Welcome New Members!
/Darlene Conrad
Peter Griffen
Gordon and Eleanore Hale
James Lee
Bob Oblack
Barry Walker
Darlene Conrad
Peter Griffen
Gordon and Eleanore Hale
James Lee
Bob Oblack
Barry Walker
Based on the February 14, 2020 lecture by Dr. Marli Miller, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon and her book co-authored with Dr. Darrel Cowan.
GSOC members were delighted to welcome back Dr. Marli Miller to speak to the society about her latest book, Roadside Geology of Washington Second Edition. Miller co-wrote the book with her former PhD. Thesis advisor, Dr. Darrel Cowan of the University of Washington, whose experience and perspective in understanding the geological framework of the state was invaluable. In her opening remarks, she said that her favorite thing to say about writing these (roadside geology) books is that she learns so much.
In her lecture Miller broke down the geological history of Washington into a series of events, which define the physiographic provinces of the state, because it is the bedrock of a region that influences the outward appearance. The original western boundary, the Laurentian margin, is now on the eastern margin of Washington, and these ancient rocks are highly deformed and metamorphosed to varying degrees. A series of accreted terranes, starting with the Quesnellia terrane accreted in the Jurassic, and the latest Siletzia, which stretches from southern Oregon to southwestern British Columbia, and which accreted 50 million years ago, comprise the basement for the remaining part of the state. Atop and within these lie volcanic and sedimentary bodies that covered or erupted through the basement rocks. Stitching plutons were igneous masses that erupted as a result of terranes accreting to each other or to the continent.
Read MoreBased on the January 10, 2020 GSOC Friday night lecture by Dr. Laird Thompson, Managing Partner of UF3.
Dr. Laird Thompson is an expert on rock fracturing and after working on imaging technology for boreholes in the 1980’s, he was appointed head of Mobil Oil’s fracture technology. He owns his own consulting firm now and is currently partnering on some work which has brought him into Oregon -- where GSOC is fortunate to have him as a speaker. He is the author or coauthor of several reference books which are the standards for the fracking* industry.
*See discussion below about whether it should be spelled “fracking” or “fracing.”
In explaining the rise and importance of fracking, Thompson reviewed the natural, financial and geopolitical history of the oil industry. Oil** is a commodity whose value is shaped by the laws of supply and demand. It is a commodity that is limited in supply. For the most part, it was created from biomass, which on earth is concentrated in the ocean in the form of diatoms, plankton, etc. These little oceanic critters have died by the trillions, and the little drops of oil they used as ballast have turned into oil reserves over millions of years.
Download pdf of Laird Thompson’s January lecture.
Read MoreJoin the Association for Women Geoscientists for a week-long field study of the remarkable geology along the North Coast of California from San Francisco to Mendocino. We will meet at Union Square in San Francisco on September 10th at 1:00 pm and end with a drop off at the San Francisco International Airport around 2:00pm on September 17th. We will stay four nights at the Marin Headlands Hostel Annex and three nights at the Mendocino College Coastal Field Station in Point Arena. Transportation is by coach and driver.
Read MoreUpcoming changes to GSOC organization are being designed to facilitate membership registration and communications and to just “get the jobs done.”
With this edition, GSOC is publishing our last print format newsletter for the foreseeable future. Almost. By now, most of you members have been turning to the GSOC website for your information about what is going on in the club. And that will continue to be the case. For those of you who would like something to download and print, the GSOC board is planning to produce a pdf archive document summarizing the website articles and club activities at the end of each year starting in 2020. Those documents will be available on the website, included in the page with the archived newsletter files.
GSOC is also adopting a new software platform to perform membership registration, renewal and mass email communications starting in 2020. The GSOC Board of Directors will be sending an email to the membership outlining the membership renewal process and will be available to answer questions the members may have regarding the new platform and registration process. It will be important for members to renew their memberships using the process outlined in the email in order to continue to receive society emails and other membership benefits.
Needless to say, all these changes need to also be reflected in the society’s bylaws, and the board is working hard on those changes and is planning to present them to the membership in December 2019, so they can be put to the vote in the society’s annual business meeting in February 2020.
As the outgoing newsletter editor, I would like to express my appreciation for the society and for the opportunity I’ve had for writing and editing The Geological Newsletter. Twenty years have flown by so fast!
– Carol Hasenberg
Read Moreby Teresa Meyer
For those of us who were fortunate enough to participate in the Wallowa GSOC field trip, along with stunning geology we were immersed in an abundance of wildflowers. We were surrounded by an unbelievable variety of wildflowers everywhere we went. At any one time you could stand still and see more than a dozen or more different flowers surrounding you.
Read MoreValerie Rullman
Andrew Baird
Matthew Brunengo
Alexander Gordon
Marilee Janzen
James Faulkner
Sally Kohnstamm
Sam Lee
Mark & Laurie Carter-Piff
Lee Nusich & Karen Gunderson
Sarah & Richard Munro
Sheila & Scott Morrill
This article is going to be a bit of a departure from the typical GSOC Friday night lecture synopsis, because there is an online video version of the “Supervolcanoes” lecture available on Nick Zentner’s web page. However, the GSOC lecture itself was a happening due to the popularity of Zentner’s video productions, and there were some wrinkles in the Supervolcanoes lecture that he did specifically for our group that are worth noting. To begin the lecture, Zentner talked about his inspiration for doing the topic of Supervolcanoes in the Pacific Northwest.
Read MoreGSOC participants had a great little trip to the Corvallis area in mid-July to observe the geological features of Marys Peak and the Tyee formation along US 20 between Philomath and Newport, Oregon. Sheila Alfsen led the group on Saturday, July 13, on a tour of Marys Peak. Her tour was partially based on the very excellent book by Robert J. Lillie, Oregon’s Island in the Sky: Geology Road Guide to Marys Peak. This book is available online at a very reasonable cost.
Read MorePresident Sheila Alfsen called the meeting to order at Barbara Stroud’s home. Other board members in attendance were Barbara Stroud, Dawn Juliano, Paul Edison- Lahm, Julia Lanning, Dennis Chamberlin and Carol Hasenberg, constituting quorum. Minutes of the June 2019 board meeting were approved.
Read MoreRobert Boyce
Michael Harrell
Marjorie Bush
Christopher Humphrey
Cory Samia
James Binkley
Maura Hanlon
Nancy Matheny
I’ll begin this article with a picture of the Buckhorn Overlook taken on May 18, 2019, when Evelyn, Julia and I did the reconnaissance for the Wallowa trip. We were directed up here by guest field trip leader Ellen Morris Bishop as this is the best overlook of the eastern canyons area for observing the ranks upon ranks of Columbia River Basalt flows that override the exotic terrane rocks of Hells Canyon, Imnaha Canyon and the Zumwalt Prairie through which we had travelled to get there. We are actually looking down into Imnaha Canyon here and Hells Canyon is just over on the other side of the last green ridge you can see. The blue ridge beyond is the eastern wall of Hells Canyon.
Read MoreSynopsis of the GSOC Friday night lecture given on June 8, 2019, with speaker Dr. John Armentrout
Dr. John Armentrout gave a fascinating lecture on his work on the Coaledo project, a multidisciplinary team effort to revisit the geology of Oregon’s Coos Bay area. The study area is covering the Cape Arago peninsula, from the mouth of Coos Bay to Sacchi Beach. The eighteen researchers involved in the project — specialists in geologic structure and stratigraphy, tectonics and paleomagnetics, sedimentology, and paleontology — will be updating tectonic and depositional history of the area to improve understanding at both the local and global levels of interest.
Read MoreGSOC’s contribution to this year’s GSA Cordilleran section meeting was a huge success thanks to the many hands that helped build the booth and manned the booth:
Charlie Raymond
Marty Muncie
Clay Kelleher
Cris Morgante
Denny Chamberlin
Herb Dirksen
Maryann Amann
Fenella Robinson
And thanks to Paul Edison-Lahm for the beautiful poster and business cards.
Great job you guys!
Read MoreJakob Olesen
Keith Olson
Elisha Smith
Peggy Macko
Annette King
William Boettner
Sue Wright
Ian Madin & Hilary Johnson
Barbara & Jack Oakes
Cory Samia
Robert Boyce
Read MoreThis spring Portland area schools have asked for supplements to their regular Earth Science curricula and GSOC was happy to respond.
In May, Springwater Environmental Science School in Oregon City asked for a speaker on the subduction earthquake, to which President Sheila Alfsen, as public outreach officer for GSOC, responded. The students were very engaged and interested to learn about this important topic.
In June, Hockinson Middle School asked for rocks to use as a classroom set. Word was put out to GSOC members who responded generously! We were able to donate classroom rocks for both Earth Science teachers at the school.
Sheila spent the day preparing the seventh graders for their upcoming hike around the pumice plain at Mt St. Helens. The school is grateful to have our help!
Public outreach is also being expanded by Past-President Paul Edison Lahm at our monthly GSOC Meetup group at Woodstock Wine and Deli. Paul will also be collaborating on outreach this summer with Oregon Agate and Mineral Society, People of Color Outdoors, and Positively Portland.
Read MorePresident Sheila Alfsen called the meeting to order at Barbara Stroud’s home. Other board members in attendance constituting quorum were Barbara Stroud, Dawn Juliano, Rik Smoody, Paul Edison-Lahm, and Carol Hasenberg, constituting quorum. Also in attendance was Evelyn Bennett. Minutes of the April 2019 board meeting were approved.
Read MoreSynopsis of the GSOC Friday night lecture given on April 12, 2019, with speaker Jon Krier, MS from OSU.
Jon Krier’s work seeks to conduct ancient shoreline mapping in order to find possible locations of submerged archaeology sites along the western coast of North America. He combines modern bathymetry and other technological techniques to assess underwater contours with the oral traditions of indigenous tribes in his work. Krier has recently been involved in a project along the Oregon coast for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. The tribes’ objective in hiring the study was to determine where ancient settlements may be located on the submerged coast in anticipation of energy companies coming in to the area. They are having Krier predict where cultural resource assessments need to be done prior to any disturbances.
Read MoreThe title of this article is the ‘alternative title’ shown to us by Dr. Ian Madin, the speaker featured at the GSOC 84th Annual Banquet on March 10. Madin came to describe three new areas of Oregon containing active faults that were discovered by analyzing the ‘bare earth’ maps of the ground produced in LiDAR scans of the terrain The first area of faults described by Madin are located in the Mt. Hood area, and are referred to as the Mt. Hood Fault Zone. These faults run north to south and are normal faults. Two of the faults, Multorpor Mountain Fault and Twin Lakes Fault, define two sides of a graben that is 10 miles long. Madin also analyzed the potential earthquake hazards represented by the faults.
Read MoreGretchen Baller
Wendy Whitsell
John & Kathleen Beaulieu
Roger Ley
Bruce Castle
Cynthia Smith
Alfred & Nina Fleckenstein
Mariah Tilman
Jill Cohen & Justina Cotter
John Adams
Gary Seitz
Laurie Elliott
Ann Cornely
Michael Dunn
Rebecca Bateman
Scott Anderson
John Brownlee
Emily Cahoon
Tima Carlson
Reed Dixon
Lisa Hoffman
Alex MacLeod
Louis Macovsky
Seth Munkres
Deborah Santomero
Janet and Tom Sonoff
Blair Stuhlmuller
Paige Stuhlmuller
Alice Ziring
Interested in geology news and casual conversation with other geology fans? Attend our Monthly Meetups!
Our monthly lectures and local field trips are open to all!
Want to come on in-depth overnight field trips led by professional geologists? Become a GSOC Member!
Questions about Geology? Ask in our Facebook Group!
Concerned about earthquake preparedness? Arrange for public speaking on Cascadia Earthquake Preparedness.
Portland State University Department of Geology, our gracious host since 1971, offers undergraduate and graduate programs in geology, as well as free auditing for seniors.
Interested in Gems and Minerals?
In the Bend area? Visit our sister club Central Oregon Geoscience Society!
Interested in fossils? Check out the North American Research Group.
GSOC • P.O. Box 80133 • Portland, OR 97280 • communications@gsoc.org