Newsletter of the Department of Mineral Sciences Columnar Basalt ...
Transcript of Newsletter of the Department of Mineral Sciences Columnar Basalt ...
Summer 2015 Volume 6, Number 1
Newsletter of the Department of Mineral Sciences
| Rocks ∙ Meteorites ∙ Gems ∙ Volcanoes ∙ Minerals |
In this Issue
Columnar Basalts in
NMNH
Expert-Is-In: The Stone
Faces of Teotihuacan
NHRE Summer Interns
Columnar Basalt in NMNH
In July 2015, the National Museum of Natural History
opened a temporary exhibition entitled “Primordial Land-
scapes: Iceland Revealed” which looks at the island coun-
try of Iceland, one of the most geologically active places on
Earth. Mineral Sciences geologist Ben Andrews was part
of the exhibit team and assisted in the script writing and the
selection of geologic specimens. Iceland is built by volcan-
ic activity and the exhibit highlights the Icelandic land-
scape through a series of photographs and a few rock speci-
mens. The dominant rock type on Iceland is basalt, a dark
colored, fine-grained volcanic rock that is found all over
the world and makes up nearly the entire seafloor. One of
the more interesting rock features found on Iceland are
basalt columns which sometimes develop within lava
flows. The “Primordial Landscapes” exhibit contains a
specimen of columnar basalt from the NMNH Rock & Ore
Collection in the Department of Mineral Sciences. Basalt
columns like the ones shown in the exhibition were once
quarried for use in fences and as hitching posts in Iceland.
Upper photo: Part of “Primordial Landscapes: Iceland
Revealed” exhibit. Left photo: Basalt Columns, Asback,
Germany, USNM 52103, Rock & Ore Collection. Photos
by Michael Wise.
Page 2 Volume 6, Number 1 Summer 2015
Columnar jointing may form in lava
flows as it cools on the Earth’s surface.
As it cools, the lava contracts and cracks
or joints (fractures) that are associated
with stress within the rock may develop.
When the contraction occurs at equally
spaced centers, then a hexagonal fracture
pattern will develop. This fracture pattern
will tend to propagate down the lava as it
cools, forming long, geometric columns.
Columnar jointing isn’t restricted to bas-
alts, however. This structure can also
form in other types of igneous rocks
which undergo cooling and contraction.
In the Rocks Gallery of the Janet Annen-
berg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems &
Minerals (GGM) there is a fantastic ex-
hibit of columnar dacite (see below) from
Bluff Mountain, Randle, Washington.
Like basalt, dacite is also an igneous rock, but with much higher silica content. Dacite is also
typically lighter color than basalt. The dacite columns in the GGM Exhibit were collected from
an abandoned quarry roughly 32 km NE of Mount St. Helens and reassembled at NMNH for
visitors to enjoy. Photo by Michael Wise.
Columnar Basalt in NMNH (cont.)
A diagram explaining how columnar jointing
forms in a cooling body of rock. Diagram from
Dr. Malcolm Reeves's website at the University
of Saskatchewan. Diagram taken from: http://
homepage.usask.ca/~mjr347/prog/geoe118/
geoe118.054.html.
Page 3 Volume 6, Number 1 Summer 2015
Education & Outreach
Tim Rose (Mineral Sciences) and
Jane Walsh (Anthropology) spent a
few hours in the Q?rius facility as part
of the Expert-Is-In series. Tim and
Jane shared some of the results of their
collaborative research on the dramatic
pre-Columbian stone masks of Teoti-
huacan with visitors to the Museum.
During the two-hour session, visitors
were able to learn about the history
behind these central Mexican treasures
including how the masks were made
and what types of materials were used
to make them. Examples of some of
the rocks were available for visitors to
examine. Those who stopped by Tim
and Jane’s table were able to partici-
pate in an hands-on demonstration of
the use of primitive tools that might
have been used to drill holes in the
rock masks. Photos by Michael Wise.
Page 4 Volume 6, Number 1 Summer 2015
NHRE Summer Interns
Sierra Kaufman is inter -
ested in a variety of disci-
plines within the planetary
sciences including meteorites,
cosmochemistry, and outer
solar system satellites. This
summer she worked in the
Mineral Sciences department
with Catherine Corrigan on a
group of meteorites called
enstatite chondrites. The main
goal of the project was to
identify mineral associations
in the meteorites and create a
comprehensive, data support-
ed argument that the associa-
tions also occur on the planet
Mercury, in order to under-
stand the evolution of these planetary bodies. Sierra is an honors student at the State University of
New York at Fredonia and will be graduating in May 2016 with her bachelor’s degree in Geophysics
and Geochemistry. She intends to pursue her PhD in planetary science. Photo by James Di Loreto.
Brianna Marshall worked as an intern in the
Department of Mineral
Sciences with Benjamin
Andrews this summer to
better understand pyro-
clastic density currents
(PDC’s) and their behav-
ior. These hot and dense
currents of rock and gas,
resulting from volcanic
activity, pose numerous
hazards when they mix
and entrain with the ambient atmosphere.
Much of Brianna’s pro-
ject involves simulating
PDC’s in an experimental
tank to capture useful information about the processes and parameters driving air entrainment in
these currents. Brianna recently graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Geology from Cal-
vin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In August, she will begin a two year appointment as a GIS
Research Specialist at the Center for Social Research in Grand Rapids. Upon finishing her appoint-
ment, Brianna plans to continue her education by pursuing a master's degree in Geology studying
volcanic hazards and mitigation. Photo by James Di Loreto.
Page 5 Volume 6, Number 1 Summer 2015
NHRE Summer Interns (cont.)
Oxygen fugacity (fO2), the partial pressure of
oxygen, is believed to be at the core of under-
standing mantle evolution through time. Meena
Said worked with Elizabeth Cottrell and
graduate student, Suzanne Birner, in the Depart-
ment of Mineral Sciences to analyze the fO2 of
abyssal peridotites – mantle rock located on the
deep seafloor of Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic. Her
data collection will contribute to the global fO2
data set. Meena is an Honors student at Lock
Haven University of Pennsylvania majoring in
applied geology. As an active officer of the
Geoscience Club, her passion for learning is
displayed both in and out of the classroom.
Meena plans on pursuing her PhD with an inter-
disciplinary approach of either biology or mate-
rials science. Photo by James Di Loreto.
Staff Changes
Emma Bullock has left the Smithsonian Institution (Division of Meteor ites ) to join the
Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution as their Microbeam Specialist. She will be
responsible for maintaining and operating the focused ion beam - scanning electron microscope
(FIB-SEM) crossbeam system and other microbeam instruments, but also plans to continue her
work on meteorites.
After 5 years as a member of the Division of Mineralogy, Cara Santelli will be joining the fac-
ulty of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Minnesota as an Assistant Professor
of Geomicrobiology. There she will continue her research on the impact of microbial actibity on
geological processes that she started while employed at the Smithsonian Institution.
Mineral Sciences also bid a fond farewell to Pam Salyer who since 2014 had been helping us in
the Meteorite Collection.
New Meteorites Collections Manager, Julie Hoskin
joined Minerals Sciences in August. Julie has worked
with a wide variety of collection artifacts and speci-
mens from numerous museums, including; the National
Museum of American History, the Hirshhorn Museum,
the Virginia Museum of Natural History, the National
Gallery of Art, and the National Museum of Natural
History. Julie is an expert in environmental monitoring
and control, constructing specialized housing and sup-
ports for objects, appropriate chemicals and materials to
use with various specimens, digital imaging of speci-
mens and associated information, as well as cataloging
objects and recording specimen data.
Page 6 Volume 6, Number 1
Bohu, T., Santelli, C.M., Akob, D.M., Neu,
T.R., Ciobota, V., Rösch, P., Popp, J., Nie-
tzsche, S. & Küsel, K. (2015) Characteriza-
tion of pH dependent Mn(II) oxidation strate-
gies and formation of a bixbyite-like phase by
Mesorhizobium australicum T-G1. Frontiers
in Microbiology, 6, 734 doi:10.3389/
fmicb.2015.00734
Brounce, M., Kelley, K.A., Cottrell, E. &
Reagan, M.K. (2015) Temporal evolution of
mantle wedge oxygen fugacity during sub-
duction initiation. Geology, 46, 775-778.
Corrigan, C.M., Velbel, M.A. & Vicenzi,
E.P. (2015) Modal abundances of pyroxene,
olivine, and mesostasis in nakhlites: Hetero-
geneity, variation, and implications for na-
khlite emplacement. Meteoritics & Planetary
Science, 50, 1497-1511.
Evans, L.G., Peplowski, P.N., McCubbin,
F.M., McCoy, T.J., Nittler, L.R., Zolotov,
M.Y., Ebel, D.S., Lawrence, D.J., Starr, R.D.,
Weider, S.Z. & Solomon, S.C. (2015) Chlo-
rine on the Surface of Mercury: MESSEN-
GER Gamma-Ray Measurements and Impli-
cations for the Planet's Formation and Evolu-
tion. Icarus, 257, 417-427.
Harlow, G.E., Tsujimori, T. & Sorensen, S.S.
(2015) Jadeitites and Plate Tectonics. Annual
Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 43,
105-138.
Helz, R.T., Clague, D.A., Mastin, L.G. &
Rose, T.R. (2015) Electron microprobe analyses of glasses from Kilauea Tephra
Units, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. U.G. Geolo-
cial Survey Open-File Report 2015-1090,
24 p., plus 2 appendixes in separate files.
Summer 2015
Selected Publications
Meetings & Abstracts
Corrigan, C.M., Lunning, N.G., Fr iedr ich, J .M. & McCoy, T.J. (2015) An H chondr ite
clast in an LL chondrite: impact melt or incipient partial melt?
Kita, N.T., Tenner, T.J., Ushikubo, T., Bouvier, A., Wadhwa, M., Bullock, E.S., & MacPher-
son, G.J. (2015) Why do U-Pb ages of chondrules and CAIs have more spread than their 26Al
ages?
Mayne, R.G. & McCoy, T.J. (2015) Pallasites: does density matter after all?
McCoy, T.J. & Bullock, E.S. (2015) Volatile-rich phases in aubrites: clues to understanding
the mineralogy of Mercury?
Wise, M.A. & Brown, C.D. (2015) Distr ibution of
granitic pegmatites in the Peninsular Ranges of south-
ern California, USA: a reassessment of the southern
California pegmatite province.
Page 7 Volume 6, Number 1
Ivanova, M.A., Lorenz, C.A., Krot, A.N. &
MacPherson, G.J. (2015) A compound Ca-,
Al-rich inclusion from CV3 chondrite North-
west Africa 3118: Implications for under-
standing processes during CAI formation.
Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 50, 1512-
1528.
Jenner, F.E., Hauri, E.H., Bullock, E.S., Kö-
nig, S., Arculus, R.J., Mavrogenes, J.A., Mik-
kelson, N. & Goddard, C. (2015) The com-
peting effects of sulfide saturation versus
degassing on the behavior of the chalcophile
elements during the differentiation of hydrous
melts. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosys-
tems, 16, 1490-1507.
McCormick, B., Popp, C., Andrews, B. &
Cottrell, E.. (2015 Ten years of satellite
observations reveal highly variable sulphur
dioxide emissions at Anatahan Volcano, Mar-
iana Islands. Journal of Geophysical Re-
search: Atmospheres, 120, 7258-7282.
McCoy, T.J. (2015) [Review]: Atlas of Me-
teorites, by Grady Monica, Pratesi Giovanni,
and Moggi Cecchi Vanni. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press, 2014, 384 p.
$150, hardcover (ISBN # 9780521840354).
Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 50, 1495-
1496.
Pistone, M., Arzilli, F., Dobson, K.J ., Cor -
donnier, B., Reusser, E., Ulmer, P., Marone,
F., Whittington, A.G., Mancini, L., Fife, J.L.
& Blundy, J.D. (2015) Gas-driven filter
pressing in magmas: Insights into in-situ melt
segregation from crystal mushes. Geology,
43, 699-702.
Pohwat, P.W. (2015) Connoisseur ' s
Choice: Willemite, Tsumeb Mine, Tsumeb,
Otjikoto, Namibia. Rocks & Minerals, 90,
358-365.
Tang, M. Jr, Ricardo A., Goreva, Y. &
McDonough, W.F. (2015) Elemental fraction-
ation during condensation of plasma plumes
generated by laser ablation: a ToF-SIMS
study of condensate blankets. Journal of Ana-
lytical Atomic Spectrometry, doi:10.1039/
C5JA00320B
Vázquez-Rodríguez, A.I., Hansel, Colleen
M., Zhang, Tong, Lamborg, C.H., Santelli,
C.M., Webb, S.M. & Brooks, S.C. (2015)
Microbial- and thiosulfate-mediated dissolu-
tion of mercury sulfide minerals and transfor-
mation to gaseous mercury. Frontiers in Mi-
crobiology, 6: 596 doi:10.3389/
fmicb.2015.00596
Walsh, J.M. & Rose, T.R. (2015) Mascaras
de Teotihuacan. Una tipologia preliminar.
Arqueologia Mexicana, XXI, 126, 78-85.
Waters, L.E., Andrews, B.J. & Lange, R.A.
(2015) Rapid Crystallization of Plagioclase
Phenocrysts in Silicic Melts during Fluid-
saturated Ascent: Phase Equilibrium and De-
compression Experiments. Journal of Petrolo-
gy, 56, 981-1006.
Summer 2015
Selected Publications