Geological and Mining Engineering and Science News

Michigan Tech Alumni & Friends: Join us in Phoenix on Sunday, Feb. 23 for our SME Pasty Social

Published February 7, 2020

News

The Geological & Mining Engineering & Sciences (GMES) Department invites Michigan Tech alumni and families for a pasty social in Phoenix, Arizona. Join us on Sunday, Feb. 23, from 6-9 pm, at the Cornish Pasty Co., 7 West Monroe St. in downtown Phoenix, Arizona.

The GMES Department will provide the first round and some appetizers. Alumni prizes to be raffled off with no purchase required. For those attending the SME Conference, this event is in lieu of the traditional conference social on Tuesday.

All alumni & friends are welcome to join us for this casual evening out! Faculty and students will be in attendance. We hope that alumni and friends attending SME or are otherwise in the local area will join us and bring your families. Please register here: http://www.cvent.com/d/mnq8v8

We are so pleased to announce that our first design team in the SME/NSSGA Student Design Competition has advanced to the second phase of the competition, which occurs at the upcoming SME Conference. Our team was among the top six to advance. Read more here.

Craving a pasty and curious about the history and recipes? Check out this article from MTU Archives: “There’s something about a pasty that is fine, fine, fine!”

Ted Bornhorst on Finding Mineral Sodalite

Published February 4, 2020

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Ted Bornhorst (GMES), executive director of the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum was quoted in the story “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Stone!” in Michigan Blue. The story involved fluorescent rocks, popularly known as Yooperlites.

To find the fluorescing stones, Erik Rintamaki recommends Lake Superior beaches anywhere “from Whitefish Point west.” Theodore Bornhorst suggests scouring the Keweenaw Peninsula shoreline from Copper Harbor to Ontonagon. Prime picking comes in early spring after winter ice picks up stones from deeper water and transports them to the beach.

Earth MRI Project Funding for James DeGraff

Published January 20, 2020

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News

James DeGraff (GMES/EPSSI) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $83,995 research and development cooperative agreement with Western Michigan University. This project is titled, “Bedrock Map, Dickinson County Quadrangle and Portions of Quadrangles, Earth MRI Project (Carney Lake, Felch, Foster City, Vulcan, Waucedah, Faithorn, and Cunard, 7.5 Minute Quadrangles), Central UP Michigan.”

Aleksey Smirnov, (GMES/EPSSI) and Chad Deering (GMES/EPSSI) are Co-PI’s on this potential two-year project.

Simon Carn on the Taal Volcano

Published January 16, 2020

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News

Aerial view of the plume from the eruption. — NASA Image of Taal

Simon Carn (GMES) was quoted in the article “Map shows Taal Volcano spewing sulfur into atmosphere,” in the Philippine Star. Carn was also quoted in “Taal volcano eruption: NASA satellite scans reveal TOXIC sulphur clouds spewing from Taal,” in the Express (UK).

Although the levels of SO2 released by Taal have so far been tolerable, Michigan volcanologist Simon Carn fears more of the toxic gas could be still be released.

He said: “However, it is possible that the Taal eruption could continue and produce more SO2 in the coming days.”

In the News

Simon Carn (GMES) was quoted in the story “Huge Taal volcano eruption is seen from SPACE by Japan’s satellite,” in the Daily Mail (UK).

Carn was quoted in the story “The Taal Eruption Looks Even More Massive When Seen From Space,” in spot.ph.

Shiliang Wu on Climate Temperature Inversion Trends

Published January 9, 2020

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News

Shiliang Wu (GMES/CEE) was quoted in the story “Climate change, inversions, and the rise of ‘super pollution’ air events,” in Environmental Health News. The story was run on several outlets including The Daily Climate.

PITTSBURGH—Residents of the Mon Valley, a cluster of townships along the Monongahela River 20 miles south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, endured some of the stinkiest and most polluted air in the nation this Christmas.

Some experts say that trend is likely to continue, and that cities around the world could see an influx of similar “super pollution events” as Earth continues to warm.

“For the last at least 60 years we have data for, we can clearly see a trend of increasing temperature inversions in midlatitude regions,” Shiliang Wu, an atmospheric chemist and associate professor at Michigan Technological University, told EHN. “I believe this trend will continue in the coming decades, which will likely lead to an increase in extreme air pollution episodes.”

In the News

Shiliang Wu (GMES/CEE) was quoted in the article “Climate change has led to more temperature inversions and the rise of ‘super pollution events,’ in GreenBiz.

GIS Team at Coastlines and People Workshop

Published December 12, 2019

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News

Daniel Lizzadro-McPherson outside showing a demo — Daniel Lizzadro-McPherson

Don Lafreniere (SS/GLRC), Ryan Williams (GLRC), Dan Lizzadro-McPherson (GMES/GLRC), and students from the Advanced GIS Methods class attended the NSF funded Coastlines and People Workshop hosted at Northern Michigan University on December 6, 2019. The Coastlines and People workshop series is working to bring scientists and stakeholders together to produce a vision for the future of sustainable coastal development in an era of dynamic climate change.

Lafreniere, Williams, and Lizzadro-McPherson introduced attendees to several projects underway at the Michigan Tech Geospatial Research Facility including the Keweenaw Time Traveler (NEH), 300 Years of Francophone Migration (SSHRC), Keweenaw Fault Mapping (USGS), and Historic Coastlines of Michigan mapping projects (EGLE). The workshop featured additional presentations from NMU and Michigan State University faculty, as well as welcome messages from the Mayor of the City of Marquette and the President of Northern Michigan University. All presentations were well received by nearly 75 attendees. Additional workshops are scheduled in 2020.

AGU Bridge Program

Published December 10, 2019

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Michigan Tech’s Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences was listed as a Bridge Program partner institution in the article “AGU’s Bridge Program Creates Opportunities for Underrepresented Students,” in Earth, Space and Science News.

In the first round of applications to the Bridge Program, AGU received 52 applications from institutions wishing to become Bridge Partners—these applicants represent 20% of the 250 active Earth and space science graduate programs in the United States. From those applications, 14 institutions were chosen as Bridge Program partners and will be featured on the AGU and AGU Bridge Program websites.

Simon Carn Comments on the Raikoke Volcano

Published October 23, 2019

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Raikoke Volcano plume from space. — Raikoke Volcano. Courtesy of NASA.

Earlier this year, astronauts in the International Space Station got a front row seat for an epic event, but it wasn’t happening in space. On June 22, the astronauts looked down at the earth and saw the Raikoke Volcano erupting , which led to some incredible images captured by NASA and other satellites.

“What a spectacular image. It reminds me of the classic Sarychev Peak astronaut photograph of an eruption in the Kuriles from about ten years ago,” said Simon Carn, a volcanologist at Michigan Tech, in a NASA statement about the volcanic eruption . “The ring of white puffy clouds at the base of the column might be a sign of ambient air being drawn into the column and the condensation of water vapor. Or it could be a rising plume from interaction between magma and seawater because Raikoke is a small island and flows likely entered the water.”

Rose and Vye on Jacobsville Sandstone and Keweenaw Geoheritage Efforts

Published September 24, 2019

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Research Professor Bill Rose and Geoheritage Education Coordinator Erika Vye presented the paper “UNESCO Recognition of Jacobsville Standstone as Global Heritage Stone Resource Buoys Keweenaw Geoheritage Efforts” at GSA 2019, the Geological Society of America annual meeting.

The presenters stated that the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO’s) International Geoscience Programme (IGP) have announced that the Jacobsville Sandstone, a rock formation named for Jacobsville, Michigan, is now one of the first 15 Global Heritage Stone Resources (GHSR) in the world and the first in the United States.

They discussed the history of the natural stone in the copper country and noted the impact of international recognition upon the awareness of geoheritage.

The 2019 meeting was held September 22-25 in Phoenix, AZ.

Simon Carn on the Gigantic Pumice Raft

Published August 28, 2019

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News

In early August, sailors in the southwest Pacific Ocean began to see their environment transmogrify. As far as the eye could see, the ocean turned from an azure delight into a colossal gathering of clinking, floating rocks. And then came the foul, sulfurous odors.

Satellite images—plenty of which were shared on Twitter by Simon Carn, a volcanologist at Michigan Technological University—showed a giant pumice raft twisting and warping in the open ocean, pushed around by the winds and waves. The raft covered an area a bit larger than San Francisco.