ALUMNI NEWSLETTER - Earth Sciences - University of Minnesota

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GeoClub - Then and NowComments on the U of M Geology Clubby Carl S. Benson (BA 1950/MS 1955)Here are some comments about the Geology Club and howit inspired students, including me. When I asked one of thegraduate students, “How do you become a member?” He said:“Members are those who show up,” and I made a point ofshowing up from then on.A special highlight was visits by George Gryc (pronouncedGrich), an alumnus of our Department (BA 1940/MS 1942, 2008).He joined the USGS in 1943 and worked in the Territory of Alaskaon exciting reconnaissance geology in the Arctic.* He showedmaps of Arctic Alaska in 1947 and 1948, north of the BrooksRange. The maps were blank because geologic mapping had beenonly done along some of the rivers. Wow! This was pioneering,and he held us spellbound. Students wanted to get involved andmany did. In 1949 Ed Sable (BS 1948) recommended me to Irving(Irv) Tailleur, Party Chief of a group going west from Umiat in1950 to do geologic mapping between the rivers. We used weaselsto make camps between the Etivluk and the Utukok Rivers, andmapped directly on tri-metrigon aerial photos taken in 1949. Thefield season lasted from May to September and it was wonderful.During the 1946 field season GeorgeGryc led a field party using canvasfold boats down the Chandler Riverfrom Chandler Lake to the ColvilleRiver and upstream to Umiat. Thisexpedition is described in a bookby Charles Metzger: The SilentRiver: A Pastoral Elegy in the formof a Recollection of Arctic Adventure(ISBN-13: 9780961309404). Metzgerwas the cook and his well-writtenbook gives a vivid feel for thefieldwork.The Geology Club was amazing. It helped to make thedepartment seem like a college within the massive U of M. Someof the presentations were spectacular; one was the talk presentedby Lester King of South Africa in the fall of 1950. Continentaldrift was not mainstream at that time, but evidence for largescalemovement was accumulating, and King demonstratedstratigraphic continuity between western South Africa and SouthAmerica.He summed up by saying, “In the Northern Hemisphere, whenit comes to continental drift, you can take it or leave it; in theSouthern Hemisphere we are driven to it!” As he said this, heleaned over the lectern with light from below on his craggy face,goatee, and pop-eyes, and banged his fist on the podium; it wasmemorable. Several faculty members and a group of studentstook Professor King out for dinner and extended conversation.I hope the Geology Club still thrives and acts as “glue” for thedepartment.*The research was part of the USGSinvestigation of Naval PetroleumReserve No. 4 established byPresident Harding in 1924. NPR-4 was the biggest of the NavalPetroleum Reserves; when WorldWar II started, the Navy wantedto find out what was there. Itcontracted the USGS to set upthe “Navy Oil Unit” which wassupported by Navy SeaBees (CBs)in building runways at Barrow,Umiat, and Barter Island. NPR-4 isnow National Petroleum Reserve-A(NPR-A).Cover by “Benson” from the 1950 Journal of Geology Club of theUniversity of Minnesota. Fortunately Tibor Zoltai kept copies of thesedepartmental mimeographed treasures.Page 22Department of Earth Sciences
GeoClub Continues to Thriveby Katie Rempfert, current GeoClub Vice-PresidentIn 2013 the University of MinnesotaGeoClub continues to welcome allstudents interested in studying theearth sciences. The GeoClub andour undergraduate student loungestill provide a home within the hugeuniversity and an opportunity toexperience camaraderie, as well asgiving us opportunities for uniquefieldwork, and to learn from thegraduate students and professorswithin the department. This year,we’ve strived to have a greater communityimpact by giving presentationsto elementary students atscience and math nights or in theirclassrooms. We’ve also becomemore active within the College ofScience and Engineering, which hasprovided us with grants that willallow us to take a short field trip inthe spring, aid in our May field trip,and provide pizza for our meetings–a new luxury we can now afford.Each May we organize a major fieldtrip lead by a member of the earthsciences faculty. Last year, we wentto the Big Island of Hawaii with Professor Jim Stout, studying thelava tubes and active flows on the island (see story on page 10).We also had some fun “sedimentary studies”.This May, we will be heading to Death Valley, California andFlagstaff, Arizona to study tectonics, volcanics, and sedimentaryfeatures with Adjunct Professor Annia Fayon. We are currentlyfund raising for this trip through bake sales, a chili cook-off, andJoyful “sedimentary studies” and well-wishes from the students on the olivine sand beach, South Point, onthe last Hawaiian field trip lead by Jim Stout.a department raffle. In addition the department provides fundingfor these May trips from the Field Experience Endowment Fund.New this year are plans for a joint trip with the Society of Mining,Metallurgy, and Exploration once the snow melts.We hope we are living up to the wonderful legacy GeoClub hashad in the past!GeoClub held a fund-raising event this fall that brought together members of the department fora soup and bread cook-off. Students, faculty and staff competed, ate, and enjoyed!Alumni NewsletterPage 23
Page 1 and 2: College of Science and EngineeringN
Page 3 and 4: Bacterial Polyphosphate Metabolism-
Page 5 and 6: Varanasi Rama Murthy (1933-2012)Ram
Page 7 and 8: university; the merit of their achi
Page 9 and 10: New Lab Managers: X-ray Computed To
Page 11 and 12: Xenolith site on Mauna Kea.hike alo
Page 13 and 14: New State Bedrock Geologic MapThe M
Page 15 and 16: Robert A. Berg Scholarship*Jo F. Be
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Page 19 and 20: Degrees Granted 2010-12Graduate Deg
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Page 27 and 28: Ravi Appana, MS 2009, has been work

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