Vol. 7, No. 5 May 1997 INSIDE • Annual Meeting Costs, p. 10 GSA TODAY • Penrose Conference Report: Exhumation, p. 17 A Publication of the Geological Society of America • EPA Proposals on Clean Air, p. 26

Waiho Loop Moraine left behind by a major advance of New Zealand’s Franz Josef Glacier. Denton and Hendy (1994) used radiocarbon dating on wood carried by the glacier to show that the glacier was active at 11,150 ±~50 14C yr. This age is used by Denton as evidence for substantial Southern Hemi- sphere cooling, close to the time of the onset of the Northern Hemisphere Younger Dryas cold interval (Hajdas et al., 1995). Photo by George Denton. Will Our Ride into the Greenhouse Future be a Smooth One? Wallace Broecker, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964

ABSTRACT strength of the greenhouse blanket. But will it? Certainly the Earth climate system The climate record kept in ice and in sediment reveals that since the invention has proven beyond any doubt that it is of agriculture some 8000 yr ago, climate has remained remarkably stable. By con- capable of jumping abruptly from one trast, during the preceding 100,000 yr, climate underwent frequent, very large, and state of operation to another. Can we be often extremely abrupt shifts. Furthermore, these shifts occurred in lockstep across sure that it won’t respond to our push by the globe. They seem to be telling us that Earth’s climate system has several distinct lurching into another of its operational and quite different modes of operation and that it can jump from one of these modes? modes to another in a matter of a decade or two. So far, we know of only one ele- ment of the climate system which has multiple modes of operation: the oceans’ ther- A MESSAGE FROM GREENLAND mohaline circulation. Numerous model simulations reveal that this circulation is quite sensitive to the freshwater budget in the high-latitude regions where deep A clear demonstration that the cli- waters form. Perhaps the mode shifts revealed in the climate record were initiated in mate system can jump from one state the sea. This discovery complicates predictions of the consequences of the ongoing to another comes from a record kept in buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. If the major climate changes of Greenland ice (see Fig. 1). European and glacial time came as the result of mode shifts, can we be certain that the warming American teams have drilled through the will proceed smoothly? Or is it possible that about 100 years from now, when our entire thickness of the Greenland ice cap. descendants struggle to feed the 15 or so billion Earth inhabitants, climate will jump The most recent and best documented of to a less hospitable state. It is difficult to comprehend the misery that would follow these records is a pair of 3-km-long ice on the heels of such an event! cores from the summit of Greenland. These cores provide not only a record of climate in Greenland but also implications INTRODUCTION by most general-circulation models, a regarding climate in other places on the vocal minority dismisses this supposed The debate regarding the eventual globe as far back as 110,000 yr ago. threat. On the other hand, little debate consequences of the ongoing buildup Because precise counting of individual has occurred regarding the shape of the of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere couplets of winter and summer snow path climate will follow as CO and other concerns the magnitude of the coming 2 extends back to at least 45,000 yr ago, infrared-absorbing gases build up in our changes. Most atmospheric scientists agree there are few questions regarding the atmosphere. Whether the warming is great that the warming during the coming cen- chronology of this ice core (Meese et al., or small, nearly everyone assumes that it tury will be sufficiently great to pose seri- 1994). will be a smooth climb, and that climate ous difficulties, but because to date the will keep pace with the ever-increasing warming has been smaller than predicted Greenhouse continued on p. 2 IN THIS ISSUE GSA TODAY May Vol. 7, No. 5 1997 Will Our Ride into Penrose Conference Report ...... 17 the Greenhouse Future Washington Report ...... 21 GSA TODAY (ISSN 1052-5173) is published Be a Smooth One? ...... 1 monthly by The Geological Society of America, Inc., Call for Committee Service ...... 22 with offices at 3300 Penrose Place, Boulder, Colorado. In Memoriam ...... 2 Letters ...... 24 Mailing address: P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301- 9140, U.S.A. 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Written permission is required from GSA for all other Williamsburg, Virginia Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming forms of capture, reproduction, and/or distribution of March 5, 1997 March 1997 any item in this publication by any means. GSA provides this and other forums for the presentation of diverse Dorothy J. Echols Charles Phillips Purdy, Jr. opinions and positions by scientists worldwide, regard- Ferguson, Missouri Spokane, Washington less of their race, citizenship, gender, religion, or political viewpoint. Opinions presented in this publication do not Feburary 4, 1997 February 1997 reflect official positions of the Society. NOTE: Hildegard Howard, was erroneously listed in the February In Memoriam; SUBSCRIPTIONS for 1997 calendar year: Society we regret the error. Members: GSA Today is provided as part of member- ship dues. Contact Membership Services at (800) 472-1988 or (303) 447-2020 for membership informa- tion. Nonmembers & Institutions: Free with paid subscription to both GSA Bulletin and Geology, other- Greenhouse continued from p. 1 bearing dust. During the Younger Dryas wise $50 for U.S., Canada, and Mexico; $60 elsewhere. Contact Subscription Services. Single copies may be cold event, the rate of CaCO3-bearing dust requested from Publication Sales. Also available on an The isotopic composition of this infall was so high that it totally neutral- annual CD-ROM, (with GSA Bulletin, Geology, GSA Data ice is related to the air temperature over ized the acid; therefore, the electrical Repository, and an Electronic Retrospective Index to jour- nal articles from 1972). Members order from Member- Greenland. For the past 10,000 yr, Green- conductivity was very low. At the onset ship Services; others contact subscriptions coordinator. land has had a very stable climate, at least of the present warm period, the dust input Claims: For nonreceipt or for damaged copies, mem- compared to the previous 100,000 yr. dropped way back, allowing the acids to bers contact Membership Services; all others contact Subscription Services. Claims are honored for one year; There was one cold blip 8000 yr ago, but dominate. Because the protons from the please allow sufficient delivery time for overseas copies, otherwise its climate has remained pretty acid sustain the electrical conductivity in up to six months. much unchanged. Prior to 10,000 yr ago, ice, the conductivity is high. So we see though, the climate leaped back and forth that it was not only Greenland’s air tem- STAFF: Prepared from contributions from the between states of intermediate cold and perature that changed, but also the dusti- GSA staff and membership. Executive Director: Donald M. Davidson, Jr. extreme cold. The median temperature at ness of the air masses reaching Greenland. Science Editor: Suzanne M. Kay this site during the ice age has now been The isotopic fingerprint of this dust is con- Department of Geological Sciences, Cornell University, well established, through thermal profiles sistent with an origin in the Gobi Desert Ithaca, NY 14853 Forum Editor: Bruce F. Molnia in the ice itself, to have been on the aver- (Biscaye et al., 1997). If that is so, Asian U.S. Geological Survey, MS 917, National Center, age 16 °C colder than during the past climates must also have undergone abrupt Reston, VA 20192 10,000 yr (Cuffey et al., 1995). changes. Managing Editor: Faith Rogers Production & Marketing Manager: James R. Clark Further, during the past five years, Annual layer counting allows the Production Editor and Coordinator: Joan E. Manly evidence from a variety of investigations duration of the transition interval to be Graphics Production: Joan E. 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The entire transition took place in They can be viewed and printed on various personal ing on the most recent warming, the one less than three decades (Taylor et al., computer operating systems: MSDOS, MSWindows, Macintosh, and Unix, using the appropriate Acrobat that ushered in the present interglacial. 1993). reader. The readers are widely available, free, including Electrical conductivity for one of the Ice cores also tell us something about from GSA at: http://www.geosociety.org/pubs/index.htm. Greenland ice cores (Taylor et al., 1993; tropical climates, because air bubbles This publication is included on GSA’s annual CD-ROM, Fig. 1 here) was measured in great detail trapped in the ice contain methane. Prior GSA Journals on Compact Disc. Call GSA Publication by scratching a fresh surface of the ice to the invention of agriculture, the major Sales for details. with a pair of electrodes. This record pro- source of methane was swamps. Currently, Printed in U.S.A., using pure soy inks and recyclable vides a measure of the ratio of the fallout many of these swamps are located in the paper. of acids to that of calcium carbonate– temperate latitudes of the Northern Hemi-

2 GSA TODAY, May 1997 sphere. During glacial time when the for the entire series of so-called Dansgaard- sufficiently low and the rain rate of planet was very cold, all these northern Oeschger (D-O) events. These events, organic matter sufficiently high that the swamps were either covered by ice sheets named in honor of two of the heroes of sediments were anoxic. Thus, burrowing or frozen into tundra. Hence, they could ice-core research, punctuated the period organisms were excluded. By contrast, not have been methane producers. So between about 65,000 and 25,000 yr ago. during each of the cold phases (including during the Younger Dryas, most methane Previously it had been possible to dupli- the Younger Dryas), the pore waters in must have been produced in the tropics. cate this ice record only in ocean sedi- the upper sediments must have been oxy- In concert with the big warming at the ments from the northern Atlantic (Bond genated. To me, this suggests that during end of this last cold event, the methane and Lotti, 1995), because for the most part the cold phases conditions in the northern content of Earth’s atmosphere jumped they accumulate so slowly that stirring by Pacific were quite different from condi- from slightly below 500 up to about 750 worms obliterates millennial duration tions now. The low-salinity surface waters parts per billion. I think that this rise was events. Jim Kennett, of the University of that currently cap this region and thereby driven, at least in part, by a wetting of the California, Santa Barbara, convinced the prevent direct ventilation of the main tropics—i.e., to an increase in the size and Deep Sea Drilling Program to spend one thermocline must have been replaced with number of methane-producing swamps day drilling two shallow holes in the Santa saltier water, allowing the northern Pacific and soils. It’s therefore interesting to Barbara basin. This brief effort produced a to operate much as the northern Atlantic explore the relation between the timing gold mine of information. Because these does today. Behl and Kennett (1996) of this methane jump and the abrupt sediments accumulated at a rate of about 1 found that 16 of the 17 D-O events in warming in Greenland. My former gradu- m per 1000 yr, they have adequate resolu- the Greenland ice core record are clearly ate student, Jeffrey Severinghaus, working tion to fully preserve the Dansgaard- evident in the Santa Barbara record. in the laboratory of Michael Bender at the Oeschger events—and indeed they did. What do these data tell us? The ven- University of Rhode Island, made a major For each of the warm phases, the sediment tilation of the northern Pacific’s thermo- discovery when he found a means by shows annual banding, while during each cline (the sinking of waters from temper- which in these same air bubbles he could of the cold phases, stirring by bottom- ate latitudes to intermediate depths) obtain a measure of air-temperature dwelling organisms homogenized the sedi- increased greatly during the cold phases change in Greenland. He used these ment (Behl and Kennett, 1996). These of the D-O events (i.e., the intervals dur- measurements to show that Greenland’s results suggest that during the warm phase ing which laminations disappear). So the warming began no more than a decade of each D-O cycle, the O2 content of the or so before the onset of the increase in water filling the Santa Barbara basin was Greenhouse continued on p. 4 methane. Somehow when Greenland suddenly got much warmer, the tropics suddenly got wetter. So the impacts of this mode change extended, from Greenland ELEC. ELEC. GREENLAND SANTA BARBARA CURRENT at least, down into the tropics. CURRENT TEMPERATURE BASIN O2 11,600 HEAVY H2O COLDER WARMER LOWER HIGHER IN ICE CLIMATE CHANGE: GLOBAL AS 0 LIGHT H2O ~20 °C WELL AS LARGE AND ABRUPT 0 11,620 George Denton, of the University 10 20 of Maine, working with a colleague, Chris Y. D. 80 YR 11,640 1500 YR Hendy, studied a very interesting moraine 20 40 11,660 left behind by a major advance of New LAST GL. Zealand’s Franz Josef Glacier. The expan- ACID 30 sion extended down the steep valley 60 11,680 YR AGO CaCO DUST toward the Tasman Sea and created at 3 ACID CaCO DUST its outer limit the Waiho Loop moraine 40 80 3 (see photo). The rock rubble making up

THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO THOUSANDS OF LAST INTERGL. Y.D. = YOUNGER DRYAS this moraine is underlain by lots of wood. 100 Denton and Hendy (1994) postulated that 50 COLD PERIOD as the glacier advanced, it moved through COLDER WARMER a forest, tearing out trees and bulldozing 60 SANTA BARBARA them to its terminus. They obtained 25 WATER TEMP. radiocarbon measurements on separate WARMER COLDER pieces of the wood and determined the Figure 1. Oxygen isotope ratio record in ice from a 3-km-long core taken by the European GRIP group age of this basal wood deposit to be at the Summit site in central Greenland (Dansgaard et al., 1993). This ratio is related to air temperature; 11,150 ±~50 14C yr. This is very close the greater the depletion in the heavy isotope, the colder the temperature. On the basis of measure- to the radiocarbon age obtained in the ments of temperature in the borehole, it has been possible to demonstrate that the mean air tempera- Northern Hemisphere for the onset of the ture in Greenland must have been 16 °C colder during glacial time than during the present interglacial (Cuffey et al., 1995). The time scale was obtained by counting annual couplets in the ice (Meese et al., Younger Dryas cold interval (Hajdas et al., 1994). The electrical conductivity of Greenland ice is set by the amount of acid present. Measurements 1995). Denton would thus say that this made on the GISP ice core (a duplication of the GRIP core 40 km away) reveal that during the very cold event affected the Southern Hemisphere; intervals the electrical conductivity fell to near zero (Taylor et al., 1993; see text). The rapidly accumulat- the mountain glaciers responded to a ing (1 m/103 yr) sediments in the Santa Barbara basin record each of the so-called Dansgaard-Oeschger substantial lowering of the 0° isotherm. events seen in the Greenland ice-core record. On the basis of the alternation between sections with and Achieving this lowering required a sub- without annual laminations, Behl and Kennett (1996) established this correspondence. The laminated sections represent times when the pore waters in the sediment were anaerobic, preventing burrowing stantial Southern Hemisphere cooling. by bottom-dwelling worms. The absence of laminations in the intervening sections reflects times when A recent, spectacular set of results the pore waters were oxygenated, allowing burrowers to thoroughly stir the sediment. The alternations from sediments in a basin just off Santa match almost perfectly the alternations in Greenland air temperature. During very cold intervals, such as Barbara, California, verifies that this phe- the Younger Dryas, waters rich in O2 must have descended into the northern Pacific’s thermocline. nomenon was widespread and strong, not Because the northern Pacific surface waters of today have a salt content too low to permit direct ventila- tion of deeper parts of the thermocline, these alternations suggest major changes in the salinity distribu- only during the Younger Dryas, but also tion in this region of our planet.

GSA TODAY, May 1997 3 Figure 2. The great ocean con- lation by means of radiocarbon and other veyor carries warm water to the tracers. The focus was to try to understand region around Iceland where how rapidly fossil-fuel CO cooling by cold Canadian air 2 would be masses densifies the water, allow- absorbed into the ocean. The other aspect ing it to sink to the bottom, involved studies of paleoclimate. I was forming a southward-moving captivated by the observation that each water mass. The flow of water of the major 100,000-yr-duration glacial (20 million cubic meters per sec- cycles that have hounded us during the ond) is equal to the amount of global rainfall. So immense is the past million years came to a catastrophic heat released to the atmosphere close. So in 1984, I realized that I could that it keeps northern Europe 5 merge these two studies and ask the ques- to 10 °C warmer than it would tion, “What would happen if this major be were the conveyor to shut current were to be shut off or turned down. down?” Any such modification would cer- tainly make a major change in the climate of the northern Atlantic region. At my Greenhouse continued from p. 3 My idea can be summarized as prodding, modelers launched computer follows. As shown in Figure 2, one of the simulations of this phenomenon and most prominent features of today’s ocean quickly showed that if the input of warm cold spells in Greenland are matched in circulation is the strong northward move- water to the northern Atlantic were cut, the northern Pacific Ocean by what must ment of upper waters in the Atlantic. the mean annual temperature of the lands have been a radical change in the style of When these waters reach the vicinity around the North Atlantic basin would upper-ocean circulation. of Iceland, they are cooled by the cold drop by 5 to 10 °C. These climate changes I’ve recapped what I consider to be winter air that streams off Canada and would be felt in Newfoundland and the highlights of evidence for the global Greenland. These waters, which arrive at Greenland and would penetrate well into extent, large magnitude, and abruptness 12 to 13 °C, are cooled to 2–4 °C. The northern Europe. However, the models of these D-O events. What might have Atlantic is a particularly salty ocean, so suggested that this cooling would not triggered these amazing changes? this cooling increases the density of the extend across America to the Santa Bar- surface waters to the point where they can bara basin, nor would it extend to the CAUSES: THE OCEANIC sink all the way to the bottom. The major- tropics. It certainly would not have an CONVEYOR BELT ity of this water flows southward, and impact on New Zealand. The basic idea came to me in 1984, much of it rounds Africa, joining the In addition, ocean modelers followed while I was listening to a lecture given by Southern Ocean’s circumpolar current. up on the early work of Stommel (1962), Hans Oeschger at the University of Bern The importance of this current to who first demonstrated from a theoretical in Switzerland. He pointed out that the climate is the enormous amount of heat point of view that the ocean must have Greenland ice core record suggests that it carries. The conveyor’s flow is equal to several distinct modes of operation. Em- Earth’s climate was jumping back and that of 100 Amazon Rivers! It’s similar in ploying a variety of simulations, they forth from one state of operation to magnitude to all the planet’s rainfall. So if demonstrated that because of the very another, staying in one for a millennium you have three pipes, one carrying North great sensitivity of deep-water formation or so, and then jumping to the other. I Atlantic deep water, one carrying all the to the input of fresh water in polar began to ponder what these states might rain falling on Earth, and one carrying regions, the ocean could circulate in quite be. It soon dawned on me that they could 100 Amazon Rivers, the outflow from different ways. Because rain water con- be related to a change in a major feature these pipes would be about the same. tains no salt, addition of it lowers the of the ocean’s thermohaline circulation The amount of heat carried by the con- density of surface waters. Further, at high system, which I subsequently termed its veyor’s northward-flowing upper limb latitudes, rainfall and continental runoff conveyor belt. People now refer to it as and released to the atmosphere is equal exceed evaporation. Because of this, the Broecker’s conveyor belt, but I have a col- to about 25% of the solar energy reaching distribution of places where deep waters league, Arnold Gordon, who thinks it’s his the surface of the Atlantic north of the can and cannot be generated is sensitive conveyor belt rather than mine. It doesn’t Straits of Gibraltar. to the pattern of freshwater delivery. So really matter, though; we both agree that I had known about this because my this new class of models verified what it’s an extremely important feature of career has had a dual aspect. One part of it Stommel had predicted; indeed these Earth’s climate system. involved a study of the ocean’s deep circu- model oceans could make dramatic jumps from one way of operating to another. As they did so, the amount of heat delivered to the northern Atlantic region changed Figure 3. The highest moun- 8000 N TODAY'S S greatly. While changes in the conveyor tains at all latitudes along the SNOW LINE cordillera of the Americas are provide a likely explanation for the Green- 6000 currently capped by glaciers. land ice core record, however, in no case At elevations above the 0 °C does any joint ocean-atmosphere model isotherm, more snow accu- 4000 produce the far-field impacts displayed in mulates than melts (or evap- the paleoclimate record.

orates). The solid line shows (m) ELEVATION how the elevation marking 2000 the lower boundary of net GLACIAL CAUSES: IS WATER VAPOR accumulation varies with lati- SNOW LINE 0 UP TO THE TASK? tude. Reconstructions based 90°ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ 60°ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ30°ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ 0°ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ 30°ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ ÊÊ60°ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Ê90° on geomorphic evidence (see LATITUDE Now we must turn to a more specula- dashed line) show that dur- tive realm, because explaining the global ing times of peak glacial cooling, the snow line on these mountains descended almost 1 km. Combined extent of these changes is something that with oxygen isotope composition of glacial-age ice recovered by Thompson et al. (1995) from 6 km ele- we’re a long way from accomplishing. vation on the tropical Andean mountain Huascarán, this lowering suggests not only colder but also drier conditions in the tropics during glacial time. An important piece of information in this

4 GSA TODAY, May 1997 in particular, to the western tropical Pacific, where convective activity feeds a major amount of water vapor into the air. If this is so, the change in the deep circulation must have repercussions throughout the upper ocean. As evidence that this is the case, the Santa Barbara basin record indicates that, at least in the northern Pacific, there must have been a major change in the style of upper-ocean ventilation. This is important because the energy budget of the tropical atmosphere is influenced by the upwelling of cold ocean water along the equator. This cold water is fed in from the thermoclines to the North and South Pacific. The now famous El Niño cycle involves a turning on and off of this upwelling. This cycle Figure 4. A possible causal chain leading to global climate change: A sizable reduction in the strength has a strong impact on today’s global of the Atlantic’s conveyor had repercussions throughout the ocean. Included were changes in operation climate. So I think that somehow the of the upper ocean as recorded in the Santa Barbara basin. One impact of these changes may well have change in the vigor of upper-ocean circu- been an increase in the strength of upwelling in the east equatorial Pacific. We know from studies of the El Niño periods that changes in upwelling have wide repercussions in the tropical atmosphere. I propose lation must have altered the strength of that somehow the ocean upwelling change led to a reduction in the rate of delivery by tropical convec- upwelling into the equatorial region and, tion of water vapor to the atmosphere. Because water vapor is Earth’s dominant greenhouse gas, this in turn, the delivery of water vapor into reduction would cool the planet. the atmosphere. This aspect of my argument is particu- larly speculative, because we don’t know how it could happen. But to produce large regard is the state of Earth’s system during reduction is something that no model and abrupt changes in global climate that the extreme cold millenniums of glacial of the atmosphere has yet to accomplish, are symmetrical around the equator, it times. At these times, all of Canada and a however. In fact, the models are powerless seems to me that only the atmosphere’s major part of the northeastern and mid- to produce the large global changes that water vapor is up to the task. If water western United States were covered by a the paleorecords prove to have taken vapor is the cause, then we must look huge ice sheet. The snow line descended place. Why water vapor?, you might ask. to the equatorial systems for the key. about 1 km on mountains everywhere on The answer is that water vapor is the My guess is that changes in the freshwater Earth. Geomorphologists have traversed atmosphere’s most powerful greenhouse budget of the surface North Atlantic threw the globe comparing the elevation of the gas. If you wanted to cool the planet by the ocean’s deep circulation into chaos. present-day mountain snowlines with 5 °C and could magically alter the water- If it reformed in another mode of opera- those for the last glaciation (reconstructed vapor content of the atmosphere, a 30% tion, in so doing, it triggered changes in from geomorphic features). Figure 3 shows decrease would do the job. In fact, the other parts of the ocean and in turn in results from the American Cordillera. major debate among atmospheric scien- the delivery of water-vapor to the tropical Everywhere from 40°S to 40°N, snowlines tists regarding the magnitude of the com- atmosphere. Because this source maintains descended about 1 km! Thus, the southern ing greenhouse warming hinges on what’s the atmosphere’s water-vapor inventory Andes and New Zealand’s South Island, referred to as the water-vapor feedback. If all the way out to 35° north and south of which now have very small glaciers, had the water vapor in the atmosphere were to the equator, the impact would be global. quite large ones. remain exactly the same as it is now, then This way of looking at it suggests that we What this tells us is that somehow a doubling of CO2 would heat the planet might be able to find in the paleoclimatic Earth was in a much colder condition dur- only about 1.2 °C. However, when CO2 is record a causal chain from the northern ing glacial periods. To my way of thinking, doubled in these models, the atmosphere Atlantic to the equatorial Pacific and no one has adequately explained how this holds more water vapor, enhancing the hence to the atmosphere. But I doubt that could have happened. We now have new warming to 3.5 ±1.5 °C. A 3.5 °C warming we can. The links probably act so fast that, evidence from glacial-age corals (Guilder- would certainly cause major problems for within the accuracy of even the most pre- son et al., 1994) and from glacial-age agriculture, especially where conducted in cise of our dating tools, all the changes ground waters (Stute et al., 1995) that continental interiors. The debate concerns occurred at one time. We have already the tropics may have been as much as whether the models change the water seen that Greenland air temperature, 5 °C colder during glacial times. How vapor in the same way that it will change Asian dust production, and global could the climate of Earth have changed as CO2 rises in the real world. methane production changed together. so much in the absence of any strong My speculation (see Fig. 4) is that Some of the impacts may take longer than external forcing? despite the fact that the primary climate others to reach a new steady state, but all When I consider the mountain impacts of the change in deep-ocean were probably initiated during a time glacier record together with the isotope circulation are restricted to the northern interval of no more than a few decades. record obtained for glacial-age ice from Atlantic basin, somehow, as a result, the 6 km elevation on Huascarán in the Andes water-vapor budget for the atmosphere OUR FUTURE (Thompson et al., 1995), I must conclude must have been altered. Water vapor is The question naturally arises as to that the water vapor content of our atmo- supplied to the atmosphere primarily in whether this finding about past climates sphere must have been much lower during the tropics, by plumes of air that ascend has any implications for the future. I think glacial times. Hence, either the processes to the upper troposphere along the inter- it does. Human population is rising at a that deliver or those that remove water tropical convergence zone. So if we invoke vapor from our atmosphere must have a change in the atmosphere’s water-vapor been different during glacial times. This inventory, we must look to the tropics— Greenhouse continued on p. 6

GSA TODAY, May 1997 5 15 15 was that the production rate of CO2 could warming would surely reduce the density CONTINUED be held to its 1990 level, but the produc- of polar surface water and thereby tend to GROWTH AT 1.75%/YR tion rate has already risen well above that cut off deep ventilation. So we’re entering level. Some politicians believe that the dangerous territory and provoking an PEOPLE 10 10 Earth Summit goal is achievable, but I ornery beast. Our climate system has don’t. I suspect that we are going to gener- proven that it can do very strange things. CO 2 CO2 ate 7 gigatons or more of carbon as CO2 Since we’ve only recently become aware PRODUCTION PROD. every year. At this rate, the CO2 content of this capability, there’s nothing concrete of the atmosphere will rise at the rate of that we can say about the implications. 5 RIO DE JANEIRO 5 TARGET about 2 ppm per year (Fig. 6). This discovery certainly gives us even WORLD The CO2 content of the atmosphere more reason to be prudent about what POPULATION will continue to increase; how much it we do, though. We must prepare for the WORLD POPULATION (BILLIONS) POPULATION WORLD CARBON BURNING (GIGATONS/YR) CARBON BURNING increases depends on many variables. future by learning more about our change- TODAY 0 0 Maybe there will be a miracle, and we’ll able climate system, and we must create 1950 2000 2050 2100 CALENDAR YEAR find some alternate energy source that the wherewithal to respond if the CO2- is socially acceptable and economically induced climate changes are large, or, Figure 5. By the middle of the next century, fundable. I have little doubt, though, that worse yet, if they come abruptly, changing Earth’s population will increase to between 10 and 15 billion, and the demand for energy will rise. It late in the next century, the CO2 content agricultural conditions across the entire will likely reach at least 7.5 gigatons of carbon per of our atmosphere will reach 560 ppm, planet. We must think all this through. year by the mid-21st century. Rio de Janeiro Tar- twice the preindustrial level. Before we’re Even if there is only a 1% probability get refers to the number proposed at the 1992 free from dependence on fossil fuels, we’ll that such a change might occur during Earth Summit (see text). probably drive the CO2 up to 700 ppm or the next 100 years, its impact would be more. sufficiently catastrophic that the mere For this rise in CO2, models yield a possibility warrants a lot of preparation. range of global warmings, because they My lifetime study of Earth’s climate Greenhouse continued from p. 5 differ in the extents of water-vapor feed- system has humbled me. I’m convinced back. As already stated, were there no that we have greatly underestimated the rate of 1.75% each year. If this continues, such feedback, the warming would be complexity of this system. The importance by the middle of the next century, popula- only about 1.2 °C and would not produce of obscure phenomena, ranging from tion will reach the staggering level of 14 much difficulty. If the warming were 3, 4, those that control the size of raindrops billion. Most predictions suggest that or 5 °C, as some models predict, then to those that control the amount of water declining birth rates will ease somewhat everybody would agree that there would pouring into the deep sea from the shelves this potentially desperate situation. Never- be big trouble. of the Antarctic continent, makes reliable theless, we’re headed for a population of What I’ve injected into this already modeling very difficult, if not impossible. at least 10 billion people (see Fig. 5). At complicated situation is the realization If we’re going to predict the future, we just the time we expect sizable greenhouse that in the past, climate changes haven’t have to achieve a much greater under- warming impacts, we’ll have at least five come gradually. Whatever pushed Earth’s standing of these small-scale processes billion more people to feed than we do climate didn’t lead to smooth changes, that together generate large-scale effects. now. That is an enormous challenge, but rather to jumps from one state of even in the absence of a climate change. operation to another. So the question nat- REFERENCES CITED The amount of CO2 we produce urally arises, What is the probability that Behl, R. J., and Kennett, J. P., 1996, Brief interstadial depends on (1) how many people there through adding CO2 we will cause the events in the Santa Barbara basin, NE Pacific, during are and (2) how much energy they use. climate system to jump to one of its alter- the past 60 kyr: Nature, v. 379, p. 243–246. The poorer people on Earth will seek a bet- nate modes of operation? I contend that Biscaye, P. E., Grousset, F. E., Revel, M., Van der Gaast, ter standard of living, and that will require since we can’t yet reproduce any of these S., Zielinski, G. A., Vaars, A., and Kukla, G., 1997, Asian provenance of glacial dust (stage 2) in the GISP2 ice more energy. Almost all of our energy now jumps in computer simulations, we don’t core, Summit, Greenland: Journal of Geophysical comes from burning fossil fuels and there- really know how many modes of opera- Research (in press). fore involves adding CO2 to the atmo- tions Earth has, and we certainly don’t Bond, G. C., and Lotti, R., 1995, Iceberg discharges into sphere. The hope expressed at the UN have any idea what it might take to push the North Atlantic on millennial time scales during the Last Glaciation: Science, v. 267, p. 1005–1010. Conference on Environment and Develop- the system from one mode to another. ment (Earth Summit; Rio de Janeiro, 1992) We do know, however, that a substantial Cuffey, K. M., Clow, G. D., Alley, R. B., Stuiver, M., Waddington, E. D., and Saltus, R. W., 1995, Large Arctic temperature change at the Wisconsin-Holocene glacial transition: Science, v. 270, p. 455–458. Dansgaard, W., Johnsen, S. J., Clausen, H. B., Dahl- 700 700 Jensen, D., Gundestrup, N. S., Hammer, C. U. , Hvid- berg, C. S., Steffensen, J. P., Sveinbjörnsdottir, A. E., Figure 6. During the last GLACIAL PREINDUS. Jouzel, J., and Bond, G., 1993, Evidence for general TIME TIME glacial period, the CO2 con- instability of past climate from a 250-kyr ice-core tent of our atmosphere was 600 600 record: Nature, v. 364, p. 218–220. only 200 ppm. Upon Denton, G. H., and Hendy, C. H., 1994, Younger Dryas deglaciation it rose to age advance of Franz Josef Glacier in the Southern Alps CONTENT

2 of New Zealand: Science, v. 264, p. 1434–1437. about 280 ppm and hov- 500 INSTRUMENTAL 500 ered at about this value RECORD Guilderson, T. P., Fairbanks, R. G., and Rubenstone, until the onset of the indus- J. L., 1994, Reconciling tropical sea surface temperature trial revolution. Owing 400 RECONSTRUCTED 400 estimates for the last glacial maximum: Science, v. 263, mainly to fossil-fuel burn- FROM ICE CORES LIKELY p. 663–665. ing, the level has risen over PER MILLION PARTS FUTURE Hajdas, I., Ivy-Ochs, S. D., Bonani, G., Lotter, A. F., the past 100 yr to the cur- 300 300 Zolitschka, B., and Schlüchter, C., 1995, Radiocarbon rent 365 ppm. This rise will age of the Laacher See tephra: 11,230 ± 40 BP: Radiocar- continue, reaching double CO ATMOSPHERIC bon, v. 37, p. 149–154. the preindustrial value by 200 200 the end of the next century. 18,000 200 1900 1950 2000 2050 2100 YR AGO YR AGO CALENDAR YEAR Greenhouse continued on p. 7

6 GSA TODAY, May 1997 Call for Nominations The EDUCOM Medal

The EDUCOM Medal was established in 1994 to improve the or new instructional environments that incorporate information quality of the undergraduate learning experience and to promote technology which may offer advantages over traditional instruc- the effective use of information technology in higher education. tional models in such areas as increasing student access to and Each year, Educom partners select disciplinary societies, whose acquisition of a particular subject matter, improving the cost- representatives select a winner. This year, Educom has chosen GSA effectiveness of undergraduate instruction, encouraging collab- as a partner in selecting an individual who has made a significant orative learning, or enhancing communication between stu- contribution to transforming undergraduate learning in geology dents and faculty); through information technology. Educom will provide the winner • demonstrate substantial impact on improved student learning with a check for $2,500, a silver medal, a bronze desk statue, and (e.g., demonstrations of substantial impact may include evi- travel expenses to participate in the awards presentation at the dence of accelerated learning, significant numbers of students Educom annual meeting October 28–31 in Minneapolis, Min- affected, improved learning outcomes, or increased cost-effec- nesota. tiveness compared to traditional approaches). Eligibility How To Nominate Awards are made to individuals rather than to the institution, pub- Nominations for the award must include: lisher, or organization to which they may belong. The award pro- • a brief biographical sketch, such as used in American Men and gram is limited to technological applications used by undergradu- Women of Science and Who’s Who in America, ate students and includes all forms of information technology • supporting letters from five scientific educators in addition to used in undergraduate instruction, e.g., computer software, the person making the nomination, telecommunications networks, video applications, etc. To be con- • a summary of the candidate’s contribution to the transforma- sidered for an award, the technological application should: tion of undergraduate learning in geology through information • address a significant pedagogical problem fundamental to the technology, with special attention to the critera listed above. discipline (e.g., sustainable and scalable applications would be more favorably regarded than those representing a singular The deadline for receipt of nominations at the office of the Execu- effort applicable in only one instructional setting); tive Director, is June 15, 1997. Send nominations to: Donald M. • provide an innovative solution offering clear advantages over Davidson, Jr., Geological Society of America, P.O. Box 9140, other techniques (e.g., alternative instructional delivery models Boulder, CO 80301.

Bromery Honored by Greenhouse continued from p. 6 National Academy of Sciences Meese, D. A., Gow, A. J., Grootes, P., Mayewski, P. A., Ram, M., Stuiver, M., Taylor, K. C., Waddington, E. D., Randolph W. (Bill) Bromery, a past president of GSA and Zielinski, G. A., 1994, The accumulation record from the GISP2 core as an indicator of climate change and recently retired chair of GSA’s Second Century throughout the Holocene: Science, v. 266, p. 1680–1682. Fund campaign, was honored at the 1997 African- Stommel, H., 1962, On the smallness of the sinking American History Program cosponsored by the regions in the ocean: National Academy of Science National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy Proceedings, v. 48, p. 766–772. of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the Stute, M., Forster, M., Frischkorn, H., Serejo, A., Clark, National Research Council. A portrait of Bromery joins J. F., Schlosser, P., Broecker, W. S., and Bonani, G., 1995, Cooling of tropical Brazil (5°C) during the last those of such luminaries as Ralph J. Bunche, George glacial maximum: Science, v. 269, p. 379–383. Washington Carver, William E. B. DuBois, and Daniel Taylor, K. C., Lamorey, G. W., Doyle, G. A. , Alley, R. B., Hale Williams in the NAS collection of distinguished Grootes, P. M., Mayewski, P. A., White, J. W. C., and African Americans in science, engineering, and Barlow, L. K., 1993, The ‘flickering switch’ of late Pleis- medicine. Bromery is the first earth scientist to receive such recognition. tocene climate change: Nature, v. 361, p. 432–436. Thompson, L. G., Mosley-Thompson, E., Davis, M. E., The presentation cited Bromery’s 45 years of service in higher education and govern- Lin, P.-N., Henderson, K. A. , Cole-Dai, J., Bolzan, J. F., ment with the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Massachusetts, Westfield State and Liu, K.-B., 1995, Late glacial stage and Holocene tropical ice core records from Huascarán, Peru: Science, College, and Springfield College, where he is now president. Bromery is an alumnus of v. 269, p. 46–50. Howard University, of Johns Hopkins University, which recently bestowed upon him its Manuscript received February 6, 1997; revision received distinguished alumnus award, and the celebrated Tuskeegee Airmen of the U.S. Air March 12, 1997; accepted March 12, 1997 ■ Force.

Each month, GSA Today features a About People short science article on current topics of general interest. For guidelines GSA Fellow and former president and Foundation trustee Peter T. Flawn has on submitting an article, contact been named interim president of the University of Texas, Austin. GSA Today Science Editor Fellow Richard E. Gray, GAI Consultants, Monroeville, Pennsylvania, has S. M. Kay, Cornell University, received the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME) Distinguished (607) 255-4701, fax 607-254-4780, Member Award. E-mail: [email protected].

GSA TODAY, May 1997 7 GSAF UPDATE GSA Foundation 3300 Penrose Place Valerie G. Brown, Director of Development, GSA Foundation P.O. Box 9140 Boulder, CO 80301 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (303) 447-2020 [email protected] GSA’s Fund Raising Program: Another Successful Year Enclosed is my contribution in the amount of $______. Please add my name to the Century Plus Roster Last month we highlighted two important gifts to GSA. (gifts of $150 or more). This month we highlight the 1,228 other special donors who col- Please credit my gift to the ______Fund. lectively gave $958,056 in 1996. To each of those donors—and you know who you are: Please PLEASE PRINT give yourself a big pat on the back and accept the heartfelt Name ______thanks you so richly deserve. All added up, the outstanding generosity of GSA’s members and Address ______friends has produced total contributions of $8,244,194 since the kick-off of the Second Century Fund campaign in 1992. City/State/ZIP ______The 1996 gifts reflect the wonderful diversity of this enterprise: Phone ______• Some are unrestricted, given with the thought that GSA’s leadership can apply the revenue to the activities that will best profit from supplemental assistance. • Some are directed to existing funds, adding to what is available for research awards, recognition of professional excel- Digging Up the Past lence, student travel grants, SAGE’s educational outreach, or IEE’s environmental initiatives. Most memorable early geological experience: • Some are invested in creation of new funds, sowing R. C. Moore’s 1958 GSA Presidential Address seeds in GSA’s fertile program agenda. (in St. Louis, Missouri). A sharp earthquake • Some are given in memory of deceased colleagues. punctuated the middle of his talk, which was • Some are given in honor of productive and eminent col- devoted to demonstrating that the earth’s leagues. crust was geologically stable. Although All are given from commitment to advancing the geologic sciences the humorous event was featured in the and promoting their application to thoughtful stewardship of Earth. cartoon strip “Pogo,” Moore was not This month’s bumper sticker: The world stands on three entertained. foundations—on study, on service, and on benevolence. —Stanley N. Davis

Donors to the Foundation—February 1997

Birdsall Award Institute for Cathryn R. Newton Second Century Jeffrey R. Knott Paul R. Seaber Environmental Suzanne E. Orrell Campaign Dale Curtiss Krause Education William P. Patterson G. Robert Brakenridge Robert W. Maclay Cady Award Charles B. Andersen John J. Prucha H. Allen Curran Robert H. Moench* Charles E. Wier* James M. McNeal Joseph E. Robinson Barry Doolan Susan E. Nissen Allan V. Cox Student Geoffrey O. Seltzer Morris W. Leighton* Dag Nummedal International Scholarship Award Donald I. Siegel Anthony Reso* John L. Rosenfeld* Division Award Tom Shoberg Other Gifts: James K. Roche Paul R. Seaber Anonymous Drew M. Clemens Michael L. Sargent Russell G. Wayland Shirley Dreiss Minority Ronald B. Cole Donald T. Secor, Jr.* James E. Werner Memorial Robert A. Matthews H. D. Bart Ferguson Brian J. Skinner* Grant Y. Yip Alan R. Dutton Nicholas B. Harris George A. Thompson* Bruce “Biff” Reed Unrestricted—GSA Dwornik Planetary Calvin F. Miller Scholarship Unrestricted— Ivan P. Colburn Geoscience Award Molly Fritz Miller Katherine M. Reed* Foundation Victor Colombini Thomas R. Watters Karen L. Prestegaard Kevin E. Ahern Joseph H. Hartshorn Research Grants Paul R. Seaber Hydrogeology Elwood Atherton William P. Hewitt Gifts in honor of Tracy L. Vallier Division Award Max F. Carman, Jr. Gerald H. Johnson M. E. Bickford: Mary P. Anderson SAGE Diane Clemens-Knott Robert A. Matthews Anonymous James S. Dinger Michael P. Collins Robert M. Cox Donald R. Nichols Philip Arnold Douglas R. Gouzie William E. Daly Edward M. Dullaghan Paul R. Seaber James C. Brower Christopher E. Neuzil Robert A. Matthews Raymond L. Eastwood Christopher J. Talbot Bryce M. Hand Donald I. Siegel Calvin F. Miller John G. Fyles Frederick D. Trauger Martin F. Hilfinger IV Philip A. Sandberg Wallace W. Hagan Victor Vacquier Barbara M. Hill *Century Plus Roster Patricia O. Seaward Alan D. Howard Women in Science Helen M. Michaels (gifts of $150 or more). Berry Sutherland Roger L. Jacobson Michael Boran

8 GSA TODAY, May 1997

Annual Meeting Costs—A Perspective

Donald M. Davidson, Jr., Executive Director Sue S. Beggs, Meetings Manager

Given the increases in costs for most is derived from exhibitors, year-round contracted services (13% of total expenses) goods and services, it’s no surprise that continuing education programs, and vari- have increased 500%. These services costs for the GSA Annual Meeting are ris- ous GSA Meetings Department services. include building security, ADA compli- ing. How is the Society dealing with this Another important factor is that ance, projectionists, and short-course con- escalation? registration revenues represent a mix of tracts. GSA is now legally required to pro- GSA strongly believes that it is fees. Not everyone pays the advance pro- vide some of these services. Freight and essential to provide cost-effective venues fessional member fee. While it’s true that shipping costs have also increased 500%. for the Annual Meeting, particularly as nonmembers and on-site registrants pay Holding the meeting in Denver every most of the membership faces restricted $40 more, 26% of the registrants pay less. third year will keep costs down over time travel budgets. Thus, the issue of cost con- These are the student registrants, who cur- because GSA headquarters is in nearby tainment is paramount. However, many rently pay 36% of the professional fee ($70 Boulder, Colorado. Costs of printing, complex factors directly affect costs or in 1995 and 1996), as well as K–12 teach- including meeting notices, programs, limit GSA in the delivery of services. ers, who pay a token fee. As a result, while and signage, have gone up 160%, a bit less Our goals have been to have the the student fee has gone from $40 to $70 than the amount of increase in facilities Annual Meeting at least break even finan- (75% increase), professional fees have rentals (180%). Moreover, equipment cially, to keep professional registration increased by more than 100% to help rentals, mainly projection equipment and fees as low as possible, and to significantly cover the difference. computers, have escalated significantly subsidize student fees. The good news is GSA Annual Meetings held in the (140% and rising), and charges for accep- that between 1986 and 1995 revenues U.S. Southeast and mid-continent have tance of credit cards were virtually nonex- exceeded expenses 50% of the time. The not covered registration-related expenses. istent 10 years ago. Such cost increases disturbing news is that losses over that Although these locations are less expen- account for the net increase of 100%+ same time frame are of greater magnitude sive both for GSA and for attendees, they since 1986. than surpluses. do not attract a sufficient number of pay- If you find yourself comparing the ing registrants to break even. Thus, GSA Annual Meeting costs to those of other Registration Fees: has underwritten meetings in these areas meetings (such as GSA Section Meetings), 10 Year Overview (1986–1995) because it was deemed important to rotate remember that the GSA Annual Meeting the meeting around the country. no longer fits into a central hotel or cam- Attending the GSA Annual Meeting Registration fees for GSA Section pus setting, nor does it meet in the indus- currently costs about $1,000 for a “typi- Meetings have escalated considerably over try off-season. Given the current number cal” professional member, including regis- the last decade also. of attendees and vendors, GSA must hold tration, airfare, hotel rooms, meals, and its Annual Meeting in a facility that has other expenses. Of this amount, $195 was 210,000–225,000 square feet of exhibit the actual advance professional registra- SECTION PREREGISTRATION FEES and meeting space. We have traditionally tion fee in 1996. 1986 TO 1995 met when demand for hotel rooms is at a Attendees inquire, Why can’t GSA 1986 1995 Change peak (October), and we pay a premium for lower registration costs, now near the $$ the privilege. Moreover, because GSA has $200 level? The reason is simply that over Cordilleran a majority of academic members (read: the past decade, expenses for the Annual Member 40 60 50% “nonbuying”), industry support for the Meeting have increased an average of Student 10 20 100% Annual Meeting historically has not been 97%, whereas revenues have increased North-Central robust (compared to, for example, AAPG). 91%. As nonregistration-related income Member 25 45 80% Since 1986, the number of groups and expenses can be tightly controlled Student 7 20 186% needing services has increased signifi- and predicted, GSA must meet in locations Northeastern cantly: 17 vs. 7 associated societies and that will generate a sufficient number of Member 12 60 400% 12 vs. 8 divisions. Growth in activities paid registrations to cover related meeting Student 5 20 300% also includes management of short courses costs, for the meeting to break even every Rocky Mountain and field trips as well as about 250 busi- year. Accurately predicting and attracting Member 30 55 83% ness and social events at the meeting. those registrations relative to related costs Student 8 10 25% These concerns are in addition to the tech- ultimately determines the economic out- South-Central nical program, which has increased from come of annual meetings. Member 25 45 80% 1,865 presentations in 1986 to 2,880 in Total attendance at the Annual Student 9 15 67% 1996, and from 12 concurrent sessions to Meeting has averaged 5,500 in the past Southeastern 18. To handle these increased services, one 10 years; however, there is a significant Member 25 55 120% full-time position, a minimal increase, has difference between total and paid registra- Student 9 15 67% been added to the Meetings Department tions. The reality is that paying registrants staff at headquarters. have averaged just 83% of the total. (The These fees are set by the Sections, not majority of the nonpaying registrants are by headquarters. Hotel Costs exhibitors and student assistants who work at the meeting.) For example, in Lodging costs are a major factor for Annual Meeting Costs 1995, of the 5,115 total registrants, 4,255 attendees at an annual meeting, and the paid registration fees. Moreover, registra- Why have Annual Meeting costs price of hotel rooms is a major issue for all tion revenues represent but 55% of the escalated by almost 100% over the past nonprofit organizations that hold major total meeting income. The remaining 45% 10 years? A major reason is that costs for meetings. The GSA Meetings Department

10 GSA TODAY, May 1997 ANNUAL MEETING EXPENSE COMPARISON same dollar amount today as in 1986 (less, 1986 1995 Notes if inflation is considered). Of course, last- San Antonio New Orleans minute reservations and noncompetitive 4,452 5,115 routes are significantly more expensive. registrants registrants The Ultimate Question Contracted Services: Student $9,973 $20,564 Increased number of sessions Projectionists, Security, Temps and events A major question must be addressed Equipment Rental: Computers, $43,843 $68,554 Increased number of sessions and by GSA and its Annual Meeting attendees A-V, Poster and Exhibit Booths quantities and types of equipment alike: Does the GSA Annual Meeting Contracted Labor: $59,718 $87,136 Increased number of sessions, more provide you with sufficient personal Projectionists, Union Labor equipment, and higher service rates and professional benefits to make Credit Card Fees $0 $18,053 Charges to GSA by credit card it worth your time and money to companies attend? This is not only a question of Printing $25,366 $57,818 GSA Today, program, various cost, but also a matter of perceived value. printed materials Numerous professional groups are bidding for your annual meeting interest and Direct Postage $3,314 $9,327 Nonpublications mailings, including speaker kits, fliers, programs dollars (AGU, AAPG, AEG, Soils Science Society, and NGWA, among others). Thus, Shuttle $3,783 $29,709 City specific even though GSA has a strong following Facilities $11,633 $28,450 Convention center rental among its members and attendees, the Meetings Headquarters, $278,808 $615,083 Direct operations and labor Society can never take this for granted. Direct and Indirect Costs plus indirect costs Not only must GSA provide a cost-respon- sible event, but we must also find the best possible ways to deliver a user-friendly is responsible for negotiating room con- negotiating environment. The Annual environment for scientific exchange that tracts five to six years prior to the meeting Meeting scheduled for Boston in 2001 is of value to you, the consumer. When and has usually succeeded in getting a nearly fell through over hotel contract you ask yourself, “Is the GSA Annual 30% or better group-rate reduction below issues. Two other venues did fall through Meeting worth it?,” the answer must the “standard” hotel rate. Even so, the (Nashville and Phoenix). definitely be “Yes.” GSA weighted average room rate (room Hotels are now implementing rate and number of rooms at that rate) extra charges for early departure and for Where Do We Go From Here? has risen from $72/night to $107/night changes to meeting room setups—charges GSA shares the primary concern (48% increase) over the past 10 years. that may affect GSA members or associ- of over 87% of the various 700 member Such increases are typical for major North ated societies and divisions, and not just organizations polled by the American American venues. at GSA gatherings! Have you already been Society of Association Executives— It is interesting that hotel profits dismayed by a $0.75 charge to make a keeping meeting costs affordable for attendees. slumped from 1979 to 1991, when room local phone call from your room or a $2 The GSA Meetings Department strives to supply generally exceeded demand by surcharge for delivery of a cup of coffee? meet its obligation of keeping the Annual 3%–5%. Hotels stopped building, and Another issue is why GSA cannot Meeting affordable while simultaneously room inventory leveled. However, since reserve student housing. This idea, while responding to the expectations of its well- 1991 demand has exceeded supply so noble in concept, is currently nearly educated membership. On the question hotel rates have risen, owing especially to impossible to implement. GSA makes a of perceived value and vitality of the sci- an increased corporate market. This means major effort to provide a spectrum of lodg- entific program, the newly formed Annual that (1) the private sector market is more ing opportunities at the most reasonable Program Committee, chaired by Sharon lucrative than ever, and (2) the association rates we can negotiate in each host city. Mosher (University of Texas, Austin), con- market looking for deep discounts is not Some of the best rates are at properties sidered this matter in depth in a meeting as attractive to hotels. In the popular miles from the convention center, making on March 1 and 2, 1997. This committee months, rooms are offered at the highest shuttle costs prohibitive and private or will recommend some substantial changes rates, and associations no longer benefit public transportation necessary. In addi- that they believe will make the GSA from previously customary discounts. tion, there is currently no way we can Annual Meeting even more valuable to GSA has handicapped itself by control the “first-come” reservation queue the scientific community. Some of the holding its Annual Meeting during a peak for low-cost accommodations. We have changes will take effect as early as the Salt period for the hotel industry (October). offered camping and room-share services, Lake City meeting. Others are charted for Some key hotels will no longer book edu- only to find out that students would 1998. You will be hearing more about cational groups during such peak seasons rather share closer-in accommodations these changes in future issues of GSA unless the membership is willing to pay with faculty members or friends. Also, Today. Stay tuned. comparable rates. Hotels now insist on because we meet when educational insti- In the meantime, feel free to write, contracts that bind groups to producing tutions are in session, campus housing is call, or E-mail us: specific revenues, and severe penalties not available. GSA await groups that promise a particular P.O. Box 9140 level of hotel-room occupancy but do Airfare Boulder, CO 80301 not deliver. Penalties for cancellation or Good news here: for many locations, phone: (303) 447-2020 shortfall can cost GSA amounts in six airline markets have been highly competi- Sue Beggs, ext. 135 or figures, a significant risk—and one borne tive. Low fares via Saturday night stay- [email protected] unilaterally by GSA. This has resulted in overs and travel on other favored days, Don Davidson, ext. 139 or ever more complex hotel negotiations as advance purchase, pennywise routing, [email protected] GSA tries to meet the needs of its atten- and use of small airlines are more available fax: 303-447-0648. ■ dees for both room rates and dates, while than ever. In fact, one can travel for the working within a totally changed hotel

GSA TODAY, May 1997 11 Institute for ENVIRONMENT MATTERS Environmental (2) the “who-cares?” part, involving the Education importance of the predicted change to things people value. Buzzwords and Debate In some respects, this “who says? – who cares?” division separates the con- About the Human Future cepts to be communicated—whether by buzzword or more extensive discourse—in Arthur H. Lachenbruch, U.S. Geological Survey (Emeritus), Menlo Park, California a rather natural general way. The first criti- cal question finds most of its answers in the natural sciences, and the second ulti- mately involves the social sciences. Each Increasing concerns over the future tinged with marginal meanings and emo- question addresses a different aspect of of people on Earth have sparked scholarly tional content. Once buzzwords become human involvement (the first as an agent research in the social and natural sciences, established, they can influence the ques- of change, the second as a victim or bene- a heightening of political debate, and an tions we ask and alter the nature of the ficiary of it—the two human roles are increased need for concerned lay people debate itself. Here we consider the impor- interactive, but logically distinct). and specialists of many kinds to talk to tant role of buzzwords and the types of An example of a widely used buzz- one another to decide how to address messages they are called upon to convey word that often deals with the “who- these concerns. In such discussions we in the debate about our future. says?” question (i.e., with prediction of inevitably abstract words or phrases that Effective action to deal with perceived environmental change and its scientific allow us to convey recurring themes sim- threats to the human future can depend justification) is “global change.” The ply and conveniently, without elaborating on whether the peoples of Earth believe term generally conveys a useful and only arcane details or invoking vocabulary that that the threats are real. But survival in a recently appreciated perspective that the is not shared by the broad range of partici- poorly understood world has taught peo- environment for life on Earth is controlled pants. The resulting buzzwords—e.g., ple to test threatening predictions with by an ever-changing, interacting Earth sys- “environmental change,” “ozone hole,” two questions: “Why should I believe tem of enormous complexity, in principle “global change,” or “sustainability”—play that?” (or “who says?”) and “What does describable by a continuum of virtually all an indispensable role in developing the it mean for me?” (or “who cares?”). If, as of the natural sciences (U.S. Committee public awareness needed for action on is often the case, the threat involves a pre- for an International Geosphere-Biosphere global issues. But the convenience of these dicted change in the physical, chemical, Program, 1986). “Global change” encom- buzzwords comes at a price. They are usu- or biological environment for life, the two passes prediction of both natural and ally uprooted from a reasonably well parts of the test of the threatening mes- anthropogenic changes in the Earth sys- defined technical context, and as their sage are: (1) the “who-says?” part, involv- tem, a proper subject for empirical science usage broadens or shifts, they can become ing the credibility of a predicted change ambiguous, and poorly understood, or in the (physical) environment for life, and Environment Matters continued on p. 13

GSA ON THE WEB Visit the GSA Web Site at http://www.geosociety.org. From our home page you can link to many information resources. Here are some highlights:

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12 GSA TODAY, May 1997 Environment Matters continued from 12 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS as long as the physical inputs or “forcing” are understood. The principal ambiguity IEE is sponsoring or cosponsoring the following theme sessions in the “global change” buzzword lies in at the 1997 GSA Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City. Each of these pro- the scales of time and space implied by vocative, interdisciplinary sessions seeks to integrate geoenvironmental “global,” and in the relative roles of phys- insights into broader scientific and societal contexts. For information on ical and social sciences (with growing submitting abstracts, see the April or forthcoming June GSA Today or visit the GSA emphasis on the latter) in defining its website at www.geosociety.org. subject matter (Stern et al., 1991; National Concepts in Geoecology and Ecosystem Management: Applying New Science and Technology Council, 1995). Knowledge from the Interface of the Life and Earth Sciences. An example of a widely used buzz- Successful restoration and protection of ecosystems requires development and word associated largely with the “who- application of geoecological principles. This session will explore how the feedback cares?” question (that regarding the between geologic and biological processes influences ecosystem dynamics, with an impact of predicted change on things emphasis on work that defines the physical parameters of ecosystem function and people value) is “sustainability.” If we structure. Convened by Cathleen L. May, USDA Forest Service; Kenneth Kolm, Col- want to sustain something, we generally orado School of Mines. (Theme Session T6) value it, and what we value we want to sustain. In the present anthropocentric Conservation Geology: Restoring and Maintaining Earth’s Ecosystems. context, “sustainability” often deals with Geologists are now often faced with the task of conservation rather than explo- the extent to which people can continue ration and extraction of natural resources. This includes restoring or maintaining the to meet their needs from a particular structure and function of geologic systems and processes for humans and other beneficial service, resource, product, or species. Topics will include conservation and restoration of riparian areas and wet- amenity, as the environment that provides lands, restoration of surface- and ground-water quality and quantity, and landscape that benefit undergoes “global change.” restoration. Convened by Abraham Springer, Northern Arizona University. (T7) In this sense “sustainability” deals largely The Geosciences in Context: Values, Sustainability, Culture, with the viability of people and their insti- and Curricula. tutions under the anticipated impact of The earth sciences today find their work inescapably linked to a larger cultural changing conditions. The principal ambi- context. How are we to integrate science and values? What values are implicit within guity in this useful term comes from the the scientific enterprise itself? What implications does an earth science perspective need to specify what we propose to sustain have for ethics, politics, sustainability, economics, and other aspects of our culture? and for how long—one or both are often Convened by Paul H. Reitan, SUNY, College at Buffalo; Robert Frodeman, Fort Lewis left unspecified. The problem is com- College; Trileigh Stroh, Seattle University. (T39) pounded in related buzzwords like “sus- tainable growth” or “sustainable develop- The Sustainability Challenge: A Problem in Geoscience Communication. ment” (discussed below). To the extent The challenge of attaining global sustainability is often misunderstood by the that the added noun carries the connota- public and policy makers, because these communities lack knowledge about funda- tion of physical growth, it contributes mental geoscientific concepts. This session explores how successful communication a measure of self-contradiction to the of such concepts through dialogue with nonscientists can catalyze public under- existing ambiguity. standing about sustainability and help to stimulate effective social action. Cospon- When establishing research priorities sored by the GSA Ad Hoc Committee on Critical Issues. Convened by Allison R. and programs to deal with global change, Palmer, Institute for Cambrian Studies, Boulder, Colorado. (T40) the “who-cares?” question can provide a Natural Background Chemistry and Environmental Decision-making. simple pragmatic test of whether any such The characterization of natural background chemistry affects decision-making in activity is likely to receive the needed such areas as regulatory affairs, agriculture, epidemiology, risk assessment, water sup- political support. But political support for ply, and geochemical exploration. Regulatory and environmental decisions that fail research, whether concerning environ- to consider natural background chemistry run the risk of being seriously flawed. This mental predictions or their societal signifi- session will bring together people from disciplines and sectors that have a stake in cance, will depend, among other things, characterizing natural background chemistry. Cosponsored by the International on an informed public; people won’t Association of Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry. Convened by Donald D. Run- “care” if they don’t know (they may nells and Georgia A. Doyle, Shepherd Miller, Inc., Ft. Collins, Colorado. (T41) or may not care if they do). For reasons discussed earlier, informing the public Environmental Impacts on Western Rivers. is likely to involve communication by Human activities in the western United States have impacted rivers since beaver buzzword, and in this sense buzzwords trapping in the early 1800s. Activities within the watershed (lumbering, agriculture) become vital links in the debate about our and within the channel (placer mining, flow diversion) alter the movement of water future. If their technical meaning becomes and sediment, causing adjustments in channel morphology. This session addresses unclear and ambiguous, they can seriously the regional cumulative impacts of human activities. Cosponsored by the Quater- encumber the communication. nary Geology and Geomorphology Division. Convened by Ellen Wohl, Colorado To illustrate some of these points, State University. (T45) we consider the example of “sustainable Influence of Geomorphic Processes on Biological Communities. development,” a widely used buzzword Recent collaborative research indicates the importance of geologic processes to mentioned above in connection with “sus- biological communities. This research is important for ecosystem management. tainability.” Although influential political Examples of these interactions include the effects of river flow regimes on benthic and scientific panels and boards, interna- and fish communities, associations among wetland species and hydrological condi- tional conferences, and countless sym- tions, and the relationships among hillslope processes and forest ecosystems. This posia bear its name, there is considerable theme session will highlight these and many other collaborative research projects. lack of agreement over just what “sustain- Cosponsored by the Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division. Convened by Karen L. Prestegaard, University of Maryland. (T47) Environment Matters continued on p. 14

GSA TODAY, May 1997 13 SAGE REMARKS

Edward E. “Dr. Ed” Geary, Educational Programs Coordinator

How Do Our Students Compare?: A Look at the Third International Mathematics and Science Study

Many of us are interested in how test data alone cannot help us know what quotes from the reports. I have done students in the United States of America we are doing well or how we can improve some minor editing and rearranging of compare in science and mathematics our children’s education. TIMSS observations, but the interpreta- achievement with students from other To bring GSA Today readers up to date tions and comments are primarily those countries. Are our students in the top on the latest international comparisons, of the TIMSS authors. If you would like group of achievers? Are we making I have selected excerpts from the executive information on how to order a copy of progress toward our goal of being first in summary of the Third International Mathe- the TIMSS Science Achievement report or the world in mathematics and science by matics and Science Study (TIMSS): Science other TIMSS documents, please call (617) the year 2000, or are our students falling Achievement in the Middle School Years, 552-4521, the TIMSS International Study behind the rest of the world? While these and U.S. National Research Center, Center, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. are interesting questions, we should keep Report No. 7 (Dec. 1996) to share with in mind that standardized achievement you. Most of these excerpts are direct SAGE Remarks continued on p. 15

Environment Matters continued from 13 argued that they have the political ad- that reaches the lay public does not occur vantage of enlisting widespread support in such a forum—it comes in “sound- able development” means. With value- among people with widely divergent or bites” containing buzzwords whose con- laden uncertainty over whether it repre- even opposing interpretations of the term, notation carries the message. It is likely sents a “means” or an “end,” popular but they do so at the risk of obscuring the that these buzzwords will continue to play interpretation of it has ranged from technical issue that must be debated in an important role in developing the public “sustaining development” to “developing the public interest. Not all buzzwords in awareness needed for action on global sustainability.” A likely reason for its wide- the debate about our future have as many issues. In the interest of productive discus- spread acceptance is that ambiguity in the problems as the foregoing example, which sion, we should choose buzzwords and use definition of “development” (Daly, 1991) combines words whose popular meanings them with care, mindful of their potential permits the view that “sustainable devel- may be contradictory on some time scales. for obfuscating the message we wish them opment” offers the seemingly contra- The potential for misunderstanding can be to communicate, whether it concerns a dictory goals of “sustainability” for the reduced by choosing more easily under- prediction of physical change or the environmentalist, and of endless “devel- stood substitutes. If the report that popu- importance of the change to people. opment” for the economic community. larized “sustainable development” (World At one extreme, “sustainable develop- Commission on Environment and Devel- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ment” (like another timely if more under- opment, 1987) had, instead, called for the I thank the large number of thought- standable buzzword: “safe sex”) promises a broadly related but less self-contradictory ful friends and colleagues who made help- coveted end without feared side effects. In goal of a “sustainable society,” with its ful comments on a draft. Needless to say, our quest for “sustainable development” it necessary conditions such as a “sustain- they did not all agree. is possible to lose sight of the fundamental able economy,” “sustainable resource use,” human problems we are trying to solve and perhaps “equitable development,” REFERENCES CITED with it. Observations on the contempo- many but not all of the semantic problems rary state of global society, like those of would have been avoided. As discussed Daly, H. E., 1991, Steady-state economics, (second edition): Washington, D.C.: Island Press, Chapter 13. Kaplan (1994), suggest that there are two above, even without conflicting word rather distinct problems with different combinations confusion can, of course, Stern, P. C., Young, O. R., and Druckman, D., editors, 1991, Global environmental change—Understanding goals and time scales: (1) achieving an remain, unless buzzwords are used with a the human dimensions: Washington, D.C., National equitable (politically sustainable) society, consistent context that provides guidance Academy Press, 320 p. largely in a few generations; and (2) sus- on where in the broad range of subject Kaplan, R. D., 1994, The coming anarchy: Atlantic taining that society, presumably for tens matter and scales of time and space these Monthly, v. 273, February, p. 44 - 76. or hundreds of generations. Here again the words are being applied. National Science and Technology Council, 1995, Our “sustainable development” rubric can be It is customary for scientists to down- changing planet: President’s Fiscal Year 1995 Budget, Supplement, p. 3. misleading because the “development” play questions over word usage—e.g., U.S. Committee for an International Geosphere-Bio- urgently mandated by the shorter term should “development” imply no increase sphere Program, 1986, Global change in the geosphere- equity problem is not likely to be “sustain- of scale in the use of physical resources? biosphere: Washington, D.C., National Academy Press, able” or appropriate in the context of the (see Daly, 1991)— because they can be dis- 91 p. long-range problem. posed of by agreement without affecting World Commission on Environment and Development, In defense of broadly ambiguous, substantive debate in a rational technical 1987, Our common future: New York, Oxford Univer- sity Press, 400 p. ■ if not self-contradictory, buzzwords like forum. It is important to remember, how- “sustainable development,” it might be ever, that much of the communication

14 GSA TODAY, May 1997 SAGE Remarks continued from p. 14 national contexts within which education not all students feel positive about this takes place can play important roles in subject area. “Some Commonly Held Myths how students learn science, TIMSS col- • “In all except three of the countries, the Addressed lected extensive information about such majority of students agreed or strongly background factors. agreed that they did well in science or “When discussing why U.S. education “Five content dimensions were cov- science subject areas—a perception that in general and science education in partic- ered in the TIMSS science tests given to did not always coincide with the com- ular is not as good as in other countries, middle-school students: earth science, life parisons in achievement across coun- several common misconceptions exist. science, physics, chemistry and environ- tries in the TIMSS test. For example, it has been suggested that mental issues, and the nature of science. • “In the majority of countries, for U.S. student performance would improve Approximately 75% of the science items eighth-grade students, pleasing their if they would watch less TV or do more were multiple choice. About one-fourth of parents and getting into their preferred homework. Others have suggested that the questions were in free-response format university or secondary school were U.S. schools should be in session for requiring students to generate and write both stronger motivators for doing longer periods of time or that U.S. teachers their answers. These types of questions, well in sciences than was getting their should have more education, or that some of which required extended desired job. diversity and discipline problems are responses, were allotted approximately greater in the U.S. Findings from the one-third of the testing time. The results “Home Environment TIMSS report suggest that these factors, provided in this report describe student’s while of some influence, may not be as • “In every country, eighth-grade students science achievement at both the seventh important as most people believe. TIMSS who reported having more educational and eighth grades. found the following: resources in the home had higher • “Heavy television watching is as com- achievement than those who reported “Student Science Achievement: mon among Japanese eighth graders, little access to such resources. Strong Major Findings who do better than U.S. students, as it positive relationships were found be- is among American eighth graders. • “Singapore was the top-performing tween science achievement and having • “U.S. teachers assign more homework country at both the eighth and seventh study aids in the home, including a dic- and spend more class time discussing grades. The Czech Republic, Japan, and tionary, a computer, and a study desk/ it than teachers in Japan. Korea also performed very well at both table for the student’s own use. • “U.S. students are required to spend grades. Lower-performing countries • “The number of books in the home more time in mathematics and science included Colombia, Kuwait, and South can be an indicator of a home envi- classes than either German or Japanese Africa. ronment that values and provides students. • “Perhaps the most striking finding was general academic support. In most • “U.S. students report about the same the large difference in average science TIMSS countries, the more books stu- amount of out-of-school math and achievement between the top-perform- dents reported in the home, the higher science study as their Japanese and ing and bottom-performing countries. the achievement. German counterparts. • “U.S. teachers of math and science have more college education that their col- leagues almost anywhere in the world. “[This] study … found that current U.S. curricular standards [for • “Working with students of different aca- demic abilities is just as much of a chal- science and math] are … a mile wide and an inch deep.” lenge to Japanese and German teachers as it is to U.S. teachers.”

“What is TIMSS and what can we For example, at both grades, average • “In every country, the pattern was for learn from it? achievement in top-performing the eighth-grade students whose parents countries was comparable to or even had more education to also have higher “Since its inception in 1959, the exceeded performance for 95% of achievement in science. International Association for the Evalua- the students in the lowest performing • “Beyond the one to two hours of daily tion of Educational Achievement (IEA) has countries. television viewing reported by close to conducted a series of international com- • “In most countries and internationally, the majority of eighth graders in all par- parative studies designed to provide policy boys had significantly higher mean ticipating countries, the amount of tele- makers, educators, researchers, and practi- science achievement than girls at both vision students watched was negatively tioners with information about education the seventh and eighth grades. This is associated with science achievement. achievement and learning contexts. attributable mainly to significantly • “In most countries, eighth-graders The Third International Mathematics higher performance by boys in earth reported spending as much out-of- and Science Study (TIMSS) is the largest science, physics, and chemistry. In few school time each day in non-academic and most ambitious of these studies ever countries were significant gender differ- activities as they did in academic undertaken. ences found in life science or environ- activities. “Conducted between 1991 and 1995, mental issues and the nature of science, TIMSS assessed more than 500,000 stu- although in life science one such differ- “Instructional Contexts and dents, at ages 9, 13, and 18 in more than ence favored girls in one country at the Practices 40 countries. To learn about curriculum, eighth grade. more than 1600 curriculum frameworks • “The qualifications required for teach- and textbooks were analyzed. Teachers ing certification were relatively uniform “Students’ Attitudes Towards were surveyed about what they teach, across countries. Most countries require Science how they teach, and why. In three coun- teachers to have four years of post- tries, classrooms were videotaped, and case • “Even though the majority of eighth- secondary education. studies of educational context were con- graders in nearly every county indicated ducted.… Because the home, school, and they like science to some degree, clearly SAGE Remarks continued on p. 16

GSA TODAY, May 1997 15 • “There was no clear pattern across words, a mile wide and an inch deep. of homework assigned to students, nor is countries between the number of in- The TIMSS analysis found that, before it that our science teachers are poorly class instructional hours and science high school, states in the U.S., on average, qualified. Our teachers are, for the most achievement. intend students to cover more topics in part, well-educated and dedicated profes- • “Working together as a class with the mathematics and science than most of sionals who are making a valiant effort to teacher teaching the whole class, and the other countries studied. teach what we have asked them to teach. having students work individually with “TIMSS data also show that this lack Unfortunately, what we have asked them assistance from the teacher were the of clear focus is evident in what is taught. to teach is everything we know about most frequently used instructional Teachers skip among many topics and science. Our science teachers teach more practices. attempt to cover far more than their classes and cover more science topics than • “Teachers reported using a textbook German or Japanese counterparts. Topics in most other countries. On average, U.S. in teaching science for 95% or more of and concepts are presented in a frag- teachers teach 30 hours per week, while the students, but reasoning tasks were mented and disjointed manner in which in Japan teachers teach an average of 20 reported to be very common activities the underlying themes or principles are hours per week. Not surprisingly, U.S. in science classes. either not identified or simply stated but teachers also have less time to discuss • “Demonstrations of experiments by not developed. In other countries, math teaching-related issues than do teachers the teacher were common in almost all and science are presented with greater in many other countries. countries where science is taught as an logical coherence—more as a story line When I sift through the TIMSS data integrated subject, as well as in physics that is developed both within each lesson and look for ways to improve U.S. science and chemistry. In integrated subject and across a series of lessons. While a education, four ideas readily come to classes, a high percentage of students more focused curriculum would probably mind: reported doing experiments or practical help to improve the achievement of U.S. • Encourage all school districts to develop investigations in class. In countries students, it should be noted that not all more coherent and focused curricula where science is taught as separate countries that are performing better than that are based on the National Science subjects, according to students, teachers the U.S. have a highly focused curriculum. Education Standards. performed demonstrations more fre- • Teach fewer science topics in any given quently than students themselves did A Few Personal Observations year. practical, hands-on work. About the TIMSS Report • Encourage all students to learn science • “Most eighth grade students were by doing science. The TIMSS report is a powerful assigned science homework at least • Provide additional resources so that document that offers us a glimpse of how once a week. science teachers have the time, support, we teach science in the United States. To and materials they need to continually some it will be interpreted as a stinging “How well did U.S. Students do on improve their teaching and curricula. indictment of what and how we teach sci- the TIMSS tests? While none of these ideas is new, ence. To others it will offer insights into the TIMSS report strongly suggests that “The average score of U.S. eighth how we might improve science education unless we find ways to implement them, grade students was somewhat below the for U.S. students by debunking many of U.S. student achievement in mathematics international average in mathematics and the current myths about why we don’t and science will not improve to any signif- somewhat above the international average perform as well as other countries in sci- icant degree. ■ in science. There were no significant dif- ence. What TIMSS tells me is that the ferences between the performance of U.S. problem is not television, nor the amount eighth-grade boys and girls in either math- ematics or science. In countries such as Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Canada, and the Russian Federation students performed Special Volume on Exhumation Processes: at a comparable level to the U.S. while students in Singapore, the Czech Republic, Normal Faulting, Ductile Flow, and Erosion Japan, Korea, and other countries per- Editors Uwe Ring (University of Mainz), Mark Brandon (Yale University), Gordon Lister formed at a significantly higher level than (Monash University), and Sean Willett (Pennsylvania State University) are soliciting the U.S. students. It should be noted, how- papers for a special publication on exhumation processes. The intent is to provide a ever, that many U.S. states have larger broad review of frontier research on all processes that contribute to exhumation of populations than some TIMSS countries, deeply seated rocks in ancient and modern orogens. They want papers that (1) review and in previous international compar- and synthesize knowledge about normal faulting, ductile flow, and erosion as exhuma- isons, the scores of some states were simi- tion processes; (2) provide primary data about the relative contributions of these differ- lar to the highest-scoring nations, while ent processes, using information from metamorphic petrology, isotopic thermochronol- those of other states were about the same ogy, structural and kinematic analysis, synorogenic stratigraphy, geomorphology, or as the lowest-scoring nations. paleoelevation analysis; or (3) utilize geodynamic models to examine the interaction between surface processes and tectonic deformation or the role of crustal and mantle “U.S. Eighth Grade Achievement instabilities on the growth and collapse of mountainous topography. in Context The volume will be published as a Special Publication of the Geological Society of “As a nation, the U.S. does not have London (GSL). Instructions to authors can be found at the following Web site: http:// a single coherent vision of what students love.geology.yale.edu/~brandon/exhume.html. Interested authors should submit pro- should learn through mathematics and posed titles by June 15, 1997. Manuscripts are due on September 1, 1997. Authors science education. The U.S. is atypical should submit four copies plus a list of suggested referees. GSL has promised to have among the TIMSS countries in its lack of the finished volume completed by November 1, 1998. Color figures and flyout pages a nationally—or regionally—defined cur- are possible, but the extra expense will have to be covered by the author. All correspon- riculum. TIMSS’ study of curricula found dence should be directed to Uwe Ring, Institut für Geowissenschaften, Johannes Guten- that current U.S. curricular standards are berg-Universität, Postfach 3980, 55099 Mainz, Germany; phone 49-6131-392164; fax unfocused and aimed at the lowest com- 49-6131-394769; E-mail: [email protected]. mon denominator. They are, in other

16 GSA TODAY, May 1997 Penrose Conference Report some role. Penetrative deformational fab- rics are present in most exhumed moun- tain belts and provide clear evidence that Exhumation Processes: Normal Faulting, ductile flow is an important process that can either increase or decrease the rate of Ductile Flow, and Erosion exhumation, depending upon whether Conveners: the flow causes thinning or thickening in Mark T. Brandon, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, P.O. Box the vertical direction. Erosion is also an 208109, New Haven, CT 06520-8109; [email protected] important exhumational process, as indi- Uwe Ring, Institut für Geowissenschaften, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Postfach 3980, cated by the large volumes of sediment 55099 Mainz, Germany; [email protected] found adjacent to most contractional orogens. Within this context, we organized a Penrose Conference to examine all pro- Over the past 25 years, there has One of the most difficult questions to cesses that contribute to exhumation of been a growing appreciation of the role answer in most orogenic belts, especially deep-seated rocks in ancient and modern that tectonic processes play in exhuming the older ones, concerns the relative con- orogens. We started with three broad metamorphic rocks. This trend began with tributions of these different exhumation objectives: (1) to review and synthesize the discovery of highly attenuated crustal processes. Even so, the tectonics commu- our knowledge about normal faulting, sections in the Basin and Range province nity has moved toward a casual consensus ductile flow, and erosion as exhumation and the recognition that attenuation was that normal faulting is the primary mech- processes; (2) to examine the geologic caused by regional-scale horizontal exten- anism for exhumation of deeply seated evidence needed to quantify the relative sion, as manifested by normal faulting. rocks. The most commonly cited evidence contributions of these different processes, This discovery caused many geoscientists is the presence of “younger-over-older” using information from metamorphic to rethink the role that horizontal exten- relationships, where large faults, with low petrology, isotopic thermochronology, sion or, as it is more commonly called, to moderate dips, have placed younger structural and kinematic analysis, synoro- tectonic extension, might play in other rocks on older rocks or lower grade rocks genic stratigraphy, geomorphology, and orogenic settings. Of particular interest is on higher grade rocks and, in the process, paleoelevation analysis; and (3) to exam- emerging evidence that tectonic extension have cut out significant thicknesses of ine relevant geodynamic models and their might be responsible for exhuming meta- stratigraphic or metamorphic section. But predictions for conditions that might trig- morphic rocks within convergent orogens, recent papers have shown that this type of ger gravitational collapse. such as onland thrust belts (e.g., Hima- evidence, by itself, is not diagnostic. Con- layas, European Alps, Betic Cordillera of tractional faults can also cut out section if THE CONFERENCE southern Spain, Brooks Range of Alaska) the section was tilted back toward the hin- The conference was held October 9–13, and subduction-related convergent mar- terland prior to faulting. A typical contrac- 1996, at the Orthodox Academy of Greece, gins (e.g., Franciscan of California, Sanba- tional fault would climb upward toward located near the town of Chania on the gawa of Japan, Hellenic-Aegean conver- the foreland but would appear to cut island of Crete in southern Greece. It gent margin of Greece, Hikurangi downward through the tilted section. included three days of presentations accretionary wedge of northeastern Top-to-the-foreland motion would pro- and two days of field trips. There were 94 New Zealand). duce the appearance of normal offset participants, 42 from the United States, We use the term “exhumation” to where the fault cut through the tilted 15 from England, 13 from Germany, five refer, in a generic way, to all processes section. An additional problem is that from Australia, four each from Greece and that contribute to the unroofing of deeply the total offset and original dip of most Canada, three from Switzerland, and one seated rocks and their rise to the Earth’s crustal-scale normal faults, especially those each from France, Israel, Japan, The surface. There are several exhumation pro- involving deep crustal rocks, are typically Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, cesses. Normal faulting and extensional poorly resolved. All of these factors make Poland, South Africa, and Spain. The par- ductile flow operate within the Earth it difficult to quantify the relative contri- ticipants included 16 Ph.D. students. The and are a direct manifestation of tectonic bution of normal faulting in exhuming conference had a relatively large number deformation, whereas erosion operates at deeply seated rocks. of women participants, 13 professionals the Earth’s surface but can be indirectly Despite the current preference for and 9 students, marking a positive trend influenced by tectonically driven changes exhumation by normal faulting, it is clear in topography. that ductile flow and erosion must play Penrose Conference continued on p. 18

PARTICIPANTS Torgeir B. Andersen Jean Crespi Herman Grütter Karen L. Kleinspehn Alan Roberts Stuart Thomson Vaios Avdis George H. Davis Larry Guenther Maarten Krabbendam David Rowley Robert J. Twiss Hans G. John F. Dewey Bradley Hacker Anthi Liati Leigh Royden O. Vanderhaeghe Avé Lallemant Bill Dinklage Bernard Hallet Gordon S. Lister Elizabeth Schermer Jaume Vergés Dov Avigad David Dinter Andreas Henk Lidia Lonergan Fried M. Schwerdtner Lisa A. Verts Gary Axen Theodor Doutsos Ralf Hetzel Neil Mancktelow Jane Selverstone Simon Wallis Suzanne Baldwin W. Gary Ernst Paul Hoffman Stanislaw Mazur Dianne Seward Nicole Wawrzenitz Samantha Barr Hilmar von Eynatten Daniel K. Holm Peter Molnar Eberhard Seidel Laura E. Webb Manfred Brix James Faulds Niels Hovius Patrick O’Brien Sarah Sherlock John Weber Fraukje Brouwer Paul Fitzgerald Simon Inger John S. Oldow Virginia B. Sisson John Wheeler Doug Burbank Marnie Forster Carl Jacobson John P. Platt Colin Stark Donna L. Whitney B. Clark Burchfiel David Foster Rebecca A. Jamieson Raymond A. Price Bernhard Stöckhert Sean D. Willett Erin Campbell Wolfgang Franke Barbara E. John Meinert K. Rahn John Tarney Paul F. Williams Christian Chopin Wolfgang Frisch Christopher Johnson Tim Rawling Micheal P. Terry Brian Windley Peter Copeland Dieter Gebauer Sue Keay Steve Reddy Christian Teyssier Meg Coleman Allen F. Glazner Adiamantis Kilias Stephen J. Reynolds

GSA TODAY, May 1997 17 Penrose Conference continued from p. 17 exhumation probably operates at very found in the Alps and the Norwegian slow rates. Other evidence is needed to Caledonides, and now known from in the reduction of the gender gap, at least distinguish between tectonic and ero- numerous places around the world. UHP in the area of exhumation research. sional exhumation. metamorphic rocks are continental or Presentations were divided into six John Platt followed with a keynote oceanic crustal rocks that were metamor- half-day sessions. Each session had about presentation on synexhumation defor- phosed within the coesite-eclogite or dia- two hours of oral presentations, about mation in mountain belts. He reviewed mond-eclogite facies. P-T-t data for these one hour of poster presentations, and geologic evidence for detecting tectonic rocks demonstrate that both oceanic and about one hour for a panel discussion. exhumation, the main clues being the continental crust can be subducted to This report highlights the oral presenta- excision of metamorphic gradients, the depths >100 km and then returned to the tions and panel discussions. Those who shape of pressure-temperature-time (P-T-t) surface. are interested in further details will find paths, and the kinematics of ductile shear The keynote presentation by Chris- a complete listing of the conference pro- zones and brittle faults. tian Chopin provided a general review of gram, including the titles of all presenta- Jane Selverstone challenged the use the UHP problem. Simon Wallis described tions, at the following Web site: http:// of P-T-t paths to distinguish exhumational some UHP rocks from China and then love.geology.yale.edu/~brandon/exhume. processes. The shape of a P-T-t path is typi- explored the role that buoyancy might html. cally difficult to resolve, and the youngest play in returning these rocks to the sur- part of the path, which is most diagnostic face. Paddy O’Brien discussed attempts FIELD TRIPS of process, is the most difficult to con- to determine the P-T-t path for HP meta- The field trips were led by Bernard strain. She emphasized her point by show- morphic rocks in the Bohemian massif Stöckhert (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, ing two sets of published P-T-t paths, one of Germany. Germany) and Eberhard Seidel (Univer- set attributed to erosion and the other to Dieter Gebauer reviewed his applica- sität zu Köln, Germany), and focused on tectonic exhumation. There was no obvi- tion of SHRIMP U-Pb dating to determine geologic evidence for Miocene exhuma- ous difference between the sets. The infer- ages of igneous and metamorphic growth tion in a convergent-margin setting. ence is that steep decompression curves of zircons from HP and UHP metamorphic The island of Crete is a forearc high that should not be considered diagnostic of rocks of the Alps. His work indicates an formed above the south-facing Hellenic extensional exhumation. Eocene age for metamorphism which subduction zone. The island has spectacu- Clark Burchfiel reviewed the develop- would require exhumation rates of ~10 to lar exposures of high-pressure–low-tem- ment of the South Tibetan detachment 30 mm/yr for some of the Pennine nappe. perature (HP) metamorphic rocks that system, a north-dipping system of faults A major problem, however, is that, as of formed at depths of ~35 km and were and ductile shear zones with top-north yet, there is no direct tie between exhumed rapidly, starting in the Miocene. offsets that crops out for more than 700 km Gebauer’s zircon ages and the formational Geodetic data and the presence of young along the southern flank of the Himalayan ages of the diagnostic HP and UHP meta- normal faults indicate that the surface of crest. The detachment system has proba- morphic assemblages. the island is being extended in a strike- bly been active since 22 Ma and appears The panel, chaired by Gary Ernst, normal direction, presumably due to to have evolved diachronously along its emphasized that UHP rocks are typically southward rollback of the subducting slab. length. There is local evidence in the found as large, internally coherent slices Extensional deformation on Crete is com- Mount Everest area that the detachment at least several kilometers wide. The pres- monly viewed as a southern manifestation system caused rapid exhumation, but at ervation of UHP assemblages suggests dry of the active extensional province that present it is not known if this is a general metamorphic conditions during exhuma- underlies the Aegean Sea to the north. feature of the entire system. tion. Tectonic extrusion was reviewed as But an important distinction is that Crete Steve Reddy reviewed the pitfalls in one way to account for the exhumation lies in the forearc above the Hellenic slab, recognizing extensional faults. He showed of these unusual rocks. whereas the Aegean metamorphic core an example from the Pennine zone of the General comments from the floor complexes have formed in the arc and Swiss Alps where metamorphic section highlighted several additional issues. Are back-arc regions. was thinned by a doubly vergent system UHP rocks metamorphosed above the At present, Crete has very rugged of extensional faults that moved top- Moho within a very thick crustal root or topography, with local relief >2 km northwest and top-southeast. below the Moho as slices subducted into (highest point is Psiloritis at 2456 m). The panel, chaired by Ray Price, the mantle? The paucity of mantle rocks The rugged landscape suggests rapid ero- focused on the correct use of kinematic in association with UHP rocks favors the sion rates, but the relative contribution indicators and on the distinctions between crustal-root option. But the mantle option of erosion to total exhumation remains strain and displacement and between crys- is favored by the observation that crustal poorly resolved. This problem was a com- tallization ages and cooling ages. There rocks are not strong enough to support the mon theme throughout the conference. was also some discussion about the diffi- exceptional high topography that should culties in using time-temperature data to form above a region underlain by very SESSION 1: estimate a time-depth path. One panelist thick (>100 km) continental crust. A thick LOCAL EXPRESSION OF TECTONIC noted that the present northward dip crustal root would be further inhibited by EXHUMATION: STRUCTURE, of the South Tibetan detachment system the higher radiogenic heat production METAMORPHISM, AND could be caused by isostatic uplift associ- typical of continental rocks, which should THERMOCHRONOLOGY ated with deep erosion of the high Him- lead to thermally induced softening Mark Brandon opened the conference alayas. This possibility highlighted the and/or melting. For the modern Earth, with a short introduction. He made the general difficulties in resolving the origi- continental crust is thought to be no point that exhumation rates alone are not nal dip of exhumational structures. thicker than about 60 to 70 km. But what diagnostic of process. A common assump- defines the Moho in areas where the crust tion is that tectonic exhumation is fast SESSION 2: has been metamorphosed to UHP assem- and erosion is slow. But erosion has been FORMATION AND EXHUMATION blages? A study of the seismic-velocity clocked at rates up to ~15 mm/yr1 (e.g., OF UHP METAMORPHIC ROCKS properties of UHP rocks is needed to Southern Alps of New Zealand). Con- The most intriguing examples of understand the relationship of the seismi- versely, there are settings , such as long- deeply exhumed rocks are the ultra-high- cally determined Moho to the petrologi- lived continental rifts, where tectonic pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks, first cally defined base of the crust.

18 GSA TODAY, May 1997 What is the role of buoyancy in This type of model emphasizes the fact the primary factor in triggering the land- returning metamorphosed crustal rocks that exhumation is not necessarily slides; climate has played a subsidiary role. to the surface? Chopin indicated that the restricted to vertical motions and may The panel, chaired by Paul Hoffman, UHP granitoid rocks found in the Pennine also involve the interaction between considered a range of topics. What factors nappes of the Alps have densities of 2840 erosional and tectonic processes. are most important for determining when to 3080 kg ⁄ m–3. These rocks would be The panel, chaired by Karen Klein- a tectonically active landscape reaches buoyant with respect to the mantle but spehn, highlighted several additional steady state? In this context, steady state not with respect to average continental issues. To what degree are erosion rates means that the rates of rock uplift are bal- crust. The buoyancy argument is further controlled by climate? When using ther- anced by equal rates of erosion. Is the time challenged by the discovery of ultramafic mochronometry, how can one account for to steady state typically short (<1–2 m.y.)? rocks with UHP assemblages (e.g., meta- the effects of topography on isotherms In that case, the geomorphic system morphic diamonds in the Beni Bousera and the rotation of isochronal surfaces would closely track tectonic uplift. Or is and Ronda peridotites of Morocco and after isotopic closure? How much of the the time to steady state typically long (>10 southern Spain; >120 km assemblages exhumation history of a UHP terrane is to 20 m.y.)? If so, the geomorphic system from the Alpe Arami garnet peridotites preserved in its present structural and would be constantly out of phase with tec- in the Alps). stratigraphic setting? Do shallow-level tonic uplift. This question is critical for structures bear any relations to the pro- resolving the cause of the increased flux of SESSION 3: cesses associated with the early phases of terrigenous sediment to the world’s oceans RATES AND PATTERNS OF LONG- exhumation when the rocks were still at during the Quaternary, whether due to cli- TERM EROSIONAL EXHUMATION great depths? mate change or to increased rates of tec- Most currently cited erosion rates tonic convergence. are estimated from short-term (10–50 yr) SESSION 4: One panelist presented a comparison studies of sediment yield from modern PROCESSES AND CONTROLS OF of the exhumational history of the Tauern river drainages. A nagging question is LONG-TERM EROSIONAL window, which is the most deeply ex- whether or not these rates are represen- EXHUMATION humed part of the eastern Alps, with the tative of long-term erosion rates. This Geomorphology continues to provide record of erosional exhumation preserved problem is particularly important for the fundamental information about erosional in the Alpine foreland and offshore basins Quaternary because global climate has processes, but much of this research beneath the Mediterranean and the North been fluctuating on a period of ~100,000 remains at an early stage of development. Sea. An integrated sediment budget yr due to the glacial cycle. In this context, In particular, there are many unanswered showed that orogenic sedimentation rates long-term erosion rates can be usefully questions about how short-term local- were low when the Tauern window was defined as the average rate of erosion for scale erosional processes relate to the long- being exhumed. The inference was that a period of time >~0.1 m.y., to ensure that term erosional behavior of a whole moun- tectonic processes probably dominated the effects of the glacial cycle are averaged tain range. Nonetheless, this research is during deep exhumation of this part of out. essential for resolving the interplay be- the Alps. In his keynote presentation, Doug tween tectonics, topography, global cli- Another panelist showed that fast Burbank reviewed various methods for mate change, and regional-scale erosion. erosion can have a profound influence on estimating long-term erosion rates, such Bernard Hallet gave a keynote the shape of metamorphic isograds and, in as the reconstruction of eroded geologic presentation in which he compared some cases, can result in inverted isograds. features, isopach measurements of synoro- modern rates of erosion in glaciated and genic sediments, thermochronologic dat- nonglaciated active mountain belts. He SESSION 5: ing of exhumed bedrock or detrital grains noted that nonglaciated mountainous THE ULTIMATE CAUSE FOR in synorogenic sediments, or an inventory drainages in Asia and New Zealand have TECTONIC EXHUMATION: of erosional processes operating within a modern erosion rates of about 1.5 to ACTIVE RIFTING VS. PASSIVE modern drainage. Burbank cited geologic 8 mm/yr, which overlaps with exhuma- GRAVITATIONAL COLLAPSE evidence indicating that the Salt Range of tion rates estimated for UHP rocks. He Tectonic exhumation has been recog- Pakistan was eroded at long-term rates of then went on to show that warm-based nized as a common factor in continental 5 to 10 mm/yr. alpine glaciers in southern Alaska had ero- orogenesis, but the cause remains poorly Peter Copeland discussed the inter- sion rates of 5 to 80 mm/yr. This observa- understood. Is it a result of far-field dis- pretation of cooling ages for detrital grains tion suggests that increases in alpine placements, as postulated for the back-arc derived from the Himalayas. The large vol- glaciation, which could be caused by stretching that formed the Aegean meta- ume of sediment in the Himalayan fore- global cooling, increased precipitation, morphic core complexes, or is it due to land and in the offshore Bengal and Indus and/or growth of mountainous topogra- collapse of overthickened crust, as has fans provides an important record of ero- phy, could play a major role in exhuma- been suggested for the Himalayan-Tibetan sional exhumation for the Himalayas. Paul tion of metamorphic rocks and in limiting orogen? Fitzgerald reviewed fission-track data that the maximum height of mountains. In his keynote presentation, Gordon indicate long-term erosion rates of ~2 Sean Willett reviewed the results Lister stressed the importance of far-field mm/yr for Denali (Mount McKinley) in of numerical models of orogenesis that displacements. For the Aegean, he argued southern Alaska. account for both deformation and erosion. that back-arc stretching was caused by David Rowley described the exhuma- He emphasized that deformation and ero- rollback of the subducting slab. He also tion history of UHP rocks in Dabie Shan, sion are strongly coupled, so that their rel- emphasized the transient nature of meta- China, where exhumation rates are esti- ative effects on the orogenic system may morphism in extensional settings. mated to have been 3 to 11 mm/yr. He be difficult to separate. Leigh Royden showed how convec- presented a variant of the tectonic extru- Niels Hovius presented the results tive flow in thickened crust might account sion model, where UHP rocks moved of a regional-scale inventory of landslides for deformation of the Tibetan plateau. upward as a large tabular body, with the in the Southern Alps of New Zealand as She argued that the style of deformation relative motion resolved along a lower observed over the past several decades. in a convergent orogen is controlled by thrust fault and an overlying normal fault. He estimated that erosion due to land- the average strength of the crust, parti- The front of the extruded body is eroded slides was occurring at rates ranging from back at a rate close to the extrusion rate. 5 to 18 mm/yr. Earthquakes seem to be Penrose Conference continued on p. 20

GSA TODAY, May 1997 19 Penrose Conference continued from p. 19 the instability in the real mantle remain mantle peridotites. The presence of these poorly understood. Molnar finished with rocks at the Earth’s surface suggests that tioning of strain, and the degree of cou- an overview of a current project that com- accretionary wedges must have sufficient pling between the crust and mantle. bines paleobotany with meteorology to upward flow to overcome the negative John Dewey presented evidence that estimate paleoelevation, with the objective buoyancy. This inference implies that UHP rocks of the Western Gneiss region to resolve the uplift history of the Col- buoyancy is not a significant rate-limiting in the Norwegian Caledonides were orado Plateau and other high-elevation factor in the exhumation of metamorphic exhumed tectonically during oblique areas. rocks. continent/continent collision. Exhuma- Alan Glazner and John Tarney The conference highlighted some tion rates were estimated to have been reviewed how magmatism might influ- major challenges in understanding the ~10 mm/yr. He discounted erosion ence extensional deformation. Glazner origin of UHP rocks. One important issue exhumation because basinal strata that focused on buoyancy of magmas and their concerns the relationship of the petrologic overlie the Western Gneiss contain no level of emplacement in the crust. Tarney Moho to the seismic Moho in areas with HP or UHP detritus. Dewey also noted discussed how magmatism might trigger anomalously thick continental crust. that the Western Gneiss was subjected crustal extension. Another concerns the tectonic setting to extreme vertical shortening, locally as The panel, chaired by Neil Manck- in which UHP metamorphic rocks are much as –75%, which indicates that duc- telow, started with a discussion about the formed. For instance, where would one tile thinning was probably an important concept of gravitational potential energy expect to find these rocks forming today? factor in exhuming these rocks. for understanding conditions leading to If UHP metamorphism occurs while The panel discussion, chaired by gravitational collapse. This was followed crustal slices are in the mantle, then this George Davis, started with the comment by two questions. How does magmatism phenomenon may be unrelated to tec- that the Kapuskasing uplift of Canada, affect deformation and heat transfer dur- tonic processes that thickened the crust. which exposes deep-seated Precambrian ing extension? What is the relationship of crust, may provide a particularly well UHP metamorphism to magmatism? IN MEMORIAM studied example of gravitational collapse. Just prior to the conference, one of The panel then considered some more SUMMING UP the student participants, Steve Thornley, speculative questions. Would the exhuma- The meeting ended with summaries was killed in an accident in the Himalayas. tional phenomena be better understood from the panel chairs. The general con- Steve had been invited to give a presenta- by dividing the tectonic setting on the sensus was that the conference succeeded tion at the conference. He had just fin- basis of the “absolute” motion of the in providing a broad overview of the ished a Ph.D. under Dick Walcott at upper plate? For instance, did the upper exhumation problem. In particular, it is Victoria University, Wellington, where he plate retreat (Aegean), advance (Alps), or clear that in most active mountain belts, studied extensional deformation operating surrender (lithospheric delamination in erosion and tectonism are dynamically at the surface of the Hikurangi accre- the Himalaya)? Is fault dip related to tec- coupled to the point where it may be diffi- tionary wedge, New Zealand. We were tonic process, with gravitational collapse cult to separate cause and effect. It appears saddened by the death of this promising producing gently dipping normal faults that erosion can operate at very fast rates, young scientist. and rifting resulting in moderately dip- perhaps as high as 15 mm/yr, given suffi- ping normal faults? cient precipitation, steep terrain, and/or ACKNOWLEDGMENTS extensive alpine glaciation. These rates We are thankful to Alexandros SESSION 6: could be sustained for long periods of Papaderos, general director of the Ortho- INFLUENCE OF DEEP-SEATED PHE- time, as long as uplift rates continued to dox Academy of Crete, and Evanglos NOMENA ON THE GEODYNAMIC match erosion rates and climate condi- Kastrinakis, manager of the academy, EVOLUTION OF MOUNTAIN BELTS tions remained favorable for fast erosion. along with their staff, for making our stay Deep-seated processes have also been Alpine glaciation appears to be the most comfortable and our scientific proceeding proposed as important factors controlling aggressive agent of erosion, one that is efficient and productive. Conference coor- exhumation in mountain belts. In par- particularly sensitive to global climate. In dinator Lois Elms did an excellent job of ticular, there has been much emphasis this regard, the relatively high sediment handling the arrangements and logistics, on thermal softening of an orogenic root production rate of the Quaternary may be especially given the complexities associ- and delamination of a thickened mantle the result of a cooler climate and more ated with an overseas venue. We are root. Thermal softening would reduce the extensive alpine glaciation. A problem, grateful to Bernard Stöckhert and Eberhard strength of the crust, and mantle delami- however, is that much of our current Seidel for suggesting the academy as a nation would increase the average topog- understanding of erosion rates is based conference site and for leading the confer- raphy of the orogen. Both phenomena on relatively short records. There is a seri- ence field trips. We thank Gordon Lister could lead to gravitational collapse. ous need for better long-term estimates and Marnie Forster for organizing and The theme of Peter Molnar’s keynote using the sediment inventories or thermo- leading an informal week-long post- presentation was that normal faulting is chronometry. conference trip to the Aegean metamor- typically initiated by some major change Buoyancy remains an often-cited phic core complexes. They put together in the geodynamic system, such as a factor for return of HP and UHP rocks to an excellent field guide, “Inside the change in boundary conditions (e.g., plate the surface, but there are an increasing Aegean Metamorphic Core Complexes.” motions), a change in the constitutive number of examples where relatively Copies are available from Lister (gordon@ behavior of the crust (e.g., thermal soften- dense rocks have been exhumed. Geolo- artemis.earth.monash.edu.au). We also ing), or a change in the position of rocks gists have generally accepted the possibil- thank Suzanne Baldwin, Meg Coleman, relative to a heterogenous stress field. He ity that subduction is able to carry conti- Darrel Cowan, Carol Evenchick, John then reviewed the current understanding nental crustal rocks to depths >100 km, Garver, and Susan Monsen for their of Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities in thick- perhaps because the driving force involves comments on a preliminary draft of this ened lithosphere, which might explain the negative buoyancy of subducting report. The conference was supported in the conditions needed for mantle delami- oceanic lithosphere. What remains con- part by National Science Foundation grant nation. This type of instability has been ceptually difficult is how tectonic forces EAR-9628304 and the Geological Society investigated using analog models, but the can return rocks to the surface, especially of America. ■ characteristic time and length scales of relatively dense eclogite-facies rocks and

20 GSA TODAY, May 1997 WASHINGTON REPORT and outdoor uses such as lawns and washing cars. Bruce F. Molnia • Irrigation use (176)—includes water artificially applied to agricultural crops; Washington Report provides the GSA membership with a window on the activities of the estimates are presented for 22 different federal agencies, Congress and the legislative process, and international interactions that crops or crop types. could impact the geoscience community. In future issues, Washington Report will present • Industrial processing (7)—includes summaries of agency and interagency programs, track legislation, and present insights into water used in the processing of chemi- Washington, D.C., geopolitics as they pertain to the geosciences. cals, paper, minerals, cotton, vegetables, and meat. • Thermoelectric power generation (6)— includes water used in the generation of What Is Freshwater Worth? electrical power with fossil fuel, nuclear energy, and geothermal energy. • Hydroelectric power generation (57)— Water is essential for all life.… In addition to being critical for the health of includes water used to generate electric- both humans and ecological systems, water is an important element in many ity at plants where turbines are driven of our recreational and economic activities. It is used in virtually everything by falling water. we make and do. Water is the most widely used resource by industry; it is used • Recreation and fish and wildlife habitat activities (211)—includes use of streams both directly and indirectly to produce energy; it provides the basis for much of and reservoirs for activities such as our outdoor recreation; it is an important part of our transportation network; fishing, boating, rafting, swimming, it serves as a vehicle for disposing of wastes; and it provides important cul- picnicking, and hiking. Five separate categories of recreational activity are tural and amenity values.… Economic and recreational opportunities and the included in the evaluation. Two cate- overall quality of life depend in part on how water is allocated among these gories, fishing and wildlife refuges, competing values. account for more than 95% of all recreation value estimates. — Economic Values of Freshwater in the United States, p. 1. • Navigation on inland waters (7)— includes water used for transportation of cargo. This depends on the depth of navigable rivers and lakes; these param- Resources for the Future (RFF) is a used for recreational purposes in the eters are a function of water quantity. Washington, D.C. – based, independent, Lower Colorado River Basin. For other • Waste disposal (23)—is the ability of nonprofit research organization that aims uses, and in other basins, reported values a stream to assimilate wastes without to help people make better decisions about are as low as zero. exceeding water-quality standards. the conservation and use of their natural The report consists of five sections This depends on quantity of flow, resources and the environment. One of totaling 37 pages, three appendices total- nature of the waste, and other condi- their newly released reports, “Economic ing 45 pages, and a listing of the 41 refer- tions; the value of water that is released Values of Freshwater in the United States” ences. The report examines each of the for this purpose is calculated on the (EVFUS), Discussion Paper 97-03, by Ken- eight water use categories in 21 Water basis of downstream damage avoided neth D. Frederick, Tim VandenBerg, and Resources Regions (WRR) of the United or waste-treatment costs that are saved. Jean Hanson, prepared for the Electric States (numbers in parentheses indicate The second section of the report, “Pre- Power Research Institute, is fully in keep- number of water value estimates for each sentation of the Data,” discusses the ing with this goal. EVFUS addresses the WRR presented in the report): New Eng- methodology for presenting the economic questions, What is freshwater worth? and land (7), Mid-Atlantic (10), South Atlantic– values information and water-use data. What is its value? Gulf (17), Great Lakes (10), Ohio (17), For instance, there are many more estimates To provide an answer, EVFUS presents Tennessee (16), Upper Mississippi (17), of water value from arid regions than else- 493 water value estimates for eight differ- Lower Mississippi (10), Souris-Red-Rainy where. This is partially true because these ent uses of water, four involving water (2), Missouri (49), Arkansas-White River arid regions are focal points for long-stand- withdrawal from streams and four involv- (24), Texas Gulf (26), Rio Grande (21), ing conflicts about water use. Also noted is ing in-stream uses. The 493 water values Upper Colorado (29), Lower Colorado that three of the 21 water study regions are compiled from 41 different published (70), Great Basin (14), Pacific Northwest have no value estimates of any kind. and unpublished literature sources. For (66), California (71), Alaska (0), Hawaii (0), The third section presents data by uniform comparisons, all water value and Caribbean (0). Another 19 water val- geographic region to illustrate how the estimates are converted to 1994 dollars, ues estimates, which cut across WRR values within a region vary among uses using a methodology presented in the boundaries, are also presented. and how values for the same use vary “1995 Economic Report of the President” EVFUS’s Introduction presents impor- across regions. More than 20 tables and (Appendix A). The standard unit for the tant caveats for interpreting the data and graphs are used to summarize data and water value estimates presented is “dollar for determining the relevance of water help to interpret the water value evalua- value per acre-foot of water” ($/AF). The values for achieving efficient use of the tions. For example, the national averages highest water values described in the resource. Included are definitions of the of water values for each category EVFUS study reach 2,642 $/AF, for water eight water use activities evaluated. These (expressed as $/AF) are: domestic use— water use categories are (numbers in $97; irrigation use—$75; industrial pro- parentheses are number of water value cessing—$282; thermoelectric power estimates for each type of use): CORRECTION generation—$34; hydroelectric power • Domestic use (6)—includes water used generation—$25; recreation and fish and The Department of Education (not for household purposes such as drink- wildlife habitat activities—$48; navigation Energy) released the report discussed ing, bathing, washing clothes and in the March Washington Report. dishes, toilets, food preparation, Washington Report continued on p. 22

GSA TODAY, May 1997 21 Washington Report continued from 21 Call For GSA Committee Service—1998 on inland waters—$146, and waste dis- The GSA Committee on Committees Volunteering or posal—$3. wants your help. The committee is look- Making a Recommendation Values vary from one part of the ing for potential candidates to serve on country to another. Eastern water values All nominations received at head- committees of the Society or as GSA repre- are significantly lower than those in the quarters by Friday, July 11, 1997, sentatives to other organizations. You can west. Eastern in-stream values (89) range on the official one-page form will be for- help by volunteering yourself or suggest- from $0 to $483, and average $16, while warded to the Committee on Committees. ing the names of others you think should western water values (203) range from $0 Council requires that the form be complete. be considered for any of the openings and to $2,642, and average $56. Eastern with- Information requested on the form will submitting your nomination on the form drawal values (17) range from $0 to $198, assist the committee members with their on page 23. Younger members are espe- and average $29, while western with- recommendations for the 1998 committee cially encouraged to become involved in drawal values (167) range from $0 to vacancies. Please use one form per candi- Society activities. $1,227, and average $80. date (additional forms may be copied). Listed are the number of vacancies Average and maximum water values The committee will present at least two along with a brief summary of what each in each WRR are also presented. They are nominations for each open position to the committee does and what qualifications (in $/AF): New England ($4 and $12), Council at its October 21, 1997, meeting are desirable. If you volunteer or make Mid-Atlantic ($25 and $198), South in Salt Lake City, Utah. Appointees will recommendations, please give serious Atlantic-Gulf ($12 and $57), Great Lakes then be contacted and asked to serve, thus consideration to the special qualifications ($7 and $42), Ohio ($31 and $483), Ten- completing the process of bringing new for serving on a particular committee. nessee ($14 and $91), Upper Mississippi expertise into Society affairs. Please be sure that your candidates are ($30 and $420), Lower Mississippi ($8 Members or Fellows of the Society and that and $50), Souris-Red-Rainy ($1 and $3), Committee on Committees they meet fully the requested qualifications. Missouri ($13 and $95), Arkansas-White The 1997 committee consists of River ($31 and $187), Texas Gulf ($64 the following people: Chair Stephen H. and $199), Rio Grande ($191 and $1615), Stow, FEDC Building, 104 Union Valley Upper Colorado ($32 and $70), Lower The GSA Council acknowledges the Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-8218, (423) Colorado ($122 and $2,642), Great Basin many member-volunteers who, over 576-7802; Derald G. Smith, Department ($38 and $461), Pacific Northwest ($55 the years, have stimulated growth and of Geography, University of Calgary, and $1,228), and California ($51 and change through their involvement in Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada, (403) $756). the affairs of the Society. 220-6191; Russell S. Harmon, Engineer- Section 4 presents the data for indi- Each year GSA asks for volunteers to ing and Environmental Science Division, vidual water uses to illustrate how the serve on committees, and many highly U.S. Army Research Office, P.O. Box values for specific uses vary within each qualified candidates express their will- 12211, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, of the 18 water resources regions that ingness to serve. Not everyone can (919) 549-4326; Ellen E. Wohl, Depart- compose the conterminous United States. be appointed to the limited number ment of Earth Resources, Colorado State For instance, a comparison of the value of of vacancies; however, members are University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, (970) water for the category of “recreation and reminded that there are also oppor- 491-5298; Ted A. Maxwell, Center for fish and wildlife habitat” shows almost tunities to serve in the activities and Earth and Planetary Studies, MRC-315, a 600-fold difference in average value initiatives of the sections and divisions. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC between the Lower Colorado Basin and Annually, the Council asks sections and 20560, (202) 357-1424; Jean M. Bahr, the Pacific Northwest. In the Lower Mis- divisions to convey the names of poten- Department of Geology and Geophysics, sissippi, water has no recreational value. tial candidates for committee service to University of Wisconsin, 1215 W. Dayton Average recreation values for each of the the Committee on Committees. Street, Madison, WI 53706-1692, (608) regions are (in $/AF): New England ($4), 262-5513. ■ Mid-Atlantic ($6), South Atlantic–Gulf ($3), Great Lakes ($9), Ohio ($3), Ten- nessee ($2), Upper Mississippi ($4), Lower COMMITTEE VACANCIES Mississippi ($0), Souris-Red-Rainy ($3), Missouri ($14), Arkansas-White River Annual Program (2 vacancies) ($21), Texas Gulf ($8), Rio Grande ($313), Develops a plan for increasing the quality of the annual meeting in terms of service, Upper Colorado ($51), Lower Colorado education, and outreach. Evaluates the technical and scientific programs of the annual ($597), Great Basin ($60), Pacific North- meeting. west ($1), and California ($27). Committee members should have previous program experience or experience at Information such as the location, organizing an annual meeting, or be actively involved in applying geology knowledge to year, and methodology used to derive each benefit society and awareness of critical issues. of the values is presented in Appendices B and C, along with each of the water value Continuing Education (2 vacancies) estimates. The data are organized by water Directs, advises, and monitors the Society’s continuing education program, reviews and resources region in Appendix B and by approves proposals, recommends and implements guideline changes, and monitors the type of use in Appendix C. scientific quality of courses offered. The report is available from: Committee members should be familiar with continuing education programs or Resources for the Future, 1616 P Street, have adult education teaching experience. NW, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 328-5000, fax 202-939-3460, Day Medal (3 vacancies) http//www.rff.org. ■ Selects candidates for the Arthur L. Day Medal. Committee members should have knowledge of those who have made “distinct contributions to geologic knowledge

Committee Service continued on p. 24

22 GSA TODAY, May 1997 NOMINATION FOR GSA COMMITTEES FOR 1998

Name of candidate ______(One form per candidate, please. Additional forms may be copied.) Address ______(Please print) ______

Phone () ______

COMMITTEE(S) BEING VOLUNTEERED or NOMINATED FOR (please check): Committee(s): Comment on special qualifications:

GSA Fellow Section affiliation: GSA Member Division affiliation(s): Brief summary of education:

Brief summary of work experience (include scientific discipline, principal employer—e.g., mining industry, academic, USGS, etc.):

If you are VOLUNTEERING to serve GSA, please give the names If you are NOMINATING SOMEONE other than yourself to of 2 references (please print): serve GSA, please give your name, address, and phone number (please print): Name:______Name: ______Phone: ( ) ______Address: ______Name: ______Address: ______Phone: ( ) ______Phone: ( ) ______

DEADLINE: Please return this form to GSA Headquarters, Attn: Executive Director, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301, by Friday, July 11, 1997. Form must be complete to be considered.

GSA TODAY, May 1997 23 LETTERS

more knowledgeable about geology and rapport with the rest of society. He sug- ldridge Moores’s Call for Action (GSA appreciative of our financial needs. I am gested that the reason we are having trou- Today, January 1997, p. 7–10) gives beginning to wonder, however, whether ble getting the general public to under- us some welcome thoughts about E our difficulties may not be partly of our stand and support us is that we do not the role of geology in society. This topic is own making. understand or support the general public. very much on our minds as we see support Christopher Lasch (The Revolt of the When C. P. Snow defined The Two for science dwindle and our graduate stu- Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy, 1995) Cultures back in 1959, his attitude was dents struggling to find jobs where they laid the problem out very well when he that the future of western civilization lies can put their knowledge and skills to good pointed to the increasing intellectual isola- in the hands of morally superior scientists use. Like most of us, Moores sees the prob- tion of scientists and to our deteriorating and that the rest of society, particularly lem in terms of making the general public

Committee Service continued from p. 22 Nominations (6 vacancies; one to be a member from Canada or Mexico) through the application of physics and chemistry to the solution Recommends to the Council nominees for the positions of GSA of geologic problems.” officers and councilors. Committee members should be familiar with a broad range Education (2 vacancies—1 high school teacher; of well-known and highly respected geological scientists. 1 middle school teacher) Stimulates interest in the importance and acquisition of basic Penrose Conferences (2 vacancies) knowledge in the earth sciences at all levels of education. Reviews and approves Penrose Conference proposals, recom- Committee members work with other interested scientific mends and implements guidelines for the success of the organizations and science teachers’ groups to develop precollege conferences. earth-science education objectives and initiatives. The committee Committee members must either be past conveners or have also promotes the importance of earth-science education to the attended two or more Penrose Conferences. general public. Penrose Medal (3 vacancies) Geology and Public Policy (3 vacancies) Selects candidates for the Penrose Medal. Translates knowledge of the earth sciences into forms most useful Committee members should be familiar with outstanding for public discussion and decision making. achievements in the geological community that are worthy of Committee members should have experience in public-pol- consideration for the honor. Emphasis is placed on “eminent icy issues involving the science of geology. They should also be research in pure geology, which marks a major advance in the able to develop, disseminate, and translate information from the science of geology.” geologic sciences into useful forms for the general public and for the Society membership; they should be familiar with appropri- Publications (1 vacancy) ate techniques for the dissemination of information. Makes recommendations to the Council concerning Society publications. Honorary Fellows (2 vacancies) Committee members should be familiar with a wide range of Selects candidates for Honorary Fellows, usually non–North scientific publications and especially GSA publications. Should Americans. also have some knowledge of publication processes and costs and Committee members should have knowledge of geologists should have concern for the quality of content and presentation throughout the world who have distinguished themselves of GSA publications. through their contributions to the science. Research Grants (3 vacancies) Membership (2 vacancies) Evaluates research grant applications and selects grant recipients. Evaluates membership benefits and develops recommendations Committee members must be able to attend the spring meet- that address the changing needs of the membership and attracts ing and should have experience in directing research projects and new members. in evaluating research grant applications. Committee members must be able to attend one meeting a year. Previous experience in benefit, recruitment, and retention Young Scientist Award (Donath Medal) (2 vacancies) programs is desired. Selects candidates for the Donath Medal. Committee to have members covering a broad range of disci- Minorities and Women (3 vacancies) plines, i.e., geophysics, economic geology, stratigraphy. Commit- in the Geosciences tee members should have knowledge of young scientists with Stimulates recruitment and promotes positive career develop- “outstanding achievement(s) in contributing to geologic knowl- ment of minorities and women in the geoscience professions. edge through original research which marks a major advance in Committee members should be familiar with minority and the earth sciences.” female education and employment issues and have expertise and leadership experience in such areas as human resources and edu- GSA Representative to the cation. Membership shall include representation of minorities North American Commission and women and representatives from government, industry, and on Stratigraphic Nomenclature (1 vacancy) academia. Must be familiar with and have expertise in stratigraphic nomenclature. ■

24 GSA TODAY, May 1997 intellectuals and humanists, must adopt Research is, of course, a vital part of sci- Ms. Nameroff implied that unlike more scientific ways of thinking. I wonder ence, but in focusing our efforts so nar- the “hired guns” of think tanks or corpo- what he would say today. A generation rowly we lose our ability to adapt to rations, academia or government does later, it is we, the scientists, that are on the changing needs. This may be less so in the not have problems with objectivity. It is defensive. Having become superb experts natural sciences than it is in physics and my experience that this condition is not on increasingly abstruse topics, we have chemistry, but it is still a concern. always true. Many academic or govern- withdrawn into a narrow corner of the We might do well to ask ourselves a ment scientists in the environmental field cultural world and take little or no part few simple questions. Does it make sense, hold strong personal convictions about in public affairs. for example, to give our students the their research. In some cases, these scien- Instead of deploring the scientific impression that total dedication to arcane tists are ardent environmentalists whose illiteracy of the public, perhaps we should research is the only reputable function of opinions are influenced by personal, sub- be concerned about the cultural literacy of a geologist? Does it serve our interest to jective, and emotional feelings about the scientists. We have become hopelessly iso- perpetuate the myth that the most effec- subject. Yet when these scientists publish lated, even within the universities. When tive teachers are always those engaged in their work or speak out on a subject, they did you last see a geologist at a lecture in intensive research? Is it possible that we are viewed as unbiased and objective. As another department, say political science might make a greater contribution to soci- Ms. Nameroff noted, the scientific method or modern literature? How many of us ety if we took a broader, more scholarly rarely results in an unequivocal answer. participate in the affairs of our community approach to geology? And, most impor- Yet at the same time, scientific opinions or have close friends outside our profes- tant, might we not make our careers more that publicize the dangers of various envi- sional circle? Can you imagine a geologist rewarding if we came out of our hole and ronmental threats are almost unequivo- on the local school board or joining a civic took part in the cultural world around us? cally accepted, while those that indicate or fraternal organization? It can hardly be that such threats may have been over- Alexander R. McBirney otherwise, when so much of our time is stated are dismissed as subjective. University of Oregon taken up, not so much with research itself, Although the public is probably Eugene, OR 97403-1272 but with writing or reviewing papers and unaware of it, some of the best research in research proposals, managing a lab, orga- the U.S. on the potential threat of various nizing and attending meetings, and the chemicals to the environment is con- n her column in the March 1997 issue countless other chores that research ducted by the large oil companies. For (p. 37) of GSA Today, Tamara Nameroff entails. example, recent research is showing that expressed her concern with an appar- Let’s be honest. For the last 40 years I the best approach to remediating soil and ent trend in Congress of distrusting the or so, we have enjoyed generous, almost ground water contaminated by petroleum scientific community and the scientific unquestioning support for science. The hydrocarbons may be to do nothing at all. process on high-profile environmental average citizen accepted on faith our This conclusion is based upon voluminous issues. She referred to “fringe” scientists claims that our work contributes to the amounts of data that show that such con- who were often funded by political think nation’s prosperity. Science has indeed tamination often represents a minimal or tanks as promoting a particular, biased brought untold benefits and has given us nonexistent threat to humans and the agenda that was not well accepted by a far better understanding of the planet on environment. The public’s response would the traditional (i.e., academic) scientific which we live. In recent years, however, likely be that this research is self-serving community. While Ms. Nameroff raised we have overdrawn our account. At a time and certainly couldn’t be accurate. Ironi- some very good points about the potential when research is becoming more special- cally, the U.S. EPA and many State regula- influence of Congress on science-based ized and difficult to explain to the public, tory agencies have embraced this work. policy making, she also ignored the funding is increasingly viewed as an enti- Our responsibility as scientists should potential for the opposite bias to occur. tlement, and campaigns for support are be to teach the public, including Congress All scientists have opinions on topics looking more and more like lobbying of and the media, that nothing should be in their field of specialty, whether that yet another special-interest group. No, I taken at face value. Research from think subject is the cause of mass extinctions can offer no easy solution to the financial tanks, universities, or government agen- in the geologic past or the risk dioxin problem, but it seems to me that there was cies all suffer potential limitations. But poses to human health. The source of a clear message, not just to physicists but one source of scientific information is these opinions may include past experi- to all of us, when funding for the super- not necessarily better than another. Con- ence in conducting similar investigations, collider was finally canceled. From now clusions regarding environmental threats the influence of an admired mentor or on, it will be harder to convince tax payers or any other scientific issue of contention colleague, or personal connections to the that my research on the holmium-thulium should be based upon a variety of sources subject matter unrelated to scientific data. ratios of kuselites should be high on the after lengthy public discussion. I agree Such personal connections may be based list of national priorities. wholeheartedly with Ms. Nameroff’s con- upon political opinions, social agendas, It is often said that in every crisis clusion that peer review remains the best or the nature of one’s employment. there is an opportunity, if one can only means of ensuring scientific quality and In an ideal world, these opinions grasp it. Today’s crisis offers the opportu- objectivity. But this review must include are set aside, or are at least included as nity to reexamine some of the basic tenets all sources of research, not just those that one of several potential hypotheses, and of modern science. Foremost among these are assumed to be objective because of an objective investigation follows. In real- is the assumption that we can continue to their source. ity, these opinions may play a greater role work on more and more specialized topics in a scientist’s assessment of data than the Keith R. Taylor and never reach a point of diminishing scientist may want to admit. A well-publi- Hallowell, Maine 04347 ■ returns. John Horgan, in The End of Science cized example of personal connections (1996), argues that we have, by our interfering with the scientific process is approach to research, imposed limits on the tobacco industry ignoring data on the scope left open to us in the future. the health risks of cigarettes.

GSA TODAY, May 1997 25 All the Fuss About Clean Air: A Look at EPA’s Proposals

Tamara Nameroff, 1996–1997 GSA Congressional Science Fellow

I confess that I didn’t think about air language is that the standards don’t have quality very often until I arrived in Wash- to protect against all health effects, only ington to start my Congressional Fellow- those that are judged to be “adverse.” EPA ship. Even before I came to this Shining has consistently recognized that it must City in the Swamp, I knew that ozone lev- make a reasonable judgment—informed els in Washington can be a health hazard by science—about what constitutes physi- on some summer days. But I didn’t worry ologically adverse health effects, and what I found it very interesting to see how about it much. I didn’t think at all about level of the standard would provide science is used in the debate. Predictably, any of the other pollutants in the air such acceptable protection from these effects. the agency’s proposals were attacked as as particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and This is an important distinction for both going too far. Industries that are likely to carbon monoxide. I was sure that some- ozone and PM, because physiological face new requirements if the standards are body had a plan to deal with the problem. responses probably occur in extremely enacted have engaged in a huge lobbying Little did I suspect that I was to become sensitive individuals at very low levels— effort to overturn EPA’s proposals, suggest- one of those faceless, nameless people even background concentrations. Court ing that the uncertainty in the science who had to grapple with this issue. decisions have upheld EPA’s intent to set precludes setting tighter standards. On Air quality became a more personal the standards to protect the most sensitive the other hand, the environmental groups experience when, at the outset of my GSA populations, such as asthmatics, the defend EPA’s work and believe that the Congressional Fellowship, the Environ- elderly, and children, rather than the science shows that serious adverse health mental Protection Agency proposed to most sensitive individuals. effects result from exposure to these tighten the current air-quality standard for The act, its legislative history, and pollutants. ozone and add a new standard to regulate cases interpreting it make clear that costs In the broadest sense, it appears that emissions of fine particulate materials and feasibility should not be taken into the interest groups are arguing about how (PM). Ground-level ozone is the prime account when setting the standards. Costs much scientific uncertainty can remain ingredient of smog are considered before action on public health issues is jus- and is formed by when states tified. For example, in the case of PM, epi- photochemical reac- Interest groups are arguing about develop plans to demiological studies suggest that exposure tion between nitro- how much scientific uncertainty attain the stan- to this pollutant—even at levels below the dards. For exam- current standard—may cause premature gen oxides and can remain before action on volatile organic ple, communities death and aggravation of existing respira- compounds. PM is public health issues is justified. with severe air- tory and cardiovascular disease. Industry the term used for a quality problems groups suggest that because the mecha- mixture of solid par- are given more nism by which PM damages the lung is ticles and liquid droplets found in the air. time to comply than communities where not established, the proposed standard While individual particles cannot be seen air-quality problems are moderate. Cost- may lead to expensive controls that target with the naked eye, collectively they effective strategies are designed by state the wrong problem. The environmental appear as soot, dust, clouds, or haze. My and local governments that address spe- groups counter that a consistent and co- task is to help my boss, Sen. Joe Lieberman cific control requirements for industry herent body of evidence documents corre- (D—CT), understand the intricacies of the and small business. lation between particulate matter and pre- science, and give him the information he mature death and illness; the mechanism needs to decide whether to support the SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY doesn’t need to be demonstrated clearly standards. when a cause (exposure to PM) and effects The debate on EPA’s proposals focuses Almost overnight after EPA unveiled (death and illness) are documented. on two broad fronts. The science used to its proposals, new radio advertisements The debate in Congress over the air justify the level and form of the standards suggested that fireworks, lawnmowers, and quality standards reflects the disparate has been scrutinized extensively. A more barbecues would be banned if these new views of how much science is enough to philosophical discourse has also emerged standards took effect. Proponents pro- justify a standard. However, the heart of about whether the fundamental structure claimed that the new standards would pre- the political argument isn’t about what of the Clean Air Act is the right approach vent thousands of premature deaths every the science supports. It seems to be to reducing air pollution. year and would reduce respiratory disease whether EPA should continue to set air- First the science. In order to make and hospital admissions due to air pollu- quality standards to protect public health the best possible policy judgment, EPA per- tion. I thought a presentation of the issue without regard to costs. In Senate Environ- formed an extensive review of the peer- would be useful to GSA members since the ment and Public Works Committee hear- reviewed scientific literature. EPA’s work also proposals are controversial and far-reach- ings on this issue, this underlying political was reviewed carefully by an independent ing. I also think that the issue illustrates a context drove most of the questions asked expert panel that included representatives fundamental rule about public policy: it is about the science. I saw both sides use the from industry, academia, state government, made by reference to values, not science. science to advance these views. Propo- and the medical profession. For both ozone nents of the standards used the evidence and PM, the reviewers concluded that EPA LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT of serious adverse health effects to defend produced an adequate assessment of avail- setting health-based standards. They The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set able scientific data and relevant studies and argued that, should the standard-setting air-quality standards at a level to protect that EPA’s interpretation of the science pro- public health with an adequate margin vided an adequate scientific basis for mak- of safety. The legal interpretation of this ing regulatory decisions. EPA’s Proposals continued on p. 27

26 GSA TODAY, May 1997 EPA’s Proposals continued from p. 26 BOOK REVIEWS process be revised to reflect some combi- nation of health and cost considerations, Shocks and Rocks: Seismology in dreds of kilometers down along the zones. these effects might be given less weight; the Plate Tectonics Revolution: The He also is known for a 1968 synthesis people also wouldn’t know if they were Story of Earthquakes and the Great paper with Isacks and Lynn Sykes that was breathing clean air. Opponents of the Earth Science Revolution of the especially influential in bringing the plate- standards played up to scientific uncer- 1960s. By Jack Oliver. American Geophysical tectonic revolution to the earth science tainty and suggested that we shouldn’t Union, 1996, 189 p., $28 (paperback). community at large, from what was ini- spend so much money to comply with tially an in-group. ffective communication in science is a the new standards when it is not clear that The 1968 paper “Seismology and the main theme of this memoir about the large health benefits would be realized. E New Global Tectonics” is reprinted in this revolution in the earth sciences, written In the end, this issue will be decided book as an appendix, where it serves both by one of the revolutionaries. Some on political grounds, not because the sci- to add technical details to the popular aspects of communicating can be learned ence has provided a compelling rationale writing of the main text and as a source and honed, such as drawing illustrations for action or inaction. In the case of the of illustrations for referencing. The book that instantly convey their meaning, and Clean Air Act, the contributions of science zeros in closely on the role of seismology writing without jargon for a readership to the policy-making process seem to be in the revolution. larger than your subdiscipline. Other dominated by powerful symbols like bar- Jack Oliver was in the first group aspects are more subject to chance, such becues and asthmatic children. In the that moved off Manhattan Island with as getting the paper accepted quickly in a end, politicians must determine what Maurice Ewing to the Lamont Estate on widely read journal, and most chancy of the American people value more. ■ the Hudson River that had been donated all, having your new ideas burst upon the to Columbia University. The book empha- world just when the world is eager to sizes the role of Lamont Geological Obser- Tamara Nameroff is the 1996–1997 GSA devour them. vatory, which reached a critical mass of Congressional Science Fellow, serving on the Jack Oliver, a former president of the scientists and data-gathering capability staff of Senator Joseph Lieberman (CT). The Geological Society of America, is most one-year fellowship is supported by GSA and by just when needed by the fomenting noted during the time of the 1960s revolu- the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the revolution. tion for his work with Bryan Isacks which Interior, under Assistance Award 1434-HQ-96- Several bodies of seismological infor- GR-02768. The views and conclusions contained showed that seismic waves transmit very mation were on the scene in the years in this document are those of the author and efficiently and fast along what later leading up to the great unifying shift in should not be interpreted as necessarily repre- became known as subduction zones. Their senting the official policies, either expressed the earth sciences. Maurice Ewing and or implied, of the U.S. government or GSA. work indicated that slabs of cold brittle The author can be contacted via e-mail at crust and mantle, which formerly lay . below the seafloor, have penetrated hun- Book Reviews continued on p. 28

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GSA TODAY, May 1997 27 Book Reviews continued from p. 27 of the basins averages about 100 million tion of the first two. He decries that most years old, that of the same thickness in the editors and grant-proposal reviewers Frank Press had shown that the crust trenches is only a few hundred thousand demand material that aims for hypothesis of Earth under the oceans is on average years old, and hence has not had time yet testing, because the serendipity method only one-eighth as thick as that under the to be obviously disturbed. provides material for many scientists continents, which refuted Eduard Seuss’s Oliver took his first college degree beyond the initial investigators. He says then-popular idea that the oceans are in physics, and during that study he did the peer-review system does indeed elimi- floored by sunken continents. Wadati and not take a course in geology. When he nate substandard work, but unfortunately Benioff had shown that deep-focus earth- planned to enter graduate school in it also filters out the truly great advances. quakes line up with shallower shocks to geophysics, he read the popular book At a jubilee for plate tectonics in 1992, form inclined surfaces that extend up to The Biography of the Earth by physicist five out of eight people who had been the seafloor at oceanic trenches. And George Gamow. Gamow presented Alfred at the center of the revolution said that Bruce Heezen and Marie Tharp had used Wegener’s concept of continental drift in peer review had either greatly delayed the scattered earthquake epicenters then a favorable light, and Oliver liked the idea. or entirely derailed concepts that later recorded in the deep oceans to help delin- As a beginning research assistant, he was became the core of the new geology. eate their global seafloor ridge system that puzzled that the geologists he worked Oliver thinks that a special journal for wraps around Earth like the stitches on a with did not accept drift, which he then short papers too far out to be accepted baseball. thought might help them to solve some of by the regular journals would be both a Oliver tries to answer why many their research problems. Soon he learned, service to the science and popular with earth scientists, himself included, were however, that the margins of the conti- readers. slow to adopt ideas that involve a mobile nents and the adjacent seafloor would be This book contains no gossip. The Earth. Scientific brilliance alone seems far more deformed if drift occurred exclu- only hint that fallible humans worked to be of little help. Maurice Ewing was sively along those boundaries, and he at Camelot-by-the-Hudson is his report particularly slow to accept plate tectonics, came under the strong influence of that he was puzzled that some colleagues although major breakthroughs were respected professors who were fixists. For griped that Ewing overedited and delayed popping out almost monthly at his own some years, and with later embarrassment, their papers, whereas he himself had no institute. Ewing viewed the ocean basins he suppressed all ideas of a mobile Earth. such experience. I’m not surprised that as stable because both the thin surficial Oliver believes that scientific research Oliver’s serendipity methods would have sediment in the middle of the basins and progresses in three styles: (1) deductive meshed very well with Ewing’s. Someone that seen by seismic reflection on the floor hypothesis testing, (2) what he calls like Bruce Heezen, on the other hand, of the oceanic trenches showed no appar- inductive serendipity (a term apparently always throwing out newfangled ideas, ent deformation. Only later did we under- chosen to avoid the pejorative “shotgun stand that whereas the seafloor sediment method”), and (3) synthesis, a combina- Book Reviews continued on p. 29

28 GSA TODAY, May 1997 Book Reviews continued from p. 28 PUBLICATIONS NEWS FROM the GSA I’m sure was frequently a burr under Doc Ewing’s saddle. After all, Heezen even embraced the expanding-Earth concept for a time, during that brief interval when Bookstore seafloor spreading was already in the can, WATCH THIS COLUMN FOR NEWS ABOUT GSA PUBLICATIONS and subduction was still filming. This is a lively book. It’s especially PHANEROZOIC FAUNAL & FLORAL REALMS OF THE PERMIAN STRATIGRAPHY AND FUSULINIDA OF recommended for those who lived EARTH: THE INTERCALARY RELATIONS OF THE MALVI- AFGHANISTAN WITH THEIR PALEOGEOGRAPHIC AND through the revolution, and for students NOKAFFRIC AND GONDWANA FAUNAL REALMS WITH PALEOTECTONIC IMPLICATIONS wishing to position themselves for success THE TETHYAN FAUNAL REALM edited by E. Ja. Leven, C. H. Stevens, D. L. Baars, 1997 by A. A. Meyerhoff and others, 1996 An excellent overall study of the Permian Stratigraphy and in the at least minirevolutions of the MWR189, 78 p., hardbound, indexed, ISBN 0-8137-1189-4, fusulinid faunas of Afghanistan. All of the major stratigraphic future. $40.00; GSA Members $32.00 sequences there are correlated with those of the adjacent Pamirs and are described, as are one new genus and 41 new George W. Moore ORDOVICIAN K-BENTONITES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA edited by D. R. Kolata, W. D. Huff, S. M. Bergström, 1996 species and subspecies of Permian fusulinid. These data are Oregon State University used to postulate that Afghanistan and the Pamirs consist of The volume presents the most comprehensive set of data Corvallis, OR 97331 fragments of numerous diverse depositional basins that were currently available on the occurrence and characteristics of crushed together during collision of the Indostanian and Ordovician K-bentonites in eastern North America. The authors Laurasian plates. Stress and Deformation: (1) summarize the mineralogies and chemical compositions SPE316, 138 p., ISBN 0-8137-2316-7, $45.00; GSA Members that help distinguish individual beds and provide information A Handbook on Tensors in Geology. $36.00 By Gerhard Oertel, Oxford University Press, regarding the tectonomagmatic setting of the source volcanoes; New York and Oxford, 1996, $65. (2) document the geographic and stratigraphic distribution AN 800,000-YEAR PALEOCLIMATIC RECORD FROM CORE of the 60 or more Ordovician K-bentonites in eastern North OL-92, OWENS LAKE, SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA his book is the outgrowth of a gradu- America; (3) determine the relative positions of K-bentonites edited by G. I. Smith, J. L. Bischoff, 1997 T ate course taught at UCLA by Gerhard within an established biostratigraphic framework; and (4) deter- A need for more lacustrine records that document late Oertel, based on a course previously mine which beds or bed complexes have potential event- Quaternary climates in the now-arid western North America stratigraphic significance. led to a U.S. Geological Survey–funded core-drilling project on taught by Ron Shreve. The purpose of SPE313, 90 p., 8 plates on 2 sheets, ISBN 0-8137-2313-2, $46.00; Owens Lake, southeast California. The resulting 323-m-long the book is to teach an advanced student GSA Members $36.80 core records lake fluctuations since 800 ka. This volume to use matrix and tensor notation and to describes how they are revealed by variations in the CO and CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN SUTURES: 3 organic-C percentages, pore-water isotopic content, composi- understand the concepts of continuum RESULTS OF THE EDGE PROJECT AND RELATED STUDIES mechanics. The book proceeds from vec- edited by L. Glover III, A. E. Gates, 1997 tion of clay-sized materials, magnetic susceptibility, and fossils History of Ocean Basins (diatoms, ostracodes, mollusks, fish, and pollen). Sediment ages tors to tensors to stress and strain. Unlike In 1962 Harry Hess’s gave a mechanism 14 and a measure of credibility to the ancient hypothesis of are based on C data, measured mass-accumulation rates, and many recent texts that have tried to sim- paleomagnetic variations. The recorded wet and dry climatic plify these concepts by writing for stu- continental drift. The new model has been successful in explaining Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonics; therefore, it is cycles are about 100 ka long. Although their distribution in dents with little math background and by remarkable that today there exists no general agreement on time is similar to those of deep-sea and other records that relying heavily on the use of Mohr circles, the number, age, and location of older Appalachian sutures. largely reflect paleotemperatures, the maxima and minima of this book assumes that the reader has a This volume contributes to understanding these sutures. Topics the wet and dry cycles differ in age from correlative inflections include: the nature of metavolcanic Carolina-Avalon terrane in paleotemperature records by an average of 15 ka. good math background and still has access SPE317, 172 p., indexed, ISBN 0-8137-2317-5, $60.00; and its problematic western boundary in the Piedmont of to math textbooks. Fairly brief explanatory GSA Members $48.00 central Georgia; the Cambrian(?) emplacement of Carolinian material is interspersed with problems. rocks against Laurentia in southern Virginia; and reactivation Over half of the volume is devoted to of the southern Virginia suture as a major zone of crustal detailed answers to the problems at the weakness that moved during every subsequent tectonic event. VISIT US ON THE WEB! end. The errata take care of the typograph- SPE314, 142 p., ISBN 0-8137-2314-0, $50.00; GSA Members $40.00 GSA’s complete publications catalog is located at http://www.geosociety.org. ical errors. THE THIRD HUTTON SYMPOSIUM ON THE ORIGIN OF This book will be most useful as a GRANITES AND RELATED ROCKS text for rigorous courses in continuum M. Brown, P. A. Candela, D. L. Peck, W. E. Stephens, R. J. Walker, 1-800-472-1988 mechanics that have previously used texts E-an Zen, 1996 Physical Properties of Crystals The invited papers in this volume, from the Third Hutton GSA PUBLICATION SALES such as Nye’s Symposium on the Origin of Granites and Related Rocks, (Prentice-Hall) or Fung’s Foundations of P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301 summarize the latest ideas concerning crustal anatexis, melt (303) 447-2020 or fax 303-447-1133 Solid Mechanics (Clarendon Press). Gener- segregation, magma transfer, and granite emplacement into Prepayment required. Major credit cards accepted. ally, the material is beyond the abilities lower- grade upper-crustal rocks. and background of most geology graduate SPE315, 225 p., indexed, ISBN 0-8137-2315-9, $78.00, GSA Members $62.40 students. The most positive aspect of this volume is the extensive set of problems and answers that allows readers to work through the problems on their own. The Principles of Precambrian Geology. data for each geologic province, yet in text is excellent for someone with a good By Alan M. Goodwin. Academic Press, many cases the book does not refer to math background who wishes to learn San Diego, 1996, 327 p., $35. modern plate-tectonic interpretations continuum mechanics in a rigorous man- This volume is an abridgment of of specific provinces, basins, or cratons. ner or for someone who needs a refresher Alan Goodwin’s 1991 comprehensive and Although this should not be a problem for course. I, like the author, do not advise authoritative text Precambrian Geology: The those wishing to adopt the text for classes, skipping any sections or problems, as the Dynamic Evolution of the Continental Crust. or to use it as a desk reference for the gen- concepts and notation build on previous It is extensively revised and updated from eral geology of the world’s Precambrian material throughout the book. The text is the original version, and now that it is terrains, it should be balanced by modern clearly written and concisely reviews available in paperback (reducing the price uniformitarian texts (such as B. F. Wind- matrices and tensors. from $230 to $35), it should be considered ley’s The Evolving Continents, third edition, for adoption as an introductory text for 1995, John Wiley) or journal articles on Sharon Mosher courses in Precambrian geology. Goodwin Precambrian tectonics. University of Texas does a superb job of presenting the basic Austin, TX 78712 geologic, geochronologic, and correlative Book Reviews continued on p. 30

GSA TODAY, May 1997 29 has used a lithostratigraphic approach, laws of heat conduction would be resolved providing many maps, stratigraphic sec- if arguments for melting in the presence tions, and correlation charts throughout of water yielding lower eruption tempera- these chapters. Concepts are generally well tures were supplied, and if the many docu- explained and well illustrated. Particular mented tectonic contacts of komatiites attention was paid to include the latest with the surrounding gneiss terranes were U-Pb geochronologic interpretations for described in the book. each province, and the references were In the last chapter, on the evolution updated to include recent work on most of Precambrian crust, great emphasis is of these terrains, with a few exceptions. placed on a couple of ideas that are not Despite this, several references in the text widely accepted models of Earth evolu- are not cited in the bibliography. The tion. For instance, in an attempt to dis- book concludes with a a short (20-page) count the possible presence of ophiolitic segment containing Goodwin’s preferred fragments in Archean greenstone belts, model for the evolution of the continental Goodwin cites a recent theoretical model crust, neatly divided into sections on for an “expected” Archaen ophiolite endogenous and exogenous processes. (thick, entirely komatiitic crust), and then The biggest pitfall of Principles of states that no oceanic crust exists in these Precambrian Geology is that it does not pay belts because they consist not of this adequate attention to structural aspects “expected” komatiitic crust, but largely of Precambrian terranes; cross sections of tholeiitic basalts underlain by gabbros, are almost totally absent, and structural resembling modern dismembered ophio- nomenclature is obscure, in some cases lites! The possibility that Archean ophio- (e.g., synéclise and antéclise) dating back lites didn’t look as different from modern to old Russian literature. Folds in gneiss ophiolites as the theoretical model pre- terranes are described as “flattish” (p. 53), dicts is not discussed. Surely, if these rocks and Archean greenstone belts are por- were in Phanerozoic mountain belts they trayed as 7–17-km-thick multicyclic vol- would be classified as ophiolites, and canic piles, thus largely ignoring much of workers would then debate their origin as the structural work, done on greenstone arc, back arc, fore arc, oceanic crust, etc. belts in the past 10 years, that documents Later in the same chapter, Goodwin moves Book Reviews continued from p. 29 numerous repeated stratigraphic sections on to summarize how tholeiitic basalt (e.g., see M. de Wit and L. Ashwal, Green- altered on the sea floor is the most likely Goodwin begins with a summary of stone Belts, 1996, Oxford University Press.). source for the production of Archean Na methods commonly employed by Precam- Komatiites, which are stated to have erup- tonalites. brian geologists and a review of the geol- tion temperatures of 1600 °C (at the high In the summary section on crustal ogy of the major Precambrian cratons. The end of current thinking) present an development by stage, relative partition- book then proceeds with detailed descrip- unusual problem, in that they occur next ing between plume- and planiform-domi- tions of each Precambrian province, begin- to crust that shows low paleogeothermal ning with Archean crust, then Early, Mid- gradients. This apparent defiance of the Book Reviews continued on p. 34 dle, and Late Proterozoic crust. Goodwin

GSA PUBLICATIONS e’ve extended SALE WWour sale! This is absolutely the LAST CHANCE to obtain EXTENDED many of these older GSA books and maps before UP TO TO MAY 31, 1997 they disappear forever. We MUST clear our % inventory. Most older copies remaining will be 90 OFF ORIGINAL PRICES recycled. Prices have been slashed to little or nothing on many of these. We pay surface postage on all orders of $25 or more, and charge only $4 for smaller orders. All orders subject to Terms and Conditions listed in sale flyer. Quantities are limited to stock-on- hand. Inventory on many items now depleted. For a clearance sale flyer contact GSA Marketing Department. To place an order contact Publication Sales • P.O. Box 9140 • Boulder, CO 80301 • 1-800-472-1988 • 303-447-2020 • fax 303-447-1133

30 GSA TODAY, May 1997 GSA TODAY, May 1997 31 VOLUME 27 May BULLETIN and NO. 5 P. 385Ð480 GEOLOGY Contents MAY 1997 387 Large Neogene subsidence event along the Middle America Trench off Mexico (18°–19°N): Evidence from submersible observations The Geological Society of America B. Mercier de Lépinay, F. Michaud, T. Calmus, J. Bourgois, G. Poupeau, P. Saint-Marc, The NAUTIMATE team 391 Ground-water processes controlling a prairie lake’s response to middle Holocene drought Volume 109, Number 5, May 1997 Alison J. Smith, Joseph J. Donovan, Emi Ito, Daniel R. Engstrom 395 Formation of amphibole after clinopyroxene by dehydration reac- tions: Implications for pseudomorphic replacement and mass fluxes CONTENTS Timothy J. Fagan, Howard W. Day Thrust-top basin formation along a suture zone, Cantwell basin, Alaska 399 Chemical weathering in glacial environments 505Ð523 Suzanne Prestrud Anderson, James I. Drever, Neil F. Humphrey Range: Implications for development of the Denali fault system Kenneth D. Ridgway, Jeffrey M. Trop, and Arthur R. Sweet 403 Temperature constraints on the Ginkgo flow of the Columbia River Basalt Group 524Ð532 Cave sedimentation, genesis, and erosional history in the Cheat River Anita M. Ho, Katharine V. Cashman Canyon, West Virginia 407 Deep-ocean field test of methane hydrate formation from a remotely Gregory S. Springer, J. Steven Kite, and Victor A. Schmidt operated vehicle Peter G. Brewer, Franklin M. Orr Jr., Gernot Friederich, Keith A. Kvenvolden, Daniel L. 533Ð546 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of Ferrar Dolerite sills from the Transantarctic Orange, James McFarlane, William Kirkwood Mountains, Antarctica: Implications for the age and origin of the Ferrar 411 The radiogenic isotope composition of the high-latitude North magmatic province Atlantic mantle Dieter F. Mertz, Karsten M. Haase T. H. Fleming, A. Heimann, K. A. Foland, and D. H. Elliot 415 Dome-and-keel provinces formed during Paleoproterozoic orogenic 547Ð559 Paleoenvironmental implications of the insoluble microparticle record collapse—core complexes, diapirs, or neither?: Examples from the in the GISP2 (Greenland) ice core during the rapidly changing climate Quadrilátero Ferrífero and the Penokean orogen Stephen Marshak, Douglas Tinkham, Fernando Alkmim, Hannes Brueckner, Theodore of the PleistoceneÐHolocene transition Bornhorst Gregory A. Zielinski and Grant R. Mershon 419 Reevaluation of vesicle distributions in basaltic lava flows 560Ð567 Nonmarine extinction across the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary, Katharine V. Cashman, James P. Kauahikaua southwestern Utah, with a comparison to the Cretaceous-Tertiary 423 Measuring flood discharge in unstable stream channels using ground- extinction event penetrating radar Kurt R. Spicer, John E. Costa, Gary Placzek Jeffrey G. Eaton, James I. Kirkland, J. Howard Hutchison, Robert Denton, Robert C. O’Neill, and J. Michael Parrish 427 Thrust geometry controlled by erosion and sedimentation: A view from analogue models 568Ð579 Radiometric dating of submarine hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf J. L. Mugnier, P. Baby, B. Colletta, P. Vinour, P. Bale, P. Leturmy of Mexico 431 Modes of axial reorganization on a slow-spreading ridge: The Paul Aharon, Henry P. Schwarcz, and Harry H. Roberts structural evolution of Kolbeinsey Ridge since 10 Ma Bruce Appelgate 580Ð595 Commerce geophysical lineament—Its source, geometry, and relation 435 Instantaneous-shaking liquefaction induced by the M7.2 1995 to the Reelfoot rift and New Madrid seismic zone Southern Hyogo Prefecture earthquake, Japan V. E. Langenheim and T. G. Hildenbrand Aiming Lin 439 The 89 Ma Tortugal komatiitic suite, Costa Rica: Implications for a 596Ð611 Channel-reach morphology in mountain drainage basins common geological origin of the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific region David R. Montgomery and John M. Buffington from a mantle plume Guillermo E. Alvarado, Percy Denyer, Christopher W. Sinton 612Ð630 Stratigraphic evolution of the inner continental shelf in response to late 443 Regional δ18O gradients and fluid-rock interaction in the Altay Quaternary relative sea-level change, northwestern Gulf of Maine accretionary complex, northwest China Walter A. Barnhardt, Daniel F. Belknap, and Joseph T. Kelley Kieran D. O’Hara, Xin-Yue Yang, Xie Guoyuan, Zhichun Li 447 An atmospheric pCO2 threshold for glaciation in the Late Ordovician Mark T. Gibbs, Eric J. Barron, Lee R. Kump 451 Is the Moho flat? Seismic evidence for a rough crust-mantle interface beneath the northern Basin and Range S. P. Larkin, A. Levander, T. J. Henstock, S. Pullammanappallil MOVING? Don’t risk missing a single issue 455 The Arcelia graben: New evidence for Oligocene Basin and Range of GSA Today! If you’re planning on changing your extension in southern Mexico address, simply write in your new address and mail Pamela E. Jansma, Harold R. Lang 459 Delayed sedimentary response to the A.D. 1886 eruption of Tarawera, this coupon along with your subscription mailing New Zealand label (use label from this newsletter) to: GSA, J. D. L. White, B. F. Houghton, K. A. Hodgson, C. J. N. Wilson Membership Services, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 463 Experimental evidence for high-temperature felsic melts formed 80301-9140. Or you may call with your change of address during basaltic intrusion of the deep crust information— (303) 447-2020 or 1-800-472-1988 or E-mail us at T. C. McCarthy, Alberto E. Patiño Douce [email protected]. 467 Stream channel erosion and change resulting from riparian forests Stanley W. Trimble (Report address changes at least six weeks in advance. If possible, give us your change of address by the tenth of the month.) Forum 470 Biostratigraphic and radiometric age data question the Milankovitch PLEASE PRINT characteristics of the Latemar cycle (Southern Alps, Italy) Comment: Lawrence A. Hardie, Linda A. Hinnov Name ______Reply: Peter Brack, Roland Mundil, Felix Oberli, Martin Meier, Hans Rieber 472 Long-term faunal stasis without evolutionary coordination: Jurassic Address ______benthic marine paleocommunities, Western Interior, United States Comment: Arthur J. Boucot; Comment: Kenneth M. Schopf, Linda C. Ivany ______Reply: Carol M. Tang, David J. Bottjer 475 Extrusion of the Altyn Tagh wedge: A kinematic model for the Altyn City ______Tagh fault and palinspastic reconstruction of northern China Comment: Zhenyu Yang; Reply: Da Zhou, Stephan A. Graham State/ZIP/Country ______477 Middle Cretaceous reef collapse linked to ocean heat transport Comment: Peter W. Skelton, Stephen K. Donovan; Reply: Claudia C. Johnson Phone (business hours) ______479 Guidelines for Geology Authors 480 Chemistry of ore-forming fluids and mineral formation rates in an active I do not wish to have this number in the Membership Directory. hydrothermal sulfide deposit on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Correction Overconsolidated section on the Yermak Plateau, Arctic Ocean: Ice Change my voting section to: ______sheet grounding prior to ca. 660 ka?: Correction Middle Holocene dry climate caused by change in atmospheric circula- tion patterns: Evidence from lake levels and stable isotopes: Correction

32 GSA TODAY, May 1997

Book Reviews continued from p. 30 nated mantle convection and higher geotherms is discussed in terms of global heat loss, with the suggestion that plumes Have Enough Abstracts Forms may have been more important in earlier times. Goodwin suggests that modern- style plate tectonics could not have oper- for the 1997 Annual Meeting? ated in the early lithosphere sitting over this vigorously cooling mantle, but pre- If not … sents instead ad hoc mechanisms of litho- spheric tectonics. Most uniformitarianists ☛ request them NOW. think it highly probable that convective heat transfer mechanisms (with associated (303) 447-2020, ext. 161 plate tectonics in the lithosphere) con- trolled the heat loss from early Earth, as E-mail: [email protected]. they do today. For instance, rigorous quantitative studies show that the most For electronic submission efficient mechanism of planetary heat loss (convection) becomes even more efficient Information is available under the Meetings heading on the with higher heat production, as Rayleigh GSA home page at http://www.geosociety.org. numbers are higher, and mantle tempera- tures are effectively buffered by changes in Remember viscosity, rate of overturning, and cell size. Deadline for receipt at GSA is July 8. Most actualistic models of early Earth sug- gest that it was probably dominated by numerous rapidly convecting cells, driving plate tectonics in the surface boundary conduction layer, resting over a mantle in or with interests in the minerals indus- information needed in regular aspects of not very much hotter than that of today. try. The wealth of information available, their work. Goodwin implies that workers who apply generally presented in a very user-friendly plate-tectonic models (“complacent appli- John Wm. Geissman fashion, ranges from a Code of Ethics for cation of a popular paradigm,” p. 279) to University of New Mexico the Australasian Institute of Mining and old rocks are guilty of “unwarranted spec- Albuquerque, NM 87131-1116 Metallurgy, to charts for the identification ulation based on invalid models” (p. 279), and classification (IUGS-based) of rocks yet the concluding chapter of his book and minerals, to compilations of virtually supports application of ad hoc paradigms Stepping Stones—The Reminiscences every mapping symbol imaginable, to suc- with no actualistic foundation. While I of a Woman Geologist in The cinct overviews of methods and interpre- agree with Goodwin about the dangers Twentieth Century. By Katharine tation of geophysical surveys. Admittedly, of model-driven science, I believe that Fowler-Billings. Connecticut Academy of Arts many aspects of this compilation are the modern peer-reviewed journal litera- and Sciences, New Haven, 222 p., 1996. clearly devoted to the minerals explo- ture provides an effective filter for such ration in the Australasian region (e.g., Aus- his autobiographical memoir records practice. tralasian codes for reporting ore reserves, the life and career of one of the pio- Principles of Precambrian Geology does T Australian standard color scheme and neering women geologists in the United a good job of meeting its goal of providing stratigraphic symbols, and Australasian States. It is an engaging tale of an adven- a detailed inventory of Precambrian geo- magnetic declination charts). However, turous and eventful life told as a chrono- logic provinces and problems. In most over 90% of the book is of universal use logical series of vignettes in an easy con- sections of the book, interpretations and and interest. The 62-page-long section on versational style. Fowler-Billings starts speculations are avoided, yet in places standard mapping symbols and patterns, with growing up in a well-off Mas- where interpretations are made, they although perhaps not universally sachusetts family and spending summers reflect an anachronistic non–plate-tec- accepted, is excellent in its detail and form in the outdoors collecting shells, rocks, tonic approach. These sections of the text of presentation. Some parts of the book and plants. She then chronicles her moun- need to be balanced with more modern are less up-to-date than desired. For exam- taineering adventures as a student, tells of views of early Earth, but overall, Principles ple, the geologic time scale, organized to her geological travels and projects in the of Precambrian Geology will probably be a highlight different stage classifications, United States, in Africa, and across Russia, standard reference for many years. places the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary and describes her career as wife, mother, Timothy M. Kusky at 66 Ma and the Vendian-Cambrian and finally educator and conservationist. Boston University boundary at 580 Ma. The outdoors and a curiosity about nature Boston, MA 02215 The compiler and numerous contrib- were key parts of Fowler-Billings’s life. utors had no intention of having Field Many of her exploits also reveal an inde- Geologists’ Manual considered as a “text” pendent and stubborn streak. For exam- Field Geologists’ Manual. Compiled by for an undergraduate or graduate field ple, she reports that during her under- D. A. Berkman. Australian Institute of Mining geology course. Despite this, I can strongly graduate time at Bryn Mawr College, her and Metallurgy, Victoria, 1995. recommend this book to instructors in professor, Florence Bascom, did her best field geology as an excellent reference, and to discourage Fowler-Billings and other he revised and reprinted third edition to geoscientists in the minerals industry students from becoming geologists. So, of Field Geologists’ Manual is an impres- T requiring, in a single volume, a quick, without consulting Miss Bascom, Fowler- sive collection of information designed to detailed summary of a great deal of useful be of use for practicing field geologists and more specifically geoscientists practicing Book Reviews continued on p. 36

34 GSA TODAY, May 1997 GSA ANNUAL MEETINGS

1997 1998 Salt Lake City, Utah • October 20–23 Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Salt Palace Convention Center October 26–29 Little America Hotel Metro Toronto Convention Abstracts due: July 8 Centre • Sheraton Toronto General Chair: M. Lee Allison, Utah Geological Survey Centre Hotel and Towers Technical Program Chairs: General Chair: John Bartley, Erich Petersen, University of Utah Jeffrey J. Fawcett, University of Toronto Field Trip Chairs: Technical Program Chairs: Bart Kowallis, Brigham Young University Denis M. Shaw, McMaster University Paul Link, Idaho State University Andrew Miall, University of Toronto Both technical program and field trip deadlines have passed. Due date for symposia and theme Call for Papers and First Announcement in the April issue proposals: January 2, 1998 of GSA Today. Registration and Housing information will be in the June issue. Call for Field Trip Proposals: We are interested in proposals for single-day and multi-day field trips beginning or ending in Toronto, and dealing with all aspects of the ORDER FORM—1997 GSA Abstracts with Programs geosciences. Please contact the Field Trip To purchase copies of GSA Abstracts with Programs, you may use this form. Prepayment Chairs listed below. is required. Members, provide member number and deduct your 20% discount. Check your records to make sure you have not previously purchased any of these publications Pierre Robin, University of Toronto, on your dues statement, or through Publication Sales. No refunds for duplicate orders. Dept. of Geology, 22 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B1, Canada, List Meeting Meeting Dates Price Quantity Amount (416) 978-3022, fax 416-978-3938 Henry Halls, Erindale College, Northeastern 3/17–3/19 $15 $ Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada, South-Central/Rocky Mountain 3/20–3/21 $22.50 $ (905) 828-5363, fax 905-828-3717, Southeastern 3/27–3/28 $15 $ [email protected] North-Central 5/1–5/2 $15 $ Cordilleran 5/21–5/23 $15 $ CALL FOR Annual Meeting (Salt Lake City) 10/20–10/23 $30 $ Continuing Education Course Proposals Total $ Check here if GSA Member Due December 1, 1997 Members deduct 20%. It will not be applied later. ➝ –20% $ The GSA Committee on Continuing Member # ______TOTAL $ Education invites those interested in proposing a GSA-sponsored or cospon- SHIP TO: sored course or workshop to contact Name ______GSA headquarters for proposal guide- lines. Continuing Education courses Address ______may be conducted in conjunction with Address ______all GSA annual or section meetings. We are particularly interested in receiv- City______State ____ ZIP ______Daytime Phone ______ing proposals for the 1998 Toronto METHOD OF PAYMENT: Annual Meeting or the 1999 Denver CHECK or MONEY ORDER (payable in U.S. funds on U.S. bank) Annual Meeting. Credit Card (Please print information) Proposals must be received by Decem- ber 1, 1997. Selection of courses for MC VISA AmEx Diners (circle one) Exp. Date ______1998 will be made by February 1, 1998. Card No. ______For those planning ahead, we will also consider courses for 1999 at that time. Signature of Cardholder ______For proposal guidelines or TO PLACE YOUR ORDER BY MAIL: information, contact: Send this form to GSA Publication Sales, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301-9140 Edna Collis Continuing Education Coordinator, TO ORDER BY PHONE OR FAX using a major credit card GSA headquarters fax (24 hour line): 303-447-1133; or phone (303) 447-2020 or 1-800-472-1988 (8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MT) 1-800-472-1988, ext. 134. ON-SITE PURCHASES may be made in the registration area. Supplies are limited. E-mail: [email protected]

FOR INFORMATION ON ANY GSA MEETING CALL THE GSA MEETINGS DEPARTMENT 1-800-472-1988 or (303) 447-2020, ext. 133 E-mail: [email protected] WWW: http://www.geosociety.org

GSA TODAY, May 1997 35 Book Reviews continued from p. 34

Billings applied and was accepted to the geology graduate program at Wisconsin. She made the most of chances to widen her experience whenever a chance pre- sented itself. The summer before going to Wisconsin she signed up for two field courses in the West. Between the two she climbed Mount Rainier, visited Crater Lake, and fit in a side trip to the Grand Canyon! This was the start of a life in which she took every advantage of oppor- tunities to explore the world and to do good science. Through her narrative, we appreciate her love of science, her fascination with meeting people of all kinds, her determi- nation, and her ability to make the best of many different circumstances. Her discus- sion of her geological work is descriptive rather than technical. This has the advan- tage of making her exploits interesting to a wide audience curious about the life of a female scientist of her era. However, it also leaves us with no feeling for her intellec- tual development nor of the specific scien- tific challenges she faced. It is a curiosity of this book that Fowler-Billings does not mention mentoring she may have received from individuals other than her family nor any significant scientific inter- action with peers. Yet she herself went out of her way to share her excitement and scientific acumen with others. Possibly this self-sufficiency is a manifestation of the independence she acknowledges when she describes traveling to a meeting in Africa by an earlier ship to avoid being with her Ph.D. thesis advisor: “I did not want him feeling responsible for me … He … never understood why I hadn’t told him I was going.” Fowler-Billings records that she was asked by Miss Winsor, headmistress of the school she attended for eight years, “What did I teach you … that made you do the things you have done?” After reading this autobiography, I concluded that Fowler- Billings gives us the same answer she gave Miss Winsor: “I had no ready explana- tion.…” But from the lively portrait she has painted, we can make our own sur- mises and come to appreciate the style of one 20th-century female geoscientist. appearance of those critical works. It has information about the continent has Maria Luisa Crawford become clear that Asia, with its European become available. Bryn Mawr College appendage, is distinct among continents Understanding tectonics, “the large- Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 because it has been assembled within the scale evolution of planetary lithospheres,” past 400 m.y. Laurentia and the Gond- requires the integrated use of an astonish- wana continents, because they were ingly broad range of approaches. That The Tectonic Evolution of Asia. largely put together during the Precam- range is wonderfully illustrated in this Edited by An Yin and T. Mark Harrison, brian, cannot be quite such good places to book. It starts with reviews of two models Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, study continental evolution. Finally, polit- of the Asian collision: one a viscous sheet 1996, 666 p. $200. ical and economic changes in Asia have model with lithospheric thinning, the his volume is timely. It is 74 years revolutionized access. Oil, gas, and min- other a thin-shell finite-element model T since Argand’s synthesis and 22 since eral explorations are expanding, interna- embodying faults. These contrasting papers Molnar and Tapponnier successfully ana- tional collaborative research has mush- set the scene by focusing on the mechani- lyzed India’s collision with Asia. Here is an roomed, and much previously inaccessible opportunity to assess progress since the Book Reviews continued on p. 37

36 GSA TODAY, May 1997 address the Indian-Asian collision, provid- ing a well-documented review of current research and new important results. The remaining nine papers address the earlier assembly of Asia. First comes a field and laboratory study of a Cretaceous core complex near Beijing. Few places in Asia have as yet been characterized so well. Next is a review of the Songpan- Ganzi, a region where a million or more cubic kilometers of continent-derived sediment accumulated on ocean floor among colliding continental fragments during Triassic time. Two papers report field and laboratory data from the dia- mond-bearing rocks of the Dabie Shan which were formed during one of those Triassic collisions and were somehow exposed by Cretaceous time. The Dabie Shan is becoming a mecca for students of how deep rocks go in mountain building. The last five papers treat regional Asian assembly, emphasizing different areas and different times. An interpreta- tion of northwestern Turkey has existed for 15 years; field studies reported here, complemented by age determinations and petrology, improve that model and show that radically different alternatives do not work. In a landmark paper, the global power of fossil floras in indicating paleo- latitude is demonstrated, compared with paleomagnetic results, and applied to Mesozoic Asia. The disposition of various fragments now within Asia during late Paleozoic and Mesozoic time comes up in several papers. Similarity in interpretation is emerging, and it is becoming clear where the problems remain. A tectonic history of China uses a variety of kinds of information to show how assembly has built China over 400 m.y., a distinc- tive feature being an attempt to restore now-deformed block boundaries to their original shapes. A final authoritative chap- ter, “Fragments of a synthesis of the paleo- tectonics of Asia,” extends published stud- ies of Altaid assembly to the Mongolides and Nipponides, contrasting the evolution of those giant accretionary complexes with belts like the Himalaya in which the collision of continental fragments has dominated. An emphasis is on the impor- tance of strike-slip motion throughout continental evolution. Book Reviews continued from p. 36 about the Neogene of Pakistan and how The Tectonic Evolution of Asia has large much remains to be learned about other pages, good paper, and well-reproduced fig- cal behavior of the continental litho- areas and older times. Three papers treat ures. This book is essential for all interested sphere. Two papers illustrate how earth- aspects of the Indo-Asian collision: (1) Tad- in Asian tectonics and is a worthy update quake mechanisms are used in tectonic jik basin history is synthesized using a vari- to the books by Argand and by Molnar and research, and a short paper reviews tomog- ety of techniques; (2) the diachronous Tapponnier. If you are new to the great raphy and anisotropy. Evolution of the onset of transtension in the Red River fault continent, it will provide a fine introduc- Himalaya is covered in a masterly review system is addressed by integrating struc- tion, and if you know the continent well, and in two papers that use age and meta- tural and isotopic observations with sea- you will find new research reported that morphic data to explain assembly, burial, floor data on the opening of the South will improve your understanding and stim- and elevation of the great range. Sediments China Sea; and (3) what has happened in ulate you to ask new questions. derived from the erosion of rising moun- an area of Tibet and Yunnan just to the Kevin Burke tains provide vital tectonic information. east of the Himalayan syntaxis is tackled University of Houston A comprehensive paper on the Himalayan using structural and paleomagnetic meth- Houston, TX 77204-5503 ■ foreland basin shows how much is known ods. The first twelve papers in the book

GSA TODAY, May 1997 37 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Published on the 1st of the month of issue. Ads (or can- GEOLOGIST motion and tenure; coordinate search for and recommend cellations) must reach the GSA Advertising office one ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (ISGS) appointment of department heads and research directors; month prior. Contact Advertising Department (303) ISGS is a division of the Illinois Department of Natural represent the college's interests to its various constituen- 447-2020, 1-800-472-1988, fax 303-447-1133, or E-mail: Resources. An affiliated agency of the University of Illi- cies; seek requisite funding from the University and exter- [email protected]. Please include complete nois, the Survey is located on the 700-acre campus in nal sources for the teaching, research, and service mis- address, phone number, and E-mail address with all cor- Urbana-Champaign. This central Illinois location is just sions of the college. respondence. 130 miles south of Chicago. Some 200 scientists and The major qualifications for the position are: A strong technical support staff conduct basic and applied research record of academic accomplishment; proven administra- Per line in geology, compile geologic maps, and gather and man- Per Line for each tive and leadership capabilities and experience; commit- age the state's geological data to provide information to ment to higher education in the form of teaching, scholar- for addt'l month industry, governmental agencies, and the public about the Classification 1st month (same ad) ship, research, and faculty development; commitment to geology and mineral resources of Illinois. We are seeking cultural, ethnic, and gender diversity; ability to work effec- Situations Wanted $1.75 $1.40 a full time geologist (Assistant Supportive Scientist) to tively with all departments in the college; ability to repre- Positions Open $6.50 $5.50 conduct and/or support original research in glacial geol- sent the college externally, on and off campus. ogy, glacial/fluvial sedimentology, and geologic mapping; Consultants $6.50 $5.50 Texas A&M University affirms diversity as essential to Services & Supplies $6.50 $5.50 work with a team of geoscientists in mapping 1:24,000- scale quadrangles; conduct topical research in Quaternary its mission, is an equal opportunity, affirmative action Opportunities for Students geology, and surface and subsurface mapping of Quater- employer/educator, and encourages applications and first 25 lines $0.00 $2.35 nary sediments in Illinois. Requires substantial travel in Illi- nominations of women and minorities. The Search Com- additional lines $1.35 $2.35 nois for field mapping. Requires M.S. and two years pro- mittee began screening candidates on April 30, 1997, and Code number: $2.75 extra fessional experience in Quaternary geology and geologic will continue until a suitable candidate is found. Nomina- mapping. Prefer M.S. and four years experience, or recent tions and applications, including names of references, are Agencies and organizations may submit purchase order or Ph.D. and field experience with mapping 3-dimensional encouraged prior to that date. Further information is avail- payment with copy. Individuals must send prepayment Quaternary deposits in the subsurface. Computer applica- able upon request. Nominations and applications should with copy. To estimate cost, count 54 characters per line, tions background helpful. Valid driver's license required. be sent to: Dr. Edward Hiler, Chair; Search Advisory Com- including all punctuation and blank spaces. Actual cost Some lifting may be required. Salary range $29,000Ð mittee for the Dean of the College of Geosciences and may differ if you use capitals, centered copy, or special 31,000. For an application, please send resume or contact Maritime Studies; Texas A&M University; Room 113 characters. Human Resources listed below. To receive full considera- Administration Building, College Station, Texas 77843- tion applications must be returned by May 15, 1997. 2142; phone (409) 862-4384; Fax 409-862-1637; e-mail: To answer coded ads, use this address: Code # ----, Human Resources, Illinois State Geological Survey, [email protected]. GSA Advertising Dept., P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 129 Natural Resources Building, 615 E. Peabody Dr., Please be advised that under Texas law, names and 80301-9140. All coded mail will be forwarded within Champaign, IL 61820. other information concerning applicants or nominees may 24 hours of arrival at GSA Today office. ISGS is an AA/EEO/ADA Employer. be subject to disclosure upon request. Phone 217-244-2401; Fax 217-244-7004; e-mail [email protected]; ISGS home page located POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE (2-YR) Positions Open at http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/isgshome.html The U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA), AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE (ARS), Land FACULTY POSITION Management and Water Conservation Unit, Pullman, WA, GEOLOGY / HYDROGEOLOGY GEOLOGICAL ENGINEER invites applications for a Research Conservation Engineer Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania invites applica- SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOL OF MINES position. Research objectives are to define the processes tions for a full-time, temporary position in the Department AND TECHNOLOGY and relationships governing wind erosion and dust emis- of Geology and Physics for the 1997Ð98 acadmemic year. The Department of Geology and Geological Engineering sions over a significant range of soils and field conditions Responsibilities include teaching hydrogeology and is seeking to fill a tenure-track position at the Assistant or to provide accurate predictions and potential controls as a oceanography and general education courses in geology Associate Professor level in geological engineering. The function of soil characteristics, surface properties, and and earth science. Preference will be given to candidates successful candidate will be required to teach undergradu- aerodynamics. A standardized method for measuring par- with a completed Ph.D. Rank, instructor or assistant pro- ate and graduate classes in geological engineering. The ticulate emissions from non-dispersed dry soil will be fessor, is dependent upon qualifications. Review of appli- candidate is expected to develop a funded research pro- developed utilizing a particulate generator and aerody- cations will begin May 1, 1997, and continue until the posi- gram in support of the M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs. namic particle sizer to simulate soil dependent, self-abra- tion is filled. Candidates should submit a letter of The Ph.D. is required, and it is preferable that the candi- sion emission processes. Correlation and validation application, resume, transcripts, and the names, date has practical experience and is registered as a Pro- between laboratory and field measurements will be made addresses, and telephone numbers of three references to: fessional Engineer or Engineer-in-Training. Salary will be with simultaneous wind erosion dust emissions, and mete- Dr. Carl R. Carnein, Chair, Search Committee, Depart- commensurate with qualifications and experience. orological measurements supplemented with data from a ment of Geology and Physics, LHU, Lock Haven, PA Send vitae, letter of application, and three letters of ref- 1.0x1.2x15.0-m portable wind tunnel. Ph.D. in Agricul- 17745. Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania is an equal erence to: Dr. Colin J. Paterson, Chairman, Dept. of Geol- ture/Civil/Environmental/Geological Engineering required, opportunity/affirmative action employer and encourages ogy and Geological Engineering, South Dakota School of with knowledge and interest in agriculture, soils, aerody- applications from minorities, women, veterans, and per- Mines & Technology, Rapid City, SD 57701. Information namics and environmental impacts preferred. Salary for sons with disabilities. LHU is a member of Pennyslvania's on the university and department, located in the beautiful the GS-11/12 position ($40,558Ð$58,442) will be based on State System of Higher Education. Black Hills, is at the following web address: http:// qualification and experience. For more information, con- www.sdsmt.edu/campus/mineral/geology/geolhp.htm tact Dr. Keith Saxton, USDA/ARS, Smith Hall-WSU, Pull- UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN Address inquiries to paterson@silver. sdsmt.edu, phone man, WA 99164-6120 (509-335-2724; fax 509-335-7786; The Department of Geology at the University of Illinois (605) 394-2461, fax (605) 394-6703. Applications will be e-mail: [email protected]). A resume or curriculum vitae, seeks to fill two possible positions of Visiting Assistant reviewed beginning April 20, 1997, and will continue until with references, is acceptable for application and should Professor or Visiting Lecturer. The successful candidates a suitable candidate is hired. SDSM&T is an AA/EEO/ADA be mailed to Dr. Saxton. The position will remain open are expected to teach the following: 1) Mineralogy at the employer and provider. until filled. Candidates will be considered as applications undergraduate and graduate level, introductory planetary are received. ARS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. geology, and physical geology; 2) Geomorphology, intro- TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY ductory physical geology and introductory environmental DEAN, COLLEGE OF GEOSCIENCES geology. Experience in these or closely related branches AND MARITIME STUDIES of geology is highly desirable. Candidates with a Ph.D. or http://www-ocean.tamu.edu/Geoscience/ Services & Suppies equivalent in geoscience are preferred, but applications Texas A&M University invites nominations and applica- from candidates who have not yet finished the dissertation tions for the position of Dean, College of Geosciences and LOOKING FOR A HOME FOR YOUR COLLECTION? will be considered. Applicants should be able to demon- Maritime Studies, Texas A&M University. The holder of Museum curator provides advice or referrals to depart- strate promise of being excellent instructors with superior this position is the Chief Executive Officer of the college, ments, companies or individuals seeking to sell or donate interpersonal skills. which is comprised of 130 faculty members and approxi- collections of minerals, rocks, ores, fossils, geobooks, etc. The term of appointment will be for one year, with the mately 400 undergraduate students and 350 graduate stu- Contact: A. Sicree, 122 Steidle, University Park, PA possibility of renewal for additional years. This is a non- dents. The College of Geosciences and Maritime Studies 16802, (814) 865-6427; [email protected]. tenure track position. The starting date will be August 21, seeks to provide an understanding of our changing 1997. planet—the solid earth, the ocean, the atmosphere, and LEATHER FIELD CASES. Free brochure, SHERER Applicants should send a curriculum vitae, list of publi- their complex human and biological systems. The College CUST SADDLES, INC., P.O. Box 385, Dept. GN, Frank- cations, statements of teaching and research interests, includes the Departments of Geology and Geophysics, town, CO 80116. and have three letters of reference sent to: Professor R. Geography, Meteorology, and Oceanography and a vari- James Kirkpatrick, Department of Geology, University ety of research units such as the Ocean Drilling Program, of Illinois, 1301 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801; (217) Sea Grant Program and Geochemical and Environmental FREE complete set of Economic Geology beginning Jan- 333-7414; Fax: 217-244-4996. Preference will be given to Research Group. uary 1970 (Vol. 65, No. 1) through January/February 1986 applications received before June 1, 1997. The major responsibilities of the position are: Super- (Vol. 81, No. 1). This collection is in good condition and The University of Illinois is an equal opportunity/affir- vise college planning and budgets; oversee teaching, will be shipped to you at no cost. If you are interested, mative action employer. Women and minorities are research and administrative functions within the college; please respond to: Albert L. Lamarre, 3903 Rockingham encouraged to apply. oversee faculty recruiting and development, including pro- Drive, Pleasanton, CA 94588 or call (510) 462-7581.

38 GSA TODAY, May 1997 Correction CORDILLERAN Opportunities for Students Successful applicants will be notified in early August, 1997. SECTION MEETING Visiting Fellows and Students/Institute for Rock Mag- A limited number of travel grants of $500 are available netism. Applications are invited for visiting fellowships (reg- to researchers who can demonstrate no existing financial The cost of Cordilleran Field Trip 3— ular and student) lasting for up to 10 days during the period resources. No funds are available for per diem expenses. Petrology and Volcanology of Maui, from September 1, 1997 through February 28, 1998. The Institute Staff manager (Mike Jackson) will be to be led by Sinton and Rowland, has been Topics for research are open, although fellows are happy to provide application forms and information neces- increased from $150 to $400. This includes, sary for proposal preparation, or you can obtain them from encouraged to take advantage of the chosen focus for in addition to all previously stated informa- cooperative research in a given year. During 1997-8, the the IRM home page on the World Wide Web (http://www. focus for research will be twofold: very high resolution geo.umn.edu/orgs/irm/irm.html). tion, air fare from Honolulu to Maui and recordings of geomagnetic field fluctuations, and magnetic Deadline for submission is June 21, 1997, at the fol- from Maui to Kailua Kona. It does not proxies of environmental and climate changes. lowing address: Facilities Manager, Institute for Rock include transportation from the Kona air- Short proposals (two pages, single-spaced text plus Magnetism, University of Minnesota, 291 Shephard Labo- port to the hotel. two forms and necessary figures and tables) are due by ratories, 100 Union St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0128, June 21, 1997, for consideration by the Institute's Review (612) 624-5274; fax: 612-625-7502. and Advisory Committee (John King, Chair).

CALENDAR

Only new or changed information is published in GSA Today. ton, Coal Research Center, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901- A complete listing can be found in the Calendar section on the 4623, (618) 536-5521, fax 618-453-7346, [email protected]. Internet: http://www.geosociety.org. May 18–21, Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Com- pounds First International Conference, Monterey, California. Informa- tion: Chlorinated Conference Registrar, Conference Group, 1989 West Fifth 1997 Penrose Conferences Ave., Suite 5, Columbus, OH 43212-1912, (614) 424-5461, fax 614- September 488-5747, [email protected]. (Abstract deadline: July 31, 1997.) September 10–15, Faults and Subsurface Fluid Flow: Fundamentals November 4–7, Global Mining Opportunities, Vancouver, British and Applications to Hydrogeology and Petroleum Geology, Columbia. Information: Randol International Ltd., 21578 Mountsfield Dr., Albuquerque and Taos, New Mexico. Information: William C. Haneberg, Golden, CO 80401, (303) 526-1626, fax 303-526-1650. (Abstract deadline: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, New Mexico Institute June 1, 1997.) of Mining and Technology, 2808 Central Ave. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, (505) 262-2774, fax 505-255-5253, [email protected]. For more informa- tion, see http://www.nmt.edu/~haneberg/Fluids.html. Send notices of meetings of general interest, in format above, to Editor, GSA September 23–28, Tectonics of Continental Interiors, Cedar City, Utah. Today, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301, E-mail: [email protected]. Information: Michael Hamburger, Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, (812) 855-2934, fax 812-855-7899, [email protected].

1997 Meetings September September 7–10, AAPG International Conference, Vienna, Austria. Infor- mation: AAPG Convention Dept., P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, OK 74101-0979, (918) 560-2617, fax 918-560-2684. September 19–21, Fall Mineralogy Symposium: Lead, Zinc, and Iron Minerals, State College, Pennsylvania. Information: Mineralogy Symposium, c/o Penn State Mineral Museum, 122 Steidle Bldg., University Park, PA 16802, (814) 865-6427, fax 814-863-7708. September 27–29, Canadian Paleontology Conference and field trip, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Information: Brian R. Pratt, Dept. of Geological Sci- ences, University of Saskatchewan, 114 Science Pl., Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada, (306) 966-5725, fax 306-966-8593, [email protected]. September 30–October 4, Association of Engineering Geologists 40th Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon. Information: Gary Peterson, (503) 635-4419, [email protected], http://geoweb.tamu.edu/aeg/. (Abstract deadline: May 15, 1997.) October October 5–8, Seismological Society of America Eastern Section Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Ontario. Information: Gail Atkinson, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada, (613) 520-2600, ext. 1399, fax 613-788-4490, [email protected], http://www. seismo.nrcan.gc.ca/esssa97.

1998 Meetings May May 3–7, Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum— Council of Mining and Metallurgical Institutions, Montreal, Quebec. Information: Chantal Murphy, Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, 3400 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Suite 1210, Montreal, Quebec H3Z 3B8, Canada, (514) 939-2710, ext. 304, fax 514-939-2714, [email protected] May 17–22, American Society for Surface Mining and Reclamation 15th National Meeting, St. Louis, Missouri. Information: Dianne Throgmor-

GSA TODAY, May 1997 39 Geological Society of America

Annual Meeting and Exposition

Salt Lake City, Utah October 20–23

Call for Papers April GSA Today

Abstracts Due July 8

Preregistration Due September 19

Registration and Housing Information June GSA Today

Program Schedule September GSA Today and the Web

An excellent overall study of the Permian Stratigraphy A need for more lacustrine records that document late and fusulinid faunas of Afghanistan. All of the major Quaternary climates in the now-arid western North stratigraphic sequences there are correlated with those America led to a U.S. Geological Survey-funded core- of the adjacent Pamirs and are described, as are one drilling project on Owens Lake, southeast California. The new genus and 41 new species and subspecies of Per- resulting 323-m-long core records lake fluctuations since mian fusulinid. These data are used to postulate that 800 ka. This volume describes how they are revealed by Afghanistan and the Pamirs consist of fragments of variations in the CO3 and organic-C percentages, pore- numerous diverse depositional basins that were crushed water isotopic content, composition of clay-sized materi- together during collision of the Indostanian and als, magnetic susceptibility, and fossils (diatoms, ostra- Laurasian plates. In the northern part of the region, codes, mollusks, fish, and pollen). Sediment ages are fusulinid faunas and facies indicate that tropical condi- based on 14C data, measured mass- accumulation rates, tions existed throughout the Permian. In the south, how- and paleomagnetic variations. The recorded wet and dry ever, cold and then cool conditions in the Early Permian climatic cycles are about 100 ka long. Although their dis- appear to have been followed by tropical conditions in tribution in time is similar to those of deep-sea and other the Middle Permian. The authors propose that this records that largely reflect paleotemperatures, the max- demonstrates the distance of convergence during the ima and minima of the wet and dry cycles differ in age For information: Early Permian must have been at least the width of one from correlative inflections in paleotemperature records climatic belt. by an average of 15ka. GSA Meetings Dept. SPE316, 138 p., ISBN 0-8137-2316-7, P.O. Box 9140 SPE317, 172 p., indexed, ISBN 0-8137-2317-5, Nonmembers: $45.00; GSA-Members $36.00 Nonmembers: $60.00; GSA Members $48.00 Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 447-2020 1 (800) 472-1988 Volumes are 8- /2" x 11" paperback. Prices include shipping and handling. [email protected] http://www.geosociety.org Publication Sales • P.O. Box 9140 • Boulder, CO 80301 • 303-447-2020 • fax 303-447-1133 1-800-472-1988

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