Monday,
April 13, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 pm
Note: ETGS members will receive an email with info for logging into the meeting.
APRIL PRESENTATION
Geology & More in the Land of
Fire & Ice
Travels in Iceland - September/October 2019
By
J. Brad Stephenson, PG
Tennessee Dept. of Environment & Conservation (TDEC)
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
with support from
Seaira Stephenson; Harry L. Moore, PG; and Alice Ann Moore.
Abstract
During September/October 2019, several ETGS members mounted an expedition to the "Land of Fire & Ice", a geologic wonderland better known as Iceland. Most introductory geology textbooks mention Iceland as one of the few places on Earth where one can stand on dry land and directly observe evidence that tectonic plates are diverging along a mid-ocean ridge. Recent interpretations hypothesize that the formation of Europe's largest island may also be attributed in part to the presence of a hot spot in the underlying mantle, much like the one responsible for the Hawaiian island chain. The result is a geologist's paradise filled with active volcanoes, lava caves, geysers, hot springs, earthquakes, glaciers, ice caves, flash floods, massive waterfalls, columnar basalt, breath-taking scenery, and an array of opportunities for exploration and adventure. Iceland's northern latitude supports interesting extremes of weather and daylight or darkness, not to mention chances to witness the aurora borealis or northern lights.
Biography
Mr. Stephenson is a professional geologist with 30 years of
experience in environmental consulting for government and commercial
clients. He has a B.S. from the University of the South (Sewanee)
and an M.S. from Western Kentucky University. He grew up caving in
Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia (known as KTAG among
cavers), which fed his interest in the geology and hydrology of
karst areas. Following seasonal work as a park ranger at Wind Cave
National Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota, much of his career
has focused on solving environmental challenges in karst settings,
including work under RCRA and CERCLA regulatory programs. Since
1995, he has been on the organizing committee for 12 meetings of the
Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and
Environmental Impacts of Karst, commonly known as The Sinkhole
Conference, serving as co-editor for proceedings volumes in 1997,
2013, and 2015. He joined TDEC in 2016, where he works with the U.S.
Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to
support cleanup of the Oak Ridge Reservation in a manner that
protects the public and the environment. He has been a member of the
East Tennessee Geological Society (ETGS) since 1995, serving in
various roles, including secretary, webmaster, and president.
Welcome & Logistics
Greetings, and welcome to the April 13, 2020 ETGS virtual meeting.
We hope you, your family, and your colleagues are staying healthy
and well as we endeavor to "flatten the curve".
As a courtesy please mute your cell phone or the microphone in your laptop/tablet to minimize background noise and feedback echos. We will also make an effort to mute all participants - at least until the presentation is finished. Please use the chat feature to type any comments or questions you may have. We recommend that you send questions for the speaker to "everyone" so all participants can see the question. In the interest of time, we may hold the Q&A at the end of the presentation.
The presentation abstract, speaker biography , and other ETGS news
was provided in the emailed meeting announcement. This included a recent article on the
Gray Fossil Site and
an upcoming AGI
webinar on "Mapping Displacement and Subsidence with Time-series
Radar".
We will create a virtual attendance list. It is not always possible
to tell who is participating, especially for those joining by phone,
so please email
etgs@live.com
to be listed on the attendance sheet. Let us know exactly how your
name should appear on the list. We will add a note explaining the
lack of signatures due to COVID-19-induced distancing and have an
ETGS officer sign as usual.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we try this online
format. As always, we welcome and appreciate your feedback and
suggestions for improvement.
Dedication
This presentation is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Don Byerly, one of the founding members of ETGS. Many of us knew and loved Dr. Byerly, without whom we would not likely have an ETGS to support continuing education and networking among local geoscientists. In fact, the Iceland "field trip" presented this evening would not have occurred were it not for Dr. Byerly's influence. The seed for this trip was planted at an impromptu lunch immediately after Dr. Byerly's service of remembrance and thanksgiving on May 6, 2018. As we cope with the effects of COVID-19, it seems appropriate to share a poem from Dr. Byerly's funeral program...
|
Advice from a Volcano
|
Page updated April 14, 2020 |