geoz 52 July 2012

NEWSBREAKERS

Gippsland still rattled

The largest aftershock to shake Gippsland since the region was hit with a magnitude-5.4 earthquake on June 19 was felt July 20. A spokesperson from Geoscience Australia said there have been well over 200 aftershocks since the June event with the July 20 event registering a magnitude of 4.4.

Geoscience Australia report:http://bit.ly/MCqjXJz
News report:http://bit.ly/PqFBzi

IGCP Australian Participants — Funding for conference attendance!

Each year the Australian Committee of the International Geoscience Program of UNESCO receives funding to support conference attendance for Australian participants in IGCP projects. The grants range from $2000 - $4000 and application is made by requesting an application form from the Chair of the Committee - Prof Patricia Vickers Rich (pat.rich@monash.edu). Successful applicants need to demonstrate that their attendance is directly linked to the aims of one or more currently active IGCP projects with which they are associated. Application is not complex and turnaround time is generally no more than one month.

FROM THE DIVISIONS

Divisional information is regularly updated at http://gsa.junctionworld.com/events/divisionmeetings.html
Check this site for more recent information on the following events:

Australian Capital Territory

Regular meetings: Third Tuesday of each month (Except January)
Jaeger Lecture Theatre, Jaeger Building (Building 61), Australian National University.
For more information: diane.jorgensen@ga.gov.au

New South Wales

Friday 26th July 2012
Professor Iain Stewart
How to grow a planet
Sydney University Footbridge Theatre, Parramatta Road, Forest Lodge, 6.00 pm

Friday 2nd August 2012
Karol Czarnota
Topographic expression of mantle convection around Australia
Biomedical Theatre B, upper campus UNSW, 6.00 pm.

Thursday 5th September 2012
Dr Gary Nichols
Stratigraphic analysis in continental basins, where sequence stratigraphy does not work
Biomedical Theatres, upper campus UNSW, 12.00 noon

Queensland

2012 meeting dates to be advised
For more information: info@qld.gsa.org.au

South Australia

Thursday 23rd August 2012
GSA SA Division Annual Dinner and medal presentations
Paul Willis, RiAus
The Historian Hotel, 6.30 pm
Please confirm your attendance by email to Anna Petts: apetts@flindersmines.com.au

Tasmania

2012 meeting dates to be advised
For more information: mduffett@mrt.tas.gov.au

December 2012
Tasmanian Geoscience Forum (jointly with AusIMM)
Strahan Village
For more information: mduffett@mrt.tas.gov.au

Victoria

Friday 26th July 2012
Nicole Cox, University of Ballarat
Variable uplift from Quaternary deformation along the northern coast of East Timor, based on U-series age determinations of marine terraces
Fritz Loewe Theatre, School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, 5.30 pm

Wednesday 21st August 2012
Groundwater Issues associated with coal seam gas development:
A forum exploring groundwater issues associated with CSG development and ways that they can be managed
Fritz Loewe Theatre, School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, 5.30 pm

Western Australia

Regular meetings: First Wednesday of each month (except December and January)
Irish Club of WA, 61 Townshend Road, Subiaco, 5.30pm
For more information: info@wa.gsa.org.au

GSA EVENTS

The 34^thIGC - it's almost here!

This will be a truly global event, with more than 5,000 delegates expected from over 112 countries. Particularly large contingents are expected from China, Russia and Brazil. There will also be a contingent of delegates from across Africa supported by AusAID.

Facebook link: http://on.fb.me/IxhFGK

Day registration for the IGC is now available. A discount applies for GSA members.
See http://bit.ly/mRHsZ0 for details.

GSA membership

Membership with the GSA has many rewards and benefits. Is your membership current?
If in doubt, please contact the GSA office: info@gsa.org.au.

National Rock Garden on show at the IGC!

The National Rock Garden will be featured in a display booth at the IGC in Brisbane from 5-10th August. All members are invited to visit the booth to make a gold coin donation to the NRG fund and be in the draw to win a prize.

The National Rock Garden will have up to 100 large specimens of the country's most iconic rocks. Each specimen will weigh approximately 10–15 tonnes. To find out how you can contribute follow this link:
NationalRockGarden.pdf

To download the latest National Rock Garden newsletter just click this link.

If you would like to join the Friends of the National Rock Garden and receive newsletters and information directly by email please send a request to rockgarden@gsa.org.au

Image courtesy of Doug Finlayson

IN THE NEWS

Deep sea a titanic resource?

The technological advances that helped find the Titanic are now being used to find, map and potentially recover mineral rich sediments from deep sea locations. Now that such resources are potentially within economic reach concerns are being raised about the possible environmental implications for some of the world's most unusual ecosystems.
http://nyti.ms/Ne8GKS

Joides Resolution finds the box set!

In one 300 metre section of drill hole located in about 5 km of water in the North Atlantic the Joides Resolution drilling program has intersected the Eocene Layer of Mysterious Origin (ELMO), the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, the K-T Boundary and records of many smaller climate events. One member of the science party described the find as a box set of the Greatest Hits of Earth's (recent) Climate Past.
http://bit.ly/NeBPp8

ON THE WEB

Afghanistan geologically mapped from the air

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has released a map that shows the distribution of selected iron-bearing minerals and other materials derived from analysis of HyMap imaging spectrometer data of Afghanistan. Using an aircraft flown at an altitude of ~15,240 metres the USGS collected 218 flight lines of data that was then adjusted using comparisons with ground-based reflectance measurements.

Reference: King, T.V.V., Kokaly, R.F., Hoefen, T.M., Dudek, K.B., and Livo, K.E., 2011, Surface materials map of Afghanistan: iron-bearing minerals and other materials: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3152-B, one sheet, scale 1:1,100,000.

http://on.doi.gov/LKfkM9

Just a passing storm?

The NOAA Space Weather Centre forecast a possible disruption to global communications due to a large solar flare and coronal mass ejection in Earth's direction on July 12. The event reportedly caused minor disturbances to Global Positioning System signals and radio blackouts at high latitudes. This is the sixth big flare of 2012, a year that could be the peak of the current 11-year solar cycle, coming twelve years after the Earth was hit by one of the biggest solar storms in modern history.
http://1.usa.gov/NAjc1e

IN THE MEDIA

Which planet is this?

Researchers at MIT are examining the river networks seen in images taken of Titan's surface from NASA's Cassini-Huygens probe. The team has mapped 52 prominent river networks from four regions on Saturn's largest moon and have been modelling the materials and processes that might be responsible.

Image courtesy of NASA/JPL/USGS. This composite image from the Cassini mission shows Titan's north polar region.

http://bit.ly/PquQgw

Ground water resource found in Namibia

A massive high quality ground water resource has been found in Namibia that could supply the region for hundreds of years if managed carefully. However, government officers worry that unauthorised drilling could threaten the new supply because a smaller salty aquifer sits on top of the new find. Random drilling into the aquifer could create a hydraulic shortcut between the two aquifers contaminating the new high quality resource.
http://bbc.in/O2h4Qa

What's in AJES

The Australian Journal of Earth Sciences online is available through the Taylor & Francis' website: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/taje20. It is very easy to navigate and use.

Volume 59 Issue No.5 Archean ore systems

Editors: Kevin Cassidy, Jon Hronsky and Stephen Wyche

S. Barnes, M. Van Kranendonk and I. Sonntag
Geochemical affinity and tectonic setting of basalts from the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane, Yilgarn Craton.

P. Duuring, W. Bleeker, S. W. Beresford, M. L. Fiorentini and N. M. Rosengren
Structural evolution of the Agnew-Wiluna greenstone belt, Eastern Goldfields, Yilgarn Craton and implications for komatiite-hosted Ni sulfide exploration.

D. Mole, M. Fiorentini, N. Thebaud, C. McCuaig, K. Cassidy, C. Kirkland, M. Wingate, S. Romano, M. Doublier and E. Belousova
Spatio-temporal constraints on lithospheric development in the southwest-central Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia.

M. J. Pawley, M. T. D. Wingate, C. L. Kirkland, S. Wyche, C. E. Hall, S. S. Romano and M. P. Doublier
Adding pieces to the puzzle: episodic crustal growth and a new terrane in the northeast Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia.

N. Said, R. Kerrich, K. Cassidy and D. Champion
Characteristics and geodynamic setting of the 2.7 Ga Yilgarn heterogeneous plume and its interaction with continental lithosphere: Evidence from komatiitic-basalt and basalt geochemistry of the Eastern Yilgarn Craton.

N. Thebaud and S. Barnes
Geochemistry of komatiites in the Southern Cross Belt, Youanmi Terrane, Western Australia.

S. Wyche, C. L. Kirkland, A. Riganti, M. J. Pawley, E. Belousova and M. T. D. Wingate
Isotopic constraints on stratigraphy in the central and eastern Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia.

D. Wyman
Geochemical and Isotopic Characteristics of Youanmi Terrane Volcanism: The Role of Mantle Plumes and Subduction Tectonics in the western Yilgarn Craton.

I. Zibra
Syndeformational granite crystallisation along the Mount Magnet Greenstone Belt, Yilgarn Craton: evidence of large-scale magma-driven strain localization during Neoarchean times.

Coming up in TAG

September TAG deadline even closer!

The September TAG is well under way and the deadline for submissions is July 30! Highlights coming up include a discussion about the impact of the American geologist James Dwight Dana (it's the bicentenary of his birth next year), the latest GSA Award recipients and more. TAG publishes member contributions, so start writing but get it in before you head off to the IGC.

Follow the TAG link to submit material for 2012 editions or to find out more:
http://gsa.junctionworld.com/publications/tag.html or email tag@gsa.org.au

WHAT'S ON

DEADLINES:

NT Minerals summit – Early bird registration open until 29 July

The Last Frontier
http://bit.ly/IlGCIo

The Australian Innovation Challenge: Entries close 12 August

The Last Frontier
http://bit.ly/noGvfS

The seventh conference on Mine Closure, Brisbane, 25 – 27 September 2012

Early Bird registration closes 13 August 2012
http://bit.ly/KzuK6r

Geologi Short Film Competition 2012
enter a short film, up to three minutes long, which relates to Geoscience or Earth Science and people.

Entries close 24 August 2012
http://bit.ly/iLm1md

Top GeoShot 2012
Geoscience Australia's photo competition

Entries close 22 September 2012
http://bit.ly/L1Savk

The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Education Endowment Fund
Bicentennial Gold 88 Endowment 2013

Applications close Friday 28 September 2012
http://bit.ly/nxYtm2

EVENTS:

Prof. Iain Stewart tells a stunning new story about our planet, Sydney, 26 July 2012