Demand for sustainable energy methods, especially solar panels, has been on the rise in recent years as awareness of the depletion and impact of fossil fuels grows. However, these panels are posing a new challenge of their own- finding what to do with the first generation of solar panels that are now reaching the end […]
B23: Surficial Geologic Map of the Miami University Natural Areas near Oxford, Ohio
This project examined the surface geology of the primary floodplain in Harkers Run, located in Oxford, OH. The primary focus for this project was to determine and map the surface and subsurface geology of Harkers Run. For this study, a team of students in Geoenvironmental Field Methods (GLG 311VA) used topographic base maps and GPS […]
A44: HVSR Analysis of Heterogenous Buried Glacial Valley Deposits, Southwestern Ohio
This study presents the results of a detailed Horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) passive-seismic recording program in glacial filled-valley deposits in southwestern Ohio. Study goals were to evaluate the sensitivity of the HVSR method and best practices regarding field sampling techniques and data analysis. The study was conducted in the valley of Four Mile Creek near […]
A35: Comparing PT Paths of Metamorphic Rocks Determined by Quantitative and Semi-quantitative Approaches: A Case Study from the Monviso Ophiolite, Italy
Historically, the field of metamorphic petrology has advanced largely due to the implementation of techniques for quantifying the chemical compositions of rocks in situ. Today, concentrations of major and trace elements are routinely measured on the micrometer scale with instruments like the Electron Probe Microanalyzer (EPMA) and others. Quantitative chemical maps of minerals produced by […]
A33: What Can Symplectites Tell Us About Geological Processes on the Moon and Mars?
The work presented here reports findings from a detailed microscopic study of symplectites in lunar samples, specifically in basalts from the Apollo 15 mission and meteorites collected from Antarctica in 2018-2019. The symplectites studied are consistently composed of the same three minerals, olivine (olv), clinopyroxene (cpx), and silica (si). They represent the products of breakdown, […]
A34: Deformation of Dry High-pressure Eclogites DuringTectonic Slicing of Subducted Oceanic Lithosphere: A Case Study from the Monviso Ophiolite, Italy
The Alps contain records of deeply subducted oceanic lithosphere that detached at high-pressure (HP) conditions and later exhumed to the surface. These HP ophiolite bodies are key to understanding important geodynamics processes occurring along the plate-interface within subduction zones, yet the nature of their detachment and recovery is not well-understood. For example, HP ophiolites from […]
A39: Using Student Outreach to Create Stewards of the Environment
Teaching STEM concepts to secondary-education students is a challenge, especially with large-scale, abstract concepts such as the degradation of our ecosystems and the impacts this has on communities. One way to address this is to use small-scale examples that exist in “their own backyards”. Thus, the purpose of this project is to develop hands-on experiences […]
C60: Deciphering the Relationship Between the 1949, 1971, and 2021 Eruptions in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain
The Canary Islands are a chain of seven intra-plate volcanic islands located off the NW African coast, ~100 km west of Morocco. La Palma Island is one of the youngest and westernmost islands in the Canary archipelago, with seven recorded historical eruptions, the three most recent of which include the 1949 San Juan eruption, the […]
B20: A Petrographic Analysis of Shonkinites in the Adel Mountain Range
A rare rock type known as a shonkinite was found in the Adel Mountain range of Southwest Montana near the Missouri River and we set out to determine its crystallization history and magmatic evolution. As a first step towards this research goal, thin sections were made, and a petrographic analysis was conducted to determine composition […]
A17: The Danube River: Economics vs Environment
Our general research area for this project was comparing the economic benefits of the Danube River to the problems that it has environmentally. We started out by gathering general information about the Danube to give the audience a little bit of background. With our majors being economics and zoology, we wanted to have those topics […]