STAFF
Stephanie Arnold–Undergraduate/ Graduate Coordinator srarnold@syr.edu Sarah Barkin–GSA Editorial Assistant sbarkin@syr.edu Peter Cattaneo–Research Analyst pkcattan@syr.edu Michael Cheatham–Laboratory Tech. mmcheath@syr.edu Jacqueline Corbett–Laboratory Tech. jphilipp@syr.edu John L. Davis–Curator of Minerals Julie Neri–Office Administrator jjneri@syr.edu Bonnie Windey–Office Coordinator bgwindey@syr.edu
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Julie Neri
Ernest Hathaway Muller, born March 4, 1923 in Tabriz, Iran, passed away suddenly in Houston, Texas on October 20, 2005. Ernie, as he was known by his many friends and colleagues, was a fellow in the Geological Society of America and was recognized nationally and internationally as an authority on the interpretation of glacial environments, Quaternary stratigraphy, and geomorphology. He published well over 50 scientifi c papers on his research. Ernie served as a Second Lieutenant/meteorologist forecasting weather during WW II after he completed his B.S. in Geology at Wooster College, Ohio. Then Ernie earned his Master’s (1949) and Doctorate degrees in Geology from the University of Illinois (1952). He went on to work for the US Geological Survey before accepting a faculty position at Cornell University in 1954. He arrived at Syracuse University in 1959 where he subsequently taught for 31 years. At Syracuse University he molded the careers of 20 masters students and 15 doctoral students and also served as Chair for time, fostering a spirit of academic and departmental collegiality. Ernie was recognized internationally for his life-long career in Quaternary Geology. His research contributions crossed a spectrum of topics ranging from detailed maps depicting ice sheet stratigraphy and the interpretation of Laurentide recessional history in the Northeastern United States, to preparing numerous glacial geology maps of New York States. This extensive mapping effort helped to provide the framework for our modern understanding of landscapes glaciated by continental ice sheets. His research ranged from how glacial till and drumlins formed, to how catastrophic fl ooding carved deep channels between glacial lakes. Ernie’s quiet demeanor incorporated a confi dence born from an outstanding command of the literature and fi eld methods, coupled to an insightful mind. Ernie wrote succinct, lucid publications that addressed diffi cult questions with scrupulous attention to detail and uncommon perception. Ernie was a kind, supportive and
1923-2005
Emeritus Professor of Geology
encouraging advisor noted for his ability to bring in examples from other places that no one else thought were relevant to the discussion. In teaching and advising Ernie would be enthusiastic about new and good ideas, while never harshly criticizing speculation that he thought was unwarranted. Ernie would just quietly say, “that’s an interesting thought,” and you’d know that he didn’t think much of it. Through it all, Ernie had a great sense of humor that tied to the subject at hand. His students report, as an example, “ To walk with Ernie past a fi eld of freshly shorn sheep, one might say “look Ernie, a fi eld of freshly shorn sheep” to which he would reply, “at least on this side.” Ernie’s last fi eld efforts were directed to uncovering the elusive evidence of the expanding Bering glacier lobe. The rigors of fi eldwork in this remote region led him to decline an invitation to return in 2004 with, “I look forward to learning what you discover in my absence.” And he really did. Ernie’s students and colleagues held a special session at the National Meeting of the Geological Society of America in 2002 in Ernie’s honor after his retirement from full- time academic life. He will be missed. Ernie was preceded in death by his loving wife, Wanda Custis Muller. He is survived by his children David, Katherine, and Ruth Anne, and six grandchildren.
Dear Alumni and Friends of the department,
It is rather amazing to me that I am now writing my final note for this newsletter as the former Chair of the Department! Much has happened in the department in the last year, as you will see in the pages that follow, with one of the most important events being the hiring of Dr. Jeff Karson, the departments new Chair. Jeff was formerly a Professor at Duke University before coming to Syracuse. I’ll leave it up to Jeff in his accompanying note to tell you about his research specialties (including his studies of rare fragments of oceanic lithosphere ‘beached’ onto the continents!). Stepping down as Chair is always a mixed blessing – I’ll certainly miss the day to day interactions with the department staff (although I’ve promised them at least a minimum of one visitation per week!), talking to potential new earth science majors, and trying to solve student problems, real and perceived, as best as possible. I won’t miss the seeming endless University meetings however! But with handing over the responsibilities of running the department gives me the opportunity to get back into the field and into the lab – something that proved very difficult to as Chair. I’m often asked how I enjoy being a civilian again! And to let you know some of the research my students and I are pursuing there is a short section on that topic in the pages that follow – many will be shocked to know we are collecting modern alluvium! But not to worry, I haven’t given up swinging sledge hammers at granites yet either. For Department-wide research I am please to say that the Earth Sciences Faculty continue to conduct their intriguing research on every continent on the globe, as well as now on the bottom of the sea floor!. And despite these very difficult times in terms of research funding most of the faculty continue to secure major grants from National agencies – a clear testimony as to how well they are perceived as acclaimed scientists. I even managed to crack through the seemingly impenetrable Tectonics Division of NSF this year with a major new grant – hurray! In terms of student activity in general last year was an excellent one. We had more new majors sign up than in any previous year in the past decade, as well as welcomed in a superb new group of graduate students – covering fields from paleobiology, to hydrogeology, to structural geology/ petrology and even brought in a student who was formerly a forensic scientist! (now being reinvented as a geochemist). The interaction between the graduate and undergraduate students has also been at an all time high, and it is gratifying to see juniors and seniors happily taking courses with new graduate students. Thanks to many of you who kindly sent in donations covering all sorts of aspects of aid for students – from field camp scholarships, to the Prucha Field fund, to the K.D. Nelson Fund in tectonics and more. The students truly benefit from your generosity. We’ve even had an offer for a significant donation towards buying a mammoth skeleton for the Heroy Lobby – and this from an SU alum that wasn’t in the department! It has been great fun interacting with many of you, either in campus visits, various GSA meetings, or just chats on the phone. Because that was so great I am getting to co-hosting, along with Jeff Karson, the Alumni reception party at the GSA meeting in Denver this year. As it will be the last time I do this I hope everyone will make an extra effort to come out and show support for the department. This party promises to be as excellent as ever – last years event was voted as the most packed room, the loudest room, and clearly the most exciting of all the concurrent parties. So much so in fact that many geologists abandoned their parties to come and join ours! I hope you can help us claim that title for the second year running – perhaps GSA should give us an award! And even though I am once again a ‘civilian’ I continue to urge as many of you as possible to come visit your alma mater, check out the current Department events, and let us show you the great laboratories and amazing research that the faculty and students are doing these days!
Suzanne L. Baldwin
Subduction of the Earth’s crust to mantle depths produces high pressure and ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks (i.e., eclogites) at convergent plate boundaries. How these rocks return to the Earth’s surface, often at plate tectonic rates (cm/yr), remains an outstanding question of firstorder importance to continental dynamics and plate tectonics.
NSF’s Continental Dynamics program recently funded our five-year, $3.59 million, collaborative proposal to investigate how the world’s youngest (8-2 my) high pressure and ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks have been exhumed in the Woodlark Rift of Papua New Guinea. Paul Fitzgerald, Laura Webb, and I are taking the lead on this study that involves a team of earth scientists from the US, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia, including seismologists, geodesists, structural geologists, thermochronologists, petrologists, geochemists, and geodynamicists. Our collaborative study aims to document how the Australian-Woodlark plate boundary has transitioned from a convergent to a divergent plate boundary. We are planning three field seasons in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea to map structures and collect samples for thermochronologic, petrologic and geochemical analyses. The field area occupies a volcanic and seismically hazardous region; proposed outreach activities include educating the local communities about these natural hazards during our field campaigns. Funding will provide support for graduate and undergraduate student research in Syracuse University’s Earth Sciences Department, including the research of MSc student Alec Waggoner, and BS student Leigh Castellani. We will also contribute to University of Papua New Guinea’s undergraduate curricula through lectures and short courses. This project builds on results of a previously funded NSF Tectonics grant, awarded to Paul Fitzgerald and I, that supported Brian Monteleone’s (PhD., 2007) dissertation research.
In addition to engaging in exciting thermochronologic and tectonics research, I continue to contribute to the Earth Sciences curriculum by teaching courses in mineralogy, petrology and thermochronology. I’m especially grateful for funding provided by Syracuse University’s Soling program (http://soling.syr.edu) that has enabled me to incorporate a community outreach component into the Mineralogy course (GOL 314) curriculum. This required course for all Earth Science majors introduces students to the nature, origin and evolution of the minerals that form the Earth. I take a holistic approach to the study of minerals beginning with the Earth’s core, mantle, crust and finally examining minerals which form at the Earth’s surface. Students learn to identify and interpret the most common rockforming and economic minerals in hand sample. The course ends with an introduction to the techniques of optical mineralogy and petrography (i.e., the study of minerals and rocks in thin section).
Fieldtrips to collect fluorescent minerals at the world famous Franklin-Sterling
Top photo: Geologic fieldwork on Fergusson Island, Papua New Guinea.
Middle photo: Petrology students engaged in undergraduate research in the petrography lab.
Bottom photo: Mineralogy students sing for 4th grade students as part of their Soling-funded outreach mineral presentations.
Hill Mine District in Sussex County NJ (http://sterlinghillminingmuseum.org), and garnets at the Barton Mine at Gore Mountain (http://www.garnetminetours. com/) are an integral part of the course. Mineralogy students use their samples to prepare and present mineral exhibits to 4th grade students in the Syracuse region.
This outreach activity has received accolades from K-12 teachers, and has been the focus of several news articles in local papers. Other curriculum changes made possible from Soling funding include the development of laboratory exercises in the X-ray diffraction and SEM laboratories enabling Earth Science students to experience the excitement of research firsthand. These are just a few highlights of my recent research and teaching efforts. I’m thankful to have such wonderful colleagues and students to work with, and that our research group continues to grow.
Pat Bickford
Although I’ve been retired for ten years, I have found a number of things geologic to keep me busy. I still maintain my research office on the third floor of Heroy Geology Laboratory, but have added a few new activities to my daily routine.
First, I’m serving as the Geological Society of America Science Book Editor, a job now happily shared with colleague Don I. Siegel. Don and I have an Editorial Office in Room 305 Heroy that is ably staffed by Editorial Assistant Sarah Barkin. We handle proposals for GSA books and evaluate completed volumes for publication as GSA Special Papers or Memoirs. The work is sometimes frustrating, but mostly quite fun, for it keeps us on top of much that is new and exciting in the earth sciences. We are both members of the GSA Publications Committee.
Another activity keeping me busy is analyzing zircons from Colorado and the buried basement of the mid-continent for their hafnium (Hf) isotopic composition. The Hf isotope Hf 176 is the daughter of radioactive Lu 176. Because zircons take up relatively large amounts of Hf, but exclude Lu, the isotopic composition of Hf (the 176Hf/177Hf ratio) in the zircon reflects that of the source region of the magma from which the zircon crystallized, and thus allows calculation of the age of the source rocks from which the magmas were derived.
For this work, I use zircons, mounted in epoxy, and previously dated by the U-Pb method with the SHRIMP (Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe). I take the SHRIMP mount to the University of Florida where he analyzes for Hf isotopic composition with a laser-ablation, multicollector inductively-coupled mass spectrometer (LA-MC-ICPMS).
I have continued to publish the results of SHRIMP zircon studies of the timing of high-grade metamorphism and anatexis (crustal melting) in the Adirondacks. I collaborate with Jim McLelland (also retired from Colgate University) and former Ph.D. Student Barbara Hill.
I recently traveled to Kent State University to deliver a seminar talk on “The Sask Craton: An Enigmatic Archean Crustal Fragment in the Internides of the Paleoproterozoic Trans-Hudson Orogen”.
During the Spring 2007, I taught a course “Techniques of Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Analysis” that enrolled eighteen students. During Fall 2007, I had three graduate students are working with me to learn to use the universal rotating stage, an elegant ---if somewhat out-dated—method of obtaining optical data and compositions for crystals in thin sections. The same students will also do some advanced X-Ray diffraction experiments, studying the variation of the cell edge as a function of varying mole-fractions of KCl in NaCl, as well as some X-Ray methods for obtaining the composition of minerals such as olivine.
Paul G. Fitzgerald
It’s been a busy few years since the last newsletter. Aside from teaching the usual full complement of classes along with field trips I have been involved in field-work in Papua New Guinea, the Pyrenees, the Aegean and 6 scientific conferences. Three NSF grants have ended and two more have started. One of the new grants from NSF Tectonics is a 3 year project to work in the Pyrenees along with co-PI Suzanne Baldwin, postdoc Jim Metcalf and Josep-Anton Münoz from the University of Barcelona to use low-temperature thermochronology to constrain the cooling, and hence tectonic history associated with diachronous collision and thrusting along the range. We
were delighted that Jim could join us to work on this project, following his PhD at Stanford, as he brings added new insight and expertise, especially in (U-Th)/He dating. The other grant, 5 years of funding from NSF Continental Dynamics, is to examine how rifting is exhuming the world’s youngest HP and UHP rocks from depths of ca. 100 km. Suzanne Baldwin is the PI on this grant and Laura Webb and I are the co-PIs. Syracuse University is the lead-institution on this multi-institution international research endeavor. I still have a number of other Antarctic research projects still active, one in collaboration with scientists from New Zealand using (U-Th)/He dating on samples from the Transantarctic Mountains. This project involved undergraduate Emily Feinberg who worked on these really difficult samples. Emily also joined us in Pyrenees fieldwork in June 2007.
There has also been considerable progress from graduate students. Josh Taylor finished his MS on the uplift and formation of the Adirondack Mountains using low-temperature thermochronology, and we have a paper very nearly ready to submit. We were very pleased that Josh has remained at Syracuse for his PhD and is working a NSF-Tectonics funded project in Mongolia with Laura Webb. PhD candidate Erika Schwabe, who was working in the west-central Pyrenees got married and moved to Georgia where she is writing up her thesis. Stephanie Perry joined us from SUNY(Albany) where she obtained a MS and is now working on a PhD project in Alaska looking at the uplift and formation of the central and eastern Alaska Ranges, both of which lie along the active Denali fault. Parts of this project are in co-operation with colleagues Paul Layer and Jeff Benowitz from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Stephanie was successful in obtaining some funding from the Geological Society of America to cover costs of apatite (U-Th)/He dating on a suite of samples that I had previously collected from the top-to-bottom of Mt McKinley.
Working in fossiliferous early Eocene sediments exposed along the Tombigbee River of SW Alabama. From left to right, Jocelyn Sessa (Penn State), 2 undergrads from the College of William and Mary, and Linda Ivany.
As regards publications, this too has been very productive since the last newsletter. We had a long paper (Fitzgerald et al., 2006) published in Chemical Geology on “Interpretation of (U-Th)/He single grain ages from slowly cooled crustal terranes: A case study from the Transantarctic Mountains of southern Victoria Land” - well received as it was the first to document single grain age variation in apatite (U-Th)/He ages, why this occurs and how to deal with it. In spring 2006 I was study leave at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University working on collaborative research that led to a number of papers: Studinger et al. (2006) in Earth and Planetary Science Letters on “Crustal architecture of the Transantarctic Mountains between the Scott and Reedy Glacier region and South Pole from aerogeophysical data”; Bialas et al. (2007) in Geology on “ Plateau Collapse Model for the Transantarctic Mountains / West Antarctic Rift System: Insights from Numerical Experiments” as well as a paper on the Basin and Range Province; Fitzgerald et al. (in review) on “The South Virgin-White Hills detachment fault system of SE Nevada and NW Arizona: The application of apatite fission track thermochronology to constraining displacement gradient accommodation along a major detachment fault”. In addition, several papers from projects that had recently ended were published, including Baldwin et al. (2007) “Thermochronology of the New Caledonia high pressure terrane: Implications of mid-Tertiary plate boundary processes in the southwest Pacific”, Redfield et al. (2007) in Geology on “ The extrusion of Alaska, past, present and future” - this later paper being the first to apply escape tectonics to the terrane accretion concept that was developed in Alaska. Another recently published paper was Fitzgerald and Baldwin (2007) “ Thermochronologic constraints on Jurassic rift flank denudation in the Thiel Mountains, Antarctica”.
On the teaching front, I was delighted to team-teach “Plate Tectonics” in the spring of 2007 with Jeff Karson. I last taught this in spring 2002, but because of a shortage of faculty since then, this was the last time it was taught. Capped by a 3day field trip across the Taconic Orogeny, this course was a great success and will be taught every spring. Aside from Jeff’s diplomatic and organizational skills as the new chair, it is a fantastic boost to the department to have such an experienced colleague join our faculty. In Fall 2006 I was also appointed Director of Graduate Studies. This position, vacant for many years, entails - well - directing the graduate program in the department. We have embarked on an ambitious program of upgrade and enhanced communication.
Linda c. Ivany
As is always the hope, this past year for me has been one of long-standing projects coming to fruition and new ones beginning.
Several years of research on Eocene climate change on the Antarctic Peninsula has resulted in manuscripts on the timing and trajectory of cooling and the response of shallow marine faunas to it. A paper in the May 2006 issue of Geology describes sedimentologic evidence for an ice sheet on the Peninsula at about the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, earlier than previously believed. This work implies that the initial onset of continental glaciation was synchronous in East and West Antarctica. If glaciers reached the far northern reaches of the Peninsula that fast, then the climate system must have responded very abruptly to the more gradual decrease in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and/or changes in ocean circulation associated with the opening of gateways between Antarctica and South America.
Fossils from the Eocene La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, Antarctica. A) the bivalve Cucullaea raea; B) the brachiopod Bouchardia antarctica; C) the gastropod Polinices subtenuis; D) the bivalve Eurhomalea newtoni. Scale bars are 1 cm. The chemistry of these shells has revealed the details of climate cooling during the transition from a warm, forested Antarctica to one covered by glacial ice.
In addition, I have submitted for publication a manuscript detailing climate change during the Eocene that led up to the beginning of ice growth on Antarctica. Here, we use stable isotopic values of mollusk shells collected through the Eocene section on Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula, to constrain paleotemperatures through time. We find that Eocene cooling is more complicated than initially presumed, with a short-lived swing to much warmer conditions in the late middle Eocene followed by a rapid shift to much colder conditions. These climate swings are associated with significant faunal turnover that appears to have eliminated many of the shell-crushing predators from the ecosystem, allowing more fragile taxa like stalked crinoids to recolonize shallow-water environments from which they have been more or less excluded since the Paleozoic.
Shifting gears, I recently received funding from NSF to support work reconstructing the Paleogene climate record of the US Gulf Coastal Plain using stable isotopes of shell material and investigating its effects on paleoecological turnover of the mollusk fauna and evolutionary change in two common lineages. The grant is collaborative with Rowan Lockwood, on the faculty at the College of William and Mary, and Warren Allmon at the Paleontolgical Research Institution in Ithaca, NY, and will support PhD research by Heather Baugh Wall and provide a year of postdoctoral support for Jocelyn Sessa, currently a PhD student at Penn State. Jocelyn and I have already been working on the transition from the Paleocene to the early Eocene as recorded in the shell chemistry of Venericardia bivalves. Heather’s work focuses on the paleoecological record (see her write-up).
Another collaborative project to recently get underway deals with large Permian bivalves from Southeastern Australia collected by Bruce Runnegar, director of NASA’s Astrobiology Institute and faculty member at UCLA. Bruce noted similarities between his clams and those reported by a former student in the paleo lab, Devin Buick, with me in 2004. Both are large, from high latitudes, and exhibit large numbers of well-developed growth bands. We used high-resolution microsampling and stable isotope analysis to show that the growth bands are annual, and are now investigating the significance of those records for interpreting paleoenvironments during deglaciation in the late Permian.
On the student front, I’m happy to report that both Heather Baugh and Patrick Wall have decided to stay on at Syracuse and pursue PhDs in the paleontology program. In addition, Andrew Haveles began Masters research in the fall of 2006 working on the unusual mollusk fauna of the middle Eocene Gosport Sand in the US Gulf Coast. They will all present aspects of their research at the GSA this fall, and Heather, Patrick and I are coauthors on a collaborative project with Carlton Brett (University of Cincinnati) on patterns of faunal turnover in the middle Devonian
SU Earth Science graduate students examine columnar jointing and other features of lava flows on the south coast of Iceland during summer fieldwork.
Hamilton Group in New York State. Ellen De Man, frequent visitor to the department and collaborator on Eocene and Oligocene climate change in the North Sea basin, successfully defended her dissertation this past fall at Leuven University in Belgium and has accepted a job at Exxon-Mobil in Houston TX. We wish her all the best. Caitlin Keating-Bitonti, a junior this year, has been working in the paleo lab for two years now and will begin an independent research project this fall using stable isotopes of shell material to understand climate change and ecology. The paleontology lab continues to have a small army of students helping out. In addition to Caitlin, Leigh Castellani, Cristina Story, Emily Feinberg, Justina Fedorchuk, Michael McHarris, Justin Bohling, Shea Lambert, and Tristan Lee-Wright have all contributed their time and expertise to ongoing projects over the past two years. Many of these students presented posters on their work at Mayfest celebrations and the Earth Sciences student symposium. We look forward to seeing great things from them all!
Jeffrey a. Karson
Moving from Duke University in sunny North Carolina, you can imagine that I have been asked about a hundred times: “Did they tell you about the snow here in Syracuse?” Well, they really did not have to tell me much. I grew up and went to school in northern Ohio and upstate New York, so I am well acquainted with the weather in this part of the country. Still, after last winter’s snowfall, I am in the market for a snow-blower!
Even though I have been in town for a year already, I have hardly had a chance to unpack. I am thrilled to be part of the Department of Earth Sciences here at Syracuse, but research, teaching, and administrative chores are keeping me incredibly busy. The depth and breadth of research and commitment to teaching in the Department are really an inspiration to me. I have many longstanding connections to people in the Department and it is exciting to have a chance to interact with them and learn more about their research programs. The administration, faculty, students, staff and alumni have all given me an incredibly warm welcome that is deeply appreciated.
Perhaps one of the most exciting things about joining the Department is becoming part of what I regard as one of the most exciting programs in tectonics and thermochronology in the US. The collected accomplishments and ongoing projects of the faculty (and students!) could fill the pages of a state-of-the-art textbook in tectonics. This part of the
