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The Department of Geosciences presents
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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 on Long Island
You may also be interested in Astronomy Open Night
There will be Refreshments and Demonstrations after the Presentations.
Admission is Free!!
In-service Credit is available for teachers
Web pages describing earlier Geology Open Night presentations
Spring 1998, Fall 1998,
Spring 1999
"Thirty Years After Apollo
11: Prof. Donald H.
Lindsley 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. |
"The
Surface of Mars: Prof. Scott
McLennan 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. |
"Worms world: elemental cycling at the seafloor" Prof. Robert C. Aller
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"Thirty Years After Apollo 11:
One lunatic's recollections of lunar science and lunar scientists"Prof. Donald H. Lindsley
Department of Geosciences
The successful return of lunar samples by the Apollo 11 mission in July, 1969 began a hectic but fascinating series of studies. Yet some of the scientists who worked on the samples were every bit as interesting! Stony Brook scientists who studied the samples played an important role in our vastly increased knowledge of the nature and origin of the Moon that stemmed from the Apollo project. This set of reminiscences makes no effort to be complete or comprehensive - instead, the talk will reflect one worker's fond memories of some lunar scientists and their science, with a few examples of bureaucratic foul-ups thrown in for good measure. 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Friday September 24, 1999Link to the National Air and Space Museum's site on Apollo to the Moon. Be sure to go to the section "What we learned".
"The Surface of Mars: From Canals to Channels -- From Civilizations to Microbes"
Prof. Scott McLennan
Department of Geosciences
Recent exploration of Mars is fundamentally changing our ideas of how the fourth planet has evolved. A shroud of poor resolution has given way to breathtaking photographs of a now barren, wind blown surface, but one with a rich early geological history shaped by rivers, oceans and glaciers. Sophisticated instruments are mapping the surface topography in stunning detail and delineating the magnetic and mineralogical character of the Martian surface. Meteorites, derived from Mars, have provided tantalizing, but thus far inconclusive and controversial, evidence for microbial life on early Mars and this possibility is a major driving force in the Mars space program over the next decade, ultimately resulting in sample return by about 2008. 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Friday October 29, 1999The Mars Exploration Program Home Page has links to the home pages of each of the major missions, the history of Mars exploration, the most recent images from Mars, and much more.
"Worms world: elemental cycling at the seafloor"
Prof. Robert C. Aller
Marine Sciences Research Center
Sedimentary deposits are major sites of organic matter decomposition and nutrient regeneration, particularly in shallow water shelf and estuarine environments such as Long Island Sound. Sediments are also repositories and natural processing sites for a range of anthropogenic wastes. Bottom-dwelling animals play an extremely important role in controlling physical and chemical properties of the seafloor, and can influence plankton productivity in overlying water. Although muds and sands may sometime appear quiescent and boring, the seafloor is in fact riddled with structures formed by bottom-dwelling fauna, and is in a constant state of dynamic renovation by inhabitants. Worms and other benthic organisms in marine sediments can play biogeochemical roles analogous to those of earthworms in soils on land. For example, nutrient cycling processes such as organic matter decomposition and natural denitrification are greatly enhanced by bottom-dwelling animal activity. One of the effects of low oxygen in overlying water is to eliminate large benthic organisms and thereby greatly alter elemental cycling and storage processes at the seafloor. 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Friday November 19, 1999
In-service credit available for teachers
During the 1999-2000 academic year we will be offering one-hour of in-service credit for each of the:
We will offer 7.5 hours of in-service credit for the conference on the Geology of Long Island and Metropolitan New York in April 2000.
We will offer up to 7.5 hours for each of the two Long Island Geologists field trips.
A more detailed description can be found at this link.
Presentations are in Room 001 ESS Building SUNY Stony Brook
How do I get to the Earth and Space Sciences Building at SUNY Stony Brook?
