University of Arkansas at Little Rock

An original research article authored by Earth Sciences professor Michael DeAngelis has been accepted for publication in the American Mineralogist, an international journal for Earth and planetary materials. The article is titled “Sol-gel synthesis of nanocrystalline fayalite (Fe2SiO4).” It was co-authored by research colleagues at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

On a recent Wednesday afternoon in October, Dr. Beth McMillan’s Sedimentology class visited world class exposures of the 300 million year old Jackfork Formation in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. Many of the major oil and gas companies send their geologists to study these rocks because they were deposited in an environment very similar to that in which oil and gas producing sediments in the Gulf of Mexico are currently being deposited. Being able to view lateral and vertical relationships in ancient rock layers exposed on land helps petroleum geologist to interpret the geometry of oil and gas reservoirs in the subsurface.

Earth scientists from UALR will celebrate National Fossil Day with an open house from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, on the first floor of the Science Lab Building, where the public can view actual fossils as well as casts of fossils from the university’s collection and from other institutional collections.

Joe Daniel, a paleontologist and an alumnus of the UALR geology program, said National Fossil Day momentos – pins, postcards, posters, magnets, and other items – will be given away. UALR Faculty and students will be present to answer questions.

“In addition to the fossils already on display, we will open the classrooms and have on display several other fossils, both from our collections and from other participating institutions, such as the Arkansas Geological Survey,” Daniel said. “The event is open to the public and all ages are welcome. People are welcome to bring any fossils they would like identified that they can compare to those on display. Over 500 million years of Arkansas’s history will be on display.”

The National Park Service and the American Geological Institute are partnering to host the first National Fossil Day during Earth Science Week. National Fossil Day is a celebration organized to promote public awareness and stewardship of fossils, as well as to foster a greater appreciation of their scientific and educational value.

Fossils discovered on the nation’s public lands preserve ancient life from all major eras of Earth’s history, and from every major group of animal or plant. In the national parks, for example, fossils range from primitive algae found high in the mountains of Glacier National Park, Montana, to the remains of ice-age animals found in caves at Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Public lands provide visitors with opportunities to interpret a fossil’s ecological context by observing fossils in the same place those animals and plants lived millions of years ago.

For more information, contact Dr. Jeff Connelly, Chair of UALR’s Department of Earth Science, at 501-569-3546 or jbconnelly@ualr.edu.

On Saturday, September 10, Dr. Michael DeAngelis led 22 Geology majors on a field trip to Murfreesboro, AR to visit Crater of Diamonds State Park. The park is built on the eroded surface of a diatreme, a volcanic pipe that exploded 95 million years ago, bringing diamonds and other deep earth rocks and minerals to the surface. Visitors are allowed to act as prospectors and keep what they find. Unfortunately, no Diamonds were found on this trip, but the chance to visit a diatreme, a rare geologic feature was reward enough.

Earth Sciences professor Jamey Jones published an original research article in the Spring 2010 issue of Rocky Mountain Geology (v. 45, p. 1-22). The article is titled “U-Pb geochronology of Proterozoic granites in the Sawatch Range, central Colorado, USA.” It was co-authored by research colleagues at The University of Texas at Austin.

Earth Sciences professor Jamey Jones published an original research article in the April 2010 issue of Lithosphere (v. 2, p. 119-135). The article is titled “Characteristics and implications of ca. 1.4 Ga deformation across a Proterozoic mid-crustal section, Wet Mountains, Colorado, USA.” It was co-authored by research colleagues at Colorado College and The University of Texas at Austin.

Approximately 1.4 billion years ago, a major thermal event affected most of southern North America and involved the generation and emplacement of large volumes of granite throughout a vast region of the continent. The tectonic setting of this event has long been debated, with the main issue being the seeming incompatibility of widespread evidence for deformation and the particular geochemical characteristics of the granites. Jones et al. present a study focused on numerous 1.4-billion-year-old granites exposed across a tilted section of the middle crust in the Wet Mountains of southern Colorado. They document widespread and long-lived deformation in outcrops that represent some of the deepest levels of exposure in the Rocky Mountains. Their results lead to a better understanding of the interactions between magmatism and deformation in an actively deforming region and confirm the dynamic nature of the crust into which 1.4-billion year-old-granites intruded. Furthermore, they revisit the debate about the tectonic setting of these granites and suggest some new alternatives that may ultimately help to resolve the issue.

The Arkansas Geological Survey has developed a new, interactive map showing historic earthquakes in Arkansas. Custom maps can be generated that are filtered by date, county, or earthquake magnitude. Click on the link below to check it out.

Historic Earthquakes of Arkansas map

Jimmy Lawhon will give a talk titled “The Geology of Granite Mountain and UALR Cooperative Extension Experience” on Thursday, January 28, at 4:00 pm in Fribourgh Hall Rm 101. Lawhon is a recent graduate of the UALR Earth Sciences program and currently works for the 3M Industrial Minerals and Products Division. The talk is open to the public, and all are invited. Refreshments will be served at 3:45 pm.

UALR Earth Sciences faculty and students presented talks and posters at the Geological Society of America’s annual meeting in Portland, OR, October 18-21, 2009. Click on the title of the presentation to view the abstract.

Sunday 10/18
BACTERIAL RESPONSES TO GEOCHEMICAL AND DIURNAL PROCESSES OCCURING IN LAKE MAUMELLE, ARKANSAS
STITES, Courtney E., ROBINSON, Amelia C., PAYNE, Forrest E., SWEENEY, Sharon, GREEN, W. Reed, and JOHNSON, Dawn M.

Monday 10/19
GIS METHODS FOR TECTONIC GEOMORPHOLOGY
COOLEY, Skye W., MCMILLAN, Margaret E., and TRESSLER, Chris R.

Tuesday 10/20
FIELD GEOLOGY I AND II AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE 6-WEEK FIELD CAMP
MCMILLAN, Margaret E., JONES, James V. III, CONNELLY, Jeffrey B., and SIMS, W. Jay

U-PB DETRITAL ZIRCON GEOCHRONOLOGY OF PALEOPROTEROZOIC ORTHOQUARTZITES IN THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES: AN ESSENTIAL TOOL FOR REGIONAL CORRELATION, TECTONIC STUDIES, AND MORE
JONES, James V. III, KARLSTROM, Karl, WILLIAMS, Michael L., and CONNELLY, James N.

Wednesday 10/21
USE OF GEOCHEMICAL PROXIES TO IDENTIFY WATERSHED INPUTS TO LAKE MAUMELLE, CENTRAL ARKANSAS
JOHNSON, Dawn M., ROBINSON, Amelia C., SMITH, Jena P., PAYNE, Forrest E., MCMILLAN, Margaret E., and STITES, Courtney E.

The annual Geosciences Salary Survey by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists indicates that salaries for petroleum geologists increased slightly from 2008 to 2009 despite the volatility in petroleum prices (AAPG Explorer, June 2009). The annual survey is based on employed, salaried geoscientists in the United States and is based on salaries alone.

Click here to view the report.