Geology Open Night

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!!

 

Stuart Ross Taylor
Professor Emeritus
The Australian National University

7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Friday January 25

Are We Alone in the Universe?

This question has been around for 24 centuries since it was first raised by the Ancient Greeks. During the past 40 years, the exploration of the solar system has provided much new evidence about the origin and evolution of our planets and of the formation of the Earth. The recent discovery of over 60 planets circling other stars has now told us that other worlds exist. In this talk, I will discuss the origin of the Earth and of our solar system. Then I will compare the extrasolar planets with ours to see whether planets like the Earth, capable of supporting intelligent life, are likely to be common or rare in the universe. Prof. Ross Taylor is a world renowned geochemist and planetary scientist whose recent research interests include the origin and evolution of Earth's continental crust, the origin of the Moon, and the formation and early evolution of the solar system.  Among his many scientific accomplishments was to perform the first chemical analysis on lunar rocks as part of the Apollo 11 Preliminary Examination Team.  He has received both the Goldschmidt and Leonard Medals, the highest honors in the fields of geochemistry and planetary science, respectively, is a Foreign Associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences and has had an asteroid named after him.  He has published 225 scientific articles, on a wide range of topics in geochemistry, cosmochemistry and planetary science, as well as eight books.  His recent book, "Destiny or Chance:  Our Solar System and Its Place in the Universe", was also published as a "books on tape" by Orion Audio Books.

Australian Academy of Science Interview with Prof. Taylor

 

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Prof. Gilbert N. Hanson

7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Friday February 22

Long Island's Ancient Valleys

New high resolution digital elevation models make it possible to view Long Island without buildings, roads, or trees. In colored-enhanced images a variety of geological features including ancient stream valleys can be clearly seen. Some valleys along the north shore of Long Island are tunnel valleys formed by streams traveling under the glacier. Most of these valleys are not presently occupied by streams, but are used as pathways for roads and highways. A spectacular example is the tunnel valley in Port Jefferson with the high valley walls on either side and with Main Street along the valley floor. In this case the water traveled uphill under the glacier exiting the glacier near the Port Jefferson Railroad station. The water in the stream was under a high hydrostatic pressure and may have drained a subglacial lake. As a result it was very effective at eroding the underlying sediment. This extensive erosion formed a valley at least 200 feet deep in places. The fast moving stream would have had a high sediment load. As the stream exited the glacier the sediment deposited from the stream formed a large fan of sands and gravels to the south.  In central Long Island two large valleys cut through the Ronkonkoma Moraine. The one to the east is up to 2.5 miles wide and is presently used by the Carmans River that flows to the south. The western valley is presently used by both the Nissequogue River that flows to the north and the Connetquot River that flows to the south. The origin of these valleys is not known, but they may have formed during the last glaciation when a large lake between the glacier to the north and the Ronkonkoma Moraine overflowed the Ronkonkama Moraine forming deep, wide valleys. The outwash plain south of the Harbor Hill Moraine is cut by a number of abandoned stream valleys in which former streams drained to the two large valleys.  The outwash plain south of the Ronkonkoma Moraine is cut by many abandoned stream valleys heading southward. Near the south shore these ancient valleys commonly have streams in them.

For more information go to this link.

Evaluation of Geomorphology of the Stony Brook-Setauket-Port Jefferson Area Based on Digital Elevation Models 

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Prof. Donald J. Weidner Indoor Geology:  Lessons about the Earth  from relativistic electrons 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday March 29 The evolution of the Earth is a vast process lasting billions of years, involving huge amounts of matter (crystalline and molten silicates, metals, and volatile constituents), temperatures from near absolute zero to several thousand degrees, and pressures from a vacuum to millions of atmospheres. Despite this complexity, the present state and evolution through time of the Earth from its surface to its core is governed by the laws of physics and chemistry. Phenomena on the molecular scale (the atomic structures of minerals, silicate melts, and volatile-rich fluids, and the bonding of the atoms within them) control processes on the regional scale (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions) and on the global scale (formation of the metallic core of the earth, plate tectonics, subduction).  Understanding of these phenomena requires direct studies of the Earth itself through seismology, geology, and modeling.  However, understanding of the physical and chemical properties of the materials that make up the earth is key to linking all of the observations.  Recent federal investments in National Laboratories now yield tools that enable us to probe material properties that are contained in high pressure – high temperature devices in order to unlock the secrets that help unify our vision of the Earth.  This lecture will describe these new tools, discuss the new style of high-pressure experiment, and illustrate some of our new insights into the Earth that have been gained. Distinguished Prof. Weidner’s research interests focus on mineral physics and seismology. The ultimate goals are to combine these areas to help define the physical and chemical state as well as the dynamic processes of the Earth's mantle and crust. He is currently director of the Center for High Pressure Research and the Mineral Physics Institute.

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Prof. Troy Rasbury Directly Dating the  Sedimentary Rock Record 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday April 26 Earth’s sedimentary rock record is a rich archive of its past history. It is our only window into the evolution of life, and of our changing climate system. Catastrophic events such as proposed in the popular “Snowball Earth hypothesis” where the Earth may have been completely frozen, and the demise of the dinosaurs are some of the snippets of history recorded in the sedimentary rock record. One problem with interpreting this history is the time factor. Many geologic time boundaries have uncertainties that are greater than the intervals they bracket. Our research shows that some of the very same sedimentary materials that are used to reconstruct past conditions may also be dated precisely using the U-Pb isotopic clocks. I will discuss the challenges involved in selecting logical materials for dating and I will discuss some controversial results that challenge the notion that time boundaries based on fossils occurred at the same time on a global scale.

In-service credit available for teachers

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 Four Geology Open Nights - 
Meets last Friday of month

Ø Four Astronomy Open Nights - 
Website for more information is: www.astro.sunysb.edu/openight/opennite.html
Meets first Friday of month

Ø Four The Worlds of Physics - 
Web site for more information is: insti.physics.sunysb.edu/Physics/worlds.html
Meets second Friday of month

Ø Three The Living World
Website for more information is: life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/livingworld

Ø One Long Island Geologists Dinner

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 7.5 hours of in-service credit for the Long Island Geologists conference on the Geology of Long Island and Metropolitan New York on Saturday April 20, 2002.

We will offer up to 7.5 hours for the Long Island Geologists field trip in June.

Long Island Geologists web site is: www.geo.sunysb.edu/lig/