by Harold (Fritz) Moritz

Recently I submitted samples of heulandite subgroup crystals from several places around Connecticut for analyses.  Micromounters New England will perform a limited number of scanning electron microscope – energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analyses for members such as me.  SEM-EDS provides elemental chemistry on extremely small samples except for the very light elements H, He, B, Be and Li.
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The goals of this project were to better determine the particular species of heulandite on the specific samples and from that information hopefully extend the species identifications to unanalyzed specimens from the same localities, and perhaps throughout the state.  Consequently, 3 samples were submitted from the very prolific O&G basalt quarry locality and 3 samples from veins and faults hosted by metamorphic rocks.  All were initially identified based on their crystal habit and physical properties

by Harold (Fritz) Moritz

Recently I submitted samples of chabazite group crystals from several places around Connecticut for analyses. Micromounters New England will perform a limited number of scanning electron microscope – energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analyses for members such as me.  SEM-EDS provides elemental chemistry on extremely small samples except for the very light elements H, He, B, Be and Li.

The goals of this project were to better determine the particular species of chabazite on the specific samples and from that information hopefully extend the species identifications to unanalyzed specimens from the same localities, and perhaps throughout the state.  Consequently, at least one sample was selected from most known localities with 2 samples submitted from the very prolific O&G locality.  

by Harold "Fritz" Mortiz

Recently I submitted samples of apophyllite from several places around Connecticut for analyses.  Micromounters New England will perform a limited number of scanning electron microscope – energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analyses for members such as me.  SEM-EDS provides elemental chemistry on extremely small samples except for the very light elements H, He, B, Be and Li.

The goals of this project were to better determine the particular species of apophyllite on the specific samples and from that information hopefully extend the species identifications to unanalyzed specimens from the same localities, and perhaps throughout the state.  Consequently, at least one sample was selected from most known localities with 3 samples submitted from the very prolific O&G locality. 

The Department of Environmental Earth Science at ECSU continues to grow from strength to strength with a number of notable achievements during the last 24 months.   We continue to offer a diverse undergraduate curriculum focusing on earth science, sustainable energy and environmental science.  As part of our ongoing efforts to develop experiential learning opportunities for our 90-100 majors, we have expanded our undergraduate field-training program.  In May 2016, we took 16 students to Iceland for 10 days to investigate the island’s spectacular volcanology, glaciology, geomorphology, active tectonic features and renewable energy industry.  The trip included exciting hikes through the Thingvellir rift zone, various geothermal sites, glaciers in Skaftafell National Park, a visit to Heimaey in the Vestmann Islands and a boat ride through the Jökulsárlón ice lagoon.   The department also ran a separate 10-day trip in 2017 to Arizona, with visits to many of the state’s geological highlights including the Grand Canyon, the San Francisco Volcanic Field, Sedona, Petrified Forest/Painted Desert, Saguaro National Park, the Santa Catalina Mts, Montezuma Castle,  Wupatki pueblo, the Asarco Mining operation south of Tucson and the Jerome mining ‘ghost town’.   We now have in place an exciting range of field courses that will rotate in coming years.  We are also currently developing new field trips to Spain and New Hampshire/Maine.
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Because of the educational value of out-of-classroom learning experiences, we also continue to develop our program of undergraduate research and internship involvement.  The Department receives substantial university support to engage our majors in supervised research projects with real-world significance. Ongoing projects include investigating coastal erosion, storm records and shoreline change on the Rhode Island coastline and Block Island (advisors, Oakley, Hyatt, Nathan), the sedimentology, paleo-ecology and geothermal properties of Hartford Basin stratigraphy (advisors: Drewiecki, Nathan, Hyatt), arsenic contamination in eastern CT groundwater (Advisor: Metcalf), litho-tectonic evolution of SE CT bedrock terrain (Cunningham), and sustainable energy use in local communities (Torcellini).  In addition, a handful of students hold internships at the ECSU Institute of Sustainable Energy focusing on campus energy use issues.  An exciting new collaborative internship program with DEEP has involved more than 12 students in GIS-related land use projects in the last year.

Our students have distinguished themselves at numerous professional conferences in the last 18 months such as GSA, COPLAC, NCUR, and at the annual ECSU undergraduate research conference.  Independent faculty research has also published in leading journals and presented at numerous national and international meetings including invited lectures and keynotes at AGU, 50th anniversary of Plate Tectonics meeting in London, SNET (Brazil), and a large number of sustainable energy meetings and workshops including the annual meetings of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).  Professors Torcellini and Oakley have also recently secured significant external grant funding to support their research into sustainable buildings and coastal geology, respectively.

As the job market evolves, we continue to update our curriculum to meet employer needs.  We have recently introduced a new Environmental Health Science minor, revamped the sustainable energy science concentration and developed a new AutoCAD course.   Finally, in spring, 2018, we successfully petitioned for a new chapter of the Sigma Gamma Epsilon National Honor Society in the Earth Sciences and in May we will induct our first 17 student members.

To enhance outdoor recreation and environmental education in Connecticut, the State Geological Survey of DEEP is preparing short geological reports for Connecticut State Parks. www.ct.gov/deep/geologystateparks

Connecticut Survey volunteer Randolph Steinen (retired UConn professor), working with other Survey personnel, college students, and local geologists, has written reports for seven state parks and is conducting field work for two others.  Reports for Mansfield Hollow State Park, Osborndale State Park, Silver Sands State Park, Sleeping Giant State Park and West Rock State Park are in edit, for online publication this year.  Reports for Bolton Notch State Park and Devil’s Hopyard State Park are written but require further illustration.  Field work is under way at Penwood State Park and Rocky Glen State Park. 
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Input from Society members regarding park selection for new or updated geologic reports is welcome.  Also, please contact the State Survey if you are interested in being part of the field team.  Weekend field work can be arranged. Contact [email protected]

EarthCaches also exist for many state park locations that do not have a park geologic report.  EarthCaches are administered by the Geological Society of America as a special part of the Geocache system.  Connecticut Geological Survey EarthCaches http://www.depdata.ct.gov/maps/earthcache/earthcachemap.htm

Jacqueline Giblin & Melissa Luna (2016 GSC Grant Awardees)
Faculty Sponsor: Michael Wizevich
GSC Newsletter Article Project Summary

​The purpose of this project was to utilize uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating of detrital zircon grains to determine the provenance of the sediment infill of the Mesozoic Hartford and Pomperaug basins. The source areas for much of the sedimentary fill of the Hartford and Pomperaug rift basins is not well constrained due to discontinuous outcrop, complex paleocurrent patterns and complicated tectonic history of the source areas. Scientists have proposed sources from the east, west, and both the east and west; there is little agreement on a definitive source or sources of material in the basin. Zircon is a durable mineral found in nearly all sedimentary rocks and can be dated by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (LA-ICPMS) analysis of U-Pb in the detrital zircon grains.  The age of a detrital zircon provides the date of the source rock in which it formed. Dates of zircons and potential source rocks can be matched and thus provide the areas that they came from. 

During the winter of 2009-2010 a Home Depot store was constructed at a site on state Route 111 in northern Trumbull (aka Long Hill).  This site initially saw some grading and rock removal in the 1990s for a planned retail outlet known as Old Mine Plaza in allusion to the adjacent Old Mine Park.  However, no construction was ever done and it sat idle until the Home Depot construction. 

With its proximity to Old Mine Park, a place famous for its topaz and fluorite-rich hydrothermal veins and amphibolite-hosted scheelite and ferberite pseudomorphs thereof, the defunct plaza and the new Home Depot construction were a magnet for mineral collecting.  The bedrock is mostly amphibolite, with some marble, mapped as the Silurian basal member of the Silurian-Devonian The Straits Schist, which are locally very well exposed.  There was generally little overburden of Pleistocene age on the site. 
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However, during the Home Depot construction a large, underground storm water storage gallery was constructed by blasting a chamber into the bedrock.  This was presumably done because of the limited land available for a surface retention basin, so it was placed under the parking lot by filling the space with nested, hollow concrete structures that could support the overlying parking (see Figure 1).  The walls of the gallery exposed mostly amphibolite bedrock, but the southeast corner revealed a layer of overlying glacial till.