November 2006 Activities Highlights

ISGS Celebrates Earth Science Week

Governor Rod R. Blagojevich proclaimed October 8 to 14, 2006, as Earth Science Week in Illinois. The Survey helped commemorate Earth Science Week for the public with its October Geoscience Field Trip to the Cave-In-Rock Area in southeastern Illinois. Additionally, ISGS distributed 40 American Geological Institute (AGI) toolkits to Champaign County middle schools for use by their science teachers. The packets contained an earth science calendar filled with activities and important geoscientific dates; fact sheets from the U.S. Geological Survey; a DVD on the national parks from the National Parks Service; illustrative materials from NASA; information about the new Smithsonian Institution interactive Web site for teachers; and posters from a variety of agencies. Information was included about the ISGS and its programs, upcoming ISGS geological science field trips, and the spring ISGS open house. Multiple packets were requested by Champaign (20), Urbana (6), Mahomet (5), and Fisher (2) schools; single packets were mailed to Tolono, Heritage, Rantoul, St. Joseph, and Prairieview-Ogden (Thomasboro). The teachers and their schools were thrilled to receive these high-quality materials for use in their classrooms. (Contacts: J. Goodwin, W. Frankie, and C. Nimz)

Fall Field Trip Attracts Large Crowd

On October 21, 2006, approximately 113 people attended the ISGS Geological Science Field Trip to the Cave-In-Rock Area, in Hardin County in southeastern Illinois. Participants enjoyed perfect fall color and a clear day as they traveled the scenic field trip route along the Ohio River within the eastern border of the Shawnee Hills. Uplift, folding, and faulting in the Pennsylvanian and Mississippian age bedrock could be seen along the route and in the steep cliffs along the river. The first stop was to the famous "river pirates" cavern where participants learned about the cave's geology and the legends and lore surrounding its history. Next came a short hike to nearby Tower Rock (500 feet above sea level), where Mississippian age Salem Limestone is overlain by St. Louis Limestone. Horn corals were seen in abundance here. A ferry ride across the Ohio River to Kentucky provided a unique water view of the cave and Tower Rock. Later stops at the American Fluorite Museum and the abandoned Annabel Lee Mine gave participants insight into the once thriving fluorite industry in Illinois and a chance to collect samples of Illinois' state mineral. Participants also visited the Illinois Iron Furnace and learned about how pig iron was produced in the mid-1800s and its impact on the region's economics. (Contact: W. Frankie)

ISGS Assists in Production of Earthquake Preparedness Video

The ISGS annually assists several agencies in Illinois in variousu aspects of earthquake preparedness. Over the past 15 years, the Survey has helped produce earthquake exercises for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), which includes participants from the Department of Transportation, state police, and county and city emergency managers. This work has led to a number of outreach products such as pamphlets and a video produced by the emergency managers with cooperation from the Survey. During this past month, the ISGS was contacted by a trainer for the state police who asked for help in replacing an earthquake emergency response video that had been recently destroyed. The video was produced by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) in 1990, with production assistance by the ISGS. Fortunately, the ISGS had a broadcast-quality copy of the video, which was first reviewed for accuracy of content. The ISGS photographer then converted the video content to DVD. Copies of the DVD were sent to the state police trainer and to IEMA. The ISGS is continuing work on earthquake preparedness in cooperation with other state surveys in the central United States through planning for post-earthquake responses. (Contact: R. Bauer)

PTTC Workshop Held on Detecting, Maintaining, and Repairing Casing Integrity

The Midwest PTTC presented an afternoon seminar, "Detecting, Maintaining, and Repairing Casing Integrity" to 85 attendees on October 27, 2006, in Evansville, Indiana. The oil reservoirs of Illinois are very mature and subject to both chemical and electrolytic corrosion, ranging in severity from moderate to severe. Casing leaks in production wells can cause increased water production and reduced oil production. Leaks in injection and disposal wells can endanger fresh groundwater. Detection and repair of leaking casing can be difficult and expensive. Several speakers presented the latest technology for identifying the nature and location of casing problems and the options that are available to repair problems cost effectively. Presentations were given by speakers from Weatherford, Baker-Petrolite, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Office of Mines and Minerals, Baker Hughes, and North Midcontinent PTTC. (Contact: S. Gustison)

ISGS Assists IDOT with Extranet Training and Development

An ISGS staff member in the Environmental Site Assessments section was invited by several Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) offices throughout the state to provide customized training on the use of the IDOT-ISGS Extranet and other Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-related issues. He answered questions and provided information on specific features that might be helpful to IDOT to get increased functionality from the Extranet, and he collected feedback on Extranet development issues. He also visited IDOT District 8 in Collinsville on October 18, IDOT District 3 in Ottawa on October 25, and IDOT Central Office in Springfield on October 26, 2006. (Contact: M. Yacucci)

ISGS Staff Assist Mining Operations

Two ISGS coal geologists visited an underground coal mine in southern Illinois at the request of the mine operators to investigate an unusual and rather large roof disturbance. Preliminary investigations appear to point to a huge concretion, 15 feet or more wide and at least 7 feet tall. Samples of the possible concretion will be collected by a mine geologist at a later date. Additional follow-up visits will take place to determine whether this feature is persistent and repeats or is isolated. The geologists also visited a surface mine in the Danville Coal in western Indiana at the request of the mine geologist to examine prominent coal "rolls." Based on this examination and on sedimentary structures in the overlying rocks, the geometry of the coal seam led to a preliminary interpretation of the coal "rolls" as deformation features resulting from differential sediment loading. Data from this mine will help geologists better understand similar features in Illinois. Additionally, an ISGS coal geologist created a series of custom coal maps showing coal mines, coal thicknesses, and potentially minable coal along the corridor of a proposed pipeline for a private company. These maps will help delineate areas to potentially avoid because of possible long wall mining. (Contacts: J. Nelson and S. Elrick)

Assistance Provided to IEPA

An ISGS geochemist was contacted by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to provide input to a white paper. The basic thesis of the white paper is that nitrification in groundwater should be limited only by the availability of dissolved oxygen. The outcome of this white paper could potentially impact current drinking water standards for nitrogen. (Contact: W. Roy)

New Fly Ash Project Funded

A two-year project, "Manufacturing Fired Bricks with Class F Fly Ash from Illinois Basin Coals", was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and Combustion Byproducts Recycling Consortium (U.S. DOE-CBRC). The project to evaluate whether the fly ash from Cinergy PSI Cayuga station is a viable material for fired brick making at a nearby brick plant was completed, and a final report has been submitted. A summary of the project work was published by the US DOE-CBRC Ashlines in the fall 2006 issue, volume 7, number 3. The U.S. DOE has recently granted an additional award to the ISGS researchers to further assist the brick and utilities in the commercial production of building products using fly ash and other coal combustion solid wastes. (Contact: M. Chou)

A study of grain size distribution, sedimentation rate, and variations in matrix carbonate and color has helped identify the loess- and soil-forming processes in the Peoria Loess in southwestern Illinois. This analysis revealed that many of the weathering bands within the loess deposit contained finer-grained particles with a relatively higher sedimentation rate; other layers contained coarser-grained materials showing slower sedimentation rates. These results suggest that when the higher-sedimentation-rate layers were being deposited, vegetation was denser and surface conditions wetter in the loess deposit area. This situation would have increased the dust trapping efficiency and sedimentation rate. Conversely, during the intervals when the slower-sedimentation-rate layers were being deposited, the combination of strong surface winds, which would have transported coarser-grained particles from local dust sources, and sparse vegetation on a relatively dry surface probably reduced the dust trapping efficiency on the loess deposits, resulting in this slower sedimentation rate. The study investigators concluded that the strong interactions between the loess- and soil-forming processes played an important role in grain size distribution and sedimentation rate in the Peoria Loess in southern Illinois during the last glacial period. The results of this study will be published as "The Importance of Both Geological and Pedological in Control of Grain Size and Sedimentation Rates in Peoria Loess" (Geoderma 136, 388-400). (Contact: H. Wang)

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