The Professional GeoloGisT

56 Pages·2011·5 MB·English

T h e P ro f e s s i o n a l G e o l oGi s T
Volume 48, Number 4 JUL/AUG 2011
A Publication of the
American Institute of Professional Geologists

www.aipg.org

T P G
T h e P ro f e s s i o n a l G e o l oGi s T
Volume 48, Number 4 JUL/AUG 2011

Inside This Issue

Features
AIPG Annual Meeting Registration Form 7
AIPG Annual Meeting Program 9
2011 AIPG Student Scholarship Winners 10
AIPG National Executive Committee 25
25 My GSA Experience
Josh Poole, SA-1838 28

AIPG IL-IN Section Field Trip “Geology of the St. Peter
30 Sandstone and the Ottawa-LaSalle Area”
Vlad Iordache 29
Three Reasons to Attend the AIPG National Convention:
Perspective from an “Inactive Section”
John Stewart, CPG-11115 31
News Items from NGWA 37
AGI News 38
Mountain Pass Mine: At The Heart of The Rare
Earths Resurgence
William Gleason 40
Applications for the Forms Challenged
40 Larry Austin, CPG-05181 43
Examination of a Tabulate Coral Biostrome in the Bull Fork
Formation (Ordovician), Bath County, Kentucky
Ann W. Harris and Robert T. Lierman 46
ON THE COVER-Cedar Falls, Hocking River Gorge, Hocking Hills
State Park, October 30, 2010. The Hocking River Gorge is located
in the Appalachian Plateau of southeastern Ohio. The gorge
exposes more than 150 feet of the Mississippian-age Black Hand
Sandstone member of the Cuyahoga Formation. The Black Hand
comprises three distinct zones. The upper and lower zones are
firmly cemented and very resistant to weathering, while the middle
is loosely cemented and more easily weathered. The many rock
shelters, caves, and recesses in this middle zone were sculpted
by joint-controlled fluvial erosion. Ohio Section fall field trip;
photograph by Matt Justice, CPG-10485.
AIPG National Executive Committee
DEPARTMENTS
PRESIDENT - Samuel Gowan, CPG
Alpha Geoscience, Inc.
O: [phone]
[email protected]
4 Section News
PRESIDENT-ELECT - Barbara H. Murphy, CPG
Clear Creek Associates
14 Members in the News
O: [phone]
[email protected]
PAST-PRESIDENT - Michael D. Lawless, CPG 16 Editor’s Corner
Draper Aden Associates
O: [phone]
17 Test Your Knowledge
[email protected]
VICE PRESIDENT - J. Foster Sawyer, CPG
18 President’s Message
SD School of Mines and Technology
O: [phone]
[email protected] 19 Student Chapters
SECRETARY - Adam W. Heft, CPG
Parsons Brinckerhoff 20 Test Your Knowledge Answers
O: [phone]
[email protected]
21 Executive Director’s Column
TREASURER - Robert W. Gaddis, CPG
Newfield Exploration Mid-Continent, Inc.
O: [phone] 22 Professional Ethics and Practices
[email protected]
EDITOR - Robert A. Stewart, CPG 26 Hydrothink
Arcadis US, Inc.

O: [phone]
[email protected] 27 Student’s Voice
ADVISORY BOARD REPRESENTATIVES
James F. Howard, CPG 32 Professional Services Directory
C: [phone]
[email protected]
34 AIPG Student Application
Helen V. Madeksho-Hickman, CPG
HSA Engineers and Scientists
35 New Applicants and Members
O: [phone]
[email protected]
John M. Stewart, CPG 39 In Memory
ECS Carolinas, LLP
O: [phone] 45 AIPG Professional Member Application
[email protected]
Ronald J. Wallace CPG
53 AIPG Store
State of Georgia
O: [phone]
[email protected]
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
12000 Washington St., Suite 285
Thornton, CO 80241
7:30 AM - 4:30 PM MDT; M-F AIPG Publication Policy, October 4, 2010. AIPG encourages submission of articles and editorials for publication in TPG on
[phone] • Fax [phone] topics related to the science and profession of geology. Submittals shall be of interest to the members of AIPG, other professional
[email protected] • www.aipg.org geologists, and others interested in the earth sciences. Articles and editorials may be noted as follows at the discretion of the
Editor, “The opinions, positions and conclusions presented herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opin-
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - William J. Siok, CPG - [email protected] ions, positions or conclusions of the American Institute of Professional Geologists.” All materials submitted for publication, includ-
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - Wendy J. Davidson - [email protected] ing author opinions contained therein, shall include accurate and appropriate references. The Editor has the authority to solicit,
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OFFICE ASSISTANT - Cristie J. Valero - [email protected] tance, or rejection of any particular article, editorial, or other written material for publication.
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - Dorothy K. Combs - [email protected]
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www.aipg.org JUL/AUG 2011 • TPG 3
SECTION NEWS
Georgia Section is a link to all our exhibitors and spon-
sors and a link to the web sites of our
Presidents Message-This has been
exhibitors. Please consider using their
our busiest spring that we have ever
services.
had. That’s a pretty bold statement but
Ron Wallace, CPG-08153,
it is true. Members attended two career
Section President
nights at our two student chapters. In
the last newsletter I mentioned our
career night at Georgia State University
and in April, Eric Lowe, MEM-0385, and
I attended a career night at University
of West Georgia. During the evening I
presented Ashley White, SA-1868, her Jim Fineis instructing students and professors
on drilling at Columbus State University.
student membership plaque and scholar-
ship. Also in April, I visited University
of Georgia where I was able to sit down
with Dr. Sandra Wyld, student advisor
for the undergraduates, and explained
to her the importance of licensing for
Attendees talking in the exhibition hall.
geologists and Dr. Wyld immediately
added that information to the depart-
ment’s web site.
Michigan Section
We visited Columbus State University,
Berry College, and Valdosta State Field Trip Announcement, August
University where we installed a moni- 12 & 13, 2011-Northeast Michigan karst
toring well for the future use of each of Features –“Influences On And Effects
the departments. Jim Fineis, president Eric Mosley, CPG-10863, describing soil From Bedrock Topography,”Alpena
of Atlas Geo- Sampling Company, volun- sampling at Berry College. Glass Bottom Boat Shipwreck Tour,
teered his geoprobe rig to demonstrate and Rockport Quarry.
drilling and proper soil and groundwater Locations: Northeast Michigan karst
sampling. Without Jim’s help this would Stops, Alpena and Presque Isle County,
not have been possible. Sam Almaee, Michigan Alpena Glass Bottom Boat
CPG-06310, helped lead the discussion Shipwreck Tour, 500 W. Fletcher Street,
of soil and groundwater sampling at Alpena, Michigan Rockport Quarry,
Columbus State and Valdosta State. Rockport Road, Alpena, Michigan
Eric Mosley, CPG-10863, took on the The AIPG Michigan Section is extend-
same duties at Berry College. While at ing an invitation to all geologists, friends,
Columbus State, we met Bryan Victor, and families to join us in a field trip to
SA-1966, and presented him with his the see the karst features of northeast-
membership plaque and scholarship. We ern Michigan, the Thunder Bay National
gave each of the students a notebook of Sam Almaee, CPG-10863, taking water level at Marine Sanctuary and Glass Bottom
information on soil description, well com- Valdosta State University. Boat Tour, and the Rockport Quarry
pletion, soil and groundwater sampling Fossil Park.
and examples of typical field forms used
AIPG Conference April 19-20-This The field trip will kick off Friday at
by environmental consultants. After
was by far our most successful confer- 10:00 a.m. with a driving tour of the
the Valdosta State University demon-
ence and we hope to continue the high karst features in northeastern Michigan
stration Sam Almaee drove to Georgia
quality of speakers and exhibitors in with several stops along the way includ-
Southwestern State University and pre-
the future. We added few extra speak- ing some hiking to view sink holes,
sented Shaunna Morrison, SA-1987, her
ers this year with a total of 21 speakers earth cracks, and disappearing streams,
membership plaque and scholarship.
with almost half attending from out of etc....DEQ geologists and local karst
state. We had a few last minute changes experts Ty Black, David Lawrence, and
in our exhibitors but ended with a total Alexander Code will be our guides.
of 20. We surpassed our previous high Saturday morning will begin at 10:00
in registered attendance with approxi- a.m. with a brief visit to the Thunder
mately 120 and a total attendance of 160 Bay National Marine Sanctuary at the
including speakers and exhibitors. As Maritime Heritage Center before we
part of registration, a memory stick with catch the Alpena Glass Bottom Boat
all the presentations was give to each Shipwreck Tour at 11:00 a.m.. The crys-
registrant. I’d like to thank Eric Lowe, tal clear waters and the large ‘glass bot-
MEM-0385, Glen Faulkner, CPG-00635, tom’ viewing wells allow you to dive the
and Yo Sumartojo, MEM-0540, for their wrecks - without getting wet! The cruise
Sam Almaee, CPG-06310, presenting Shaunna help in putting this altogether. You can is 2½ hours and we will experience mag-
Morrison, SA-1987, with her student member- go to the AIPG home page, where there nificently preserved shipwrecks, scenic
ship plaque and scholarship.
4 TPG • JUL/AUG 2011 www.aipg.org
SECTION NEWS
shorelines and majestic lighthouses. Section’s founding purpose. President- Dr. Duke was born in Norwalk, CT
We will also learn about the history, elect Greg Kinsall, CPG-10643, then and lived in Wisconsin for many years.
legends and lore of Thunder Bay and introduced Director Nally. He received a bachelor’s degree in geol-
many famous shipwrecks as we cruise Director Nally stated that he was ogy from Beloit College in 1976 and
the shoreline. The 65 ft. ‘Lady Michigan’ disappointed to learn from Section mem- masters and doctoral degrees in geol-
will take us on a comfortable adventure bers that Ohio does not have registration ogy from Dartmouth College in 1978
into the heart of Lake Huron’s Shipwreck of professional geologists. He indicated and 1984, respectively. Dr. Duke began
Alley. There boat tour also goes over the he would explore the issue further, “I teaching and conducting research at
limestone ridges that affected shipping. may be able to bend some ears.” He SDSMT in 1984. Dr. Duke directs under-
Following the boat tour, we will go stressed the importance of professional graduate, graduate, and doctoral level
to the Rockport Quarry to collect fossils geologists in achieving the goals of Ohio student research and provides train-
from the Devonian Period. This section EPA. Citing several cases where geologi- ing for faculty and students in the
is particularly important since this is the cal expertise is necessary he added, “I operation of the high- tech analytical
only location where the whole section don’t have enough of you, you guys are instruments housed within SDSMT’s
of the Rockport Limestone is exposed. problem solvers.” He indicated that he Engineering and Mining Experiment
The Rockport is abundant in fossils of hoped to fill some of the agencies’ vacan- Station (EMES), which he manages. Dr.
brachiopods, crinoids, corals (excellent cies with more geologists. Duke utilizes and maintains a host of
heads of hexagonaria), etc... Hopefully, analytical instruments in EMES includ-
the weather will be fantastic and every- ing a Zeiss scanning electron microscope
one will be free to collect for the remain- and energy dispersive x-ray analyzer,
der of the day. and a spectroradiometer. He also over-
sees the Analytical Chemistry Facility
Cost: $30.00 per adult and $10.00 per
which includes an atomic absorption
child (ages 6-12) for the Glass Bottom
spectrophotometer, X-ray Diffraction
Boat Tour. Children five and under are
and X-ray Fluorescence instruments,
free on the boat. If we have more than
an inductively coupled plasma mass
20 in our group, the price for adults will
spectrometer, and a fire assay lab.
be $27.00 and children ages 6-12 will
be $8.00. Meals are not included. Make Dr. Duke has authored or coauthored
your own arrangements for lodging. over 80 published papers and presenta-
The link provides several locations for After an enthusiastic round of tions in the field of geology and remote
hotels or campsites in the area http:// applause, President-elect Greg Kinsall sensing. He is principal investigator
www.alpenacvb.com. The Holiday Inn presented Director Nally with a com- or co-investigator on current or past
is located at 1000 US-23 North, Alpena, memorative plaque on behalf of the grants and contracts from NSF, NASA,
1-989-356-2151 or 1 [phone] and Section. A replica of Ohio’s state fossil, DOE, Universities Space Research
the recommended campground is the Isotelus maximus was mounted on a fin- Association, USGS EROS, American
Ossineke State Forest Campground on ished wooden plaque with a brass plate Chemical Society, SD Department of
the shores of Lake Huron. baring the inscription: “Scott J. Nally, Transportation, and other funding agen-
Join us and bring the family. It’s going Director, Ohio EPA, In Appreciation, cies. In addition to his teaching and
to be fun! A more complete itinerary will Ohio Section of AIPG, April 28, 2011”. research activities, Dr. Duke is Director
of the South Dakota Space Grant
be sent to those who RSVP. Hope to see Matt Justice, CPG-10485
Consortium and South Dakota NASA
you this summer! Section Newsletter Editor
EPSCoR Program and is Secretary of the
For more info & RSVP: Please contact
Executive Committee, National Council
South Dakota Section
Sara Pearson at [email protected]
of Space Grant Directors.
or [phone] no later than July 25, 2011 J.P. Gries Geologist of the
Dr. Duke’s quarter century of work at
2011. If we have less than 10 RSVPs, we Year Award Announced-The South
SDSMT has significantly contributed to
will cancel the trip. Dakota Section of the American Insti-
the geological research infrastructure of
Adam Heft, CPG-10265 tute of Professional Geologists (AIPG)
South Dakota. He has provided invalu-
Section Newsletter Editor announced today that Dr. Edward F.
able technical assistance and analytical
Duke, professor of geology at the South
services to dozens of on-and-off campus
Ohio Section Dakota School of Mines and Technology
faculty who use the high-tech instrumen-
(SDSMT) has been named as the 2011
Ohio EPA Director Nally tation at EMES as part of their research
J. P. Gries Geologist of the Year. The
Addresses Ohio Geologists- projects which extend well beyond the
award has been named in honor of Dr.
Approximately 55 members of Ohio’s field of geology into other areas of science
John Paul Gries for his exceptional work
geological community attended the Ohio and engineering; notably nanotechnol-
in the field of geology and is given each
Section’s April 28 dinner presentation ogy. He also works with SDSMT private
year by the Section in memory of Dr.
at LaScala Italian Bistro, featuring sector partners on both research and
Gries, a longtime professor of geology at
recently appointed Ohio EPA Director commercial projects which augments the
SDSMT. The 2011 award was presented
Scott J. Nally. The director was accompa- ability of SDSMT to successfully host
to Dr. Duke for his many contributions
nied by his Deputy of Communications, additional research projects on campus.
in furthering the understanding of the
Mr. Chris Abbruzzese. After dinner, Previous J. P. Gries award recipients
state’s geology.
President Tom Berg, CPG-08208, pro- include State Geologist Derric Iles , CPG-
vided a brief summary of the Ohio 10986, of the South Dakota Department
www.aipg.org JUL/AUG 2011 • TPG 5
SECTION NEWS
of Environment and Natural Resources Basin. Since the Coles Hill uranium
(SD DENR) Geological Survey Program, is a hard rock deposit in-situ leaching
Fred Steece of the SD DENR Oil & Gas will not be a viable mining technique.
Program, and Drs. James Fox, Alvis VUI is planning on an underground
Lisenbee, MEM-1747, J. Foster Sawyer, mining operation. Underground mining
CPG-10000, Perry H. Rahn, CPG-03724, will enable the company to extract the
and Jack Redden of SDSMT. ore while maintaining its commitments
Dr. Larry D. Stetler, CPG-10955, to conservation and historic preserva-
Section President tion. Conservation easements have been
placed on portions of the property in
order to protect several 18th and 19th
century buildings, including the Coles’
family home, as well as the agricultural Outcrop of Leatherwood Granite containing
fields. the uranium ore.
Virginia currently has a moratorium on
uranium mining in the Commonwealth.
The Virginia General Assembly autho-
rized a study by the National Academy Should I become a
of Sciences (NAS) to evaluate whether CPG?
or not uranium can be mined safely in
Have a you been thinking about
the state. Some of the concerns with
upgrading your membership to
uranium mining in Virginia, as opposed
CPG? If the answer is yes, What
to mining that has occurred in the arid
are your waiting for? To find out
West, include the fact that the area
Dr. Edward F. Duke (left) 2011 “J. P. Gries if you have the qualifications go to
Geologist of the Year” award winner and SD receives upwards of 45 inches of pre-
Article 2.3.1 of the AIPG Bylaws.
Section AIPG President Dr. Larry D. Stetler cipitation per year and is generally more
The AIPG Bylaws can be found on
(right). Award presented April 30, 2011 in densely populated than the areas over-
the AIPG website or the directory.
Rapid City, SD. Photo by Tom Durkin, lying western deposits. The NAS study
CPG-09138. is due to be completed later this year. The CPG application can
Following that legislative action will be be found on the website under
Virginias Section required before regulatory permitting ‘Membership’. Just follow the
and eventual mining can take place. As instructions. The basic paperwork
The Virginias Section held its first a result this is a topic of great interest includes the application, applica-
business meeting and field trip in more from a political perspective as well as a tion fee, transcripts, geological
than three years on May 21, 2011 (yes geological perspective. experience verification and spon-
that was Judgment Day). The offices of sors.
The field trip reminded us all of the
President and Secretary were filled “vol- challenges of doing geology in the East. If you have any questions, you
untarily” by Mike Lawless, CPG-09226, The Piedmont was thick with vegetation may contact Vickie Hill, Manager
and Mary Loose DeViney, MEM-2042, (a bumper crop of poison ivy) and the of Membership Services at aipg@
respectively. only outcrop was in the drainage ditch aipg.org or call headquarters at
Following the business meeting and along a dirt road. 303-412-6205.
lunch at one of Southside Virginia’s
The day ended with Mr. Coles taking
finest Mexican establishments, we con- www.aipg.org
us on a tour of the family home. The
vened at the offices of Virginia Uranium,
home was like a museum with original
Inc. (VUI) for a presentation and field
furniture, Confederate money, and docu-
trip on the Coles Hill uranium deposit in
ments signed by Thomas Jefferson and
Pittsylvania County. Walter Coles, Sr.,
James Madison. It was a great way to
President and CEO, gave an introduc-
wrap up a day that was judged by all to
tion about the deposit and the company’s
have been a success.
approach to its development. Mr. Coles,
Mike Lawless, CPG-09226,
whose family has lived on the land over-
lying the deposit since the late 1700s, is Section President
approaching eventual mining and mill-
ing operations with a commitment to
conservation and historic preservation
as well as a contribution towards the
Nation’s energy independence efforts.
Joe Aylor, MEM-1816, Ph.D., Chief
Geologist, gave a presentation on the
geology and potential mining and mill-
ing operations. The ore occurs in the
Cambrian Leatherwood Granite just
to the west of the Danville Triassic
6 TPG • JUL/AUG 2011 www.aipg.org
Photo by Michael Chrzastowski
www.aipg.org JUL/AUG 2011 • TPG 7