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!!

 

Deciphering the Geology of Mars through Temperature Prof. Timothy Glotch 7:30 p.m. March 28, 2008 Earth and Space Sciences Building  Lecture Hall (Room 001) SUNY Stony Brook Campus Four instruments sent to Mars in the last decade—the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), and two Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometers (Mini-TES) on the Spirit and Opportunity Rovers—have made many significant and exciting discoveries. These include the identification of several classes of minerals directly related to the past presence of liquid water on the Red Planet. This talk will focus on Mars as viewed through the infrared eyes of these instruments. After a short introduction to thermal infrared emission spectroscopy, we will discuss the discoveries made at Mars using this remote sensing technique. By measuring the temperature of Mars at many wavelengths, scientists can determine the composition and thermophysical characteristics of the Martian surface, as well as the short term evolution of the Martian atmosphere. The data collected by these four instruments, as well as others, are opening new lines of inquiry regarding the role of water in shaping the Martian surface, and paving the way for future robotic and human exploration of Mars. Timothy Glotch joined the Department of Geosciences at Stony Brook University in the fall of 2007. His research utilizes thermal infrared emission spectroscopy, both on remote sensing platforms and in the laboratory, to determine the composition of geologic materials. He has received NASA group achievement awards for his work with the Odyssey THEMIS and MER Mini-TES instruments and was recently selected as a science team member for the Diviner instrument on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter which will launch in late 2008.

 

When Continents Collide Prof. William Holt 7:30 p.m. April 25 Earth and Space Sciences Building  Lecture Hall (Room 001) SUNY Stony Brook Campus The surface of the Earth is comprised of mobile lithospheric plates that are approximately 100 km thick. These plates are the surface manifestation of planet-scale mantle convection.. The continental crust is embedded within these lithospheric plates. Unlike oceanic lithosphere, which is far more dense, the continental lithosphere is buoyant and does not easily subduct into the mantle. Therefore, we have a continental record as old as 4 billion years, whereas the oldest ocean crust is approximately 180 million years. Consequently, the continents embedded within these mobile plates occasionally move towards each other and eventually collide. The results of these continent-continent collisions are spectacular mountain belts, such as the Himalayas within the present-day India-Eurasia collision. The Appalachian mountain belt in eastern North America is remnant of an ancient continent-continent collision that resulted in the formation of a supercontinent called Pangea (Greek for all lands) some 300 million years ago. Records indicate that these continental collisions coincide with a reduction of plate rates. Thus, major cycles of continental collision events not only affect mountain building, but they may also be responsible for controlling primary cycles of sea-level, ocean chemistry, climate, and even life itself. I will explore these possibilities and present evidence that the collision of continents provides the variety that is the spice of life. Prof. Holt has been working on methods that relate the distribution of strain within continental interiors to the relative motions of the tectonic plates. This information is vital to understanding the dynamics of deforming continental lithosphere and is also the key to the quantification of seismic hazards within these zones of active deformation.

 

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/