Marc Gagne's blog

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Geology & Astronomy Seminar:Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 4:15 PM in SSN 191. Refreshments served at 4.

Sediment Accumulation and Marsh Accretion in Tidal Wetlands of the Delaware River Estuary

Chris Sommerfield, College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware

The tidal Delaware River and Bay system is fringed by one of the largest, most continuous tidal wetland coasts in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region. This ecosystem provides immeasurable environmental and economic benefits despite having been impacted by centuries of human intervention. In recognition of historical disturbances in the natural supply of river sediment to the estuary, there is concern over the fate of wetland marshes. To establish baseline conditions of marsh sediment supply and accretion, we core sampled sites along the full length of the wetland coast, from tidal freshwater marsh to salt marsh near the bay mouth, and dated the sediments by radionuclide geochronology. Results indicate that marsh accretion rates are highest in the tidal freshwater segment of the estuary (>6 mm/yr), decreasing to rates of 4-6 mm/yr in the brackish estuary where organogenic material comprises a large component of the sediment column. Salt marshes near the mouth of Delaware Bay, far removed from turbid waters of the middle estuary, exhibit the lowest accretion rates (<4 mm/yr) and quantity of buried mineral matter. This along-estuary pattern suggests that the external influx and accumulation of minerogenic sediment, in addition to vegetative growth and organic accumulation, is a key factor in the overall rate of marsh accretion.

Rain is forecast for tonight's No Night Without a Telescope. Instead, Dr. Karen Vanlandingham will begin Planetarium shows in the WCU Planetarium, in the back of Schmucker Science Center, at 6 PM and 6:30 PM.

Bruce W. Fouke, Department of Geology, Department of Microbiology, and Institute for Genomic Biology
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Systems Geobiology is the study of how micro-scale geological, biological, physical and chemical interactions respond to and control macro-scale environmental processes and the deposition of sedimentary rocks. This research requires the cross-disciplinary integration of reductionist and whole-system approaches, combined with coupled field and laboratory experimentation, to make predictive linkages from mechanism to pattern across broad scales of space and time.

Saturday's hike of the AT from Hamburg, PA to Pulpit Rock was a great success: a fun, 9-mile hike, nice views from the top, and good company. Many thanks to Sandy Maxwell for organizing this year's hike.

Friday's No Night Without a Telescope on the West Chester University Quad was a great success. Approximately a hundred people came out from 6-8 PM to see Jupiter and its moons, binary stars, star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy. Skies were clear, but not too cold. Many thanks to Bob Thornton (WCU), Kathy Buczinski (CCAS) and the newly formed West Chester Astronomy Club. Weather permitting, NNWT will happen again this Friday, Nov. 13 from 6-8 PM.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 4:15 PM in SSN 191. Refreshments served at 4.

Yvette Kuiper, Department of Geology & Geophysics, Boston College

The Superior Boundary Zone in northern Manitoba separates the Neoarchean Pikwitonei Granulite Domain or Superior Province to the southeast from the Paleoproterozoic amphibolite-grade Trans-Hudson Orogen to the northwest. It is an up to 50 km wide transitional zone of deformation that is distributed over multiple shear zones. Paleoproterozoic movement along these shear zones accommodated transport of the Superior Province to the northwest. Kinematics along the shear zones indicate that the shear zones either were active at different times, or they were part of a zone of macroscopic brecciation. Furthermore, the shear zones provide excellent examples of partitioning of transpression into domains with a high simple shear component and with a high pure shear component. The talk will focus on the Paleoproterozoic kinematics of the shear zones and on preliminary geochronology results. Alternative tectonic models will be discussed.

The Oct. 23 event was rained out. Next chance: West Chester University Quad: Friday, Oct. 30th, 7-9 PM.

West Chester, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Drexel, and Penn are hosting telescope parties and talks every night of the week for 5 weeks. Events will be held at dusk at WCU on Friday October 23rd and 30th and November 6th, 13th and 20th. The International Year of Astronomy coincides with the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s observations: the craters of the moon, the phases of Venus, the larger moons of Jupiter, now called the Galilean satellites, and sunspots. His observations supported the idea that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the solar system, which was revolutionary. West Chester will be taking part in a local program involving area colleges called “No Night Without a Telescope.” Starting on Oct. 23 and continuing every Friday for five weeks, we will have portable telescopes set up on our Quad and people will be able to observe the sky.

Join members of the West Chester University community for an exciting day hiking the most famous hiking trail in North America! We will be hiking to Pulpit Rock and the Pinnacle, located on the Appalachian Trail near Hamburg, PA. Join us on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 at 10:30 AM.

Kurt W. Kolasinski
Department of Chemistry, West Chester University 
Sustainability: Energy & Global Chemistry

The human population is now so large that its impact on the environment no longer causes simply local changes. It is forcing global changes. The human impact on global climate is but one aspect – albeit an immensely important one – of the challenges facing civilization going forward. A central theme at WCU is civility: how can people can get along better. An extension of this is sustainability: how can people get along with the planet better. How can society be constructed to utilize the three Es (environment, energy and economy) to their maximum potential in perpetuity?

Visit http://geology.wcupa.edu/seminars, for more infomration.