Geology Open Night

Geology Open night lectures are usually on topics in the geosciences related to the current research of the faculty, staff and students at SUNY Stony Brook. These presentations are intended for:

• those interested in new developments in the sciences

• earth science high school students and teachers

• undergraduate and graduate students in geosciences

• professional geologists

Glaciers and Flooding and Dunes: seeing into Long Island's Past and Beneath its Surface

Daniel Davis
7:30 PM Friday September 24, 2010
ESS 001

Using a variety of modern mapping, geological, and geophysical tools, we have come to recognize that Long Island is a very dynamic place. Since the time of the glaciers that covered it, the island has been subjected to onslaughts from the air, the land and the sea. Our rocky soil and widespread boulders are derived from the glaciers and the melt waters that flowed from them. After the glaciers retreated, winds coming off of them carried sand that made dunes and fine sediment, loess, that formed the base for some of our best soils. As glaciers melted, rising waters surrounded this area, finally turning it into an island. Over the past several thousand years, the north shore has eroded and the south shore has been constantly changing as barrier islands have migrated northward with sea level rise. To this day, winds still produce extraordinary and beautiful dunes. Hurricanes and nor’easters continue to cause sudden changes to our island’s shorelines – and they present an ever greater threat for the future. Our area’s geological history hints at other threats, including the possibility of severe earthquakes and great tsunamis. In this talk, Prof. Davis will explore how we are learning more about this island using modern tools, such as advanced mapping, resistivity, new sediment dating techniques and ground-penetrating radar.

Prof. Davis has been a member of the Stony brook faculty since 1986. His main area of research is the mechanics of plate collisions and the mountain belts formed by them. He has also worked on the geology and geophysics of nuclear arms control and on planetary tectonics. He is co-author of a popular book on amateur astronomy, Turn Left at Orion (from Cambridge University Press). About to go into its 4th edition, the book has sold over 100,000 copies. Most recently, he and his students have worked on applying geophysical tools to the study of the shallow subsurface of Long Island and its recent geological history.

The strange case of polymorphism: how seemingly similar materials can have wildly different properties

Richard Harrington
7:30 PM Friday October 22, 2010
ESS 001

How the atoms are arranged in a solid can have a dramatic effect on the physical properties they show. One example is the difference between diamond and graphite, both consist exclusively of carbon, but the differences are striking. Diamond is the hardest material known, while graphite is soft and often used as a lubricant. Different atomic arrangements of phases with the same chemical formula, called polymorphs, are everywhere in nature and the differences in their physical properties can be considerable.

The size of the material can also have an effect on the physical properties. Nanoparticles can show properties different to those of bulk materials. Gold nanoparticles have different colors depending on the size of the particle. The large surface area to volume ratio of nanoparticles can have a big effect on the ability to remove harmful species, such as arsenic, from water. Naturally occurring nanomaterials are being studied with an eye to performing this task.

In this lecture, I will explore how the different arrangement of atoms can be tailored to bring about desired physical properties and how reducing the size of a particle to the nanoscale can bring about a huge change in how it interacts with the world.
Richard Harrington received his PhD in materials engineering from the University of Sheffield in 2007. He joined the staff at the Geosciences at Stony Brook University in 2007 to work with Professor John Parise. His current research interests include structure solution of environmentally important nanoparticles using x-ray and neutron techniques

           Scott McLennan has been a professor at Stony Brook since 1987 and his research interests center on the chemical composition of planetary crusts and the sedimentary records of Earth and Mars.  Since about 1998 he has increasingly turned his research attentions to the chemistry of the Martian surface using data collected both by missions to Mars and in laboratory experiments.  He has been a participating scientist on the Mars Exploration Rover (Spirit and Opportunity) mission since 2002 and on the gamma-ray experiment on the Mars Odyssey mission since 2005.  He is currently co-chair of the Mars Sample Return International Science Analysis Group, sponsored by NASA and ESA.