Geology Open Night

In-service Credit is available for teachers attending the Geology Open Night lectures.

You may also be interested in Astronomy Open Night lectures the first Friday of the month, The Worlds of Physics lectures the second Friday of the month and The Living World the third Friday of the month In-service credit is also available for teachers for attending these lectures. A single point entry to all of the science open night lectures is available at this link.  All of these lectures are in ESS 001 Lecture Hall

There will be Refreshments and Demonstrations after the Geology Open Night Presentations.

Admission is Free!!

STRUCTURAL MINERALOGY ON SMALL LENGTH SCALES Professor John B. Parise Department of Geosciences Stony Brook University 7:30 PM October 24, 2008 in ESS 001 Studies of minerals at the atomic scale are of fundamental importance. Studies that answer the question "where are the atoms?" allow us to understand, predict and modify the physical and chemical properties of materials, including minerals. Think about the differences between graphite and diamond: both materials are composed entirely of carbon and yet they have very different properties and uses. Graphite is a black conductor and used for lubrication. Diamond is an insulator, the hardest known substance and is used as an abrasive. For two minerals with the same chemical composition these differences are remarkable, and reflect the drastic differences in atomic arrangement of the carbons in their crystal structures. Over 20 noble prizes related to the endeavor of finding "where the atoms are" in materials as diverse as DNA, graphite, diamond are testimony to the enduring power and importance of the technique that unambiguously tells us about atomic arrangements. We’ll explore graphically how information on these materials is obtained and how it can be used. I acknowledge the considerable contributions to this work of former and present graduate students, postdocs and collaborators, in particular L. Ehm, F.M. Michel, S.A. Antao, P.L. Lee, C.D. Martin, P. Chupas, K. Chapman, C. Tulk, D. Klug and B.C. Chakoumakos. Professor Parise has been at Stony Brook since 1989, and has published over 300 papers in peer-reviewed journals and holds 4 patents. His research focuses on the structure and properties of earth materials under the operating conditions of Earth and planets. This involves considerable work at high pressures and temperatures, and conditions of the Martian surface, for example. He was recently recognized with the 2008 President of Stony Brook and the SUNY Chancellor’s award for excellence in scholarly and creative activities.

 

The Earth’s Super Cycles Prof. Troy Rasbury Department of Geosciences Stony Brook University 7:30 p.m. November 21, 2008 in ESS 001 The sedimentary rock record is a chronicle of changes in the Earth’s tectonic cycles. These same cycles are temporally linked to evidence for major climate change which is in turn linked to major biological innovations and turnovers. Sedimentary packages record long-term rising and falling of sea level that are thought to be related to rates of sea floor spreading- with times of high rates of sea floor spreading being responsible for sea level rise. Times of high sea level correspond to times of warm climate (greenhouse) and times of low sea level correspond to times of cool climate (icehouse). Major faunal turnovers often occur at the transitions. Ocean chemistry, which is recorded in marine carbonates and evaporites, appears to have changed significantly and in concert with the greenhouse-icehouse changes suggesting a common driving force, plate tectonics. Since sedimentary deposits are produced due to changes in the Earth Systems, they are also an important (perhaps the only) way to examine the rates and scales of change. I will show the geological evidence for sea level change, climate change, and ocean chemistry change and will link these to the rock record for closure of Pacific-type subduction zones.

In-service credit available for teachers and professional geologists

If your school requires that you have a sequence of educational opportunities in order to receive in-service credit, please advise them that during the Spring Semester we will be offering one-hour of in-service credit for each of the:

Ø Three Geology Open Nights - 
 

Ø Four Astronomy Open Nights - 
Website for more information is: www.astro.sunysb.edu/openight/opennite.htmll
 

Ø Three The Worlds of Physics - 
Web site for more information is: insti.physics.sunysb.edu/Physics/worlds.html
 

Ø Four Our Environment
Website for more information is: www.geo.sunysb.edu/our-environment

Geology Open Night, Astronomy Open Night, The Worlds of Physics and the Living World meet in ESS 001 at 7:30 p.m.

We will offer up to 7.5 hours of in-service credit each for the Conference on the Geology of Long Island and Metropolitan New York on April 12, 2008 and  the Long Island Geologists field trip in Spring

Information for these two events will be available on the Long Island Geologists web site at: www.geo.sunysb.edu/lig/