Geological and Mining Engineering and Science News

Sullivan Mineral Collection Donated to Museum

Published October 31, 2017

The 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

Black and White and Red All Over

Published October 25, 2017

By Brittany Buschell

Faculty

The 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.

Is It Gonna Blow? Measuring Volcanic Emissions from Space

Published October 25, 2017

By Brittany Buschell

Faculty
News

Carbon dioxide measured by a NASA satellite pinpoints sources of the gas from human and volcanic activities, which may help monitor greenhouse gases responsible for climate change. View full story here.

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

Published October 24, 2017

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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.”

Mark Kulie Gives Invited Talk for NASA Science Team Meeting

Published October 18, 2017

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News

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.

Bornhorst Publishes on the Native Copper District

Published October 16, 2017

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News

Ted 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

Aleksey Smirnov Elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of America

Published October 16, 2017

By

Faculty
News

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.

Global Satellite Monitoring of Volcanoes

Published October 10, 2017

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News

Smithsonian.com reported on the Global Volcanism Program, a study of the inner workings of volcanoes. Simon Carn (GMES) is one of the program’s researchers.

How Earthquakes and Volcanoes Reveal the Beating Heart of the Planet

The Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program has stitched together a visual archive of the world’s earthquakes and volcanoes

To illustrate these dynamic patterns, the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program, hosted within the National Museum of Natural History, has created a time-lapse animation of the world’s earthquakes, eruptions and emissions since 1960. Drawing from the first compiled database of sulfur emissions dating to 1978, the animations show how the seemingly random activity of volcanoes and earthquakes form consistent global patterns over time. Understanding those patterns gives researchers insight into how these dramatic events are entwined with the inner workings of our planet.

Earthquakes and volcanoes can conjure up images of widespread destruction. But for those who study Earth’s deepest reaches, like Elizabeth Cottrell, a research geologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and director of the Global Volcanism Program, volcanoes are also “windows to the interior.”

“Global satellite monitoring of volcanoes will transform our understanding of gas fluxes from Earth’s interior to exterior in the coming decade,” says Cottrell, who has been working along with Michigan Tech researcher Simon Carn and data manager Ed Venzke to incorporate volcanic emissions into the Smithsonian database since 2012.

Jackie Huntoon on STEM Field Mentoring

Published September 28, 2017

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News

HER Magazine quoted Provost Jackie Huntoon in an article on the importance of same-gender mentors for women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

The Power Of Gender Peer Mentors

A new study in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that 100% of first-year women engineering students who had women peer mentors remained in the engineering program for the second year.

“I think that all students, not just women, and not just those in STEM, need mentors,” Huntoon says. “If you look like and think like the majority of your professors and classmates, it will be easy for you to find a mentor that you feel comfortable with.”

But, she believes that students in a minority group as a result of their gender, race, country of origin, etc., might need to put forth the extra effort to find the right mentor. “A good mentor is someone who can understand what you want and need and is willing to help you figure out how to achieve your goals,” Huntoon explains. “Mentors for women in STEM do not have to be women in STEM themselves – in fact, some of the best mentors I’ve ever had have been men, and not all of them have been scientists or engineers.”

AIPG Awards Scholarship to Katie Kring

Published September 21, 2017

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News

Katelyn Kring receives the Andrew Mozola Scholarship.

Katie Kring, a third-year student in geological engineering, has received the Andrew Mozola Scholarship from the Michigan section of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG). She won for her essay, “Why I Want to be a Geologist.”

Kring first discovered geology when her sophomore high school class visited a Superfund site. Most of the students were bored; Kring says she was fascinated. A summer geology program cemented her interest.

“This past spring semester was the most challenging semester of college I have undertaken to date,” Kring wrote in her prize-winning essay. “My courses included geophysics, structural geology, statics & mechanics of materials and petrology. While the classes were demanding, I did not waver from my desire to become a geologist. In fact, these classes only reinforced my passion.”

She plans to use the AIPG scholarship to fund summer field work. When she finishes her BS in geological engineering, she hopes to work in the mining field.

Students can apply for AIPG membership online.

By Jenn Donovan.