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geoz 79 October 2013
NEWSBREAKERS
Earthquake creates a fizzing mud island
A massive volcano-like island of sea-floor sediments emerged from the sea floor near the Pakistani town of Gwadar after a recent magnitude 7.7 earthquake in the region. The island probably formed as a result of sea floor sediments partially liquefying during the tremor and oozing upwards with the movement of entrained gases such as methane. The soft materials of the small island will likely see it quickly erode away but in the meantime large amounts of methane gas are reportedly bubbling from the new ground.
Island news report with images: http://bbc.in/16qT4ma
Island news report with satellite image: http://bbc.in/19FQ5CL
Earthquake news report: http://bbc.in/17ZjyIt
USGS earthquake report: http://on.doi.gov/15R4Cwz
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
Sunday 20th October 2013
National Rock Garden Inauguration Ceremony
NRG site at the western end of Lake Burley Griffin, off Lady Denman Drive, Canberra. 10.30am.
(Cnr of Barrenjoey and Lady Denman Drives)
Volunteers are required to prepare the site and help on the day.
For more information: doug.finlayson@netspeed.com.au
New South Wales
Tuesday 15th October 2013
Professor Martin Van Kranendonk, UNSW
Mapping our world - from boots to black boxes
Newcastle museum, Newcastle, 6.00 pm for 6.30 pm
For more information contact phil.gilmore@industry.nsw.gov.au
Thursday 24th October 2014 SMEDG meeting
Dave Robson
Data from the Riverina Gravity Survey and results of the tin prospectivity analysis of the Wagga Tin Belt and
Rob Hewson
Interpretation of ASTER data, with a focus on the Wagga Wagga region
The Rugby Club, Rugby Place, Circular Quay, Sydney. 5.30 pm for 6.00 pm
Tuesday 26th November 2013
Presenter TBA
New research in earth sciences in NSW
Customs House, Newcastle, 6.00 pm for 6.30 pm
Queensland
Tuesday 8th October 2013: GSA/AIG Joint Seminar
Professor Ken Collerson and Richard Hatcher
The Mary Kathleen shear zone and associated projects
The Theodore Club, Level 1, 333 Adelaide St, Brisbane. 5.15 pm for 6.00 pm
November 2013
Dr Wes Nichols
Topic TBA
The Theodore Club, Level 1, 333 Adelaide St, Brisbane. 5.15 pm for 6.00 pm
South Australia
Regular meetings: Third Thursday of each month (except January)
The Mawson Theatre, Mawson Laboratories, Adelaide University, 5.15 pm for 6.15 pm
For more information: jim.jago@unisa.edu.au
Thursday 17th October 2013
Dr Diego Garcia-Bellido, University of Adelaide
Title of talk TBA
Mawson Theatre, University of Adelaide. 5.30 pm for 6.15 pm
Sunday 20th October 2013
GSA SA Division Field Trip
Visit the Rex Minerals Hillside exploration site, with geology talk and drill core. Visit the old
Hillside Copper Mine and see exposures along the beach at Pine Point.
Space is limited to 22 so make sure you confirm your place, by emailing info@sa.gsa.org.au
GeoNight at the Pub: First Thursday of each month (except January and June 2013)
The Griffins Head, Hindmarsh Square, Grenfell Street, Adelaide (Front Bar), 5.00pm to 7.30pm
For more information: anna_petts@yahoo.com.au
Tasmania
2013 meeting dates to be advised
For more information: taryn.noble@utas.edu.au
Victoria
Wednesday 23rd October 2013
Royal Society of Victoria Public Forum
Victoria's Energy Future: Prospects and Challenges
Museum Victoria, 6.30pm - 8.00pm
Friday 25th & Saturday 26th October
Royal Society of Victoria Symposium
Victoria's Energy Future: Prospects and Challenges
Friday 25: 9.00am - 5.00pm & Saturday 26 October: 9.30am-1.00pm
Thursday 28th November 2013
Liz Rogers
Diving Exploration and Cave Geology on the Nullarbor
For more information: secretary@vic.gsa.org.au
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
SGTSG Thredbo Conference and post-conference field trip, February 2014.
Early bird registration rates extended until 15 October 2013.
The biennial meeting of the Specialist Group in Tectonics and Structural Geology will be held 2-8 February 2014.
• Welcome BBQ and cricket match: 2 February
• Conference Dinner: Friday 7 February
Medals and prizes will be awarded at the conference dinner.
• Field trip: A 3-day post-conference field trip (Saturday, 8 February - Monday, 10 February)
is planned along the NSW south coast between Merimbula and Batemans Bay,
including spectacular crosscutting and magma mingling igneous relationships at Bingi-Bingi Point,
before returning to Canberra.
Led by Dr Chris Ferguson, University of Wollongong and Prof Steve Cox (ANU).
Abstract submissions: Please send expressions of interest to the science committee: marnie.forster@anu.edu.au, simon.mcclusky@anu.edu.au or geoff.fraser@ga.gov.au.
Click here for more information and registration details or contact Gordon Lister gordon.lister@anu.edu.au.
The Australian Earth Sciences Convention 2014
Check out the Australian Earth Sciences Convention 2014 web site at http://aesc2014.gsa.org.au/. The First Circular is available here.
The convention themes are:
• Energy
• Resources
• Environment
• Service & Community
• Dynamic Planet
• Living Earth
Dedicated symposia include:
• 9th Symposium on the Advances in the Study of the Sydney Basin
• Comparisons & Contrasts in Circum-Pacific Orogens
Please distribute information about the AESC 2014 to your colleagues within the geoscience community.
Australian Earth Sciences Convention
AESC 2014: Sustainable Australia
7-10 July 2014
Newcastle NSW
The organising committee looks forward to welcoming you in Newcastle and if you want any information about the AESC do not hesitate to contact the GSA office: info@gsa.org.au. and if you would like to receive notifications when registration or call for papers is open for the AESC, please click here.
The National Rock Garden invites GSA members and friends to the inauguration of the Federation Rock Display
At 10.30 am on Sunday 20 October, 2013, the ACT Chief Minister will be the principal guest at the inauguration of the Federation Rock Display at the National Rock Garden off Lady Denman Drive at the western end of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra (Cnr of Barrenjoey and Lady Denman Drives).
The inauguration will include the unveiling of the Federation Rocks from the eight States and Territories of the Commonwealth, some of them quite spectacular. Three of the rocks (Victoria, NSW and Tasmania) have already arrived in Canberra. It is also expected that the proposed landscape design for the National Rock Garden will be made public.
Delivery of a block of Mount Goyder Syenite.
Image courtesy of Doug Finlayson
Some volunteers are required to prepare the site and help on the day. Those willing and able to assist on the 20th October (or beforehand) please send an email to: Doug Finlayson doug.finlayson@netspeed.com.au
National Rock Garden Facebook is live. Stay up to date with the latest NRG news by liking the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Rock-Garden/509206615828657?ref=hl
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 to the NRG web site: http://www.nationalrockgarden.org.au/
The National Rock Garden (NRG) qualifies for Deductible Gift Recipient status (DGR). In other words, donations to the NRG are tax deductible so now donating to the NRG can be a win-win! Bookmark this page: http://bit.ly/1gl0K8d
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
Newsletter No. 6, July 2013 is available now. Click here to download the pdf. Read about the planning that is behind the design and see if you can figure out what the 8 Federation Rocks will be!
IN THE NEWS
Grant funds babysitting for science
Searching for signs of life on exoplanets is hard, time consuming work. Astrophysicist Sara Seager of MIT has been recognised for her work in searching for extraterrestrial life by being awarded one of 24 genius grants from Chicago's MacArthur Foundation. Seager, recently widowed, plans to use her grant for child care and household help to enable her to continue her work.
News report: http://bit.ly/1eIJgpU
A Sara Seager e-book on the search for habitable exoplanets: An interesting 48-page read
Something to get your teeth into
A very well preserved Silurian placoderm, found in China, clearly has jaw bones (premaxilla, maxilla and dentary) previously thought restricted to bony fish. This discovery re-orders our understanding of the evolution of bony, cartilaginous and placoderm fish.
News report: http://bbc.in/1785NHZ
Research abstract: http://bit.ly/15trXRo
ON THE WEB
La Pintada landslide
Extreme weather events that bring torrential rain are often the cause of massive landslides during or just after the rains. Recently Mexico was subjected to tropical storms, Ingrid and Manuel, which inundated the steep landscapes around the village of La Pintada. A landslide resulted with local residents reportedly hearing sounds of the slope straining prior to collapse. The landslide resulted in around half the village being destroyed with tragic losses of life.
News report: http://bit.ly/17lXUP8
Images on Landslide Blog: http://bit.ly/1aQ0iyk
A sad reminder
This landslide is also a sad reminder of the Vajont disaster, the worst landslide in European history, which has its 50th anniversary this month. This was not caused by an extreme weather event but water is part of the story.
The Vajont conference: http://bit.ly/XZbc2f
The Vajont story: http://bit.ly/MRRD3Q
A new dawn on Vesta
Data sent from the Dawn spacecraft as it orbited Vesta, the second largest asteroid in the main asteroid belt, have enabled years of ground-based and Hubble telescope observations to be checked against in-situ measurements and observations.
Image courtesy of NASA Georgia Southern University NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCAL/MPS/DLR/IDA
http://1.usa.gov/1fNN5ZP
IN THE MEDIA
CSI Lombok
European medieval texts mention a sudden cooling of the seasons and failing harvests. Ice cores in both the Arctic and the Antarctic reveal an A.D. 1257 event with a distinct chemical signature. Now new research bringing to bear a range of geochemical and other techniques has identified Samalas volcano on Lombok Island, Indonesia, as the likely source.
News report: http://bbc.in/19cHds2
Research abstract: http://bit.ly/15FFfQf
Fly dino fly!
Wind tunnel experiments and flight simulations using a Cretaceous paravian Microraptor show that it did not require a special wing morphology to effectively glide. This suggests flight feathers first evolved in dinosaurs for non-aerodynamic functions, later being adapted to form lifting surfaces.
News report: http://bit.ly/18BfPh9
Research abstract: http://bit.ly/18yCAIt
Mars: the field trip continued
STOP PRESS: Curiosity put into hibernation due to government fiscal shutdown!
http://bit.ly/18IK73L
This is a mosaic of nine images taken at 'Darwin' by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on Curiosity. It shows a conglomerate rock bearing a variety of small grey, grey-white, shiny and translucent pebbles and sand-size particles. The pebbles are rounded indicating deposition from flowing water.
http://1.usa.gov/1eVOwqj
Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.
Science:
The Mars special edition
http://bit.ly/1fYR6dX
Martian soil at Gale Crater
http://bit.ly/18agrxw
Mineral XRD at Rocknest
http://bit.ly/194QpPf
Rocknest chemistry
http://bit.ly/175qF2o
Petrochemistry of Jake
http://bit.ly/1h6tj9K
Wind blown sand at Rocknest
http://bit.ly/1bL9Ayk
Two percent makes a big splash
http://bit.ly/15xLn7A
No sign of methane
http://1.usa.gov/1esMbms
What's in AJES
The Australian Journal of Earth Sciences online is available through the Taylor & Francis website. It is very easy to navigate and use.
AJES is available to financial members of the GSA. Don't miss the next issue because your membership has lapsed!
Volume 60 Issue No.5: some already online
K. Mills, P. Gell, P. Hesse, R. Jones, P. Kershaw, R. Drysdale and J. McDonald
Paleoclimate studies and natural-resource management in the Murray-Darling Basin I: past, present and future climates.
K. Mills, P. Gell, J. Gergis, P. Baker, M. Finlayson, P. l. Hesse, R. Jones, P. Kershaw, S. Pearson, P. Treble, C. Barr, M. Brookhouse, R. Drysdale, J. McDonald, S. Haberle, M. Reid, M. Thoms and J. Tibby
Paleoclimate studies and natural resource management in the Murray-Darling Basin II: Unravelling human impacts and climate variability.
C. S. Lower, J. H. Cann and D. Haynes
Microfossil evidence for salinity events in the Holocene Coorong Lagoon, South Australia.
D. Gregory, S. Meffre and R. Large
Mineralogy of metal contaminated estuarine sediments, Derwent estuary, Hobart, Australia: Implications for metal mobility.
R. J. Holm and S. W. Richards
A re-evaluation of arc-continent collision and along-arc variation in the Bismarck Sea region, Papua New Guinea.
Supplementary papers
S. J. Craven, N. R. Daczko and J. A. Halpin
High-T-low-P thermal anomalies superposed on biotite-grade rocks, Wongwibinda Metamorphic Complex, southern New England Orogen, Australia: heat advection by aqueous fluid?
D. W. Hamacher and C. O'Neill
The Discovery and History of the Dalgaranga Meteorite Crater, Western Australia.
Supplementary papers
F. Sun, L. Tekoum, J. C. Doumnang, R. Tchameni and A. A. Ganwa
Petrographic and structural analysis of the Precambrian rocks in the Zalbi Sector, northwest Léré, Chad.
Other papers published on-line recently
L. Bagas, R. Boucher, B. Li, J. Miller, P. Hill, G. Depauw, J. Pascoe and B. Eggers
Paleoproterozoic stratigraphy and gold mineralisation in The Granites-Tanami Orogen, North Australian Craton.
A. S. D. Maskell, P. Duuring and S. G. Hagemann
Hydrothermal alteration events controlling magnetite-rich iron ore at the Matthew Ridge prospect, Jack Hills greenstone belt, Yilgarn Craton.
S. S. Romano, N. J. M. Thébaud, D. R. Mole, M. T. D. Wingate, C. L. Kirkland and M. P. Doublier
Age constraints on komatiites in the Southern Cross Domain, Yilgarn Craton.
W. K. Witt, S. G. Hagemann and C. Villanes
Geochemistry and geology of spatially and temporally associated calc-alkaline (I-type) and K-rich (A-type) magmatism in a Carboniferous continental arc setting, Pataz gold mining district, northern Peru.
W. K. Witt, S. G. Hagemann, J. Ojala, C. Laukamp, T. Vennemann, Villanes, C. and V. Nykanen
Multiple methods for regional - to mine-scale targeting, Pataz gold field, northern Peru.
Coming up in TAG
TAG for December 2013
Christmas is just around the corner and so is the December issue of TAG. If you have a contribution for the December issue, the deadline for general copy is 25 October. Content received after the 25 October will be held over till the March issue. Don't be disappointed, get your Letter to the Editor or a news item published in TAG by sending to: tag@gsa.org.au. If you are submitting a Feature or Special Report please send your article by mid-October. Need information about word lengths and submitting? Contact: tag@gsa.org.au
JOB VACANCIES
Curtin University: Professor - Department of Applied Geology Science & Engineering
The Professorial Chair in Computational Geoscience is a National Resource Sciences Precinct initiative and a pivotal role in providing academic leadership and research expertise for Curtin University and CSIRO.
Follow this link for more information.
Curtin University: Director - The Institute for Geoscience Research Department of Applied Geology Science & Engineering
The Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR), a flagship research institute within the School of Applied Geology, undertakes high-impact research in Earth and Planetary Science at Curtin University.
Follow this link for more information.
PhD Opportunity: New Zealand
Alteration Mineralogy and geochemistry of an active sediment-hosted hydrothermal system, Ngawha, New Zealand.
Follow this link for more information.
WHAT'S ON
DEADLINES:
Early bird registration - closing date extended until 15 October 2013
Specialist Group in Tectonics and Structural Geology biennial meeting 2014
Sunday 2 February 2014
http://bit.ly/17A477H
EVENTS:
GeoMet 2013, Brisbane, 2 – 4 October 2013
Register combined with World Gold for a 15% discount
http://bit.ly/18XPSvD
The Business Case for Risk-based Slope Stability Design Workshop, Brisbane, 28 September 2013
Epithermal & Porphyry ore deposits, Perth, 7 – 8 October 2013
Earth Science Week 2013: Mapping Our World, Australia-wide, 13 – 19 October 2013
Top GeoShot 2013 photographic competition winners announced during Earth Science Week, Canberra, 13 – 19 October 2013
Epithermal & Porphyry ore deposits, Adelaide, 10 – 11 October 2013
Royal Society of Victoria Energy Future Public Forum, Melbourne, 23 October 2013
Royal Society of Victoria Energy Future Symposium Melbourne, 25 – 26 October 2013
Mining 2013, Brisbane, 23 – 25 October 2013
Sustainable Development 2013, Brisbane, 28 – 30 October 2013
ACG Blasting for Stable Slopes, Perth, 4 – 6 November 2013
Demonstration of GSWA online systems, Perth, 7 November 2013
NB: TENGRAPH online is not covered.
http://bit.ly/170fI1c
22nd Coastal Conference, Port Macquarie, 12 – 15 November 2013
Valuing our Coastal Zone, Planning our Future, What's the big picture?
http://bit.ly/106nHKm
Demonstration of GSWA online systems, Kalgoorlie, 14 November 2013
NB: TENGRAPH online is not covered.
http://bit.ly/170fI1c
26th International Applied Geochemistry Symposium, Rotorua New Zealand, 18 – 21 November 2013
Incorporating the 35th New Zealand Geothermal Workshop.
http://bit.ly/13zjGxB
Mine Site Reconciliation 2013, Gold Coast, 4 – 6 December 2013
Contact http://bit.ly/19diVOE
3rd Tasmania Geoscience Forum, Cradle Mountain Tasmania, 5 – 6 December 2013
Contact Taryn.Noble@utas.edu.au for more details.
Biennial meeting of the Specialist Group in Tectonics and Structural Geology, Thredbo NSW, 2 – 2 February 2014
Welcome BBQ and cricket match will be held on the Sunday 2 February.
For more information contact Gordon Lister gordon.lister@anu.edu.au.
Australian Earth Sciences Convention - AESC 2014, Newcastle, NSW, 7 – 10 July 2014
1st Circular available NOW.
http://bit.ly/17ZRWUi
CONTACTS
Head Office
Suite 61, 104 Bathurst Street
Sydney NSW 2000
ph 02-9290 2194
fax 02-9290 2198
www.gsa.org.au
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