ISGS - December 2008 Activity Highlights

The last frame of a video that focuses in
on the northeast corner (Chicago) of the
state and detailed subsurface geology
down to 2,000 feet (column).

Graphics Provided for Discovery Channel

Charles Dowding of Northwestern University requested that Illinois State Geological Survey staff prepare electronic stratigraphic columns and descriptions of bedrock down to at least 2,000 feet in the Chicago area. The materials were to be used during an interview by the Discovery Channel for "You Can't Build That!" The show examined the topic of building a city 2,000 feet below Chicago. The show provided questions for ISGS geologists about materials that would be encountered and wanted graphics that would be shown behind the interviewee and host. Curt Abert at ISGS created an animation of the state of Illinois showing the location of Chicago. The view then spins to the northeast corner of the state and expands to view the geology below the city. Robert Bauer added a stratigraphic column and labeling for the final frames of the animation and provided strength properties for the various layers of bedrock. Donald Mikulic provided information about the geologic history and descriptions of the various layers of bedrock. He also answered many of the questions concerning the character of the bedrock materials, mining history, potential impacts from the massive amount of rock waste materials that would be removed in such a project, and ground water impacts. All of the materials were provided by the ISGS in electronic format. (Contact: Curt Abert)

Presentation Selected for Media Coverage by ACS

The paper "Producing Energy Efficient Concrete Using Illinois Coal Fly Ash," has been selected by the American Chemical Society Office of Communications for media coverage during the 237^th American Chemical Society's national meeting. The meeting will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, from March 22 to 26, 2009. The Society has requested that the ISGS professional scientist and lead author, Mei-In Melissa Chou, present a non-technical summary of the significance of this ISGS research and its implications for the general public. This document will be distributed to members of the media reporting on the meeting. (Contacts: Melissa Chou and Joe Chou)

Abandoned Mine Maps and Directories for Nine Quadrangles Completed

Mapping of abandoned mines was completed by Illinois State Geological Survey staff for nine 7.5-minute quadrangles in Rock Island, Henry, Peoria, Tazewell, Sangamon, Christian, and Shelby Counties. The maps, accompanied by directories containing detailed information on the mine histories and sources of information, have been delivered in both paper and digital formats to the Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund (IMSIF), the project sponsor, and are released to the public at this time. The quadrangles are Coal Valley, Silvis, Peoria West, Peoria East, Pekin, Divernon, Pana, Virden North, and Murphysboro. The maps and directories will help government planners, developers, and private citizens identify areas that have been undermined. (Contacts: Cheri Chenoweth, Jennifer Obrad, and Alan Myers)

Early CO₂ Sequestration Monitoring Shows No Shallow Groundwater Impact

Illinois State Geological Survey scientists Bracken Wimmer and Abbas Iranmanesh continue to develop the groundwater monitoring network that is part of the monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA) program for the Archer Daniel Midland Phase III carbon dioxide (CO₂) sequestration site. The researchers continue to collect groundwater and gas samples from the enhanced coal bed methane and oil recovery pilot projects. These samples are used to monitor groundwater quality to determine if CO₂ injection operations are affecting shallow groundwater quality. To date, water quality data indicate that project activities have not impacted local water quality. Monitoring of the gas concentrations in project wells will determine the performance of the coal seam with respect to CO₂ injection. (Contacts: Bracken Wimmer and Abbas Iranmanesh)

Geologist Bed Herzog

ISGS Staff Selected for National Ground Water Association Committees

Beverly Herzog was appointed to the Government Affairs Committee of the National Ground Water Association (NGWA). This committee's mission is to maintain surveillance of state and federal legislative and regulatory matters that have implications for the groundwater industry, either through its own initiative or at the request of the Board of Directors. The committee develops position papers, oversees four subcommittees, selects issues, requests NGWA lobbying efforts, arranges the annual legislative conference in Washington, D.C., and meets with congressional and executive staff on issues of importance to NGWA. Herzog also serves on the NGWA Board of Directors and is the immediate past chair of NGWA's scientists and engineers division. David Larson was recently appointed chair of the Publishing and Information Products Committee of NGWA. This eleven-member committee oversees activities of NGWA's three publications (Water Well Journal, Ground Water, and Ground Water Monitoring & Remediation), NGWA newsletters, and all of the knowledge products made available by the Association. Committee members include the editors for the three NGWA publications. (Contacts: Beverly Herzog and David Larson)

Historical Aerial Photography Contract Received

Mark Yacucci, Illinois State Geological Survey scientist, was awarded a contract by the Lake County GIS/Mapping Division to orthorectify historical aerial photography. This project (Historical Aerial Photography Lake County Aerial Orthorectification) will cover the orthorectification of scanned 1961, 1980-1981, 1984-1986, and 1993 (CIR) aerial photography for Lake County. The final product will be used by Lake County and internally by the ISGS, and possibly may be posted on the Illinois Department of Transportation-ISGS extranet. (Contact: Mark Yacucci)

Meetings Kick Off Two New Clean Coal Projects

The Illinois State Geological Survey and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL) participated in a kick-off Web video meeting on December 17, 2008, to review research and management plans for the recently funded project titled Development and Evaluation of a Novel Integrated Vacuum Carbonate Absorption Process (IVCAP). The DOE/NETL project manager and project team members from the ISGS, the University of Illinois Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Calgon Carbon participated in the meeting. The principal investigator of the project, Yongqi Lu, provided a presentation on the proposed technology, project objective, work plan, management plan, and updates on the project, followed by a question-and-answer session and discussion of the related technical and management aspects.

During this three-year project, the project team will obtain process engineering data to help advance the patent-pending IVCAP to an industrial-scale technology for a potential pilot- or full-scale testing at a utility site. The team will test the proof-of-concept of the process, identify an effective catalyst or additive to accelerate carbon dioxide (CO₂) absorption and reduce stripping heat, evaluate a modified IVCAP for combined sulfur oxide and CO₂ removal, and analyze the suitability of the IVCAP for industrial applications. (Contact: Yongqi Lu)

A kick-off meeting was held at Meredosia, Illinois, on December 9, 2008. Participants included ISGS, Apogee, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Maxwell Engineering, and Heat Transfer Specialists who met with representatives from Ameren and reviewed pertinent issues related to scheduling, test plans, safety, project management, and communications during the operation of the pilot sorbent activation process (SAP) at Meredosia. The SAP is a state-of-the-art, first-of-its-kind technology for on-site production of activated carbon for the control of mercury emissions from coal combustion flue gases. This patented technology was developed by an ISGS-EPRI engineering team. The pilot SAP will be tested at Meredosia during the first quarter of 2009. (Contact: Massoud Rostam-Abadi)

Geochemical Analysis of Lake Sediment Funded by Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

Andrew Stumpf received funding from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency through their Lake Education Assistance Program. The project goal is to analyze additional samples from lake cores collected by the U.S. Geological Survey Hoverprobe in 2000. To date, 40 samples from three separate cores have been analyzed, and preliminary results indicate a complex geochemistry, both naturally occurring and anthropogenic induced. Up to 15 additional core samples will be submitted to Activation Laboratories Limited in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada, for analyses of 35 oxides and for trace and rare earth elements. These results should help clarify the earlier results. (Contact: Andrew Stumpf)

ISGS Scientists Receive Funding for Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Products

Recently, ISGS scientists collaborated with Operation Simulation Associates, Inc. (OSA), a Georgia-based private company, and successfully developed a patentable plant production procedure (U.S. patent pending) for producing autoclaved aerated concrete products (AAC) from solid waste fly ash from coal combustion power plants. This waste is usually buried in landfills, but this unique production process could reduce by half cement consumption in building products. The process might qualify for environmental credits as it could indirectly reduce the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide emitted during concrete and cement production. The ISGS scientists received further funding from OSA to continue research and development on high-quality raw ingredients for AAC with almost no cement additives. (Contacts: Melissa Chou and Joe Chou)

Geophysics group with ISGS staff member Yev Kontar second from left and staff member Ahmed Ismail far right.

ISGS Active in Near-Surface Geophysics Focus Group

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) Near-Surface Geophysics Focus Group (NSGFG) supports the development and application of geophysical methods to study the near-surface region (approximately the top 100 m). First organized in 2006, the focus group's primary objective is to build an AGU community where researchers involved with near-surface geophysical methods, regardless of the specific application, can discuss and advance the fundamental science of geophysical imaging (data acquisition, inversion, and interpretation). During AGU's December 15-19, 2008, fall meeting in San Francisco, Illinois State Geological Survey geophysicists Yevgeniy Kontar and Ahmed Ismail met with several key NSGFG representatives to discuss joint research projects targeting Illinois subsurface environments and other scientific studies of the "critical zone," which supports human infrastructure, provides water and mineral resources, is the disposal zone for much of the population's waste, represents a key component of many hazards assessments, and is the interface between land and atmosphere for many of the biogeochemical cycles that sustain life. Using near-surface geophysics to study the complex interactions between processes in hydrogeology, geochemistry, and geobiology and possible sharing equipment and experience was discussed. During the AGU fall meeting, the focus group interacted closely with AGU scientific sessions IN51C, OS51D, and OS54B, which were organized and conducted by ISGS. (Contacts: Yevgeniy Kontar and Ahmed Ismail)

Log Scanning Project Completed

Beverly Seyler gave a presentation on December 9, 2008, in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, to the Illinois Petroleum Resources Board on the ISGS log scanning project. The Board was pleased that the project had been successfully completed and authorized expenditure of remaining contract funds on software and hardware to upgrade the ILOIL Web site. The Board also agreed to an annual subscription fee for accessing scanned log images.(Contact: Beverly Seyler)

Clay Minerals Laboratory Has Busy Month

The Illinois State Geological Survey Clay Mineralogy Laboratory received and processed more than 100 samples in December 2008 for clay mineral analysis. The samples included those that were received for STATEMAP projects, graduate student thesis work, and samples from Sonay Boyraz, a visiting scholar from Turkey. Sonay Boyraz was trained in multiple techniques with clay minerals and x-ray diffraction analysis and met with a number of ISGS personnel to discuss her work. (Contact: Shane Butler)

Highlights Archive

Updated 07/23/2012 SLD