OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
Volume 71 • No. 7 • July 2022
The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
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Vol. 71, No. 7 | www.rmag.org
OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
1999 Broadway • Suite 730 • Denver, CO 80202 • 720-672-9898 The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) is a nonprofit organization whose purposes are to promote interest in geology and allied sciences and their practical application, to foster scientific research and to encourage fellowship and cooperation among its members. The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the RMAG.
2022 OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT
2nd VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT
Rob Diedrich rdiedrich75@gmail.com
Matt Bauer matthew.w.bauer.pg@gmail.com
PRESIDENT-ELECT
SECRETARY
Ben Burke bburke158@gmail.com
Sandra Labrum slabrum@slb.com
1st VICE PRESIDENT
TREASURER
Courtney Beck Antolik courtneyantolik14@gmail.com
Mike Tischer mtischer@gmail.com
1st VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT
TREASURER ELECT
Ron Parker parkero@gmail.com
Anna Phelps aphelps@sm-energy.com
2nd VICE PRESIDENT
COUNSELOR
Mark Millard millardm@gmail.com
Jeff May jmay.kcrossen@gmail.com
RMAG STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Bridget Crowther bcrowther@rmag.org OPERATIONS MANAGER
Kathy Mitchell-Garton kmitchellgarton@rmag.org CO-EDITORS
Courtney Beck Antolik courtneyantolik14@gmail.com Nate LaFontaine nlafontaine@sm-energy.com Wylie Walker wylie.walker@gmail.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Elijah Adeniyi elijahadeniyi@montana.edu
ADVERTISING INFORMATION
Rates and sizes can be found on page 51. Advertising rates apply to either black and white or color ads. Submit color ads in RGB color to be compatible with web format. Borders are recommended for advertisements that comprise less than one half page. Digital files must be PC compatible submitted in png, jpg, tif, pdf or eps formats at a minimum of 300 dpi. If you have any questions, please call the RMAG office at 720-672-9898. Ad copy, signed contract and payment must be received before advertising insertion. Contact the RMAG office for details. DEADLINES: Ad submissions are the 1st of every month for the following month’s publication. The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
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RMAG Office: 720-672-9898 Fax: 323-352-0046 staff@rmag.org or www.rmag.org
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2022 RMAG FIELD TRIPS Registration open! Leadville Mineral Belt Bike Tour | July 9 | Leadville, CO Trip leader: Fred Mark
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument & Clare Quarry Fossil Collecting | August, Date TBD | Florissant, CO Trip leader: Monument Visitor Center Staff
Detroit City Portal Rhodochrosite Mine Tour | August 19 | Alma, CO Trip leader: Dean Misantoni, Mine Geologist Limited registration - sign up for drawing to attend
Picketwire Dinosaur Trackways | October 22-23 | La Junta, CO Trip leaders: Martin Lockley & Bruce Schumacher Trip run in conjunction with Dinosaur Ridge
Don’t forget to check out the field trips running with the RMS-AAPG Annual Meeting! https://www.aapgrms.org/annual-meeting/2022-denver/field-trips/ Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists e: staff@rmag.org | p: 720.672.9898 | w: www.rmag.org
OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
CONTENTS FEATURES 6 2022 RMAG Summit Sponsorship Packet 16 Lead Story: RMAG Centennial Part III, Boom and Bust at the end of the Twentieth Century 32 RMAG On the Rocks: First Field trip of the 2022 season
15 RMAG Powder River Basin symposium
ASSOCIATION NEWS 2 RMAG Summit Sponsors
23 RMAG Golf Tournament Winners
4 2022 RMAG Field Trips
48 News From The RMAG Foundation
10 Publish With The Mountain Geologist
50 2022 Earth Science Teacher of the Year Award
11 RMAG Geohike Challenge 13 RMAG Trivia Night -in-person
40 Mineral Of The Quarter: Apatite
DEPARTMENTS 10 RMAG June 2022 Board of Directors Meeting 12 President’s Letter 24 Hybrid Lunch Talk: Kurt Rudolph 28 In The Pipeline 28 Welcome New RMAG Members! 30 Member Corner: Lloyd Sobel 51 Outcrop Advertising Rates 52 Advertiser Index 52 Calendar
COVER PHOTO Island Lake in the Wind River Range, Wyoming. Photo by Courtney Beck Antolik
RMAG Summit Sponsorship
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April 21, 2022 Geoscience Community: RMAG could not exist without the very generous support of our Summit Sponsors, and we greatly appreciate all the companies that have contributed over the years. Following two pandemic years the world has reshaped itself and faces new challenges. Here in RMAG’s 100th year we have continued to adapt to the changing environment to meet both the needs of our members and the greater geoscience community, as well as honor our sponsors’ commitment to RMAG. In the past few months, we have transitioned from solely online events to hybrid lunches, where local members can gather for lunch and the talk and our members across the country and around the world can tune in for the talk. We will continue to do a mix of online and in-person short courses as the year progresses, creating opportunities for learning and networking for all our members. Your generous sponsorship dollars are supporting seven field trips this summer, from a raft trip on the San Juan to a tour of Colorado’s Glaciology, and we’ve already had a behind-the-scenes tour of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and a virtual trip to learn about the soon-to-close CEMEX Niobrara Quarry. The RMAG Mentorship program is in full swing, connecting the next generation of geoscientists with veterans of the industry. As the weather improves and people return to the office, we look forward to many more events in person, from social to educational. Your sponsorship dollars continue to support our excellent publications including the monthly Outcrop newsletter, the quarterly Mountain Geologist journal, and special publications such as Subsurface Cross Sections of Southern Rocky Mountain Basins. We recognize your financial commitment with website and publication advertising as well as through social media before each online event. With a LinkedIn group of over 2600 members, we make our sponsors visible to the geoscience community for both virtual and in person events. If you are already a Summit Sponsor or are looking for a smaller way to financially support the organization, the 2022 Golf Tournament will be on June 7th with plenty of sponsorship opportunities, and later this year we will be throwing the 100th birthday party, with multiple opportunities to sponsor the celebration. Thank you to those who are already a Summit Sponsor, and if you are not already a sponsor, please look at the many complementary benefits included with the sponsorship levels. Please feel free to contact our staff with questions about sponsorship by email: staff@rmag.org or by phone at 720672-9898. We and the staff of RMAG thank you all for your continued support and look forward to seeing you in person this year.
Rob Diedrich
Bridget Crowther
2022 RMAG President
RMAG Executive Director
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RMAG Summit Sponsorship Platinum, Gold, & Silver Sponsors
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over $9,000
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4 articles & 4 large ads
2 articles & 2 medium ads
4 small ads
The Outcrop (receive benefits for 12 issues, monthly online publication)*
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Company logo on Summit Sponsor signage at all events**
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RMAG Website Benefits Company logo on Summit Sponsor page on www.rmag.org Articles and Ads on special Advertisers’ web page Publication Advertising
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*12 months of Outcrop advertising: In order to receive 12 full months, company logos and ad art must be received no later than the 20th of the month in which you register. If received after the 20th of the month, ad will start in the month following the month after you register, and you will receive 11 total months (e.g., ads received March 25th will appear in the May issue and run through the following March). **Previous Summit Sponsors need to submit only advertising information.
RMAG Educational Events†
Platinum
Gold
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Number of registrations for each type of educational event are suggested; however, you may use your registration points for any of RMAG’s symposia, core workshops or short courses. For example, a Gold sponsor may use 4 of their 6 points to send a group to the Fall Symposium. Symposium registrations
4
2
1
Core Workshop registrations
4
2
1
Short Course registrations
4
2
1
Total Registration Points
12
6
3
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RMAG Social Events†
Golf and other social event registration points may be used for RMAG educational event registrations. For example, a Platinum Sponsor may use one of their golf teams (4 points) to send 4 people to a short course. Golf Tournament player tickets
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8
4
2
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Number of tickets for field trips and luncheons are suggested; however, you may use your tickets for any of RMAG’s 2022 day field trips or luncheons. For example, a Gold sponsor may use all 3 of their points to send a group on a field trip. Field Trip tickets (may be used for any 1-day field trip)
2
1
1
RMAG Luncheon tickets
3
2
1
†Registration points may be used for any RMAG educational event. One registration point = one admission ticket to event. Luncheon and field trip tickets are not eligible to use for educational or social events.
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2022 RMAG Summit Sponsorship All sponsor benefit event tickets follow RMAG event registration deadlines. All benefits end 12 months after registration.
RMAG 2022 2 Summit Sponsorship Opportunities Platinum Sponsor Gold Sponsor Silver Sponsor
Summit sponsorship benefits term is for 12 months! Specify type of payment on signed form, and send logo to staff@rmag.org. Company: _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Company Representative: ________________________________________________________________________________
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Signature: _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Payment by Check Mail checks payable to RMAG: Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) 1999 Broadway, Suite 730 Denver, CO, 80202
RMAG events are subject to change. Cancellation or rescheduling of events does not give sponsor right to refund. Summit Sponsors will receive benefits at any new events added into the RMAG schedule.
email: staff@rmag.org
Thank you for your generous support!
phone: 720.672.9898
1999 Suite 730 Denver, CO, 80202 Vol. 71,Broadway, No. 7 | www.rmag.org
fax: 323.352.0046
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web: www.rmag.org
follow: @rmagdenver OUTCROP | July 2022
RMAG JUNE 2022 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING By Sandra Labrum, Secretary slabrum@slb.com
Confluence Resources is an upstream exploration and production company Confluence Resources is an confluenceresources.com upstream exploration and OUTCROP | July 2022 production company confluenceresources.com
trip! Details are available on the RMAG website. The Diversity and Inclusion committee is continuing to work on increasing the diversity in RMAG members and increasing the visibility of RMAG at events that we typically haven’t participated in. Their most recent achievement was a booth at Juneteenth. At the booth, they interacted with over 800 attendees! The Continuing Education Committee is continuing to host hybrid lunches. Join us in July for Dr. Leslie Wood’s talk on the role of shelf processes in the basinward movement of sands to deepwater. The Membership Committee is making progress on increasing the membership, and the mentorship program is in full swing. This month there is trivia on July 21st at DERL. The Publications Committee is continuing to do great work bringing us a full slate of articles to celebrate the 100th anniversary of RMAG. I hope you all have a fantastic month, and I hope to see you at the AAPG RMS section meeting at the end of the month. Until next time!
Hi everyone! Summer is in full swing, and I can’t believe it’s already July! Geohike kicked off July 1 so get out there and find some cool geologic features to win prizes. Hope everyone is staying cool and getting in some much-needed summer vacations. The June Board of Directors meeting took place June 15th 2022 at 4pm via Microsoft Teams. All board members except two were present. May was another great month for new members; we had 9 join! Welcome to all the new members, we are so happy to have you. The Finance committee provided an overview of the financials for May. RMAG had a net operating loss. The Board is currently exploring ideas to generate additional revenue. Educational Outreach is continuing to provide samples and knowledge to educators around the area to inspire a love of geology in kids. On the Rocks is as busy as ever as field trip season is in full swing. The next events are the Leadville Bike Tour and Florissant Fossil Beds
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Your next adventure awaits... 2022 RMAG Geohike Challenge July 1 - September 6 Join us for the 3rd annual Geohike Challenge, RMAG’s geological scavenger hunt & photo contest. List of items to find has dropped! Register today $20/person $30/person with hat Winners announced at RMAG Anniversary Party on Sept. 22nd
Scan for details and to register: Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists e: staff@rmag.org | p: 720.672.9898 | w: Vol. 71, No. 7 | www.rmag.org 11www.rmag.org
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PRESIDENT’S LETTER By Rob Diedrich
The RMS AAPG Meeting is Here!
To paraphrase Bruce Springsteen, summer’s here and the time is right for attending the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Rocky Mountain Section (RMS) Meeting. RMAG is hosting the Section Meeting during the year of our 100-year anniversary at downtown Denver’s Hyatt Regency Hotel from July 24 to 27th Why attend? RMS meetings provide exceptional content with an emphasis on the latest in Rockies geoscience. For RMAG members enjoying a barbeque at the 2006 RMS AAPG Meeting in Billings, those working Rocky MounMontana. Pictured from left to right are Steve Sonnenberg, Jim Emme, Connie Knight and tain geology, where else can Bob Weimer. you attend a conference with technical sessions, short coursmemories. In 2005, an August hurricane canceled es and field trips that focus on the rocks in our rethe AAPG ACE, and many Gulf Coast geologists ingion? Section meetings are also great for networkstead came to Wyoming to attend the September ing by connecting with old friends and establishing RMS meeting in Jackson Hole. The venue was not new contacts. Aren’t we all looking forward to an large enough to accommodate the rush of attendin-person gathering after two years of Zoom calls ees, so the organizers scrambled to find additional and webinars? Many of us share special RMS meeting CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
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RMAG Trivia Night July 21st
4:30-5:30pm Denver Earth Resources Library 730 17th St. Downtown Denver
Live & In-Person! Join us for our FIRST-EVER live and in-person trivia night! Doors open at 4pm. Come early and hang out with your geo-friends before the competition gets underway at 4:30pm. Light snacks and drinks provided. $10/members, $15/non-members. Register at www.rmag.org. Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists Vol. 71, No. 7 | www.rmag.org e: staff@rmag.org | p: 720.672.9898 | 13 w: www.rmag.org
Sponsored by
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PRESIDENT’S LETTER hydrology, helium and lithium, or sharpen your Python coding skills. You can study outcrops that unravel the Front Range structure and stratigraphy or walk along strata that reveals how plants and animals repopulated the area following the K/PG mass extinction. Or you can see examples of beautiful Colorado building stone on a walking tour of historic downtown Denver buildings and sample Colorado microbrews along the way. Click here to see what’s in store and plan to join us in Denver for an awesome week of Rockies geoscience. For this month’s centennial anecdote, we look back at the roots of the RMS AAPG. In the late 1940’s an AAPG research committee, while working on a Rocky Mountain oil and gas trap publication, had the idea of a forming a section of AAPG which focused on the Rockies. A constitution and charter for the new section were prepared in 1950 and the RMS was incorporated in Colorado. Officers were elected and the first RMS AAPG Meeting was held in Denver later that year. RMAG member Max Krueger served as the first president and C. E. Manion was General Meeting Chairman. Although the location for the annual RMS meeting rotates through the Rockies, RMAG tends to host the event in Denver every five years or so. This meeting has been important to the fiscal health of RMAG, because the host society receives a portion of the revenue for financially successful conferences. I hope you will continue this tradition and support RMAG by attending the 2022 Rocky Mountain Section Meeting. See you in Denver on July 24-27th!
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space. Being resourceful geologists, they used a nearby ice arena for a technical session, setting up a large screen and chairs on the plywood covering the rink. After attending the first few talks, participants rushed back to their rooms and returned to the arena wearing coats, hats and gloves! Every RMS meeting has a fun social event. The 2006 RMS meeting in Billings, Montana coincided with the bicentennial celebration of Lewis and Clark’s 1806 voyage down the Yellowstone River Valley. Attendees gathered for an old west barbeque at Pompey’s Pillar, the historic site where Captain William Clark carved his name into an Upper Cretaceous Lance Creek Formation sandstone monolith. I still remember watching the sunset atop Pompey’s Pillar with several RMAG members on a perfect Montana summer evening. The planning committee for this summer’s Denver RMS meeting, led by Co-Chairs Thomas Hearon and Larry Rasmussen, have been hard at work planning a conference that has something for everyone. This year’s theme is Next Horizons: The Future of Rockies Geology. Technical sessions feature topics from “Hydrocarbons in the Rockies and Beyond” to “Non-Petroleum Resources and Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage.” Other sessions focus on sedimentology, source rocks, data analytics and a very special lookback at 100 years of RMAG. This year’s RMS meeting also features an instructive assemblage of short courses, field trips and social events. You can learn about sequence stratigraphic applications to unconventional resource plays, the latest developments in geothermal,
Well Log Digitizing • Petrophysics Petra® Projects • Mud Log Evaluation Bill Donovan
Geologist • Petroleum Engineer • PE
(720) 351-7470 donovan@petroleum-eng.com OUTCROP | July 2022
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Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists
Powder River Basin Symposium & Core Workshop
Sponsorship opportunities available!
Sept. 14-15, 2022 Sheraton Denver West, Lakewood Contact RMAG for details
Day 1: Oral Presentations
• Oral presentations on Mowry, Wall Creek, Turner, Sussex, Shannon, Frontier, and Muddy plays • Keynote by Michael Fairbanks, Enverus: “Post-Pandemic Re-Ignition of the PRB: Activity, Targeting, and Spacing Trends of an Awakened Basin”
Day 2: Core Workshop
• Core presentations & viewing: Mowry, Turner, Turner & Niobrara, Shannon • Geochem posters • Keynote by Keith Shanley, Oxy: “Understanding and assessing thermal maturity in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming”
Registration now open
Early bird pricing till July 31: $225 member/$275 non-member Aug. 1-Sept 13: $275 member/$325 non-member Visit www.rmag.org for more info & to register
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LEAD STORY
RMAG CENTENNIAL Part III: Boom and Bust at the end of the Twentieth Century By Jane Estes-Jackson, Donna Anderson, and Matt Silverman
boom that continued into the mid-1980s and led to the discovery of some of the most prolific fields in the Rockies, including Ryckman Creek, Painter Reservoir, Anschutz Ranch, and Whitney Canyon/Carter Creek. Most of these wells had TDs greater than 10,000’, and many of them produced sour gas. In the Denver Basin, Amoco continued their development of the Wattenberg Field throughout the 1970s and set a world record in 1974 when it frac’d a J Sand well with over 1 million pounds of sand. (Wattenberg became one of the ten largest fields in the country, in terms of remaining reserves of both oil and gas.) Further out on the eastern margin of the Denver Basin, biogenic gas from the Niobrara Formation had been discovered at shallow depths at the Beecher Island Field in Yuma County, when the Midfields #1 well was completed in 1919 for 2000 MCFD. However, widespread commercial production from this interval was not established until Mountain Petroleum’s six well drilling program in 1971. In December of 1978, Amoco and Murfin drilled and completed the Dickson #1-22 on a large structure with amplitude anomalies that they had identified using 2D seismic data. This was the discovery well for the Bonny Field, which became the largest field in the
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HE EARLY TO MID-1970S WERE ARGUABLY A “GOLDEN AGE” OF PETROLEUM EXPLORATION throughout the Rocky Mountain region. But bust always seems to follow boom in an industry with more cycles than the Tour de France.
DISCOVERIES
The discovery of the Bell Creek Field in southeastern Montana by Sam Gary in 1967 kicked off the Muddy Sandstone play throughout the Powder River Basin that continued through the 1970s. The pay zone was found at an average depth of 4400 ft, and some wells had IPs as high as 1500 BOPD. The play extended south across the state line into Campbell County, Wyoming, which quickly became one of the busiest drilling areas in the Rockies, with several new field discoveries including Recluse (Figure 1), Kitty, and Hilight. American Quasar Petroleum set off the Overthrust Boom in 1975 when they drilled the Newton Sheep Co. #1 on a farmout from Amoco on a portion of the Union Pacific strip in Summit County, Utah. This well was completed in the Nugget Sandstone for 540 BOPD and 270 MCFD, as the discovery well for the Pineview Field (Figure 2). This started a drilling
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FIGURE 1: (above) Isopach map of the Muddy Sandstone
reservoir at Recluse Field, Campbell County, Wyoming, published in 1969 in The Mountain Geologist, vol. 6, num. 4, p. 224. FIGURE 2: (right) West to east structural cross section of the Pineview Field, published in 1976 in the guidebook Symposium on Geology of the Cordilleran Hingeline, p. 346.
play with cumulative production of over 53 BCFG from an average depth of 1550’. Concurrently, in northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah, interest was growing in the potential development of the oil shale resources that were owned by the US Navy as part of the Naval Oil Shale Reserve. Near Parachute, Colorado, in the Piceance Basin, a consortium of companies developed the Colony Shale Oil Project, an oil shale mine and pilot shale oil plant using the proprietary Tosco process. The project was killed by Exxon on May 2, 1982 (Black Sunday to the locals), due to high costs and low oil prices. Bruce Curtis, who had been RMAG’s president in 1956, quipped that “oil shale is the fuel of the future and always will be.” On the organizational front, these plays provided well-attended luncheon presentations as well as material for field trips and continuing education
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programs. The resulting guidebooks were published yearly beginning in 1974 with the Guidebook to the Energy Resources of the Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado, followed in 1975 with Deep Drilling Frontiers in the Central Rocky Mountains. These and subsequent guidebooks became important sources of revenue for RMAG in the years that followed. In 1971 yearly dues were increased from $5 to $8 to help cover the costs of the monthly newsletter and The Mountain Geologist. RMAG hosted its fourth AAPG annual meeting in 1972, with 3000 attendants and Dr. Robert Weimer as General Chair. In June of 1972 RMAG hired Wanda Reh as Secretary and established a fulltime office in the C.A. Johnson Building at the corner of 17th and Welton in downtown Denver. Three years later, in March of 1975, the office was forced to move to the Colorado Building at 1615 California Street when the Johnson Building was demolished to make
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LEAD STORY
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way for Dominion Plaza. Recognizing a need for educational, charitable, and scientific activities outside the normal functions of the RMAG, the RMAG Foundation was established on December 31, 1975, as the philanthropic arm of the RMAG. Founding trustees John Lockridge, John Rold, and Robert Weimer guided the Foundation over the next decade. Among many activities, the Foundation recognizes graduate and undergraduate students in Colorado. For example, when Neal Harr (Figure 3) passed away suddenly midway through his term as President in 1979, the annual Outstanding Student (Pick) award, was renamed the Neal J. Harr MemoriFIGURE 3: Notable RMAG members and past presidents (photo of Penny Frush provided by al Pick Award in his honor. Robbie Gries). The Pick Award is given to outstanding seniors at ten refocused their exploration efforts on the US, inuniversities and colleges throughout Colorado. cluding the Rockies. Most of the large US oil compaTHE BOOM nies, including Amoco, ARCO, Chevron, Conoco, Exxon, Gulf, Marathon, Mobil, Phillips, and Texaco had By the early 1970s US oil production was in deprominent offices in Denver, and required their gecline and imports of crude oil had nearly doubled to 6.2 MMBOPD. In October of 1973 the Arab members ologists to join RMAG. As a result, RMAG memberof OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, imposed an embargo ship began a steady upward trajectory that peaked on oil exports to the United States and many of its at over 4500 members in 1984. Many of these new allies in retaliation for their support of Israel during members were women, due in large part to the afthe Yom Kippur War. By March of 1974 the price of firmative action policies in place at that time in the oil had risen nearly 300%, and gasoline shortages larger companies. were common across the country. A second oil crisis ensued when OPEC raised prices during the Iranian WOMEN IN THE RMAG Revolution in 1979. Although there was a 100% increase in the perOnce again petroleum geologists were in high centage of women RMAG members between 1972 demand, as reflected by the cover of the September and 1974, women still made up less than 2% of 1973 Newsletter (Figure 4). Many oil companies
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LEAD STORY
RMAG membership prior to 1976. By the mid-1980s the percentage of women members had reached 12%, and they were taking on more leadership roles within RMAG. Karen Porter was the first woman to co-edit a guidebook in 1980 (Colorado Geology). Jane Woodward was the first woman lead editor of a guidebook, 1984’s Hydrocarbon Source Rocks of the Greater Rocky Mountain Region. Penny Frush (Figure 3) became the first woman to receive RMAG’s Distinguished Service Award in 1983. Anny Coury became the first woman to serve on the Board as Counselor in 1988. (Read more about Anny’s sculptures made from the Yule Marble, Colorado’s state rock!) Susan Landon (Figure 3) was elected as first woman RMAG Treasurer in 1978; when she served as AAPG Treasurer in 1992-1994 she was the first woman officer to be elected (with opposition) to the AAPG Executive Committee. Susan went on to become RMAG’s second woman President in 2001, 60 years after Ninetta Davis. Robbie Gries (Figure 3) has been a prominent leader in the RMAG and has championed women within the organization. She was the first woman to receive the RMAG Best Luncheon Speaker in 1980, the first woman to be elected 1st Vice President in 1983, and the first woman to receive Best Paper in the Mountain Geologist for her paper titled “San Juan Sag: Cretaceous rocks in a volcanic-covered basin, south central Colorado” in 1985. Robbie was the General Chair of the AAPG national meeting held in Denver in 1994, the first woman to hold that position. And in 2001, Robbie became the first woman President of AAPG. The period 1979-1981 marked the peak of the boom. Attendance at many RMAG luncheons, then held weekly at the Denver Athletic Club, ranged between 200-300 members. The AAPG annual meeting in Denver in 1980, chaired by John Lockridge, had nearly 10,000 attendees. The Wyoming-Utah Overthrust Belt field trip that followed that meeting chartered two turboprop planes for an overflight of the Foreland Belt and was perhaps the peak of RMAG field trips. RMAG purchased its first office computer in 1981. In 1983 the monthly newsletter became The Outcrop, and it took on the format that is still used Vol. 71, No. 7 | www.rmag.org
today. Membership peaked in 1984 at 4524 members, and by 1985 the RMAG had over 50 committees and the office had three full-time employees to manage the activity. Revenue from the sale of guidebooks became increasingly important to the financial wellbeing of the organization starting in the mid-1980s and continuing through the 1990s. But the good times were not to last.
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THE BUST
In 1982 OPEC cut oil prices, and the oil shale boom in northwestern Colorado infamously went bust. The price of West Texas Intermediate dropped to $10/bbl in early 1986, leading to an almost total collapse of the petroleum industry in the Rockies and elsewhere. Over 40 companies in Denver either enacted major staff reductions or closed their offices completely. Jim Rogers (Figure 3) held the unenviable position of RMAG President in 1986, and he recalls that he received numerous phone calls during this time from members blaming RMAG for the downturn. The RMAG Board set up a counseling/resource center for unemployed members and supported the creation of the Denver Earth Resource Library (DERL) which opened on January 2, 1987. Massive amounts of geological data sourced from downsizing oil and gas companies found a home at the library. It became a tremendous resource to those RMAG members who became newly minted “consultants” as a result of losing their fulltime employment. RMAG survived these difficult times through the active engagement of its members. The On the Rocks field trips were born in 1986 under the leadership of Penny Frush (Figure 3; see also “100 years of RMAG Field Trips” in the June 2022 issue of The Outcrop). Luncheons were held biweekly, rather than weekly as they had been prior to the crash, and attendance was smaller. But the Publications Committee continued to publish quality guidebooks on relevant topics. For example, the 1990 guidebook Morrow Sandstones of Southeast Colorado and Adjacent Areas was one of the most popular and successful RMAG publications up to that time. It capitalized on what was then a very hot play and was sold out by the time it was published. Although membership dropped on
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LEAD STORY
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average over 7% per year in the late 1980s, it stabilized at around 1900 members by the mid-1990s.
THE RISE OF TIGHT GAS
A series of fortunate events resulted in tight gas sandstones becoming the new “hot” play in the Rockies in the early to mid-1990s. In February of 1992, the Kern River Pipeline, built through a 50/50 joint venture between Williams Companies, Inc. and Tenneco Gas Company, became operational with a capacity of 700 MMCFD. Stretching 926 miles from Opal, Wyoming to the San Joaquin Valley in California, it opened the West Coast market to Rockies gas. The deregulation of natural gas prices at the wellhead in 1993 as well as the Natural Gas Policy Act (NGPA), which provided tax credits for certain gas wells drilled between December 31, 1979, and January 1, 1993, also had a profoundly positive impact on drilling activity in the Rockies during this time. FIGURE 4: Geoscientists were in high demand in late 1973 as reflected by the Beginning in 1991 and continucover of the RMAG Newsletter. The image was composed of numerous employment ing through the 1990s, several inads taken from the Oil & Gas Journal during that time. dependents headquartered in Denver secured the rights to the Codell Two large gas fields in Wyoming, Jonah and Cave Sandstone in the greater Wattenberg Gulch, were very hot topics at luncheons and sympoarea from Amoco, which led to a third drilling resia in the early 1990s. Jonah Field is a prime example surgence in the DJ Basin. From 1991 through 1994, of the use of frac’ing to convert previously unecoWeld County had 4680 completions, the largest nomic discoveries to one of the largest onshore gas number of any county in the US. At the same time, discoveries of the early 1990s. Casper-based McMurthe basin-centered gas accumulations of the Mesavry Oil Company first reported commercial producerde group in the greater Green River and Piceance basins, the Wasatch and Mesaverde in the Uinta Bation from the tight gas sandstones of the Upper Cresin, and numerous Cretaceous horizons in the San taceous Lance Formation in September of 1992 from Juan Basin were being actively exploited. Coalbed the rediscovered field (Figure 4). A 3D seismic surmethane also emerged as a significant resource play vey acquired jointly by Amoco and Snyder Oil Corp during the 1990s, starting with the Drunkard’s Wash in 1996 delineated the boundaries of the field and field in Utah and expanding to the Fort Union coals in facilitated infill drilling. The field has an estimated the Powder River Basin and the Fruitland Formation original resource of over 19 TCF in an area of about in the San Juan Basin. CONTINUED ON PAGE 21
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24,000 acres. Cave Gulch Field was discovered in December of 1994 when Barrett Resources completed their Cave Gulch Federal #1 for 9.7 MMCFD and 117 BOPD from the Lance Formation; this well went on to produce over 13 BCF in its first 7 years online. The structurally complex field is in the Wind River Basin on the leading edge of the Owl Creek Thrust. Because the most prolific reservoirs are in the subthrust zone, 3D seismic was critical to the successful development of the field, which has estimated reserves of over 1 TCF from 1200 acres.
MOVING ON
FIGURE 5: The McMurry Jonah #1-4, discovery well for Jonah Field (photo
courtesy of McMurry Energy Company).
The 1990s were characterized by price volatility, particularly in the Rockies, in part due to gas prices being strongly correlated to El Niño (cold-weather) cycles. All the supermajors closed their Denver offices and departed the Rockies, apparently for good. Smaller companies that didn’t go bankrupt reduced staff further. Not surprisingly RMAG membership fluctuated as a result. However, the organization continued to generate high-quality publications and host well-attended events. The Finance Committee was formed in 1993 to provide guidance with the annual budgetary process as well as long-term financial planning. The 79th Annual Meeting of AAPG held in Denver in 1994 and chaired by Robbie Gries (Figure 3) was by all measures a great success, with 6511 registrants, almost 1000 technical presentations, 30 field trips, 26 short courses, and reportedly the largest slate of exhibitors up to that time. The Wyoming-Utah Overthrust Belt field trip was repeated, albeit without the benefit of aircraft. RMAG has long been at the forefront of new technology. Due to prodigious advances in computing power, 3D seismic data acquisition technology that originated in the 1980s expanded rapidly in the
FIGURE 6: Past President Hal Kellogg received the
President’s Special Award in 1997 for his work on the 75th anniversary issue of The Mountain Geologist.
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LEAD STORY deeply indebted to Hal. To be continued . . .
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1990s. One of RMAG’s most successful and long running events was the annual 3D Seismic Symposium, co-hosted with Denver Geophysical Society. It was founded in 1995 through the vision of Randy Ray (1951-2017; Figure 3), who was co-chair with Bill Pearson for 17 years. The inaugural event had 500 attendees, many of whom came from out of state to hear talks on the latest seismic techniques and case histories. As part of the looming digital world, RMAG established its presence on the internet when its first web page (the Subcrop) debuted in 1996. In 1997 RMAG was marking its 75th anniversary and still going strong despite the capriciousness of the petroleum industry. In honor of that auspicious occasion, past-President Hal Kellogg (Figure 5) took it upon himself to single-handedly document the first 75 years of RMAG history in a special volume of The Mountain Geologist published in October 1997. This outstanding publication is the source of much of the material used in this series, and the authors are
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SOURCES
Recluse Field, Campbell County, Wyoming, by John Woncik in The Mountain Geologist, October 1969. The Geology of the Pineview Field Area, Summit County, Utah, by P.D. Maher in Geology of the Cordilleran Hingeline, 1976. Western Oil Reporter’s Rocky Mountain Oil History, by Russ Rountree, 1984. A Special Volume: 75 years of the RMAG, by Harold E. Kellogg, in The Mountain Geologist, October 1997. An Overview and Development History of the Wattenberg Field, by John Ladd in Gas in the Rockies, 2001. Correlation of the El Nino Oscillation (ENSO) Cycle with U.S. Gas Demand, by Michael Wilson in Gas in the Rockies, 2001.
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RMAG 2022 Golf Tournament Winners First Flight Winners: Scott Hampton Bobby Schoen Ben Liebers Chris Lang
Second Flight Winners: Cameron Ross Alex Cheney Tony Lupica
Men’s Longest Drive: Cameron Ross Women’s Longest Drive: Jes Murphy Longest Putt: Paul Differding Closest to the Pin: Bill McCabe Straightest Drive: Cranford Newell Putting Contest: Nick Argis & Tom Jacaruso
Thank you volunteers! Rob Diedrich Holly Lindsey KC Oren
Rachel Stocking Mike Tischer Laura Wray
Thank you to our sponsors!
Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists 23 e: staff@rmag.org | p: 720.672.9898 | w: www.rmag.org
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HYBRID LUNCH TALK Speaker: Kurt Rudolph Date: August 3, 2022 | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
The Assembly of Pangea A view from Laurentia – Paleozoic Orogenies and their Impact on Basin Evolution and Petroleum Systems By Kurt Rudolph, University of Houston and Rice University and Devonian foredeeps are interpreted as indicators of the terminus of the colliding Ganderian and Avalonian microplates. For the Alleghanian event, onset of flexural subsidence becomes younger to the northeast, whereas the Ouachita Orogeny youngs to the southwest. These observations suggest the docking of Gondwana in the Pennsylvanian-Permian was diachronous due to complex plate geometries and/ or trajectories. Kinematic linkages between continent margin and interior. “Sag” basins, whose origins remain cryptic, can be tied to adjacent orogenies. The Michigan Basin has synchronous timing, and a similar evaporite fill as the Salinic portion of the Appalachian foreland. And the Williston Basin appears tied to the north Antler (Liard) foreland with Middle Devonian to Early Mississippian subsidence and deformation (e.g., Nesson Anticline). Eastern Ancestral Rocky Mountain (ARM) basins of the continental interior
ABSTRACT Paleozoic North America has experienced multiple mountain building events, from Ordovician to Permian, on all margins of the continent. These have had a profound effect on the resulting complex basins and their associated petroleum systems. Subsequent uplift, erosion and overprinting of these ancient systems impedes the direct observation of their tectonic history. However, the basin sedimentary records are more complete, and provide additional insights into the timing and style of the mountain building events. In this study, we employ ~80 1D basin models, ~30 inverse flexural models, isopachs, and paleogeographic maps to better understand the history of Laurentia. From this screening, four thematic learnings emerge: Constraints on the magnitude, timing, and location of collisional events. For example, the Salinic and Acadian Orogenies of the Appalachians are restricted to the north; the southwestern end of the Siliurian
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KURT RUDOLPH received a B.S. in Geology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.A. in Geology from the University of Texas. He began his career as an Exploration Geologist with Unocal in 1978, until he joined Exxon Production Research in 1981. He held a variety of positions at Exxon/ ExxonMobil, including Research Geologist, Chief Interpreter in Kuala Lumpur, Technical Advisor for the Africa and Middle East Region, and Hydrocarbon Systems Resource Manager. From 2002 until his retirement in 2015, he was Chief Geoscientist with ExxonMobil Exploration Company in Houston. Since then, Kurt has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston and Rice University. His interests include seismic attributes/DHI analysis, risking and assessment, sequence stratigraphy, and tectonics and sedimentation. Current research includes the Cretaceous Western Interior, Paleozoic orogenic systems of North America and northern Europe, and integrating subsurface uncertainty into assessment and economic analysis. He won Wallace Pratt Awards for the best AAPG Bulletin paper in 1994 and 2017, was an AAPG-SEG Distinguished Lecturer for 2001-2002, was the AAPG Michael Halbouty Lecturer for 2007, and won best paper award for the Mountain Geologist (RMAG) in 2015. OUTCROP | July 2022
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HYBRID LUNCH TALK Reconstruction of thick Permian basin fill in exhumed basins. Many of these basins have experienced significant post-Paleozoic erosion by vertical unroofing and/or subsequent deformation. This has made understanding of the latest Paleozoic basin history difficult. High vitrinite reflectance in outcropping or shallow strata indicate significant burial and ensuing removal. In most cases, this additional burial cannot be attributed to significant Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentation. Using calibrated basin models, significant upper Pennsylvanian and Permian section has been restored in a number of these basins. Estimates of the eroded latest Paleozoic section include the Appalachian (3.5 km), Black Warrior (3 km), Arkoma (3.0 km), and Fort Worth (2.5 km) basins. This burial was critical in the maturation of important source rocks/shale reservoirs in these basins.
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are coeval with the central segment (Arkoma-Fort Worth basins) of the Ouachita fold belt. But basins near the Val Verde – Marathon segment (Delaware, Midland, Orogrande, and Taos) share a later timing. Controls on sedimentary fill character. Often, the onset of rapid subsidence associated with orogenesis is marked by a rapid transgression and condensed section that is associated with marine source rocks and shale reservoirs. As sedimentation catches up to the increased accommodation, a thick sedimentary wedge progressively fills in the flexural basin. This pattern is observed for the Utica (Taconic), Marcellus (Acadian), Horn River (Liard), Wolfcamp (Delaware and Midland), and Gothic/Cane Creek/etc. (Paradox) source rocks.
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WELCOME NEW RMAG MEMBERS!
Andrew Birmingham
Jason Flaum
Jim Keenan
is a Staff Exploration Geologist at Continental Resources Inc and lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
works at the United States Geological Survey and lives in Broomfield, Colorado.
is a Sr Geophysicist at EOG Resources, Inc and lives in Westminster, Colorado.
works at the US Geological Survey and lives in Denver, Colorado.
lives in Denver, Colorado.
works at Continental Resources, Inc. and lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Victoria Crystal Marcellus
de Jong is a Geologist at Aurivos and lives in Houston, Texas.
Benny Gonzales II
Jeff Rosenthal
Stephen Hermeston is CDO at Geolumina and lives in Katy, Texas.
Anna Sigler
is a Geologist, Lab Scientist at Dolan Integration Group and lives in Westminster, Colorado.
IN THE PIPELINE
JULY 1- SEPTEMBER 6, 2022
Maggiano’s, Denver. 12:00 PM-1:00 PM.
RMAG 2022 Geo Hike Challenge.
JULY 9, 2022
JULY 6, 2022
RMAG On the Rocks. Leadville Mineral Belt Bike Trip.
RMAG Luncheon. Speaker: Dr. Lesli J. Wood. “Re-examining our Paradigms on Shelf Processes and Deposits, and the Role of Shelf Processes in the Basinward Movement of Sands to Deepwater.” Online or In-person at
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JULY 24-27, 2022 AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Meeting. “Next Horizons: The Future of Rockies Geology.”
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Mallard Exploration is a Denver-based upstream Oil & Gas Exploration and Production company focused on the DJ Basin of Colorado. We are building a successful business with strong ethics, hard work and industry-leading technology.
WE ARE GREAT WESTERN AND WE ARE COMMITTED TO:
PEOPLE
EXCELLENCE
TEAMWORK
GROWTH
STEWARDSHIP
RESILIENCE
WE ARE #CommittedtoColorado Vol. 71, No. 7 | www.rmag.org
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MEMBER CORNER
Meet Lloyd Sobel – Geologist, MS, MBA 7th Grade Science Teacher – Mountain Ridge Middle School, Douglas County (CO) School District
easily into my success in graduate school and in my 38+ years working in the minerals exploration, oil and gas, and applied materials industries.
HOW DID YOU END UP INVOLVED IN GEOSCIENCES? I spent several summers during my high school and college years as a hiking and camping counselor in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This gave me an appreciation not only of the outdoors, but also for the geology and landforms of this beautiful area. Then in community college, needing a science class, I enrolled in Geology 101 and became fascinated by the wide range of topics covered in this class. What was particularly intriguing to me was the concept of the 4th dimension, time, in the various aspects of Earth science. My instructor at the time suggested I get a four-year degree in geology if I really wanted to pursue it further. That gave me the experience of field work and research, both of which translated
WHAT DOES YOUR CURRENT JOB ENTAIL? As a 7th grade teacher, I do not expect all of my students to become scientists, although a few of them may actually follow that path. However, my hope is that they will understand and appreciate the science and engineering principles, and the interconnected concepts of Earth science, life science, and physical sciences that show up in our everyday lives.
WHAT IS THE MOST REWARDING PART OF YOUR JOB?
When my students can relate to the fact that we are stewards on a very small and fragile planet, I feel
RMAG’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee is featuring a monthly Member Corner. We hope you’ll enjoy learning about the diverse community of Earth scientists and wide variety of geoscience disciplines that comprise our membership. If you would like to appear in an upcoming column, or if there is someone you would like to nominate, please contact staff@rmag.org.
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extremely rewarded. We are all blessed to be here at this time and place in our universe, and I am constantly looking for those “aha!” moments from my students when my lessons click and they get it. I am not trying to change their beliefs but if they can appreciate the scientific method of problem solving, and the fact that there are points of view other than their own, then I will have succeeded.
WHAT IS THE BEST CAREER LESSON YOU HAVE LEARNED SO FAR?
The best career lesson I have learned so far is that we should never stop learning. There are always new subjects to explore and advances in the depth of subjects with which we are already familiar. Gaining new understanding and insights is powerful. And this example which I set for my students lets them know that I am a student too. This also has given me the benefit of a wide range of experiences in the sciences that helps me as a teacher relate my lessons to everyday, real-world examples of our studies.
addition to his deep understanding of stratigraphy and sedimentology, he imparted a love of teaching and constant encouragement for his students to succeed. He also was able to do this while having a heck of a lot of fun. I carry these qualities with me every day and hope that I can inspire the next generation.
WHAT IS THE GREATEST RISK YOU HAVE EVER TAKEN?
My greatest risk was taking the opportunity to start a second career in teaching after my first career in industry. Instead of retiring from a job, I needed to retire to something meaningful. I have found teaching to be not only rewarding as I give back to the community in my own small way, but it has helped my own need to stay involved in Earth science at the same time.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS?
To me, success is the ability to continually improve. It involves hard work and learning from mistakes, which are often valuable lessons in themselves. It means learning to persevere and remain positive. In addition, if I am truly successful, it will be because I have learned from others and have been able to accept constructive criticism as I use the best practices of those around me.
WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES OR PASSIONS OUTSIDE OF WORK?
Outside of work, I am a closet gear head, going to car shows and taking long drives, believing that real cars don’t shift themselves. I love to torture my friends and family with roadside geology wherever we are going. I also am a dedicated backyard grill chef, cooking outside on my Weber almost every night, even in sub-zero conditions. In nice weather, you may find me working in my yard, a never-ending task.
HOW ARE YOU IMPACTING THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU?
WHO INSPIRES YOU?
I am inspired by my graduate advisor, the late Dr. Wayne A. Pryor, from the University of Cincinnati. In
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To my family, friends, coworkers, and students, I hope to impart a love of the physical planet on which we live. We need to understand the critical time in Earth’s history in which we are now, and how decisions we make today can significantly impact the future. In addition, I want those around me to know that we should be good listeners, with two ears and one mouth, used in that proportion, and not be so quick to judge based on our own values, but by better understanding the values of others.
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RMAG ON THE ROCKS Summary of the Cretaceous lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and geochronology of the Greenhorn Cyclothem the group observed in the neighborhood of Lake Pueblo State Park (from Sageman, 1991). It shows a relative sea-level curve for the Western Interior superimposed on the general Greenhorn cycle compared to the global sea level curve of Haq et al. (1987). “G” and “K” refer to the timescales of Gradstein et al. (1994) and Kaufman et al. (1993).
First Field trip of the 2022 season Unconventional Reservoirs of the Southern Denver Basin: Graneros, Greenhorn, Carlile (Codell Sandstone), and Niobrara Formations. By Denise M. Stone
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comfortable day in the field after the 90-minute drive south from Denver. The field trip leader was Dr. Jeffrey A. May, Geologic Consultant and Affiliate Faculty Member at Colorado School of Mines, and tireless RMAG officer and volunteer. Jeff, as he likes to be called, has decades of geological experience in the oil and gas industry as a sequence stratigrapher, technology advisor, and unconventional resource play advocate. His career has been spent unraveling the sedimentary history of basins worldwide, including in the Rocky Mountain
On May 22, a hearty RMAG group celebrated the Cretaceous stratigraphy exposed near Pueblo, Colorado. In the neighborhood of Lake Pueblo State Park participants examined world-class exposures of the marine Cenomanian through Coniacian sedimentary section, produced by the extensive transgressing and regressing Cretaceous Interior Seaway that once extended through the western US. The late May snowstorm that hit the Front Range on May 21 caused the field trip to be delayed by one day, enabling attendees to dig out, roads to improve, and snow to melt. The result was a cool but
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ABOVE: Trip leader Dr. Jeffrey A. May standing on the (Late Albian) Dakota Sandstone on the banks of the Arkansas River below the Lake Pueblo Dam, west of Pueblo, Colorado. LEFT: Walking along the transgressive contact between the Dakota Sandstone and overlying black (Early Cenomanian) Graneros Shale below the Lake Pueblo Dam, west of Pueblo, Colorado.
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west. He challenged the group with field questions encouraging us to observe and compare outcrops, fracture styles, and depositional patterns. In Lake Pueblo State Park and the surrounding area there are approximately 4000 feet of Middle to Upper Cretaceous strata exposed. Structural development of the Rock Creek Anticlinorium was contemporaneous with downcutting by the Arkansas River, producing the Rich Bottjer and trip leader Jeff May review a regional cross-section of Cretaceous spectacular outcrops. The stratigraphy covering 185 miles from southern Wyoming to southern Colorado. It is hung on group examined each of the the X Bentonite, an extensive marker bed seen in outcrop and in gamma-ray well logs across key formations in this secthe area. tion, overall a sampling of about 300 vertical feet. From between the amount of silica and the amount of caloldest to youngest we looked at Dakota, Graneros, cium carbonate in the depositional systems. Jeff emGreenhorn, Carlile and Niobrara Formations. Each phasized the importance of understanding what was easily identified and well exposed. The dry praicomponents make up each lithology, as they indicate rie landscape had springtime native plants and cacsubtleties of the depositional environment such as tus beginning to go green. facies, sea-level change, climate, and biogenic proFour stops were visited where participants could ductivity. Silica can be in the form of clay, quartz and see different aspects of the stratigraphic section. At feldspar detritus; micro-fossils; and cement. Calcium each stop, multiple working hypotheses were precarbonate can be deposited in the form of micro-fossented for a wide range of topics, including water sils, including foraminifera, coccoliths, and pellets; depths and depositional environments of each unit, reworked fossil fragments; macrofossils, including character and timing of transgressive-regressive cyinoceramid bivalves and ammonites; and cements. cles, causes of the chalk-marl couplets, record of OceThe composition, types, abundance, and diversity of anic Anoxic Event II in the upper part of the Greenthese materials help provide an understanding of the horn Formation, possible influence of paleostructure lateral and vertical extent of different rock units, imon circulation and deposition, opening and closing portant in developing exploration plays. of the Western Interior Cretaceous Seaway, and the The first major transgressive Cretaceous succesdifferences between lithostratigraphy and sequence sion we examined began with the Dakota Sandstone stratigraphy. Mechanical stratigraphy also was disand reached a highstand maximum in the Bridge cussed at each outcrop. The abundance, orientation, Creek Member of the Greenhorn Formation. Nudirection, and throughgoing nature of fractures from merous higher frequency cycles formed within the bed to bed was very interesting. The Cretaceous beds succession indicating shoreline fluctuation due to ranged from brittle to ductile with the thicker brittle eustacy, increased accommodation from structurbeds having more widely spaced fractures than the al change, and/or local sediment input. Below the thinner ones. During Cretaceous time there was a fluctuation
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ABOVE: Trekking on the Graneros Shale below the X Bentonite 94.9 Ma (Cenomanian) regional marker bed. The clay-rich Graneros Shale was moist and sticky, making for heavy boots and a mess on the floor of the vehicles. LEFT: Jeff Aldrich pointing to the contact between the lower and upper (Middle Cenomanian) Lincoln Limestone Member of the Greenhorn Formation.
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RMAG ON THE ROCKS Trip leader Jeff May explains Niobrara facies variations regionally across the western US based on the interpretation of conventional core and well data by former EOG Resources colleague Donna Anderson. Chalks tended to develop during time of low terrigenous deposition, i.e., times of transgression. Marls, having a greater clay and silt content, tended to form during regressions.
Railroad cut adjacent to Lake Pueblo State Park. The lower dark unit is the (Cenomanian) upper Hartland Shale overlain by marl-chalk beds of the Bridge Creek Limestone on the skyline. The lower portion of the upper fractured unit includes the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary. Conjugate fracture patterns in the Bridge Creek Limestone make for a high relief outcrop face. The Bridge Creek Limestone Member of the Greenhorn Formation marks the maximum transgression that occurred in the Greenhorn Transgressive-Regressive Cycle at approximately 92.6 Ma. OUTCROP | July 2022
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ABOVE: From a safe location, away from the cliff face, Jeff Aldrich points to the bedding plane representing the Cenomanian-Turonian Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) within the Bridge Creek Limestone. The designation is assigned by an international committee and is based on biostratigraphy (foraminifera, bivalves, and ammonites) and absolute dating of bentonites. LEFT: Chalk-marl couplets in the Fort Hays Member of the Niobrara Formation exposed along the bike path near the Pueblo Nature and Wildlife Discovery Center. The outcrop face is smooth, almost planar, and is formed by a fracture. BELOW: The field trip group of 12 standing at an outcrop of fractured Niobrara Chalk along the bike path near the Nature Center, Pueblo, Colorado.
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Shale, and Bridge Creek Limestone. In the 1800’s, G.K. Gilbert of “Gilbert Delta” fame did fieldwork in the Pueblo area on horseback. He recognized the “chalk-marl couplet” cyclicity in the Greenhorn Formation, especially in the Bridge Creek interval. His interpretation of climatic cycles influencing deposition on each couplet at a duration of about 20,000 years has been supported by later detailed dating and analysis by Earle Kaufmann, Brad Sageman, and others. The Carlile Shale marks the next transgressive-regressive cycle, which we examined in the vicinity of the Pueblo Nature and Wildlife Discovery Center. This formation is capped by the enigmatic Codell Sandstone Member, which has had a wide variety of depositional interpretations including wave-dominated shoreface, tidally-influenced deltaic, storm-dominated shelf sand sheet, and reworked remnant shoreface. The overlying Niobrara Formation represents the peak of the transgressive megacycle. Exposures of Niobrara are best seen along the Nature Center bike trail that parallels the Arkansas River downstream from the dam. All in all, it was a great day in the field. Of note, it was the first geological field trip for Bridget Crowther, the new Executive Director of RMAG. She gave it a thumbs up! Also, a big thanks to the two trip coordinators from the OTR Committee, Rich Bottjer and Rob Diedrich, who kept us on schedule, did much of the driving, and brought all the snacks.
Lake Pueblo Dam, the succession begins with the basal gently dipping Dakota Sandstone. Several feet of it crops out along the banks of the Arkansas River showing spectacular cross bedding and bioturbation. The transgressive contact between the Dakota Sandstone and overlying Graneros Shale was razor sharp and obvious. Dark black, soft, easily weathered shale covers the tan well-cemented Dakota Sandstone. The Graneros is a black, organic-rich shale with a low amount of calcium carbonate. Despite its richness, 4-6% total organic carbon, it has not been a horizontal drilling target in the south Denver Basin due to its thermal immaturity and high clay content. The clay affects its mechanical properties, making it unsuitable for hydraulic fracturing given current technologies. A regional marker, the X Bentonite, occurs at the top of the Graneros. It ranges from several inches to many feet in thickness regionally and is widespread from Canada to New Mexico. It is observed in outcrop, conventional cores, and on well logs as a gamma ray peak. An amalgamation of multiple ash events, it came from volcanic eruptions believed to originate from the Idaho Batholith and possibly Sierra Nevada Range. Above the X Bentonite we examined the three members of the Greenhorn Formation. From oldest to youngest they are the Lincoln Limestone, Hartland
Looking across Lake Pueblo toward the cloud shrouded Wet Mountains, just west of Pueblo, Colorado.
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for papers for…Publish with… Publish with…
Why co • Reac • Qua • Perm • Quic Topics available within: • Ever
al Issue: Expanded geologic focus: ommemorate 100 years of RMAG, The • Stratigraphy, mining, structur Expanded geologic focus: greater Rocky Mountain area of North Amer • Entire Whyspecial contribute? untain Geologist• will publish issue area oftectonics, hydrogeology, Entire greatera• Rocky America WestMountain Texas and New North Mexico to northern British Co • and Reach aMexico broad industry and academic audience org summer. paleontology, geophysics, • West Texas northern British Columbia • New Great Plainstoand Mid-Continent region • and Quarterly peer-reviewed journal petroleum geo • Great Plains Mid-Continent regiongeochemistry, king historical overview papers that illustrate • Permanentofarchiving and includes Datapages ntury of advances in the subdisciplines manyAAPG more! • Quick contribute? kies geoscienceWhy (or in Rockies studyturn-around areas). • time Manuscripts due June 1, 202 • Reach a broad industry and academic • Every subdiscipline inaudience the geosciences http https://www.rmag.org/p • Quarterly peer-reviewed For morejournal info or ideas, email: mgeditor@rma
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https://www.rmag.org/publications/the-mountain-geologist/
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MINERAL OF THE QUARTER By Ronald L. Parker Senior Geologist, Borehole Image Specialists, P. O. Box 221724, Denver CO 80222 | ron@bhigeo.com
APATITE Your Mineral Smile
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Beautiful, doubly-terminated fluorapatite crystal displaying a well-formed hexagonal prism. 7 cm in long dimension. From Renfrew, Ontario, Canada. Photo used with permission from John Betts Fine Minerals.
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Apatite, Ca5(PO4)3-(Cl, F, OH) is the most common rock-forming phosphate mineral, and it is widespread in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. Apatite describes a family of minerals that exhibit complete solid solution between F, Cl and OH end-members. Apatite often occurs as elongate euhedral prisms that are yellow, green, blue or brown from igneous and metamorphic rocks. In sedimentary rocks, apatite appears as cryptocrystalline grains in phosphorites. Yet another common occurrence of apatite is as vertebrate bone tissue – yes, the stuff that forms your skeleton. Apatite is well-known to introductory geology students as the Mohs Hardness index mineral for H=5. Apatite accommodates ionic substitution including uranium, thorium and Rare Earth Elements (REEs). Radioactive components of apatite render it useful for Lustrous, purple to teal colored fluorapatite from the Plain Jane Pocket, Emmons dating temperature changes over time Quarry, Uncle Tom Mountain, Greenwood, Oxford, County, Maine. Used with (thermochronology) and in sediment permission from John Betts fine Minerals, Inc. provenance studies. Stable isotope characterization of apatite in bone has the anionic components are widely known (Hughes many applications in the geosciences. Apatite minet. al, 1989). Fluorapatite is the most abundant of eral properties make it useful as synthetic bone and the three and is the most commercially important; spray coatings on titanium implants to foster bondhydroxyapatite us much less common and chloraing with natural bone. The chemistry of apatite is patites are rare (Bonewitz, 2008). The structure woven through the history of dental health in the US of apatite consists of PO43- tetrahedra (superficial(and the world) in the form of water fluoridation, ly similar to silica tetrahedra) that are bonded latheralded as one of the most successful public health th erally to Ca2+ to form a hexagonal lattice. Carbonachievements of the 20 century. Smile! Your apatite ate can sometimes substitute for the PO43- to create is showing! carbonate-apatite or francolite (F-rich) or dahlite Apatite, Ca5(PO4)3-(Cl, F, OH), is a general name (OH-rich) (Nesse, 2002). The term collophane is for the series of calcium phosphate minerals that applied to cryptocrystalline apatite that forms endiffer by the dominant anionic group: fluorine, hycrusting, spherulitic, oolitic and colloform masses. droxyl or chlorine. Apatite occurs in igneous, metCollophane is the dominant material in bone and in amorphic and sedimentary rocks and is, in fact, the phosphorites (Klein 2002; Nesse, 2002). most common phosphate phase in each of these Apatite-series minerals display a wide range of rock types. The anionic constituents form a comcolors including colorless, green, blue, violet, purple, plete solid solution series and, while pure F, Cl or OH CONTINUED ON PAGE 42 end-members are rare, apatites that have 2 or 3 of
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yellow, or rose. Apatites have a vitreous luster and a specific gravity of 3.15 to 3.20 (Klein, 2002). Apatite is the Mohs hardness index mineral for 5, which means that it can be scratched by a knife or a nail. The name Apatite was invented by A. G. Werner in the mid-1780s and is derived from the Greek, apate, which means deceit, a reference to its often-striking similarity to beryl, amethyst, topaz and olivine (Bonewitz, 2008). Apatite is readily discriminated from these minerals by its lower hardness. In thin-section, apatite is typified by moderately high positive relief, which makes it stand out A large, doubly-terminated fluorapatite crystal from Bancroft, Ontario, Canada. 7.5 from many of the common cm in long dimension. Used with permission from John Betts fine Minerals, Inc. silicates (Nesse, 2002). Apatite belongs to the hexagonal dipyramidal (6/m) cryshigh-temperature hydrothermal veins (Bonewitz, tal class, typified by a 6-fold axis of rotation with 2008). In igneous and metamorphic rocks, apatite is a perpendicular mirror plane. Crystals of the apausually observed as small, euhedral crystals that are tite-series minerals are often found as euhedral to hard to see except in thin-section. In metamorphic subhedral, elongate, prismatic, and tabular crysrocks, apatite is most commonly found in precurtals, frequently with complex pyramidal forms and sors that are pelitic, carbonate, basaltic and ultrahexagonal cross-sections. Sometimes apatite crysmafic. Apatite is also known from all metamorphic tals form radiating clusters of acicular fibers (Nesse, grades, from zeolite to granulite facies (Chew et. al., 2002; Bonewitz, 2008). 2016). When found in skarns, marbles or calc-siliIn igneous rocks, apatite is a “nearly ubiquitous cate gneisses, apatite crystals may be coarsely crysaccessory phase” reflecting low solubility of P in talline (Nesse, 2002). Apatite is a perfect mineral for magmas and the exclusion of P from rock-forming fingerprinting metasomatism in metamorphic rocks silicates (Chew et. al., 2011, p. 200). Apatite abun(Harlov, 2015). dance is inversely related to silica content. Large In sedimentary rocks, apatite occurs as both deproportions of apatite are found in Ti-bearing magtrital grains in sandstones and as massive accumunetite deposits associated with silica-poor alkaline lations of collophane in phosphorites. As a detriintrusions. A carbonatite in the center of the alkalic tal grain, apatite finds its way into clastic sediments igneous complex at Magnet Cove, Arkansas (comand has been studied extensively as a tracer of provplete with Ti-rich magnetite-bearing nepheline syenance. Unlike zircon, which can undergo rock cyenites) is shot through with apatite (photo). Apacle “recycling”, apatite is much less physically and tite is also a common occurrence in pegmatites and
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Crystal fragment of blue-green apatite. From Bob’s Lake, Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada. 7 cm in long dimension. Used with permission from John Betts fine Minerals, Inc. efficient fluorescent lighting, liquid crystal displays, lasers, glassmaking, high-tech ceramics, fiber optics, high-temperature superconductivity, petroleum refining catalysts, magnetic refrigeration and wind turbines (USGS, 2014). The search for domestic sources of REEs has sparked renewed interest in exploration for REE-enriched apatite. In uranium-bearing apatites, U4+ substitutes for Ca2+ in the apatite crystal lattice. Radioactive decay of 238U in apatite by spontaneous nuclear fission creates tracks in the crystal lattice that are useful for determining thermal history within the range of 60° to 120°C. The number of fission tracks in an apatite crystal can be used to measure the time since crystal formation. Fission tracks in apatite average 15 um in length and are stable below 60°C. Above this temperature, fission tracks are subject to annealing and
chemically stable. Detrital apatite in clastic rocks is thus considered to represent 1st cycle weathering, which can be dated using U-Pb and Th-Pb chronometers (Chew et. al., 2016). The most abundant occurrence of apatite is as marine phosphorites, which contain >20% P2O5. (This is a vast enrichment of the average amount of phosphate found in mudrocks (0.17%) and limestones (0.04%). Phosphorites are comprised of cryptocrystalline apatite that often includes up to 3% carbonate, in the material known as collophane. Phosphorites form in many of the same depositional settings as limestones and may result from syndepositional phosphatization of carbonate sediments during early diagenesis. Virtually all phosphorite deposits are of shallow marine origin and result from the accumulation and diagenetic alteration of the bones and teeth of vertebrate animals. The model for phosphorite formation invokes accumulation in low-latitude, tropical regions where deep oceanic currents upwell onto shallow shelves. In the modern world, this occurs on the western edge of continental margins where the prevailing trade winds direct air masses, and thereby surface water currents, offshore to the west. Deep cold waters, rich in phosphates from organic matter decay, are pulled upward onto the adjacent shelf to replace surface water transported offshore. The nutrient-rich waters in upwelling zones lead to explosions of primary productivity, which, in warm, shallow waters favor an increase in dissolved phosphate activity, phosphorite accumulation and diagenetic alteration (Blatt et. al., 2006). Apatite has an appetite for sponging up elements that are only found in trace amounts in Earth’s crust. Most notable among these are the uranium, thorium and the Rare Earth Elements (REEs). Apatites that bear REEs are associated with other REE phosphates, most notably the minerals Monazite (Ce, La, Nd, Th)PO4 and Xenotime, YPO4. In xenotime, the Yttrium is often replaced by REEs, U or Th (Roeder et. al., 1987). REEs have been identified as critical minerals by the USGS. The supply chain for REEs is booming, largely due to modern technological applications. These include: highstrength magnets, rechargeable batteries, energy
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they will disappear above 120°C. Thus, the length of apatite fission tracks can be used to determine the maximum temperature to which a rock has been subjected. The U-Th/He system in apatite can date thermal history in the range of ~40°-80°C, the lowest range of any thermochronometer. This lends the technique relevance to studies of the upper crust such as mountain building, neotectonics, landscape evolution, etc. (Stockli et. al., 2000). The propensity for U and Th uptake by apatite has been proposed for use in engineered contaminant barriers for nuclear waste retention and storage. An investigation into the use of apatite as the substrate for removing dissolved Pb, Cd and Zn from aqueous solutions and from contaminated soil leachate suggests that it is a cost-effective option for this type of remediation (Chen et. al., 1997). Translucent yellow fluorapatite crystal displaying a flat basal pinacoid with prism Calcium phosphates are the main and pyramid faces. From the Crystal Lode Pegmatite, Devil’s Canyon, Eagle County, constituents of the bones and teeth of Colorado. Used with permission from John Betts fine Minerals, Inc. vertebrates. The earliest vertebrates are Lower Cambrian in age and bony to create coatings for ceramic bone replacement imskeletal materials have been with us ever since. Evoplants to facilitate bonding and acceptance by the lutionary adapation of skeletal apatites has ranged body (Geesink et. al., 1988). The facility of apatites far and wide including use to protect internal organs to accommodate ionic substitutions and vacancies is (shells, scales and flat bones), internal skeletons being tweaked to create tailored biomaterials with (bones), sensors (bones of the inner ear, rostrum of improved characteristics relative to bone hydroxywhales, otoliths of fish) and organs of attack and deapatite (Cazalbou et. al., 2005). fense (antlers and tusks) (Combes et. al., 2016). StaFluorapatite is more resistant to acid attack ble isotopes of C, O and Sr from fossil biological apthan is the hydroxyapatite that constitutes human atites, including bone, dentin, enamel, scales, can be tooth enamel and this fact pervades modern denused to answer a wide range of questions from the tistry. In 1901, Dr. Charles McKay, a new dentist geological time scale. Some examples include unravwho had moved to Colorado Springs from the east eling paleoclimates, resolving dietary preferences, coast, recognized that local children had a markdeciphering dinosaur thermoregulation, mapping edly increased incidence of dark brown staining of the rise of C4 plants, establishing seal, whale, rhitheir teeth. The disorder was pervasive throughout noceros and mastodon migrations and herding bethe community and it became known as “Colorahaviors, and determining rates of topographic uplift do Brown Stain”. This malady was observed in other (Kohn and Cerling, 2002). Synthetic apatites are a CONTINUED ON PAGE 45 hot topic of medical research. They have been used
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Weathered acicular crystal masses of yellow carbonateapatite from the igneous calcite (carbonatite) in the center of the Magnet Cove syenite ring dike complex east of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Photo by Ronald L. Parker.
communities of the Mountain West and it was finally discovered that the cause was excess levels of dissolved fluoride in drinking water. The condition was named fluorosis. By 1944, it was noted that moderate levels of fluoride produced no discoloration and an increased resistance to dental caries (cavities). In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan became the 1st municipality to add fluoride to its Public Water Supply. An 11-year study with 30,000 school children showed a 60% decrease in rate of cavities – a huge success! This eventually led to the addition of carefully measured doses of fluoride to most Public Community Water Supplies (PCWS) across the United States. Most modern dental products now are amended with stannous fluoride to facilitate growth of fluorapatite (Wopena and Pasteris, 2005). Turning the scourge of cavities into a preventable disease is counted as one of the most significant public health victories on the 20th century (USCDC, 2007; NIH, 2022).
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Phosphorites are mined for their apatite, which is the most significant source of phosphate to the human family. The primary use of phosphate is fertilizer which makes the modern world possible. Without apatite, and the phosphorus that it provides, the world would not be able to feed such a large human population. Phosphate is immensely significant to all biological systems, from providing the double helix “backbone” to the DNA molecule to fueling cellular respiration with adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Without phosphate, simply, no life on Earth. Thank you, apatite! In spite of the fact that most apatite igneous and metamorphic rocks are small, there are many notable locations that yield remarkable, large crystals. Some of these include: Minas Gerais, Brazil; Knappenwald, Austria; Renfrew, Ontario, Canada; Cerro de Mercado (Durango), Mexico; the southern coast of Norway; and the Ti-Magnetite ores in Kiruna, Sweden and Essex County, New York. Collectible
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apatite crystals come from pegmatites and veins in Panasquiera, Portugal, Jumilla, Spain. In the United States, notable apatite localities from pegmatites are: Apatite Mountain, Auburn, Maine; St. Lawrence County, New York; the Crystal Lode pegmatite in Eagle County, Colorado, San Diego County, California, Alexander County, North Carolina (Klein, 2002). Phosphorites are mined for fertilizer in France, Belgium, Spain, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. In the United States, phosphorites are mined from Tennessee, Wyoming, Idaho and coastal South Carolina, Georgia and Florida (Klein and PhilPhosphorite rock from the seafloor in southern California. Public domain photo potts, 2013). from the USGS When you smile in the mirror, those pearly whites are apatite (and they help you with your appetite)! You Chen, Xiaobing, Judith V. Wright, James L. Conca see apatite whenever you brush your teeth! Smile! and Loni M. Peurrung, Evaluation of Heavy Metal Remediation Using Mineral Apatite, Water, WEBLINKS Air, and Soil Pollution, 98:57-78. • https://www.minerals.net/mineral/apatite.aspx Chew, David M. and Richard A. Spikings, 2021, • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatite Apatite U-Pb Thermochronology: A Review, Min• https://www.mindat.org/show. erals 11 1095, 23 pp. https://doi.org/10.3390/ php?id=29229&ld=1 min11101095 • http://handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/fluorapChew, David M., Paul J. Sylvester and Mike N. atite.pdf Tubrett, 2011, U-Pb and Th-Pb Dating of Ap• https://webmineral.com/data/Apatite.shtml atite by LA-ICPMS, Chemical Geology, 280: 200-216. REFERENCES Combes, Chrisele, Sophie Cazalbou and Christian Rey, 2016, Apatite Biominerals, Minerals, Blatt, Harvey, Robert J. Tracy and Brent ER. Owens, 2006, Petrology: Igneous, Sedimentary and 34(6): 25pp. Metamorphic, New York, New York: W. H. FreeGeesink, Rudolph G. T., Klaas de Groot and man and Company, 530 pp. Christel P. A. Klein, 1988, Bonding of Bone to Bonewitz, Ronald Louis, 2008, Rock and Gem: Apatite-Coated Implants, Journal of Bone and The Definitive Guide to Rocks, Minerals, Joint Surgery, 70-B: 17-22. Gems and Fossils, New York, New York: DorGulbrandsen, R.A., 1969, Physical and Chemical ling-Kindersley Limited, 360 pp. Factors in the Formation of Marine Apatite, EcoCazalbou, S., D. Eichert, X. Ranz, C. Drouet, C. nomic Geology, 64: 365-382. Combes., M.F. Harmand and C. Rey, 2005, Ion Harlov, Daniel, E., 2015, Apatite: A Fingerprint Exchanges in Apatites for Biomedical Applicafor Metasomatic Processes, in Elements, 11(6): tions, Journal of Materials Science: Materials in 171-176. Medicine, 16: 405-409. CONTINUED ON PAGE 47
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Hughes, John M., Maryellen Cameron and Kevin D. Crowley, 1989, Structural Variations in Natural F, OH and Cl Apatites, American Mineralogist, 74: 870-876. Kohn, Matthew J. and Thure E. Cerling, 2002, Stable Isotope Compositions of Biological Apatite, in M.J. Kohn, J. Rakovan and J. M. Hughes, Eds., Phosphates – Geochemical, Geobiological and Materials Importance, Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 48, Mineralogical Society of America, pp. 455-488. Klein, Cornelis, 2002, The 22nd Edition of the Manual of Mineral Science: New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 641 pp. Klein, Cornelis, and Anthony Philpotts, 2013, Earth MateCathodoluminescence Map of Apatite showing intergrowths of the REE bearing rials: Introduction to Mineralphosphate minerals monazite and xenotime. Public domain photo from the USGS. ogy and Petrology, Cambridge University Press, 536 pp. National Institutes of Health Stockli, Daniel F., Kenneth A. Farley and Trev(NIH), 2022, The Story of Fluoridation, Nationor A. Dumitru, 2000, Calibration of the Apatite al Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, (U-Th/He) Thermochronometer on an Exhumed webpage https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/health-inFault Block, White Mountains, California, Geolofo/fluoride/the-story-of-fluoridation accessed gy, 28(11): 983-986. 6/20/22. Pan, Y., and M. E. Fleet, 2002, Compositions of USCDC, 2007, Community Water Fluoridation, the Apatite Group Minerals: Substitution Mechwebsite, https://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/inanisms and Controlling Factors, in M.J. Kohn, J. dex.html accessed 6/2/22. Rakovan and J. M. Hughes, Eds., Phosphates – USGS, 2014, Rare Earth Elements – Vital to Geochemical, Geobiological and Materials ImModern Technologies and Lifestyles, Fact portance, Reviews in Mineralogy and GeochemSheet FS2014-3078 https://pubs.usgs.gov/ istry 48, Mineralogical Society of America, pp. fs/2014/3078/pdf/fs2014-3078.pdf accessed 13-49. 6/2/22. Roeder, Peter L., Duncan MacArthur, Xin-Pei Ma Wopena, Brigitte, and Jill D. Pasteris, 2005, and Gerald R. Palmer, 1987, CathodoluminesA Mineralogical Perspective on the Apatite in cence and Microprobe Study of Rare-Earth ElBone, Materials Science and Engineering C ements in Apatite, American Mineralogist, 72: 801-811. 25:131-143.
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News From The RMAG Foundation
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This year, the RMAG Foundation committed to expanding its contributions to the geoscience community this year. So far, the following awards and grants have been given: • $45,000 in scholarships, an increase of $16,000 from 2021. • $2000 for to support the Dinosaur Ridge Science Quiz Bowl in November 2022. • $1465 to provide free one-year RMAG memberships to 33 scholarship applicants (winners included) and 17 faculty advisors. • $1000 for student discounts for RMS-AAPG Convention Short Courses and Field Trips • $1000 for student registration discounts to the 2022 Petroleum History Institute Convention. • $1000 to the Morrison Museum Foundation to support admission discounts for K-6 students. • $1000 for first and second place winners of the Colorado Science and Engineering Fair, held in April 2022 at CSU. • $766 for the purchase of a webcam, microphone, and 3 zoom licenses for RMAG luncheons and other presentations. • $300 to the RMAG Diversity and Inclusion Committee to sponsor a dinosaur mask decoration activity for a booth at the Juneteenth celebration in Denver.
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GOLDEN FIELD TRIP RMAG Foundation Trustee, Donna Anderson, led a one-day field trip in Golden for 2021 Foundation major donors. May 15 was a perfect day for 8 geologists to see some of Golden’s interesting geology. A special thanks to Mark Longman for recording the details of the trip and to Amy McKay for
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the photographs. Having just completed a book titled “Golden Rocks: The Geology and Mining History of Golden, Colorado” with co-author, Paul B. Haseman, Donna spun fascinating tales of Golden’s mining history. One unique stop was at the Cambria Lime Kiln in Golden’s Kinney Run Open Space. Built in 1879, it produced lime from the burning of Permian limestone and was operational until the late 1800’s. Historic photos guided a restoration project several years ago, preserving the kiln as an important historical feature. Another stop overlooked the site of the 1889 White Ash Coal Mine disaster in central Golden.
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Ten miners lost their lives while working at a depth of 720 feet in a lateral coal-mine shaft when a shallower fire and subsequent mine flooding drowned them at the bottom of the mine. These were just two stops that showcased Golden’s rich history of natural resource development that included placer gold dredging, silver smelting operations, coal mining, clay mining (including clays used to develop Coor’s porcelain industry), and quarrying for aggregate extraction. Be sure to download Donna’s and Paul’s eBook. And if Donna runs the trip again, the participants of the May 15 trip enthusiastically encourage you to sign up.
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2022 Earth Science Teacher of the Year Award By Donna Anderson, RMAG Foundation & RMAG Educational Outreach Committee Chair
HIGH PRAISE FROM HER SCHOOL
Yvette Kampschnieder, Principal at Bethlehem Lutheran School, says, “It is with great pleasure and honor that one of our science teachers, Mrs. Lisa Taylor, has been awarded the Earth Science Teacher of the Year award! Thank you, for recognizing and validating her passion for Earth Science and teaching! As a principal and colleague of Mrs. Taylor, I am very proud of her for pursuing teaching with her whole heart and sharing that love with her students each and every day! I feel this award acknowledges her hard work and love for teaching Earth Science.” With the mission to inspire and educate current and future geoscientists, the RMAG Foundation recognizes the importance of this dedicated teacher who provides earth science education. In honoring Lisa Taylor, the RMAG is pleased to encourage and foster interest in STEM careers in general and particularly in earth science. Lisa will be recognized at the August 3 RMAG luncheon and will be given a complimentary one-year membership to the RMAG, funded by the RMAG Foundation. Congratulations!
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to think about enriching our Earth Science program even more!”
The RMAG and the RMAG Foundation are pleased to announce the 2022 Earth Science Teacher of the Year Awardee! The outstanding finalist is Lisa Taylor, science teacher at Bethlehem Lutheran School in Lakewood, Colorado. She personally receives $2000 to further her professional activities, and Bethlehem Lutheran School receives $2000 to be used for Earth Science purposes, as directed by the Earth Science teacher awardee. Lisa Taylor’s 7th-grade Earth Science Course connects students to the natural world, coupling labs and outdoor field trips to make the course relevant, intentional, and empowering. She uses the Front Range foothills as a natural laboratory to understand and explain how those rocks and minerals have formed. One of her course modules stresses how fresh water is kept, stored, used, and reused. Labs allow students to test water samples from Colorado for degrees of purity, salinity, and hardness. Students test soil samples for degrees of permeability. A teacher for over 20 years, Lisa plans to use award funds to update the Earth Science curriculum at her school. Lisa says, “I am surprised and humbled to receive this award. It is truly an honor. It excites me
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