba, Brazil, chalcopyrite on calcite from Romania, a beautiful pink gemstone variety of spodumene, kunzite from Afghanistan and multiple specimens of boulder opal from Australia. There will be multiple specimens from this collection that will be accessioned into Michigan Tech’s permanent mineral collection after evaluation is completed.

DJ Sullivan attended Michigan Tech in the late 1950s. He earned a MS in Industrial Engineering at Wayne State University followed by a career in healthcare management. His company, DJ Sullivan & Associates, focused on surgical suite design and management throughout the US and Canada.

By Ted Bornhorst, A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum

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Black and White and Red All Over

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sandstoneThe Keweenaw Peninsula shoreline tells a billion-year-old story forged in fire, sculpted by ice. Geoheritage tours teach visitors and residents how to read the variegated cliffs, long-tailed tombolos and shifting sands. To see where volcanoes, glaciers and humans irrevocably altered topography. Bill Rose, a Michigan Tech professor emeritus of geology who developed and leads the tours, calls it “geopoetry.” View full story here.

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A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum Represented at Gem and Mineral Show

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73rd Greater Detroit Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show
73rd Greater Detroit Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show

The A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum participated in the 73rd Annual Greater Detroit Gem, Mineral, & Fossil show held at Macomb Community College in Warren from Oct. 13 to 15, 2017. The show was sponsored by the Michigan Mineralogical Society.

Ted Bornhorst, executive director of the museum, installed two exhibits that were prepared by Chris Stefano, associate curator. One of these exhibits was titled “Supergene Oxidation: Making Colorful Minerals out of Dark Minerals” and fit with the show’s theme, “The Dark Side of Gems & Minerals.” The second exhibit was titled “Clay Canyon, Utah Variscite Nodules from the George B. Robbe Collection.” Robbe was a 1913 alum of Michigan Tech and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University in 1961. His mineral collection was donated to the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum in 1967. His personally-collected variscite suite is among the finest from this notable locality.

On Sunday Oct.15, the museum held a silent auction in collaboration with the Michigan Mineralogical Society and Bornhorst gave an invited lecture titled “Cubic Pyrite Crystals from Navajún, Spain.”

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Mark Kulie Gives Invited Talk for NASA Science Team Meeting

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Mark Kulie
Mark Kulie

Mark Kulie (GMES/EPSSI/GLRC) presented an invited talk entitled “Snowfall in the GPM Era: Assessing GPM Snowfall Retrievals Using Independent Spaceborne, Reanalysis, and Ground-Based Datasets” at the 2017 NASA Precipitation Measurement Missions Science Team Meeting in San Diego, CA.

He also presented a poster entitled “Ground-Based Profiling Radar Applications for Spaceborne Snowfall Retrievals” at the same meeting.

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Bornhorst Publishes on the Native Copper District

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Native Copper OccurrencesTed Bornhorst, executive director of the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum, and professor (GMES) recently published an article in Minerals – an Open access Mining and Mineral Processing Journal. Bornhorst’s article was titled “Copper isotope constraints on the genesis of the Keweenaw Peninsula native copper district, Michigan, USA” and was co-authored by Ryan Mathur, professor and chair of geology at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

Minerals 2017, 7(10), 185; doi:10.3390/min7100185

Abstract

The Keweenaw Peninsula native copper district of Michigan, USA is the largest concentration of native copper in the world. The copper isotopic composition of native copper was measured from stratabound and vein deposits, hosted by multiple rift-filling basalt-dominated stratigraphic horizons over 110 km of strike length. READ MORE

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Aleksey Smirnov Elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of America

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Aleksey Smirnov
Aleksey Smirnov

Aleksey Smirnov (GMES), has been elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA), as elected by the GSA Council.

Established in 1888, the GSA is a global professional society with more than 26,000 members in 110 countries, all working to advance geoscience research and discovery. The society unites thousands of earth scientists, like Smirnov, to study the perplexity of our planet and share scientific findings.

Society Fellowship, the highest level of membership, is an honor bestowed on the best in the profession by election by the GSA council. GSA members are nominated by existing GSA Fellows in recognition of their distinguished contributions to the geosciences through such avenues as publications, applied research, teaching, administration of geological programs, contributing to the public awareness of geology, leadership of professional organizations, and taking on editorial, bibliographic, and library responsibilities.

In his nomination letter, John A. Tarduno, University of Rochester, wrote “Aleksey is recognized for his advances in fundamental rock magnetism and related innovative applications of paleomagnetism to solve geologic problems, especially concerning the nature of the early geodynamo and core.”

On being elected a Fellow, Smirnov says “I am truly honored to be joining others as a newly elected GSA Fellow”.

Smirnov has authored or coauthored 49 peer-reviewed journals and about 80 conference publications. He has been an associate editor for Journal of Geophysical Research since 2005.

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