Theme Sessions

Theme Sessions

Natural Contaminants in the Southeastern USA
Avner Vengosh (vengosh@duke.edu) and David Vinson (dsv2@duke.edu), Duke University. Oral.

The Southeast faces emerging challenges from naturally-occurring contaminants, including arsenic and radionuclides. Contributions are encouraged on geological and geochemical controls on contaminants in water resources, radon in air and soil, health implications, and policy aspects.

Isotopic and Chemical Geochronology of Metamorphic Terranes in the Southern Appalachian Blue Ridge and Piedmont Environs: Implications for Tectonic Mapping and Modeling
Clayton W. Loehn (cloehn@vt.edu) and Robert J. Tracy (rtracy@vt.edu), Virginia Tech. Oral.

The Southern Appalachian Blue Ridge and Piedmont environs have experienced a series of complex polymetamorphic and polydeformational major crust-forming events and thermotectonic overprints over an interval of at least 800 million years (1.1 Ga to 250 Ma). Isotopic and chemical dating of zircon, monazite, and xenotime have allowed us to begin to constrain higher-resolution details of the timing of tectonic, metamorphic and intrusive events. The purpose of this symposium is to present new geochronologic research being done in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge and to emphasize what each mineral dating process is contributing to our understanding and reconstruction of these environs and the implications of current geochronologic studies on development of new tectonic models for this region.

Undergraduate Research Poster Session
Co-sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research.
Brannon Andersen (brannon.andersen@furman.edu), Furman University; Jeff Ryan (ryan@chuma.cas.usf.edu), University of South Florida – Tampa. Poster.

The Council on Undergraduate Research will sponsor a poster session highlighting research performed by undergraduates in all areas of the Earth sciences. The first authors must be undergraduate students, and students must be responsible for the bulk of the research, preparation of posters, and presentation of results.

Geologic Maps, Digital Geologic Maps, and Derivatives from Geologic Maps
Co-sponsored by the Geologic Mapping Institute.
Ralph F. Crawford (Crawford@sprintmail.com) and Michael W. Higgins (mhiggins@mindspring.com); Scott Southworth (ssouthwo@usgs.gov), US Geological Survey. Poster.

Geologic maps are the most fundamental tool of the science of geology. Almost all other geologic research is ultimately based on the geologic map.  The art and science of geologic mapping must be kept alive and nurtured if geology is to survive.  A new tool for presentation, printing, and publication of geologic maps is geographic information systems (GIS), which locates the topographic base map in real space, allowing production a digital geologic map.  Geologic maps and digital geologic maps are best displayed in poster sessions. The theme session will be composed of invited and volunteered posters.

Current Research in the Triassic-Jurassic Newark Supergroup Basins
Patricia G. Weaver (trish.weaver@ncmail.net), NC Museum of Natural Sciences; Robert E. Weems (rweems@usgs.gov), US Geological Survey. Oral.

The intent of this interdisciplinary session is to bring together researchers who are currently working in the Newark Supergroup basins. Contributions on paleontology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, structural geology, or age dating are strongly encouraged.

Tectonics of the Blue Ridge and Adjacent Areas
Kevin Stewart (kgstewar@email.unc.edu), UNC – Chapel Hill. Oral.

This session will focus on the structure and tectonics of the southern Appalachian Blue Ridge, including mapping, petrology, and geochronology. Special emphasis will be given to the nature and tectonic history of the boundaries between the major tectonic units.

Classical Geology in Hydrogeology
Rick Klingel(eklingel@zapeng.com), Zapata Engineering and UNC – Charlotte. Oral.

Drought in the Southeastern US
Anne Jefferson (AJefferson@uncc.edu), UNC – Charlotte. Oral.

The summer of 2007 brought extreme drought to the Southeast and highlighted the need to understand and conserve water resources in this normally moist region. This session seeks research investigating paleo- and historical drought records, implications of modern droughts, and predictions of future drought frequency and severity.

The Art and Science of Field Notes
Andy R. Bobyarchick (AndyBobyarchick@uncc.edu) and John A. Diemer (jadiemer@uncc.edu), UNC - Charlotte. Poster.

A geologist’s field notes are functionally and philosophically integrated with the scientist. Although we expect these data are testable, and therefore should follow some general guidelines for consistency, the actual records are often personalized by unique styles. Unfortunately, field notes are often not accessible for descendant studies nor do many students have the opportunity to view “exemplary” sets of notes. This poster session is a compilation of distinctive illustrations from the original field notes of contributing geologists. Each contribution features an image of one original page from the contributor’s notebooks along with a narrative describing the significance of that page. If you have access to the field notes of a deceased geologist of note and would like to demonstrate those notes, please check with one of the co-chairs first. These contributions will also be displayed after the meeting online at this web site: segsa2008.uncc.edu/fieldnotes.
Note: Contributors to this poster session will not have their submissions counted toward the GSA restriction on number of abstracts for which you may be the presenter. You do not have to be present for the full period of time your poster will be on display. You must submit an abstract in the standard way. As we would like to keep the posters in a standard format, please contact one of the co-chairs for instructions to prepare materials.

Using Technology in Earth Sciences Education
Co-sponsored by NAGT.
Nan Huebner (n.huebner@fernbank.edu), Fernbank Science Center; Pamela J.W. Gore (pgore@gpc.edu), Georgia Perimeter College. Oral.

Fluvial Geomorphology and Watershed Studies in the Eastern United States
Suresh Muthukrishnan (suresh.muthukrishan@furman.edu), Furman University; Odhiambo Kisila Ben (bkisila@umw.edu), University of Mary Washington. Oral and Poster.

The landscape around us is in a state of constant change effected by surficial processes such as fluvial processes. A good understanding of rivers and how human alterations of topography and land cover around the rivers affect the health of river systems is essential in solving several important problems related to water quality and management issues of our times. Application of computer models, GIS and remote sensing methods coupled with traditional field methods are improving our understanding in this field. Stability of stream channels directly influence changes in water quality and local hydrologic conditions, changes in sediment fluxes and transport, biogeochemical cycles of nutrients, and variations in population and diversity of aquatic organisms. A multidisciplinary approach is necessary to understand the broader implications of human impacts on watershed systems. This session will provide a forum for presenting and discussing the recent advances and findings on the study of urban and natural watersheds in the eastern United States.