THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA®
Newsletter
GEOSCIENCES
Fall 2005
UASCIENCE
Inside
From the Dept Head & Donors
2
News from Tumamoc Hill
3
The Colorado River Delta Network
4
The Arizona LaserChron Center
6
Department News
7
Degrees and Scholarships
8
List of the Lost
9
Alumni News
10
Vol. 11 No. 1
New Students Visit Northern Arizona
T
By Anna Felton, Andy Frassetto, Dave Keeler,
and Lynnette Kleinsasser
his past August, a group of incoming
and returning graduate students
traveled north to Sunset Crater, Wupatki,
and the South Rim of Grand Canyon. The
three-day adventure was filled with hiking,
site seeing, and fun. Trip leader and stable
isotope researcher Dave Dettman was kind
enough to join us (the graduate students)
on the trip.
Advisory Board
Regina M. Capuano, University of
Houston
Carlotta B. Chernoff, ConocoPhillips
For the new
students, the
trip was an
unparalleled
opportunity
to find their
footing in the
Department.
M. Stephen Enders, Newmont Mine
James E. King, Retired Director,
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Jamie Webb King, Retired University
Administrator
Christopher Marrs, A. W. Marrs, Inc.
Stephen J. Naruk, Shell
David K. Rea, University of Michigan
Jeffrey G. Seekatz, ExxonMobil
William H. Wilkinson, Phelps-Dodge
Credits
The UA Geosciences Newsletter
is published twice a year by:
The Department of Geosciences
The University of Arizona
PO Box 210077
Tucson, AZ 85721-0077
Lesa Langan DuBerry, Editor
Phone: 520-626-8204
Email: lesa@geo.arizona.edu
Web: www.geo.arizona.edu
We are very
thankful for
Field trip participants included graduate students Jennifer Boerner, Andy Frassetto,
the support
Jerome Guynn, Dave Keeler, Lynnette Kleinsasser, Scott McBride, Jennifer Roskowski,
we received
Mike Takaichi, Alyson Thibodeau, Tyler Vandruff, John Volkmer, Ross Waldrip and
for this trip.
family, and researcher Dave Dettman.
We would
specifically like to thank the Geosciences
The highlight of our expedition was hiking
Advisory Board members, as well as the
the spectacular Bright Angel Trail to
Department, for helping to make this trip
Plateau Point. The all-day hike allowed us
happen. We hope a field trip to northern
to see two-billion-year’s worth of geologic
Arizona will become an annual event for
record, notably the Great Unconformity
incoming and returning graduate students.
and the Bright Angel Fault. On the
second day, we traversed the rim
and were rewarded with spectacular
views of the Colorado River. We also
examined the historic Orphan Mine,
which was once used for uranium and
copper extraction. The weather was
fantastic, and the views of the canyon
were breathtaking.
In addition to seeing Arizona’s
geology, new and returning graduate
students were able to meet and form
friendships before classes started.
From the Interim Department Head
G
reetings
from
the Interim
Department
Head! As Susan
Beck announced
in this space
last spring, she
is on sabbatical
this year, and
I am serving as Interim Head. For those
of you who might not know me, I joined
the Department in 1978 as an assistant
professor in Geophysics, became associate
dean of the College of Science in 1995, and
moved over to the Office of Undergraduate
Education in 1998, where I ultimately
served as vice president before returning to
the Geosciences Department in late 2003.
I simply cannot express how wonderful
it is being back in a great Department,
known for its
outstanding
faculty, staff,
students, and
alumni, and
having the
opportunity
to serve as
interim head
this year.
One exciting activity this fall was our new
field trip just before the start of classes to
the Grand Canyon for new and returning
graduate students. Organized by secondyear graduate students and supported
by the Department and the generosity of
the Geosciences Advisory Board, this trip
could be the start of a long tradition of
building community and memories for
our graduate students. I hope you enjoy
the article on the cover of this newsletter
about that trip.
One example of our commitment to
keeping alumni and friends connected
to the Department is the very successful
alumni reception we held at the Geological
Society of America meeting in Salt Lake
City this past October. Nearly 80 people
attended, and judging by the conversation
levels and food and beverages consumed,
we succeeded
in connecting
many alumni
and friends with
each other and
with faculty and
current students
who attended.
The Department
has a new logo
My goals
that clearly
for this year
shows a link
include:
between the
(1) serving
Department
well so
and the College
Randy Richardson and Tim Demko during the UA Geosciences
that Susan
of Science. This
Alumni reception at this year’s GSA conference.
can have a
change has
productive
resulted in a
and renewing sabbatical before her
new format for this newsletter and our
return to this position next summer;
web site (http://www.geo.arizona.edu).
(2) helping the Department decide
about future faculty hires; (3) creating
I hope you will visit our updated web site,
an environment where faculty can be as
where you can click on “About Us,” then
successful as possible in their research
“Alumni,” and then “Alumni Update,”
and teaching endeavors; (4) reviewing our
which will take you to a page where you
graduate program, especially the first-year
can update your alumni information. This
experience; (5) visiting the classroom of
is especially important if you are reading
every faculty member to see their teaching
this newsletter from a copy that was
firsthand; (6) working with graduate and
not mailed to you. Remember, I said that
undergraduate students to improve our
improving the connection between the
programs; and very importantly, (7) improving
Department and our alumni is one of my
the connection between the Department
goals this year!
and over 2,000 alumni and friends.
I take this last goal very seriously. I look
forward to hearing from you about ways
the Department can keep you informed on
how we are growing and changing to meet
the needs of current and future faculty,
staff, and students. These are truly exciting
times, and we look forward to partnering
with you in our efforts.
Page 2 • Geosciences Newsletter
As always, I want to thank all of our
Geosciences alumni and friends for their
continued support of the Department. We
simply cannot do the kinds of things we
aspire to, especially in terms of serving our
students, without your financial support.
Donors
The Department of Geosciences
wishes to thank our alumni and
friends listed below for their generous
contributions that support programs,
scholarships, and fellowships.
— Individuals —
Regina Capuano
Carlotta Chernoff
Robert Davis
Jeanne DeLanois
James Dretler
M. Stephen Enders
Michael Evans
Liping Gao
Anne Gardulski
Elaine Hazelwood
Tim Jull
James King
Jamie Lytle King
Christopher Marrs
Gopal Mohapatra
Mary Ellen Morbeck
Virginia Morbeck
Stephen Naruk
Randall Richardson
Jeff Seekatz
Yukimitsu Tomida
Arthur Trevena
William Wilkinson
— Corporations —
ExxonMobil
Oracle
Unocal
Mark your Calendars
GeoDaze 2006 will take place April
6-8 in the Student Union on the UA
campus. Plan to be there!
Alumni Drawing Winner
Kimberlee Coolbaugh from Madison,
Ohio, will receive a Geosciences T-shirt
for sending in her updated contact
information.
Send in your updated contact
information, and have your name
added to the next drawing for a
Geosciences T-shirt!
Beyond radiocarbon’s “black hole”
C dating samples older than 40,000 yrs
14
By Jeff Pigati
F
or Quaternary geologists, the short halflife of 14C (5,730 years) is both a blessing
and a curse. While it allows for relatively
precise dating of fossil carbon throughout
the Holocene and late Pleistocene (the
blessing part), those of us interested in
looking at events that occurred before
~40,000 years ago must turn elsewhere
for chronologic control. Simply put, too few
of the original 14C atoms remain after 40
millennia of decay to yield reliable results
(the curse). At the Desert Laboratory, we
have recently constructed a dedicated
vacuum extraction system, which we call
“the low-level line,” and are refining new
chemical pretreatment protocols aimed at
thoroughly removing secondary carbon.
Together, these advances may allow us to
push back the upper limit of 14C dating to
as much as 55,000 years ago and perhaps
beyond.
First measured shortly after World War II
by Willard Libby and his students at the
University of Chicago, radiocarbon has
revolutionized our understanding of the
timing and synchroneity (or lack thereof)
of a myriad of climatic, geologic, and
anthropologic events over the last 40,000
years. Dubbed “the mother of all isotopes,”
14
C can be used to determine the age of
any material, organic or inorganic, that
contains carbon provided that two criteria
are met: (1) original carbon atoms can be
isolated from the sample material (i.e.,
all contaminants can be removed), and
(2) modern carbon is not introduced at
any time during the extraction process.
While these criteria are satisfactorily met
for Holocene- and late Pleistocene-age
material, the impact of contamination
increases exponentially with age.
For example, a 10,000-year-old sample that
contains 1% modern carbon would yield
an age of 9,730 yrs, representing an error
of only 270 years. In contrast, the same
amount of contamination in a 50,000 yearold sample would result in an apparent
age of 35,500 years, a difference of 14,500
years! In fact, older samples that contain
small amounts of contamination yield 14C
ages that fall between 35,000 and 40,000
years B.P. with such regularity that we
refer to this time period as “the black hole”
of radiocarbon dating. The implications
for 14C dating in and beyond the black
hole are clear: even a tiny amount of
contamination, whether originally
incorporated in the sample material or
introduced during the measurement
process, can be fatal for old samples.
Our experimental design is based largely
on the work of Michael Bird and colleagues
at Australia National University in
Canberra, as well as on our own experience
with measuring low concentrations of
cosmogenic 14C in silicate minerals (low,
as in part per quintillion!). For organic
materials, such as charcoal, samples are
initially treated using dilute acids and
bases in order to remove the bulk of the
secondary carbon species. These steps,
that survive the ABOX treatment, typically
evolve at lower temperatures (<425°C),
whereas elemental carbon evolves at
higher temperatures (>550°C). Thus, we
simply discard the low-temperature
aliquots and use the higher-temperature
aliquots for dating.
Based on Bird’s results, the ABOX-steppedcombustion (or ABOX-SC) treatment
appears to have pushed back the limits of
14
C dating to at least 50,000 years ago. It
has been used successfully for dating old
charcoal from several archeological sites
in Australia, as well as charcoal recovered
from cave sediments that contained the
recently discovered remains of Flores Man
(Homo floresiensis), the tiny hominids that
lived in the caves of Indonesia during the
last glacial maximum. Our low-level line
incorporates features above and beyond
those found in the ANU system, including
a backing line
through which all
atmospheric 14C is
removed, chemical
scrubbing
capabilities, and
other technology
used for isolating
CO2 that we
developed as part
of our cosmogenic
14
C research.
We hope that
these technologies
and close
attention to detail
will allow us to
reliably measure
even older
samples. Although
we are only at the
The low-level 14C extraction system at the Desert Laboratory located on
beginning of our
Tumamoc Hill.
testing process,
results thus far
have been encouraging. Background levels
followed by a final rinse in dilute acid, are
for the low-level line are at least a factor
usually sufficient for younger samples and
of three lower than typical blank levels
comprise the traditional acid-base-acid
and, with some additional tweaking of our
(or ABA) treatment that has been used for
extraction procedures, we may be able to
decades. Our treatment of old charcoal
achieve even lower levels.
samples begins with the same acid and
base steps, but includes a subsequent step
Once the testing phase is completed (our
in which the base-insoluble fraction is
target is December 2005), we will begin
immersed in an oxidizing solution (K2Cr2O7
to address the long-standing controversy
in 2M H2SO4) for up to 24 hours. During this
of when Neanderthals were replaced by
step, all carbon species except elemental
modern humans in Europe and Asia. A
carbon are oxidized and removed.
substantial portion of the chronology at
several key sites is based on 14C dates that
Carbon residue that survives the acidfall – you guessed it – within radiocarbon’s
base-oxidation (or ABOX) treatment is
black hole. Are those ages real, or are they
then transferred to the low-level line and
artifacts of contamination? Time will tell.
subjected to stepped combustion. The idea
behind stepped combustion is that labile
carbon species, including contaminants
Geosciences Newsletter • Page 3
UA Geosciences hosts Research Coordination
Network for the Colorado River Delta
By Karl Flessa
T
he Colorado River no longer reaches
the sea. Upstream dams and water
diversions divert the river’s water to the
farms and cities of the United States
and Mexico. The Colorado delta, from
the Salton Sea to its estuary in the Gulf
of California, was once subject to the
river’s strongly seasonal flow and yearto-year variation in snowfall in the Rocky
Mountains. In less than 100 years, control
over the variation in flow of the Colorado
River at its delta has passed into human
hands. The Colorado River delta is a natural
laboratory for studying the transformation
of the Earth’s surface for human needs.
human-caused variation in water supply
affects the biotas, landscapes, and societal
activities on the Colorado River delta
in the US and Mexico. Karl Flessa is the
director of this five-year project, and
Carlos Cintra-Buenrostro, a Geosciences
graduate student, works on the project
as a research assistant. The goal of NSF’s
Research Coordination Network program
is to encourage and foster interactions
among scientists to create new research
directions or advance a field. The Research
Coordination Network for the Colorado
River delta is one of 38 active networks and
one of ten funded in 2005.
The National Science Foundation has
established a Research Coordination
Network to examine how natural and
The Colorado River delta network includes
more than 100 natural scientists, social
scientists, humanists, and legal scholars
In 1983-1984 (image April-June, 1984), controlled releases from Colorado
River reservoirs and flooding from the Gila River inundated large areas
of the delta, affecting agricultural activities, revitalizing long-dormant
wetlands, and greatly expanding the size of the river’s estuary in the Gulf
of California. This flow probably mimicked the frequent natural flooding
of the delta in the era before upstream dams regulated seasonal flow and
before aqueducts diverted water to farms and cities.
Page 4 • Geosciences Newsletter
from universities, community colleges,
research institutions, government
agencies, and non-government agencies
in the US and Mexico (see Participating
Institutions to the right). Annual
workshops, exchange visits, field trips, a
bilingual web site, and other activities
will facilitate interdisciplinary, interinstitutional, and international research
on the Colorado River delta of the US and
Mexico.
Tree-ring studies have shown that the
allocations of water among the US basin
states and between the US and Mexico
were based on some of the wettest years
in the past 500 years. With the return to
normal, dry conditions, the river will not be
able to supply all the water that has been
allocated. There are more legal rights to
water than there is water.
Mark Twain said, “Whiskey is for drinking,
water is for fighting.” This is certainly
true of the Colorado River, where the
By 1990 (image is June, 1990), the effects of the flood had vanished, and
all river flow was diverted for storage, agriculture, or cities, reducing
wetlands to habitats sustained by agricultural return flow (i.e., Salton Sea
in upper left and Cienega de Santa Clara, lower right), and eliminating
most flow to the river’s estuary.
Images courtesy of Alejandro Hinojosa-Corona, CICESE
Participating Institutions
Mexican Academic/Research Institutions
US Academic institutions
Centro de Investigación Cientifica y de Educación Superior
de Ensenada
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali
Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste
Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo
Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
University of Arizona� �
Arizona State University�
UC San Diego/Scripps��
UC Berkeley� �
�
UC Los Angeles�
�
University of Rhode Island�
University of Colorado��
Mexican Non-Government Organizations
Pronatura
Centro Intercultural de Estudios de Desiertos y
Océanos
Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas
- UNAM
US Non-Governmental Organizations
Sonoran Institute�
�
�
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum�
ASM Affiliates�
�
�
Pacific Institute� �
�
US Geological Survey
Environmental Protection Agency
Fish and Wildlife Service
Instituto del Medio Ambiente y el
Desarrollo Sustenable
Comisión Nacional de Áreas
Naturales Protegidas
Network activities will improve the
scientific basis of water and environmental
policy in this rapidly growing region. It’s
no longer enough to just understand the
physical and climatic controls on river
flow. Nor is it enough to just understand
how the delta’s plants and animals
respond to flow. Economic, political,
and social factors affect the river’s flow
and the environmental and ecological
consequences of that flow. Solutions to
some of the most difficult environmental
challenges in the region require an
approach that crosses both disciplinary
and political boundaries.
The network’s first workshop, cosponsored
with the Sonoran Institute, was held in
Tucson, in August 2005. Two days were
dedicated to an assessment of research
Environmental Defense
Defenders of Wildlife
Drylands Institute
Project WET
US Agencies
Mexican Agencies
increased demand for its water by cities
faces an uncertain future supply. What are
the social, economic, and environmental
consequences of transferring water from
farms to cities? How will global warming
affect supply and demand? How much
water is needed to support and restore the
ecosystem services provided by wetland
and estuarine habitats? The cost of water
depends more on the cost of its delivery
and treatment than on its economic and
ecological value. Is there a rational and
politically acceptable way to make the
price of water reflect its value? What
physical, biological, and societal indicators
best characterize the health of the delta?
Science alone can’t answer these
questions.
University of Michigan
San Diego State University
University of Redlands
University of North Alabama
Arizona Western College
Pima Community College
Imperial Valley Community College
needs and planning for future RCN
activities. The third day established a
preliminary monitoring framework for
the delta. The 86 participants (including
27 students) came from fourteen US
universities, eight Mexican universities,
three US agencies, two Mexican agencies,
eight US NGOs, and two Mexican NGOs.
The top research priorities identified by the
group were: (1) better understanding of
groundwater flow, (2) salinity/freshwater
requirements for estuarine species, (3)
biological inventories, (4) improved access
to existing information, (5) physical
characteristics and variability of the
estuary, (6) a quantitative assessment of
the social, cultural, and ecosystem value
of Colorado River water, (7) a quantitative
assessment of how future climate change
will affect water supply, (8) a quantitative
assessment of how future regional
development will affect the demand
for water, (9) identification of social and
economic indicators likely to be sensitive
to variation in water supply, and (10) a
quantitative assessment of the quality,
quantity, and pathways of agricultural
return flow.
Workshops in the fall of 2005 will focus
on a groundwater model for the delta
and a detailed monitoring framework
for research into the effects of future
controlled releases of water to the delta.
Future activities will include real and
virtual field trips, a research symposium,
and short courses on climate change and
regional development.
Fall Recruiting Activities
During September and October, BP
Corporation, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Shell Oil
Companies each sent representatives
to visit the Department, interview
students, and talk with faculty.
During scheduled visits, each group
of representatives gave a general
introductory session followed by
individual interviews. Twentyone Geosciences students, two
Postdoctoral students, five GeoEngineering students, and three
students from NAU participated in
interviews.
Representatives also met with some
of our faculty members to talk about
current issues in the oil industry and
research trends in the Department.
Two of the recruiters were alumni
from the Department: Bob Krantz
from ConocoPhillips and Joe
Chmielowski from BP corporation.
Marc Sbar was a former faculty
member in the Department.
Our thanks go out to each company
and their representatives for their
interest in our students and their
continued support of the UA’s
Department of Geosciences.
Geosciences Newsletter • Page 5
Launch of the Arizona
LaserChron Center
By George Gehrels
and Joaquín Ruiz
T
he Department of Geosciences is the
home of a newly established National
Center for geochronologic research, the
Arizona LaserChron Center. The center is
built around a new type of instrument
(Laser Ablation-ICP-Mass Spectrometer
or LA-ICP-MS) that can determine U-Pb
ages many times faster than existing
instruments. Because age information
is essential for many studies in Earth
Science, this rapid throughput is driving a
revolution in Earth Science research.
The LA-ICP-MS used in the LaserChron
Center is a combination of three different
instruments that were first
coupled together in about 1998.
Current LaserChron study areas.
This material is carried into instrument #2,
which houses a flame of burning argon
gas. The central portion of this flame is
~6000°C, hot enough to create a plasma
(a highly energetic mass of electrons
decoupled from their host nuclei). As the
The front end is a laser that
hits the crystal to be dated
with a pulsed beam ranging
from 10 to 75 microns in
diameter (about the diameter
of a hair!). The laser beam is
of sufficient energy that each
pulse excavates a thin layer of
material from the surface of
the crystal.
sample is transported
through the plasma,
electrons are stripped
off nearly all of the
U and Pb atoms, which
allows them to be
accelerated and focused
into a small beam.
Undergraduate students Erin Gleeson, Joe Amar, Jen Fox, Erin
Brennerman, and Owen Hurd, together with professors Bill Dickinson
and Pete DeCelles, collecting detrital zircon samples from sandstones
of the Colorado Plateau. Zircon crystals from these samples yield
U-Pb ages that help constrain the origin and transport history of the
sand grains. To our surprise, most of the sand in these famous units,
such as the Navajo, Entrada, and Wingate sandstones, was derived
from the ancestral Appalachian Mountains!
Page 6 • Geosciences Newsletter
This beam is carried
into instrument
#3, which is a mass
spectrometer capable of
measuring the relative
concentrations of U and
Pb. Because we know the
rate at which U decays
to Pb, the ratio of Pb to U
can be used to calculate
the time that has passed
since the crystal formed.
In most cases, this
corresponds to the age of the rock from
which the crystal was extracted.
Although this sounds like a very complex
and demanding process, operating the
instrument is actually very user friendly.
In fact, it is very much like playing a video
game, except that you win a game every
90 seconds, and the reward for winning
is new knowledge about when a granite
body was created, when an ore body
formed, when a mountain range was
uplifted, or when a sedimentary layer
accumulated!
As a national center, the LaserChron lab
is accessible to all researchers supported
by the National Science Foundation. This
provides us with an incredible opportunity
to work closely with researchers from
all across the country, who are working
on projects from all around the world.
The map above shows where samples for
current projects have come from – clearly,
the world is becoming our playground!
The LaserChron Center is under the
direction of George Gehrels and Joaquín
Ruiz, but Alex Pullen, Victor Valencia, and
Mark Baker do most of the hard work.
Their primary tasks are to maintain the
instruments, help students and faculty in
the Department of Geosciences acquire
geochronologic information, facilitate
use of the instrument by outside users,
and conduct their own research. We are
also assisted in sample processing and
instrument operation by the following
students: Jen Pullen (MS in Economics),
Jessica Bressmer (undergraduate in
Geosciences), Kacie Bressmer (undergraduate in the School of Natural
Resources), Linette Ancha (undergraduate
in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology),
and Jen McGraw (undergraduate in
Geosciences).
So what can be done with all of these
ages? The following examples summarize
several projects that are being conducted
in collaboration with colleagues in the
Department of Geosciences.
Pete DeCelles, Jay Quade, George
Gehrels, and numerous graduate and
undergraduate students have been
working on samples from the Himalaya to
determine when India first began to collide
with Asia, when rocks in the collision zone
were buried and metamorphosed, and
when these rocks were uplifted and eroded
due to mountain building.
Joaquín Ruiz, John Chesley, and Victor
Valencia have been working on the
Witswatersrand gold deposits from South
Africa to determine the origin of the
gold in these world-class deposits.
Bill Dickinson, Pete DeCelles, and
George Gehrels are working with eight
undergraduate students on samples from
the classic sandstone units in the FourCorners area – the Navajo Sandstone,
Chinle Formation, Wingate Sandstone,
Entrada Sandstone, etc. The objective is
to determine where the sand in these
ancient dune fields came from – our
conclusion at present is that most sand
came from the Appalachian Mountains
and was transported across central North
America in a large river system. This is
different from the traditional view that
most of the sand was shed from local
sources.
Eric Seedorff, Mark Barton, and numerous
graduate and undergraduate students
are attempting to reconstruct the
history of granite emplacement, copper
mineralization, and younger faulting/
tilting in the Superior District of central
Arizona.
Mihai Ducea, Jon Patchett, George
Zandt, George Gehrels, and numerous
graduate and undergraduate students
are attempting to discover the critical
processes involved in creating large
granitic bodies by working in the Coast
Mountains batholith of coastal British
Columbia and Alaska.
If you are interested in visiting the
LaserChron Center, stop by Gould-Simpson
114 or arrange a visit through George
Gehrels (ggehrels@geo.arizona.edu) or
Mark Baker (mbaker@geo.arizona.edu).
You may also want to visit our web site
at http://www.geo.arizona.edu/alc.
Faculty News
Graduate Student News
Mark Barton and Eric Seedorff led an eleven-day short course
in September that is expected to become an annual event. The
course was offered as a class for nine UA graduate students
and as continuing education course for eleven members of
the minerals industry. The industry geologists came from six
organizations and five countries: Argentina, México, Mongolia,
Perú, and the USA.
The new Professional Masters degree program in Economic
Geology started classes in August. The Lowell Program in
Economic Geology was founded by a gift from David Lowell,
an alumnus and successful mineral exploration geologist and
businessman. The first students are Amy Eichenlaub, Rita Pinto,
Tyler Vandruff, and María Zavala.
Bob Downs has accepted a position as one of the three
members on the Executive Committee of the International
Mineralogical Association.
Pete DeCelles was recently elected to the Explorers Club.
ExxonMobil Corporation made a $374,000 grant to his group
for a study entitled “Global Assessment of Thrust Belts and
Foreland Basins.”
Karl Flessa (below) finished 25th in his class in the Sports Car
Club of America’s 2005 National Championship races held at the
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, in Lexington, Ohio, in September.
Megan Anderson received a USGS Mendenhall Postdoctoral
award to work on earthquake hazards in the Pacific Northwest
at Menlo Park, California.
Andrew Leier will be moving to Princeton University to start a
Hess Postdoctoral Fellowship. He will be working with Nadine
McQuarrie (PhD 01).
Aaron Martin joined the faculty at the University of Maryland
as an Assistant Professor.
James Mayer was awarded the GSA Farouk El-Baz award which
is given to a graduate student for research in a desert region.
His proposal is titled “Paleoenvironments and Geochronology
of Late Quaternary Playa Fills of Texas and New Mexico.” He
received the award at the annual GSA meeting in October.
Laura Wagner received a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carniege Institute
in Washington, D.C., to work on global seismology.
Undergraduate Student News
Paul Martin, emeritus professor, has a new book in print called
Twilight of the Mammoths: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding
of America, published by the University of California Press.
Jake Bailey, a former Geosciences undergraduate student, was
awarded an NSF Fellowship for his PhD studies at the University
of Southern California. His undergraduate research at the UA
was published this year: J.V. Baily, A.S. Cohen, and D.A. Kring,
(2005), “Lacustrine fossil preservation in acidic environments:
Implications of experimental and field studies for the
Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary acid rain trauma.”
Geosciences Newsletter • Page 7
Spring and Summer Degrees
Bachelor of Science
Richard Brown • Leslie Dix • Jack Erickson III • Timothy Fischer • Erik Flesch • Louis Helfrich
Marian Johnson • Theresa Kayzar • Michael Norton • Sean Oates • Olubusola Olatoregun
Jeannemarie Riley • Sarah Shah • Kelley Stair • Koichi Sakaguchi • Tyler Vandruff • Kevin Zeunert
Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy
Megan Anderson, PhD
“Seismic anisotropy, intermediate-depth earthquakes, and mantle flow in the Chile-Argentina
flat-slab subduction zone,” George Zandt
Luis Fernando Barra Pantoja, PhD
“Applications of the Re-Os isotopic system in the
study of mineral deposits: Geochronology and
source of metals,” Joaquín Ruiz
Allison Drake, MS
“Climate change, invasive grasses, wildfire, and the
potential for major ecosystem change in southwest
North America,” Jonathan Overpeck
Majie Fan, MS
“Late Miocene and Pliocene Asian atmospheric
circulation, environmental, and climatic variation in
the Linxia Basin, northeast Tibetan Plateau,” David
Dettman and Jay Quade
David Kennedy, MS
“Distribution of larval Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera)
along a depth transect at Kigoma Bay, Lake Tanganyika,
East Africa, with implications for paleoecology and
paleoclimate reconstructions,” Andrew Cohen
Aaron Martin, PhD
“Tectonics of the southern Annapurna Range,
central Nepal Himalaya,” Peter DeCelles
Victor Valencia-Gomez, PhD
“Evolution of La Caridad porphyry copper deposit,
Sonora and geochronology of porphyry, copper
deposits in northwest Mexico,” Joaquín Ruiz
John Volkmer, MS
“Cretaceous-Tertiary structural evolution of the
North-Central Lhasa Terrane, Tibet,” Paul Kapp
Ailiang Gu, PhD
“Stable isotope geochemistry of sulfate in
groundwater of southern Arizona: Implications
for groundwater flow, sulfate sources, and
environmental significance,” Austin Long
Lara Wagner, PhD
“Investigations of upper mantle structure using
broadcast seismology,” Susan Beck
Camille Holmgren, PhD
“Late Quaternary ecology, climatology, and
biogeography of the northern Chihuahua desert
from fossil packrat middens,” Jay Quade
Rebecca Walker, MS
“Examining the dynamics and evolution of scientistteacher partnerships using case studies,” Michelle
Hall-Wallace
Fall Scholarships and Awards
Graduate Scholarships
Patricia Alvarado received a Sulzer Scholarship
Serkan Arca received a BP Amoco Scholarship
Toby Ault received a Sulzer Scholarship
Robinson Cecil received a Sulzer Scholarship
Joseph Cook received a Sulzer Scholarship
Stephen DeLong received an H. Wesley Peirce Scholarship
Matt Fabijanic received a ConocoPhillips Scholarship
Stephanie McAfee received a Graduate College Fellowship
Scott McBride received a ConocoPhillips Scholarship
Michael McGlue received a Graduate College Fellowship
Rachael Novak received a Graduate College Fellowship
Page 8 • Geosciences Newsletter
Arda Ozacar received a Sulzer Scholarship
Soledad Velasco received a BP Amoco Scholarship
Frank Wagner received a BP Amoco Scholarship
Elise Williamson received an Economic Geology Scholarship
Undergraduate Scholarships
Erin Brenneman received an Evans Mayo Scholarship
Jennifer Fox received an Orlo Childs Scholarship
Erin Gleeson received an Evans Mayo Scholarship
Steven Jaret received an Evans Mayo Scholarship
Mayo Thompson received a David Moore Scholarship
A total of $68,625 was awarded to Geosciences students.
List of the Lost (A to M)
The Department has lost track of the individuals on
this page. If you know the wherabouts of anyone on
this list, please send an email to lesa@geo.arizona.edu.
—A—
Harold Aaland
Mohamed Abdulhussain
John L. Ablauf
Robert E Able
Beatrice Adams
Eun S. Ahn
Talib A. Al-Ajami
Saleh S. Alalawi
Salah S. Albehlany
Abdulaziz F. Aldossary
Rashid A. Alhashimi
Abdul Almuhanna
Ali A. Al-Mujaini
Abdulsalem Almurshidi
Khalid H. Al-Rawahy
Rodney S. Anderson
John W. Andrews
Lawrence E Archibald
Richard A. Armin
L. Clark Armstrong, Jr.
Larry D. Arnold
Ali Reza Ashouri
Seid Mohamad Assadi
Luiz O. Azevedo
—B—
Elizabeth Baggs
Scott M. Balay
Bryant Bannister
Richard P. Barlow
Arthur E. Barnes
Clayton M Barnhill
Rolando G. Barozzi
Atherton Bean
Daniel Behnke
John H. Behrens
Bradley Bishop
Annamarie H. Blauser
Erich Blissenback
Gail E. Bloomer
Shelby Boardman
Beth Bodnar
Steven R. Bohlen
Paul R. Boissevain
Tiffni R. Bond
Teresa A. Bone
Mary B. Booth
Ernest Bovenizer
Elizabeth Boyd
John W. Boyd IV
Eric R. Braun
Judith A. Bray
Calvin S. Bromfield
Hillary E. Brown
John W. Brown
Robert Brown
Robert C. Bryant
Edwin Buffington
Nathan Buras
Alison Burchell
George Burr
—C—
Ethan J. Caldwell
R. J. Cantwell
Julie E. Carlton
Michael Cassiliano
Laura Lynn Cathcart
Huseyin T. Cetinay
Richard D. Champney
Ata-Ur-Rehman Chaudhri
Nabil Chbouki
Scott Cherba
Randall T. Chew
Elizabeth A. Christensen
Ralph Christenson
Victor Church
Michael B. Clarke
George S. Clausen
Anne M. Clunes
Edwin Colbert
Robert E. Colby
J. Maurice Collier
Jan Conder
Aiko Condon
Robert D. Conrad
James R. Cook
Donald B. Cooley
Brian P. Cooper
Edwin H. Cordes
William Cosart
David A. Cowan
Billie Lea Cox
James D. Crabtree
Joseph Cramer
Keith C. Crandall
Randall W. Crockett
Fred Cropp
William D. Cunningham
George Curtin
—D—
William Dameron
Daniel J. Davis
Frank A. Deakin
Richard E. Deane
John D. Declerk
Scott H. Dennett
Phillip P. Denney
Thomas C. Dever
John W. Devilbliss
James Devine
Joanna Dewhurst
Robert W. Dickerman
Hassan D. Diery
Thomas N. Dirks
Constance Dodge
I. Donnerstag
John R. Doris
Robert R. Dorsey
Amelia S. Drury
David J. Dubin
Stephen Duermeyer
Christopher Duffield
Richard E. Dunlap
Jeffrey L. Dunn
Harvey S. Durand, III
Kenneth L. Dyer
—E—
Michael C. Edelman
Charles Edwards
Patrick J. Ellison
Robert Ellsworth
Jeanne T. Eng
Jason P. Erickson
Mark O. Erickson
W. G. Ernst
Wayne S. Estes
—F—
Deborah Fahnestock
Mehdi Falahatitaft
Christian N. Farnsworth
Robert C. Ferguson
Sheryl A. Ferguson
John Feth
John J. Field
Steven J. Figgins
Jennifer Fimbres
Jesse Fisher
Kathryn M. Flanagan
Peter W. Flanagan
Andrew Forrest
Linda A. Foster
Mary Foster
Mary Hill French
Carl Fries, Jr.
Robin Frisch Gleason
Satoru Fujihara
—G—
Richard Garbisch
Rebecca E. Garoutte
Sergio Garza
Peter E Gasperini
Susan Gawarecki
Peter C. Gibson
Maqsood Ali Shah Gilani
Joy Gillick
Gail K. Gitting
Arianna Gleason
James R. Gless
Charles Golder
Gedi Gonzalez
Howard M. Goodman
Robert Goodmundson
Allen S. Gottesfeld
Matthew D. Gray
Robert S. Gray
Darren C. Green
George E. Gregory
Eloise Grijalva
Zvi Grinshpan
Joseph Gross
Michael Grubensky
Philip Gudice
Terry A. Gustafson
—H—
William N. Hackenbracht
James W. Haggart
Abdi B. Haile
Denis K. Hall
William D. Hall
Diana P. Hallman
Susan L. Hamilton
Hamza Braiek Hamza
Andrea L. Handler-Ruiz
David D. Hankins
Avinash Vishnu Hardas
Robert T. Harrington
Kathryn Harris
Dianne Harte
Andrew F. Harvey, III
Fred Hauser
John J. Heaphy
Peter H. Hennings
Eiler Henrickson
Marilyn Jones
Hershberger
Richard H. Hevley
John H. Heyn
James R. Hillebrand
Bill Hirt
Lillian Hoff
Brian J. Hogan
James B. Holly
Russell Honea
Brenda Houser
Elizabeth P. Houser
Ryan T. Houser
Larry J. Hughes
Rigel Hurst
—I—
Carrie Ikeda
Abdalla H. Ishag
—J—
Garrett W. Jackson
Robert L. Jackson
John Jacobson
Jeong-Ah Jean
William S. Jefferson
Rukin Jelks
Joe P. Jemmitt
Paul W. Jensen
John L. Jirikowic
Jack Johnson
Mary Johnson
Marilyn G. Jones
Neil O. Jones
Peggy L. Jones
William R. Jones
Robert M. Jorden
—K—
Yohei Kaga
Katherine A. Kanschat
Janet Kante
Wayne E. Kartchnor
Kamel A. Kawar
Hamide Kayaci
George Kew
Zamir U. Kidwal
Deane E. Kilbourne
Steven L. Kimsey
Gordon Kitsuwa
John R. Kleist
David C. Knight
Louis H. Knight, Jr.
Allan Koch
Brian A. Koenig
Donald J. Kubish
Paul Kuennemeier
Steven M. Kunen
Michael P. Kutney
John Kwok
Jerry Kyle
Marvin D. Kypfer
—L—
Patricia H. Lach
Willard Lacy
Jack R. Lagoni
Brian N. LaReau
Kristen J. Law
Christy Lee
Robert L. Lee
Jonathan LeGrand
Felix M. Lerch
Paul H. Leskinen
Jacob Letts
David J Ley
Walter D. Lienhard
Jason Lillegraven
Frank Lojko
Katherine B. Long
Margo M. Longo
William B. Loring
Robert E. Lory
Mike Loudin
John Lucking
—M—
Miriam R. Mack
Maureen Mackey
George E. Maddox
Jody V. Maliga
William E. Malvey
Joseph Mancuso
Scott L. Manske
James I. Marlowe
Romolo Marquez Oropeza
Jennifer G. Martin
Larry Martin
Douglas Marvin
Dale M. Mathews
William P. Mathias, Jr.
Allan Matthews
Robert M. Matthiessen
Daniel A. Maus
William G. McArthur
Carol S. McCaig
William A. McClellan
Brett J. McDaniel
John H. McDonnell
Robert McEwen
Arthur F. McIntyre
John P. McLain
William G. McMullan
Fred A. Michel, Jr.
David G. Mickle
Richard F. Micklin
Charles H. Miles
Miguel Miranda-Gasca
Brian D. Monteleone
Jon A. Moore
Robert Avery Moore
Richard A. Morneau
Martin Moscosa
Robert M. Moulton
Ann Moushey
Margaret A. Mowrey
Grover Murray
Geosciences Newsletter • Page 9
Alumni News
was done by all! I am very
thankful to have had the
chance to see Australia,
the Southern Ocean, and
South Africa, and if I had
the chance to do it all
again, I definitely would
(but this time my training
would include eating lots of
doughnuts in order to gain
20 pounds before starting
the race).
~ChmieLJ@BP.com
Robert Bodnar (MS 78)
I just finished reading the most recent
issue of “News from Geosciences.”
Seeing so many notes and photos of
my former fellow grad students and
Profs from the UA encouraged me to
send this short note. I am currently a
University Distinguished Professor and
CC Garvin Professor of Geochemistry
in the Department of Geosciences at
Virginia Tech. I still look for bubbles in
rocks - a subject that I was introduced
to by the late Dick Beane when I was a
grad student at the UA. This year, I am
serving as a Distinguished Lecturer for
the Society of Economic Geologists and
have been selected by the American
Geophysical Union to receive the NL
Bowen Award for 2005.
~rjb@vt.edu.
Josef Chmielowski (MS 99)
In February of 2004, BP sent an email
to employees around the world
encouraging them to apply for a spot on
the BP Explorer (the company-sponsored
72’ yacht). I filled out an application,
and out of 350 people from over 20
countries, I was one of 48 folks invited
to England to compete for a chance to
sail on a portion of the race. After four
days of working on a yacht, rope courses
in the forest, and non-stop evaluations
(it was like the Apprentice on TV, but
more physical), I was one of twelve BP
employees selected to compete in the
Global Challenge yacht race.
I choose to sail on the Sydney, Australia,
to Cape Town, South Africa, portion
of the race because it is known as the
“Everest of sailing.” It exceeded that
reputation! On February 27th, 2005,
I left sunny Sydney, and things were
great for three days until we rounded
the tip of Tasmania. After that, we were
hammered relentlessly for over a month
as we pounded against the wind and
countless storms. We headed south
and stayed in the roaring forties and
furious fifties for the duration of our trip
(Antarctica was the closest land to us).
We had snow a couple times, but the
huge waves, soaking-wet conditions,
and endless storms made the journey
extremely tough.
I battled weight loss (20 pounds in the
first three weeks), seasickness, and the
constant struggle of living “life at an
Page 10 • Geosciences Newsletter
David Coblentz (PhD 94)
As a member of the
geodynamics group at
Los Alamos National Lab,
David sends word that the
ranks of Arizona alumni
at the Lab is growing and
includes such ghosts-fromthe-past as Paul Johnson,
Greg Cole, Jim Rutledge, and
former UA Post-Doc Barbara
Dutrow. David reports that
while his work at the Lab
is engaging, the running in
the Jemez Mountains hills
is even better. Lunch runs at
8,000 feet prepared him for
Joe Chmielowski on the BP Explorer during the Global
a repeat run of the Leadville
Challenge yacht race.
100 in August where he
finished 17th out of a field
of nearly 500 with a time
angle” as the boat heels over. Sleep was a
of
22:41,
a
success
that was facilitated
luxury, as we worked 4-6 hours, then slept
in
large
part
by
the
excellent support
2-3 hours, then worked again, non-stop,
of his crew, which includes his wife
around the clock for 40 days. Most of my
Kristine, daughter Amaya (3) and son
memories involve massive black waves, the
Kai (7) pictured below at the Twin Lakes
night, cold, and hypothermic conditions. On
aid station (mile 60).
the up side, I did see the Southern Lights,
~coblentz@lanl.gov
albatross, kelp, and the sun about five times
in forty days.
Make no
mistake, it was
very tough,
and after
40 days and
7,400 miles of
sailing, we took
2nd place on
our leg of the
race by only
45 minutes!
Overall, the
round-theworld race
ended in July,
and BP took
3rd place out of
twelve yachts,
so a good job
David Coblentz and his children Amaya (left) and Kai (right) during the
Leadville 100 race in Colorado this past August.
David Goodwin (PhD 03)
At the end of last year, I was awarded
the 2003 Outstanding Paper in PALAIOS.
The title of the paper was “Resolution
and fidelity of oxygen isotopes
as paleotemperature proxies in
bivalve mollusk shells: models and
observations.” The award was
presented at the 2005 Annual Meeting
of SEPM in Calgary.
~goodwind@denison.edu
Kurt Friehauf (Postdoc 98-99)
Kurt was a postdoctoral student with
Mark Barton and Spence Titley. He
worked with Mark on iron oxides. Then
he worked with Spence in Indonesia.
He is also an old friend and former
employee of Eric Seedorff. Kurt is
now an Associate Professor in the
Department of Physical Sciences at
Kutztown University in Pennsylvania.
The two photos below were taken at
this year’s annual Alumni Reception
at GSA in Salt Lake City.
~friehauf@kutztown.edu
Danielle Vanderhorst Horton
(BS 98) and Brian Horton (PhD 98)
Danielle and Brian had a baby boy, Peter
Michael Horton (6 lbs, 11 oz, 20.5 inches), on
July 18, 2005. Everyone is doing well and
looking forward to basketball season.
~danipops@yahoo.com
~horton@ess.ucla.edu
John Matis (MS 70)
I’ve done well as a result of the education
I received from The University of Arizona.
(How could you NOT succeed having been
influenced by Drs. Sumner, Harshbarger,
and the like?) Granted, I’ve done many
different things that haven’t been totally
related to Geology, but on closer inspection,
everything has been connected. Some might
call this the “Indian Way.” For the past
15+ years, I’ve been involved with science
education and placement of students
– and always feel like I “have an edge”
having completed my MS in Geology, in
Tucson. I realize that the type of program
I pursued at the UA is now centered in
Hydrology and Water Resources. However,
when I was there, those
who influenced me the
most were Professors
Titley, McCullough, Bull,
Wright, Harshbarger, and
Sumner, as well as Lacy
and Abel in Mining and
Geological Engineering.
~johnm80225@yahoo.com
Lynn Soreghan (PhD 92)
Spence Titley, Stacie Gibbins, and Kurt Friehauf
Lynn will receive the
James Lee Wilson Award
from the SEPM Society
for Sedimentary Geology
at their annual national
meeting (with AAPG)
in Houston next April.
This award is one of
the Societie’s five top
awards, right behind
the Twenhofel, Shepard,
Pettijohn, and Moore
Medals that, according
to emeritus professor Bill
Dickinson, have gone to
old warhorses like Bill
Hay, Mike Sarnthain,
Dan Bernoulli, and Pete
Palmer.
Peter Michael Horton
32+ years with them as a regional
exploration manager, and then a senior
research scientist. I still consult for Borax,
mostly in the field in the southwestern
US and Sonora. I will be monitoring the
GSA annual meeting in Salt Lake City
for Borax. I’m still a Rebounder and
a huge fan of Wildcat basketball and
football. I was extremely sorry to hear
of Paul Damon’s death, but pleased with
Spence Titley’s continued garnering of
prestigious awards. They were both fine
instructors of mine in the early 1960’s.
~barry.watson@comcast.net
Cara Wright (BS 80)
Cara is currently a certified professional
geologist with AIPG and licensed in
Washington and Alaska. She formed
Nanook Resources in 2001 and provides
geoscience and technical support
services mainly to the oil, gas, and
mining industry in Alaska and the
Russian Far East.
~cara@nanoolresources.com
John Young (BS 71)
The September 2005 issue of the
Smithsonian Air&Space magazine
contains a great article about John
Young. John flew Gemini and Apollo
missions, walked on the moon, and flew
the first shuttle orbital flight. He was
chief of the astronaut office for many
years and flew six space flights. John
worked for NASA until he retired this
past August.
Barry Watson
(MS 61, PhD 64)
Eric Seedorff and Kurt Friehauf
I retired June 1, 2003,
from US Borax of the Rio
Tinto organization after
Geosciences Newsletter • Page 11
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