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Apr 2018 NCGS Newsletter

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Apr 2018 NCGS Newsletter NORTHERN CALIFORNIA GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Website: www.ncgeolsoc.org MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT NCGS OFFICERS President: Greg Bartow, California State Parks DATE: April 25, 2018 gregbartow @ yahoo.com LOCATION: Orinda Masonic Center, 9 Altarinda Rd., Orinda President-Elect: (see map on back page) Open TIME: 6:30 – 7:00 p.m.: Social; 7:00 p.m.: Presentation Past President: Will Schweller SPEAKER: Dr. Andrew Gunther willschweller @ yahoo.com Field Trip Coordinator: Environmental Science, Policy, and Will Schweller willschweller @ yahoo.com Communication Treasurer: Barbara Matz, APTIM TOPIC: “Talking Climate Change” barbara.matz @ aptim.com Program Director: Dr. Andrew Gunther will review the basic physical principles and John Karachewski, Department of observations that have led every scientific academy in the world to Toxic Substances Control conclude that human emissions of greenhouse gasses are altering the cageo @ sbcglobal.net climate. He will discuss what the expected significant climatic Scholarship Chair: changes mean for the country in general and the Bay Area in Phil Garbutt, Retired plgarbutt @ comcast.net particular. More information about Dr. Gunther is available at www.andrewgunther.com. K-12 Program Chair: Open Biography: Dr. Gunther received his Ph.D. in Energy and Resources Membership Chair: from the University of California at Berkeley in 1987, and he has Tom Barry, tomasbarry @ aol.com worked at the intersection of environmental science and policy since NCGS Outreach Chair: 1979. He has published research in the field of ecotoxicology, and he Mark Petrofsky, Retired has extensive experience in applying science to the development of mpetrof @ hotmail.com air, water, and endangered species policy. NCGS Newsletter Editor: Mark Sorensen, Gilbane Federal He served as Assistant Chief Scientist for the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill msorensen64 @ earthlink.net Restoration Program, and he was the first manager of the State of NCGS Website Editor: California’s program that monitors for toxic substances in the San Jonathan Partsch, GIS at Sanborn Francisco Estuary ecosystem. Map Co., jon.partsch @ gmail.com Recording Secretary & Social Media: He just completed six years as the Executive Coordinator of the Bay Crystal Replogle, Belcan Area Ecosystems Climate Change Consortium, and he is working ctreplogle @ gmail.com with a broad array of organizations to help prepare our region for a COUNSELORS changing climate. Don Lewis, Retired He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Union of Concerned donlewis @ comcast.net Scientists, and a scientific advisor to the Alliance for Climate Ray Sullivan, Emeritus Professor, Education and Interfaith Power & Light. San Francisco State University rays.rock @ gmail.com Noelle Schoellkopf, Schlumberger nschoellkopf @ slb.com Phil Reed, Retired philecreed @ yahoo.com 1 NCGS 2017 – 2018 Calendar NCGS is looking for manuscript reviewers for the Mount Diablo Anniversary Volume planned for th May 30, 2018 Dinner Meeting 6:00 pm publication next year in commemoration of the 75 (see flyer for registration; please register by May 25) anniversary of the society, and also donations to Dr. Isabel Montanez, UC Davis and President – help cover the cost of the volume. Geological Society of America Reconstructing precipitation patterns in California UC Berkeley Earth & Planetary during past warmings and coolings of the last 20,000 years Science Weekly Seminar Series Interesting seminars are presented at 141 McCone Hall June 27, 2018 7:00 pm (usually) on Thursdays at 4 pm for most of the academic Dr. Janet Watt, USGS Research Geophysicist year, from late August through early May. Underwater Secrets of the Hayward Fault Zone: For an updated list of seminars, go to Integrated 3D imaging to understand earthquake http://eps.berkeley.edu/events/seminars. hazards Bay Area Geophysical Society NCGS Silent Auction The next meeting of this society will be held on We will hold a brief “silent auction” during the social Monday, April 30 at 2 to 3 pm at McCone Hall 265 on hour at our May dinner meeting. Please send the the UC Berkeley campus. SEG 2018 Distinguished description of any auction items to Paul Henshaw Lecturer Bill Symes will speak on Advanced Imaging ([email protected]), and copy Crystal for Practitioners. For details see: Replogle ([email protected]) and Barb Matz http://bayareageophysicalsociety.org/index.php/event/ ([email protected]) ahead of time seg-2018-distinguished-lecturer-bill-symes/ for approval and to obtain a bid sheet. Hey, everyone! In case you haven’t The rules of the silent auction will be sent in a renewed your membership: It’s Still separate email from Crystal. Thanks for your Renewal Time! If you haven’t already renewed, participation! please use the Renewal Form on page 13 of the March newsletter. Either mail it in, or hand it to the Treasurer at meeting registration. NCGS Field Trips Several potential field trips are being considered for NCGS members are invited our next Board of 2018. A survey to the NCGS membership will Directors meeting at the APTIM (formerly CB&I / determine which of these trips have the most interest. Shaw E&I) offices at 4005 Port Chicago Hwy, • Ring Mountain (Marin Co.) exotic lithologies Concord, CA 94520. The next board meeting will be and exotic plants (Saturday, May 19; see email held at this address at 8:30 am on Sat., May 5, 2018, from Crystal) and is open to all NCGS members. Please contact • Devil's Slide (repeat of November 2017 trip) in Greg Bartow if you would like to attend, at gregbartow@yahoo,com. May or later • New Almaden (San Jose area) inactive mercury mines (late Spring) NCGS Outreach Events • Point Richmond Franciscan Complex (Fall) NCGS Outreach at Castro Valley Mineral and We are always looking for new field trip Gem Show, Fremont Pavilion, Fremont, CA opportunities. If you go on or hear about an Saturday and Sunday March 3-4, 2018 interesting field trip, please let Will Schweller ([email protected]) know about it so that we Tables were set up for us outside of Pavilion Hall No. can evaluate it for a future NCGS trip. 4. NCGS members present on one or both days were: Greg Bartow, Andrew Church, Greg and Rosita Croft, Phil Garbutt, Ed Hamilton, Bill Motzer, and Mark Petrofsky. Although public participation was low because of the cold and rainy weather, most were interested in the rocks and NCGS. 2 A very nice specimen of fossilized clam shells was Storlazzi, USGS Research Geologist, will present donated to the NCGS by Eugene and Sharon Cisneros a lecture titled The Role of U.S. Coral Reefs in of the Mineralogical Research Company, San Jose, Coastal Protection: Rigorously valuing flood California. reduction benefits to inform coastal zone We can still use a laptop , as well as nice management decisions. For more information on specimens of the lectures, and for a map of the location, go to: from the Greater Bay Area; of interest https://online.wr.usgs.gov/calendar/. can be used for classroom activities (ones that can spark questions, tell stories). The early bird got to fly: Archaeopteryx was an active flyer Bay Area Science ScienceDaily, March 13, 2018 (http://www.bayareascience.org) This website provides a free weekly emailed newsletter of an extensive listing of local science- based activities (evening lectures, classes, field trips, hikes, etc. – usually several per week). Hayward Fault - 150th Anniversary of Great Quake (1868) The 150th Anniversary of the Great Hayward Fault Earthquake in 1868 will be on Oct 21, 2018. Numerous events and tours are planned and listed at https://msnucleus.org/haywardfault/150_hayward.html. If you have any questions please contact Joyce at [email protected]<mailto:blueford@msnucleu The Munich specimen of the transitional bird s.org> or call (510) 790-6284. Archaeopteryx. It preserves a partial skull (top left), shoulder girdle and both wings slightly raised up (most Association of Environmental & left to center left), the ribcage (center), and the pelvic Engineering Geologists, girdle and both legs in a 'cycling' posture (right); all connected by the vertebral column from the neck (top San Francisco Bay Area Chapter left, under the skull) to the tip of the tail (most right). Meeting locations rotate between San Francisco, the Imprints of its wing feathers are visible radiating from East Bay, and the South Bay. Please check the below the shoulder and vague imprints of the tail website for current details. For information on plumage can be recognized extending from the tip of the monthly meetings as well as this year’s tail. Credit: ESRF/Pascal Goetgheluck international congress, go to: The question of whether the Late Jurassic dino-bird http://www.aegweb.org/group/SF. Archaeopteryx was an elaborately feathered ground Join them for the 61st AEG Annual Meeting/13th dweller, a glider, or an active flyer has fascinated IAEG Congress in San Francisco, California on palaeontologists for decades. Valuable new September 15-23, 2018. information obtained with state-of-the-art synchrotron microtomography at the ESRF, the European USGS Evening Public Lecture Series Synchrotron (Grenoble, France), allowed an international team of scientists to answer this question The USGS evening public lecture series events are in Nature Communications. The wing bones of free and are intended for a general public audience Archaeopteryx were shaped for incidental active that may not be familiar with the science being flight, but not for the advanced style of flying discussed. Monthly lectures are usually scheduled mastered by today's birds. for the last Thursday of the month throughout the Was Archaeopteryx capable of flying, and if so, how? year, or often the previous Thursday to Although it is common knowledge that modern-day accommodate speakers. On April 26 at 7 pm, Curt birds descended from extinct dinosaurs, many 3 questions on their early evolution and the demonstrated that the bones of Archaeopteryx plot development of avian flight remain unanswered.
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