Gower Gulch, where it emerges from the Black Mountains onto the floor of Death Valley. Researchers Byrdie Renik and Nicholas Christie-Blick are doing research in this region. Photo by Nicholas Christie-Blick.

The annual meeting of the Geological Society of America is the principal forum for presentation and discussion of the latest ideas in geoscience education. The following are presentations by Columbia University scientists at this year’s meeting in Denver, Colorado on November 7, 2004.

MEASURING GROUNDWATER RECHARGE RATES IN BANGLADESH USING ENVIRONMENTALTRACERS TO TRACK DISSOLVED ARSENIC
Martin Stute, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Stute presents a study of groundwater flow dynamics in a shallow aquifer in Bangladesh, showing significant downward groundwater movement and mixing even in areas not affected by irrigation. The research was conducted in the context of studies of the factors and processes affecting arsenic concentrations in groundwater in Bangladesh.

RE-EVALUATION OF THE EAGLE MOUNTAIN FORMATION, DEATH VALLEY REGION, CALIFORNIA
Byrdie Renik and Nicholas Christie-Blick, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Renik and Christie-Blick find that the Eagle Mountain Formation appears to include deposits from rivers but not alluvial fans, casting doubt on an important constraint on extension in the Death Valley region.

EXAMINING THE AGE OF GROUNDWATER IN BANGLADESH
A. Horneman, Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University
Horneman presents a study to determine whether sulfur hexafluoride can be used as a transient tracer for determining the age of groundwater in a shallow aquifer in Bangladesh.

STUDYING EJECTA FROM OCEANIC IMPACTS
Dallas Abbott, Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Abbott presents an examination of material ejected in the impact that created the Ewing crater, a 150-km wide, late Miocene crater in the mid-Pacific. She discusses the process of analyzing various kinds of material ejected in such impacts, from more common serpentinized olivine spherules to rare plagioclase microkrystites.

ROOTLESS DETACHMENT FAULTING IN THE MORMON MOUNTAINS, NEVADA
Christopher Walker, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Walker re-evaluates field evidence for extreme extension in the Mormon Mountains of southeastern Nevada. He presents evidence that high angle normal faults and massive landslides controlled the evolution of the range, accommodating only a fraction of the crustal extension currently attributed to it.

SOLID EARTH SAMPLE REGISTRY TO ASSIST UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION OF GEOLOGICAL SAMPLES
Kerstin Lehnert, Coordinator, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Lehnert describes a new web-based registry for earth samples called SESAR (Solid Earth Sample Registry) that will provide unique identification of samples via the International Geo Sample Number IGSN. This system will advance integration of sample-based data and information, crucial for the creation of a web-based, digital geoscience data infrastructure.

ENVISIONING LARGE GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES FROM LIMITED FIELD OBSERVATIONS
Toru Ishikawa, Post-doctoral Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Ishikawa presents an experimental study of how people mentally visualize large geologic structures from limited field observations, an important skill for field geologists but one which many students find difficult to master.

BUILDING A DIGITAL LIBRARY TO SERVE NEEDS OF DIVERSE AUDIENCES
Kim Kastens, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Kastens discusses the work of a four-institution collaborative to enrich digital library collections for use by diverse audiences. The group has developed a data tool for assessing use or acquisition of resources, called the DLESE Community Review System.

DEFINING CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING WHAT IS A ROOTED FAULT
Mark Anders, Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Anders presents research on fault zones that links deformation, such as cross-cutting veins, secondary mineralization, and microfractures, with rooted faults. He also presents evidence to support a caution against interpreting low-angle faults as rooted and associated with extreme crustal extension.

MODEL EXPLORES INFLUENCE ON TOPOGRAPHY ON PRECIPITATION
Joseph Galewsky, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics
Galewsky discusses mathematical modeling of interactions between topography and precipitation. He also discusses the implications of these results for climactic forcing of erosion in mountain belts.

DATA RESCUE PUTS LDEO SEISMIC REFLECTION PROFILES ON WEB
Samuel Schon, Earth and Environmental Science Department, Columbia University
North Atlantic analog data from the research ships of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in the 1960’s and ‘70s have now been scanned by the National Geophysical Data Center. Schon discusses what information is newly available, and what some of that information reveals.

USE OF GEOLOGY LIBRARY COLLECTIONS AT COLUMBIA
Elizabeth Fish, Geology Library, Columbia University
Fish will discuss trends and patterns of use in the geology library collections at Columbia University over the past century, which she has been studying as part of planning for the future of these collections.

CREATING A SHARED DATA TOOL FOR SEA FLOOR STUDIES
William B.F. Ryan, Doherty Senior Scholar, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Ryan presents an application of the CHRONOS model interactive data tool to label and track deep-sea seismic reflection profiles and ocean floor drill holes.

The Earth Institute at Columbia University is the world’s leading academic center for the integrated study of Earth, its environment and society. The Earth Institute builds upon excellence in the core disciplines—earth sciences, biological sciences, engineering sciences, social sciences and health sciences—and stresses cross-disciplinary approaches to complex problems. Through research, training and global partnerships, it mobilizes science and technology to advance sustainable development, while placing special emphasis on the needs of the world’s poor.

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116th Geological Society Annual Meeting