Newsletter

Volume 46, No. 2 October, 2011

The Austin Geological Societys October 2011 Meeting

The Featured Speakers & Topics Are:

Dr. Earle F. McBride Evolution of the Marathon BasinA Slide & Sound Presentation

7:00 pm Monday, October 3, 2010 Bureau of Economic Geology 10100 Burnet Rd., Bldg. 137

www.austingeosoc.org

The Austin Geological Society Officers 2011-2012

President Johnathan R. Bumgarner jbumgarner@usgs.gov President-Elect Pete Rose prrose@roseassoc.com Vice-President Becky Smyth rebecca.smyth@beg.utexas.edu Secretary & Newsletter Editor Katrina Patterson katrina.e.patterson@gmail.com Treasurer Bruce Darling bkdarling@southwestgroundwater.com Past President Dallas Dunlap dallas.dunlap@beg.utexas.edu

Committee Chairs
Field Trip Chock Woodruff chockw@swbell.net 512-480-0335 Membership TBD Publications Steve Ruppel stephen.ruppel@beg.utexas.edu 512-471-2965 Student Liaison-Graduate Vacant Student Liaison-Undergraduate Steve Gohlke Endowed Scholarship Shane Valentine Shane.valentine@gmail.com Education John K. Mikels geos-jkm@swbell.net 512-445-3433 Awards Pete Rose prrose@roseassoc.com Historical Dennis Trombatore drtgeol@mail.utexas.edu 512-495-4680 AGS Bulletin Robert Mace robert.mace@twdb.state.tx.us 512-451-7094 AAPG Laura Zahm laura.zahm@beg.utexas.edu 512-632-2310

In This Issue
News, Announcements, and Information Sources ............................................... 3 Meetings, Conferences, Seminars, etc. ................................................................ 5 2010-2011 AGS Bulletin news ............................................................................ 6 Presidents Prattle ................................................................................................ 7 Guest Speaker Abstract........................................................................................... 8 Become an AGS 2010-2011 Bulletin Ad Sponsor!. ................................................9 Advertisements ................................................................................................... 10 Meeting Time & Location .................................................................................. 12 Membership Application Form ........................................................................... 14

News, Announcements, and Information Sources

AGS News August/September Meeting: On August 29th 2011, the first AGS meeting of the year was opened with an update on the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists (TBPG) activities by newly appointed TBPG Executive Director Charles Horton, and with an update on the launch of the Virtual Landscapes of Texas, by Dennis Trombatore. For the annual Ethics Meeting, this meeting took the form of an Ethics Panel, featuring a discussion of ethics in the geosciences by members of academia, government and industry. Our featured guests were Ann Ardis, Kirk Holland, Bob Kier, and Ernie Lundelius. The panel was followed by an engaging question and answer session. News & updates from the AGS Education Committee The Austin Geological Society has done geoscience outreach to K-12 classes in Austin-area schools for a number of years. Every year we receive requests from science teachers to come to their classrooms and talk to their students on a variety of earthscience topics. AGS has 3-4 "canned" presentations, but sometimes our speakers must improvise, to meet a teacher's specific topic needs. Several AGS members have been frequent guest-speaker volunteers in the past, but we still need a larger pool of speakers. Other earthscience events in which AGS participates include Earthscience Week Career Fair (late October on UT-PRC) and judging at the Regional Science Fest (late February, Palmer Center). To get on the volunteer list, contact the AGS Education Committee Chair, John Mikels (w: 445-3433, c: 924-1805; e: geos-jkm@swbell.net). So do it - NOW! Your outreach time & talent just might steer a bright, inquisitive 11 year old to become a geologist and, even if not, you'll make 'em a bit smarter (and caring) about the natural, physical world around 'em. Sign up - NOW.....the kids are waiting! Upcoming AGS 2011 Fall Field Trip Hill County Trinity Lithostratigraphy: Surface to Subsurface In Blanco and Hays Counties, Texas Fieldtrip Leaders/contributors: Brian B. Hunt, Alex S. Broun, Doug Wierman, Ronald Fieseler, Brian A. Smith, and Chock Woodruff (and perhaps a few others) Saturday, November 12, 2011 Destination: Northern Blanco and Hays Counties Depart: 0800 from the Pickle Center parking lot at the East (Main) Entrance Cost: $50; Deposit and sign-up will be taken at the October meeting This trip is meant as a follow-up and compliment to the recent publication titled Hydrogeologic Atlas of the Hill Country Trinity Aquifer (Wierman et al., 2010), which AGS supported. Attendees will visit unique locations and a nearly continuous measured section of the Trinity Group centered along Flat Creek in northern Blanco and Hays Counties. This trip is a hands-on geologic fieldtrip with hammers, acid, and hand lenses encouraged. Participants will visit the Hammett Shale, and some unique exposures of the Cow Creek and Hensel on a private ranch. Then participants will walk from the top of the Cow Creek through a nearly continuous exposure
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of the Hensel, lower Glen Rose, and into the upper Glen Rose. The focus of discussion will be on the relationship of the Trinity Group rocks (as seen in outcrop) and how they influence groundwater availability in Hays County (Hill Country Trinity Aquifer). Geophysical logs and cuttings from boreholes will be presented during lunch as will other hydrogeological information. Time allowing, additional stops could include Pedernales Falls to look at the Paleozoic and Hosston (lowest unit of the Trinity Group) and a road cut near the town of Blanco looking at the Trinity-Fredericksburg transition. Participants will receive a guidebook containing maps and measured sections in addition to select plates (small) from the Hydrogeologic Atlas. This trip requires more than a mile of walking up hill along this unique exposure and some uneven and rough hiking along Flat Creek. Please bring your lunch and standard field gear (water bottle, hat, and sturdy hiking shoes or boots). Information Sources Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists: See www.tbpg.state.tx.us Seminars, Tech-Sessions, & Guest Lecturers at UT's Jackson School of Geosciences: Check the calendars at: http://www.geo.utexas.edu/about/twig/ Other Sources of Texas GeoScience News & Events: Texas Section, AIPG: http://www.aipg-tx.org/ Texas Section, AEG: www.aeg-tx.org/news.asp TWDB, GW Res. Division: www.twdb.state.tx.us/groundwater

Meetings, Conferences, Seminars, etc.

GCAGS 2011convention (Veracruz, Mexico) has been postponed From the GCAGS website: For reasons due to unforeseen circumstances, GCAGS must regrettably call off the 2011 Convention in Veracruz. The Organizing Committee wishes to thank all the stakeholders in this effort for their commitment and hard work to assemble the best possible technical program, field trips, short courses, exhibition offerings, student activities and social events. We deeply regret the inconvenience it will cause some as travel plans must now be changed so close to convention time. We are taking the necessary actions by informing all participants, including exhibitors, sponsors, presenters and attendees; the registration process and the booth sales have ended; hotel reservations made through the convention Web site are being canceled; and we will soon begin reimbursing all payments made to GCAGS coming from registration, booth sales and sponsorships. If you ordered a hard copy of the Transactions volume, we will keep your payment and send your book to you. The GCAGS, the host society AMGP, their officers and volunteers are grateful to everyone for their support and efforts in connection with GCAGS 2011. Go to http://gcags2011.com/ for more information. Austin is slated to host the GCAGS 2012 convention. Note, this is a huge job and the society conference committee will need some support. Please contact Dallas Dunlap if you are interested in volunteering. The society stands to gain revenue from the convention. Much of the funding for AGS (>$10K) supporting outreach, meetings, and additionally for scholarships was derived from the last conference.

2010-2011 AGS Bulletin: Authors and Ad Sponsors Needed

The initial edition of the Austin Geological Society Bulletin was unveiled in August, 2005. The Bulletin is an annual publication that summarizes significant AGS news and events from the preceding year, including the abstracts of talks given at the monthly meetings. It is also a forum for publication of geoscientific papers and notes of regional interest. The editorial team is beginning to prepare the 2010-2011 AGS Bulletin, and is seeking papers and other contributions. If you are interested in submitting a paper or in being in the peer reviewers pool, please send an email to Robert Mace at editor@austingeosoc.org or phone him at 451-7094. The AGS Bulletin will be freely available at no cost on the AGS website. Circulation of the AGS Bulletin will greatly exceed the number of active AGS members, which are currently about 130 in central Texas. The costs to have YOUR ad in the AGS Bulletin are:

Ad Size
Business card (2 x 3.5 in) Quarter-Page (3.75 x 5 in) Half-Page (7.25 x 5 in) Full-Page (7.5 x 10 in)

Cost
$25 ($15 AGS members) $50 $100 $200

Advertisements should consist of high-resolution JPEG file formats. Color is acceptable, though images need to be clear when printed in grayscale. If color is absolutely necessary, an additional charge will be added for the cost of printing the ten Bulletin copies that will be library archived. Images should be e-mailed to the Robert Mace. Checks should be written to the Austin Geological Society and mailed to the same. For more information, go to: www.austingeosoc.org/bulletin.

Presidents Prattle by Johnathan Bumgarner

Greetings AGS members, What a way to start things off! The first meeting ethics panel was a great success with thanks owed to our representatives from academia and the public and private sectors. The questions went well past time and the discussion had a little bit for everyone. Thanks are also owed to newly appointed TBPG Executive Director Charles Horton for his update on Board activities and Dennis Trombatore for his update on the Virtual Landscapes of Texas. We have a full schedule for our October 3rd meeting. Dr. Earl McBride will be presenting Evolution of the Marathon Basin-A Slide & Sound Presentation. Personally, Im excited to hear from the professor who taught at least half of AGS everything we know about sedimentary geology. Before Dr. McBrides talk well also get a brief presentation by Brian Hunt on this years field trip to explore the Lower Cretaceous units showcased in the Hydrogeologic Atlas of the Hill Country Trinity Aquifer. Well also honor a couple of our members with well-deserved service awards: Eddie Collins for his contributions to the AGS field trip, and Doug Ratcliff for his efforts to educate our future leaders through GeoFORCE. Finally, with the passing of Dr. Bill Muehlberger on September 14th, the geologic community lost a great scientist, teacher, and friend. Pat Dickerson will lead us in memorializing Dr. Muehlberger and his legacy. My thoughts, and Im sure those of all AGS members, go out to Dr. Muehlbergers family. I look forward to seeing you on the 3rd. Cheers! John

AGS October 2011 Meeting: Guest Speaker & Topic Dr. Earle F. McBride Professor Emeritus and J. Nalle Gregory Chair in Sedimentary Geology UT-Austin, Jackson School of Geosciences, Department of Geological Sciences Evolution of the Marathon Basin-A Slide & Sound Presentation
The Marathon Uplift is a broad, domal uplift 78 mi (125 km) in diameter, of early Tertiary age. Erosion of Cretaceous and younger strata from the crest of the uplift produced the topographic Marathon Basin where, in an area 31 by 47 mi (50 by 75 km), deformed pre-Permian Paleozoic rocks are exposed that have a composite stratigraphic thickness of 16,400 ft (5,000 m). These Paleozoic rocks are part of a belt of deformed rocks that were deposited along the southeastern margin of North America during Paleozoic time, and which make up the Ouachita orogen. The orogen extends from Arkansas across Oklahoma and Texas, and has been traced almost to Mexico. Source: McBride, E.F., 1988, Geology of the Marathon Uplift, west Texas in Geological Society of America Centennial Field Guidebook South Central Section, p. 411-416. Note: The Marathon Basin is nearly centered on the town of Marathon, which is located in Trans-Pecos Texas approximately 400 miles due west of Austin, TX. ______________________________________________________________________________ Biographical Sketches Dr. Earle F. McBride, a native of Rock Island, Illinois came to UT in 1959 and retired as professor emeritus in 2005. He received a BA from Augustana College, where J. A. Udden devised the first grain size scale of sediments and did his work on the eolian origin of loess; an MA from Univ. of Missouri, where his thesis was on the geochemistry of clay minerals; and a PhD from John Hopkins University, where he worked under Francis Pettijohn. McBride became interested in geology of the Marathon Basin in 1960 and spent 10 years there fighting lechuguilla and catclaw. His chief geological interest is sandstone petrology and diagenesis. McBride has been fingerprinted by the UT Police twice, the State of Texas five times and the Federal Government three times; he spent a night in an Illinois jail; he has been arrested in Japan for illegal entry into the country; arrested in the UK for carrying a concealed weapon; and accosted by the Border Patrol in California as a suspected drug smuggler. He has had breakfast with Ms. Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter); discussed SALT TWO with Henry Kissinger; and shaken hands with President Eisenhower. He presently is working on the McBride Number, the total number of sand grains on earth. It will take its place along with pi, Avogadro's number, the acceleration of gravity, Planck's constant, and the DJIA.

Become an AGS Newsletter 2010-2011 Ad Sponsor!

If you would like your advertisement to appear in the monthly AGS Newsletters, please contact Katrina Patterson. The ad prices below are good for a full year.

Ad Size
Business card (2 x 3.5 in) Quarter-Page (3.75 x 5 in) Half-Page (7.25 x 5 in) Full-Page (7.5 x 10 in)

Cost
$25 ($15 AGS members) $50 $100 $200

Advertisements should consist of high-resolution JPEG file formats. Color is acceptable, though images need to be clear when printed in grayscale. Images should be e-mailed to Katrina Patterson (katrina.e.patterson@gmail.com). Checks should be written to the Austin Geological Society and mailed to the same.

Thanks to Our Sponsors:

Charles Marsh Woodruff, Jr., Ph.D., P.G. Consulting in Environmental and Engineering Geology since 1983 Woodruff Geologic Consulting, Inc. 711 West 14th Street Austin, Texas 78701 phone/fax: 512-480-0335; e-mail: chockw@swbell.net

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Meeting Time & Location

Unless otherwise announced in this newsletter and on the AGS website (www.austingeosoc.org), the monthly public meetings of the AGS are held at 7:00PM on the first Monday of each month through May. There will be no meeting in January. The normal meeting location is in the Main Conference room of the University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology Building (Bldg. 130), located on the UT J. J. Pickle Research Campus. The Campus is located at 10100 Burnet Road. Additional pre-meeting Workshops will be held throughout the year, with notice via email, on the website, and in the newsletter. Check the AGS website (www.austingeosoc.org) for announcements on upcoming meetings.

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Austin Geological Society Membership Application:

Please enroll me in the Austin Geological Society as (check one): O Renewal Active Member ($20 dues/year) Date: ___________________

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Renewal Student Member ($0 dues/year) New Active Member ($20 dues/year) New Student Member ($0 dues/year)

Name: __________________________________________________________________________ New Members or Renewing Members With Changes: Telephone: (Office)_____________________________(Home) _____________________________ Mailing Address: Street or box: ___________________________________________________________________ City:______________________________________ Zip: _________________________________ Email Address: ___________________________________________________________________ In order to reduce waste, AGS will be sending out newsletters by email only. Limited hardcopies will be available before every meeting, for those without email access. Please contact the Secretary with questions.

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Check here if you are unable to receive the newsletter by email and require a hard copy at the meetings Check here if you do not want meeting notices emailed to your email account. Check here if you do not want your email or mailing address releases to other geological entities.

Background: Employer: _____________________________________________________________________ College Education (degree and field, year, school):______________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Present Focus: _________________________________________________________________ Disciplines of Interest: ____________________________________________________________

Mail this form and payment to: Treasurer, Austin Geological Society, P.O. Box 1302, Austin, TX 78767-1302
We invite you to become a member of the Austin Geological Society and share in our programs. Your membership will bring you: notice of AGS meetings with speakers. notice of AGS field trips to sites of geological interest. social gatherings of geological professionals in the Austin area. a monthly newsletter to keep you informed of Society and regional news of interest to geologists. the opportunity to become acquainted with other geologists in the Austin area. The requirements for membership are: To be eligible for Active Membership, an applicant shall have a degree in geology from a recognized college or university, or the equivalent experience, or have been actively engaged in the application of geology or related scientific or professional work for a minimum of two years. Consideration of Honorary Membership shall be based on continued dedication and service to the Austin Geological Society. Honorary members shall be selected by the Executive Board. Any Active Member may submit the name of an individual to the Executive Board for consideration as an Honorary Member. Any person who is a student in good standing, studying for a degree in geology or related science, is eligible for Student Membership. Student Members shall not be eligible to vote or hold elective office. 14

The Austin Geological Society P. O. Box 1302 Austin, Texas 78767-1302

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