Kansas State University

Some of our undergrad students who are deeply involved in research projects have presented their results at the 2023 Geological Society of America meeting held in Pittsburgh this past October. Below are their feedbacks.

Celine Mazzella (Senior, B.Sc Geology)

At this year’s annual GSA meeting I presented research of the Jackson Hole volcanics in Northwestern Wyoming, specially the Flat Creek Basalt area. The focus of this research was to constrain the lava flow to either being a local eruption or not, and if it occurred over one episode or multiple. The reason we looked at this area was because it is the first known instance of a basaltic eruption prior to the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic System developing. After going out to the field site and confirming the presence of at least one dike we were able to determine that this lava was locally erupted and happened in a singular episode.

Quinton Mindrup (Senior, B.Sc Geology)

I had two poster presentations at the 2023 National GSA conference. The first one was over the “Impact of seawater alteration on Cu isotope composition of oceanic basalts along the South Atlantic Transect: IODP Exp 390/393” which I presented on the first day. The second was over “Lithium concentrations in Cenozoic rhyolite vitrophyres and quartz-hosted melt inclusions: implications for lithium deposits in the northern Great Basin (U.S.A.)” on the second day. I had a great time presenting both of these posters and had so many great conversations. I really enjoy connecting with others over similar work we have done or fun ideas on what the data may mean.

August 20, 1926 – August 26, 2023

It is with deep sadness that we inform you about the passing of Robert “Bob” Douglas Cowdery, a petroleum geologist, and a tremendous supporter of the department of Geology.

Bob enrolled at Kansas State University in 1944, then in December of that year he enlisted in the army and after training was on his way to Taiwan when the A bomb was dropped on Japan. He then served in Honolulu as a Tech St. After his discharge in 1946 Bob returned to Kansas State and graduated in 3 years with a degree in Physical Science with a major in Geology in 1949. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi (an honorary scholastic fraternity), and Sigma Delta Epsilon (an honorary geological fraternity). In 1991 Bob received the Kansas State University Distinguished Service Award. Bob completed many courses in anthropology and business attending the University of Denver, University of Colorado, Colorado School of Mines, Butler Co. Community College and Wichita State University.

After graduation Bob was employed by Cities Service Oil Company in Oklahoma City and Great Bend. Bob began working for Petroleum, Inc. in 1951 and continued for 38 years. He spent 22 years in the Denver area exploring for oil in the Rockies. In 1975 he moved to Wichita as the company exploration manager responsible for oil exploration in 11 states. In 1985 he served Petroleum, Inc. as president and chief operating officer and retired in 1988.

Bob was a member of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, Kansas Geological Society, a charter member of American Institute of Geologists, Kansas Geological Foundation, Society of Independent Earth Scientists, and a senior member of the Geological Society of America. He served as president and headed many committees of these professional organizations. In 1996 he was elected president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

Thank you for your service and your active support in Geology Bob! Rest in Peace!

We are proud to announce great achievement of three of our Graduate Students.

Tochukwu Onyebum, a graduate student from the Department was recently awarded two prestigious scholarships by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), including the SEG Foundation/Chevron Scholarship and Geophysical Society of Tulsa/SEG Scholarship. These scholarships will significantly support his academic program and research at Kansas State University. Tochukwu’s research interests include seismicity (earthquakes) and mantle geodynamics. He’s working with Dr. Claudia Adam on research to investigate the relationship between mantle dynamics and surface deformation over central and eastern United States by modeling mantle convection from global and regional seismic tomography models. Tochukwu was previously awarded the SEG/Jack & Catherine Threet Scholarship and SEG Foundation Scholarship for the 2022/2023 academic session.

Jallow Muhammed is a graduate student working under Dr. Abdelmoneam Raef’s supervision. Jallow’s research focuses on providing a robust, effective, data-driven horizon-focused method that recognizes and corrects for tuning effects on seismic attributes utilizing statistical methods and machine learning. He was recently awarded the SEG Thomas A. Mazza Memorial Scholarship and the SEG Foundation/Chevron Scholarship. These scholarships are prestigious scholarships supporting aspiring geoscientists. They provide financial assistance to students pursuing geophysics and related fields while promoting diversity, inclusivity, academic excellence, and leadership potential, fostering the growth of future industry leaders, and honoring the legacy of Thomas A. Mazza.

Fidelis Onwuagba was awarded the SEG Foundation Scholarship for the 2023/2024 academic session. He is investigating Uranium in Groundwater and its Potential as a Natural Contaminant in the Cherokee Basin, Southeastern Kansas, with Associate Prof. Karin Goldberg. This is Fidelis’ second consecutive award from the Society of Exploration Geophysicists; he was also awarded the SEG Foundation/Chevron Scholarship for the 2022/2023 academic session.

Matthew Brueseke, professor in the geology department, has been named a fellow of the Geological Society of America, a global professional organization with more than 26,000 members in 115 countries.

As explained by the society’s selection committee, “Society Fellowship is an honor bestowed on the best of our profession.” It recognizes an individual’s sustained contributions to geosciences through research, teaching, public outreach and leadership in the field. According to Brueseke’s primary nominator, Pamela Kempton, professor and department head in geology at K-State, “Matt is particularly recognized for the breadth of his accomplishments as an outstanding teacher and mentor; a leader in service to Geological Society of America and the profession; and a renowned researcher who integrates field and lab methods with quantitative analysis to address problems in igneous petrology, volcanology, geochemistry, petrogenesis and tectonics.”

Brueseke has successfully built and maintained a student-centered, internationally recognized research program focused on igneous petrology, economic geology and tectonics, and he has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on proposals totaling more than $1.9 million dollars in external funding. Brueseke’s research is notable for combining field-based geologic mapping and petrologic/petrographic observations with geochemical, isotopic and geochronologic data. He and his students synthesize these diverse datasets into innovative tectonic models that are viewed by his colleagues as transformative and game-changing.

Brueseke has also been recognized for the excellence of his teaching, having been awarded both the Page Twiss Faculty Development Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Advising and the Geology Department Faculty Development Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and Advising.

Brueseke earned his bachelor’s degree and doctorate from Miami University. He was nominated for the Geological Society of America fellowship by four colleagues: Jeffrey M. Trop, Bucknell University; Christopher D. Henry, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of Nevada, Reno; Charles G. Oviatt, emeritus professor, and Pamela Kempton, both of the K-State geology department.

Well done Matt!

Chlorite, this very common weird looking green mineral, is found almost everywhere. It is associated with magmatic, metamorphic, and diagenetic reactions that occur over a wide temperature range. Due to its specific chemistry, knowing the composition of this mineral allows geoscientists to estimate the temperature of its formation, making chlorite a perfect geothermometer. In addition, this mineral provides indirect evidence for the presence of water in the environment in which it forms. Well, guess what.  Chlorite has been detected on Mars!  So, knowing its composition can help us to understand geological processes that have occured on the red planet. The Rover Perseverance, which landed on Mars on February 2021, carries a Raman spectrometric system that allows analysis of the composition of rocks and minerals. However, interpretation of the generated dataset requires that specific mineral calibrations exist for comparison. Dr. Lacroix has been working on chlorite for more than a decade and owns a collection of chlorite samples from around the world that encompass a large range of compositions. His graduate student, Sarah Lamm, analyzed representative samples from this chlorite ‘library’, using the Geology Department’s Raman spectrometer and produced the very first Raman chlorite calibration. The results which have been recently published in Journal of Raman Spectrometry, will be very useful for planetary scientists working on Mars and other planets. Sarah is now Ph.D student at the University of Kansas and continues her path to Planetary Science.

Although not really related, but in order to continue within the Planetary Science topic, the department of Geology is glad to announce that Dr. Kirk, former team member of the USS Enterprise NCC 1701, recently published a new open access textbook titled “Microbiology for Earth Scientists”. It is probably a big change for Dr. Kirk to come back on Earth. The book seeks to advance understanding of the important roles that microorganisms play in shaping the Earth, including impacts related to water quality and climate change.

You can download the book here.

Marquis Who’s Who is a well-known publisher of biographical directories that highlight the achievements and accomplishments of individuals from various fields and professions.

Recently, Marquis Who’s Who recognized Dr. Behzad Ghanbarian as a an honored listee for his accomplishments in the field of flow and transport in porous media. Inclusion is based on a combination of factors, including an individual’s achievements, contributions, and impact in their area of expertise.

Behzad Ghanbarian’s proposal among the EMSL awards

Soils, particularly near the earth surface, are composed of rich nutrients from organic plant materials and animal matter. It is believed that soils, especially agricultural soils, can adsorb carbon dioxide over a billion tons each year. The Figure below shows the US croplands with a 30m resolution derived from Landsat images. The US has 166 million hectares of net cropland area and is ranked second in the world after India. Therefore, soil-based carbon dioxide adsorption may be considered as a negative emission technology that naturally removes CO2 from the atmosphere. Dr. Behzad Ghanbarian’s proposal on soil-based CO2 sorption was selected as one of the EMSL large-scale research projects. Dr. Ghanbarian will be collaborating with scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on this project to fight climate change.

For further information visit: https://www.emsl.pnnl.gov/news/emsl-awards-funding-32-large-scale-research-projects

Dr. Claudia Adam receives a National Science Foundation grant

Claudia Adam was awarded an ~$177,000 National Science Foundation grant (Structure and dynamics of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle over the Central and Eastern North American continent, constrained by numerical modeling based on tomography models).

Kansas Department of Transportation funds Dr. Behzad Ghanbarian’s project

Aggregates have broad practical applications, particularly for concretes, hot mix asphalts, aggregate base construction, cement treated and granular bases, backfill, cover materials, microsurfacing, subgrade modification or reconstruction, surfacing or resurfacing, shoulder construction, and riprap and ditch lining. Although understanding geomechanical and mineralogical properties of aggregates are essential for many projects, our knowledge on crushed samples are very limited due to lack of experiments. In a recent project funded by the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), Dr. Behzad Ghanbarian will investigate geomechanical and mineralogical properties of limestone samples from Kansas. In this project, Geology will closely work with the Civil Engineering Department at K-State as well as Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Department at KU.

Industry software and data donations are among the resources for supporting current learning, teaching, and research endeavors, leveraging our faculty and students’ interests in careers-oriented K-State experience. Several members of our alumni contributed seismic reflection data and geophysical well logs to support the research and teaching in the areas of applied geophysics and energy resources. More information about this donation can be found here.