Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Tech scientists are going global

Thomas Guengerich New Mexico Tech

New Mexico Tech geoscientists will join colleagues from around the globe at an historic meeting of the minds on Oct. 5-9 in Houston.

Five professional, academic organizations joined ranks to sponsor the event, celebrating the International Year of Planet Earth, which is a joint initiative by UNESCO and the International Union of Geological Sciences.

The Joint Session Categories encompass the 10 broad, societally relevant and multidisciplinary themes declared by the International Year of Planet Earth: health, climate, groundwater, ocean, soils, deep Earth, megacities, hazards, resources and life.

New Mexico Tech professors, students and researchers will present their work in areas of hydrogeology, microbiology, seismology, remote sensing, geochemistry, tectonics and other related areas.

Geomicrobiology professor Penny Boston will present two papers and is the organizer of the sessions. Several Tech professors are chairing sessions within their specialty.

For several Tech researchers, the conference represents their first foray into the professional world. Jaron Andrews is one of four master's student whose paper was accepted for the conference. He will present his research about engineering a new arsenic filtration system.

"It's exciting and a little frightening," Andrews said. "It's a really good opportunity to see how my work compares to other students around the country and to work from around the nation."

In short, Andrews is examining a filtration system that uses iron and zeolite, which is a granular mineral compound created from volcanic ash. Along with professor Rob Bowman, Andrews has developed a new method of using iron-zeolite pellets to filter arsenic and other heavy metals out of groundwater.

Hydrology professor Rob Bowman will chair the zeolite session and present his research about how modified zeolites can be used to filter petroleum contaminants from produced water. Bowman will present his findings about how zeolites can absorb pollutants like benzene and toluene, most commonly found in gasoline.

Geoscientist Matt Heizler, of the Bureau of Geology, is presenting his research about how argon migrates through rock formations, as it relates to dating feldspar.

Heizler and Bill McIntosh, also of the Bureau, operate one of only 15 argon labs in the nation. The argon-dating process is fairly straightforward with minerals other than feldspar. The process is much more complicated with feldspar. Heizler will present his recent findings of dating feldspar.

Boston will present her research into a newly-discovered biological phenomenon called "biovermiculations," which are little-understood patterns that appear on cave walls, in desert crusts, and even in higher plants in deserts. These complex patterns appear to be a combination of biological, chemical and physical processes that self-organize in highly structured ways."

Boston's other presentation will focus on her main research over the past two decades — microbiology of high-sulfur environments — from Carlsbad Caverns to Mexico and other locations around the world.

The second application of Boston's geomicrobiology research pertains to space missions and extraterrestrial life.

Lewis Land, hydrogeologist with the Bureau of Geology's office in Carlsbad, will present his research on underground water systems related to sinkholes.

Hydrogeologist Sung-Ho Hong and geologist Jan Hendrickx will present their joint research about soil.

Hong, a graduate research student, will present his work about satellite-based tracking of evapotranspiration and how to perfect the method.

Hendrickx, a professor at Tech, will present his research about satellite-based mapping of semi-arid soils. Using advanced math, remote sensing and geology, Hendricks and his colleagues have developed a new method of mapping soil conditions. His research has specific military applications, including detection of buried explosive devices.

Shari Houston, a recent Tech graduate, will present her geochemistry research about "cave pearls." Houston, a 2008 graduate, will talk about her research about the little-known phenomenon, whereby minerals in caves naturally consolidate to create concrete-like pearls.

Professor Bruce Harrison and graduate student Hugo Gutierrez-Jurado will present their research about how geology and topography relates to hydrology, vegetation and erosion.

Gutierrez-Jurado is studying the effects of severe storms of 2006 and how the desert landscape responded, specifically an area on the west side of the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge.

Professor Gary Axen will present two papers about tectonics. He will discuss his research into the mechanics of fault lines and how they slip.

Amy Luther, a graduate student in tectonic geology, will discuss her preliminary findings about fault line movement over the eons and the evolution of fault zones in southern California.

Graduate student Jesus Velador will present his research that examines the age of minerals in a mining district in Zacatecas, Mexico. His research will have a significant effect on the gold and silver mining operations in that mining district.

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