Geology and geography.

Chair: Barbara Yassin, MDEQ--Geology

Vice-chair: David Ufnar, University of Southern Mississippi

THURSDAY MORNING

Meeting Room 6

10:00 NATURAL DISASTERS IN MISSISSIPPI'S PAST AND FUTURE

Michael B. E. Bograd, Mississippi Office of Geology, Jackson, MS 39289

Mississippi has experienced natural disasters in the past, including earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, ice storms, droughts, and storm surges. With today's understanding of uniformitarianism, we can expect to suffer such events in the future. These events cause loss of life, property damage, crop damage, and significant economic impacts. Geologists are extending the record of these events into the geologic past through studies of sedimentological evidence left by hurricanes, dendrochronological evidence of hurricanes and droughts, paleoseismological studies of past earthquakes, and other methods. Mississippi will be impacted also by effects of long-term trends such as climate change (warmer/cooler, wetter/drier), sea level rise, rising sea surface temperatures, and cycles of increased numbers or severity of tropical storms. We will experience increasing flood disasters as growing populations develop coastal properties and flood plains, and as urbanization increases flash flooding. Geologists will engage these trends through: (1) geologic mapping; (2) studies of coastal erosion and accretion, coastal flooding, and barrier island migration; (3) geological engineering responses to natural hazards; and (4) by disseminating information about hazards and areas at risk. The challenge is to develop predictive capability and a distribution mechanism for information about hazards, based in the philosophy of Walter Hays that "natural hazards are inevitable but natural disasters are not."

10:20 HURRICANE KATRINA GIS RESPONSE

Barbara Yassin, Mississippi Office of Geology, Jackson, MS 39289

The GIS response to hurricane Katrina was prompt and well organized considering there was no structure to guide it. Agencies and private companies offered their data for use faster then we could download it. Problems arose as volunteers changed and sources and quality of data were not recorded. Some much-needed data had to be sought or created. We can examine what layers were used and at what stage of the response they were needed so we have a preparation guide for the future. Search and rescue maps, cell phone towers, power outages, and road/bridge closures were a top priority. Ice and water distribution soon followed and keeping track of shelters and their populations was ongoing. As responders started going door to door, parcel data were needed. The maps were given to the press, the Governor of Mississippi, and the President of the United States. With this guide we will know what layers to keep updated and archived in numerous places in the event of a future disaster of any scale. Also needed, but more difficult to provide, would be GIS contacts for the data and metadata, which gives the background and quality of the data. Ideally, these data would be held in a common clearinghouse for any responder to access whether or not the provider is available. We thought Camille was the worst, but Katrina proved that assumption wrong. We want to be ready for the next disastrous flood, tornado, earthquake, and hurricane.

10:40 THE IMPACT OF HURRICANE KATRINA ON THE PEARL RIVER MARSH

Jennifer Kuykendall* and Charlotte A. Brunner, University of Southern Mississippi, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529

The purpose of this study is to ascertain the damage caused to the Pearl River marsh by Hurricane Katrina. The marsh, which is located at the southern border of Mississippi and Louisiana, consisted of >5250 contiguous acres in relatively good condition. On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina made landfall at the mouth of the Pearl River, with winds of 60 to 100 kts and storm surge ~8 m in height. Storm erosion reduced the surface area of the marsh by ~10%, based on aerial surveys reported by the U. S. Geological Survey (Smith, 2005). Visual inspection of the marsh confirmed the USGS report that Katrina greatly impacted the marsh. Observations showed that the marsh grasses thinned dramatically on the marsh surface, and ripped-up grass blades were strewn on high-marsh shrubs and high-ground trees. Tufts of grass have been exhumed such that the grass sits above the current sediment surface. Similarly, the mudflat was found to be concave up, indicating the removal of sediments. Channels through the marsh have widened due to slumping and the erosion of levees. Fresh downcutting on creek walls was also observed. A flood-deposited mud layer lies above the natural peat; the flood deposit is variable in thickness. Overall the impact of Hurricane Katrina's storm surge on the Pearl River marsh is substantial, resembling the damage caused by a tsunami.

11:00 THE OAK HILL LIGNITE IN SOUTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI: A POSSIBLE SOURCE FOR COALBED METHANE

David T. Dockery III and James E. Starnes, Mississippi Office of Geology, Jackson, MS 39289

Rising natural gas prices have fueled an exploration boom for new gas resources, including coal-bed methane. In the subsurface of southeastern Mississippi, Tertiary lignite seams with thicknesses greater than seven feet are candidates as possible sources of coal-bed methane. The most promising of these is the major seam in the Oak Hill Member of the Naheola Formation, a seam known as the Oak Hill lignite. This lignite occurs at depths of 2,700 to 3,000 feet in north-central Jasper County, where it is the target of an exploration well by Penn-Virginia Oil & Gas. Here the Oak Hill lignite varies from 10 to 20 feet in thickness. The geophysical log characteristics of this lignite are illustrated in Mississippi Office of Geology, Circular 3, p. 22, fig. 2, well #3. A continuous core of Tertiary strata will be taken in the Penn-Virginia Oil & Gas exploration well from 2,300 feet below the surface to 3,040 feet and will be stored at Mississippi State University. Important tops (below surface) in a nearby well, C. & H. Drilling #1 Board of Supervisors, include: Meridian Sand at 1,130', Hatchetigbee at 1,180', Bashi at 1,570', Tuscahoma at 1,600', Big Shale and top of Nanafalia at 2,120', Coal Bluff and top of Naheola at 2,690', Oak Hill at 2,810', Matthews Landing at 3,110', and Porters Creek at 3,125'.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON

Meeting Room 6

1:00 DRIER IN THE SUBTROPICS AND WETTER IN THE MID- TO HIGH LATITUDES: MODELING THE ALBIAN GREENHOUSE WARMING IN NORTH AMERICA

David Ufnar* and Greg A. Ludvigson, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 39406 and Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence, KS 66047

The oxygen isotopic values of pedogenic, and exposed peritidal carbonates of the upper Glen Rose Formation provide a proxy record of meteoric-vadose evaporative enrichment. The isotopic values of the pedogenic calcites yield positive linear covariant trends (PLCTs) in [delta][d.sup.18]O vs. [delta][d.sup.13]C values. A 2-meter thick, sequence-bounding paleosol developed at the top of the Glen Rose Formation near Kerrville, Texas yields a meteoric calcite line (MCL) with a mean [delta][d.sup.18]O value of -3.8[per thousand], and [delta][d.sup.13]C values that range from -3.7 to -4.8[per thousand] VPDB. Pedogenic carbonate nodules and micrite-dominated domains yield a PLCT that extends from the MCL to [delta][d.sup.18]O values of +1.1[per thousand] and [delta][d.sup.13]C values of -2.7[per thousand] VPDB. The PCLT results from pedogenic calcite precipitation from vadose fluids that were isotopically-enriched through evaporation. The PLCT trends have been used to estimate zonally-averaged evaporation rates at 25[degrees]N paleolatitude during the Albian greenhouse-warming. Terrestrial "greenhouse-world" paleosol-carbonate proxy records and quantitative reconstructions of the mid-Cretaceous hydrologic cycle show that heat transfer through the atmosphere via water vapor played a greater role in cooling the tropics and warming the high latitudes than at present. Albian moisture deficits between 7.5 and 30[degrees]N latitude were up to 3.6 X greater than present. The tropical moisture deficit in the upper Glen Rose Formation is estimated to represent an average heat loss of approximately 22 W/[m.sup.2] at 25[degrees]N paleolatitude (present heat loss via evapotranspiration is 8.5 W/[m.sup.2]). The increased amount of heat removed from the tropics was transferred poleward and released via condensation and contributed to increased polar warmth.

1:20 GREENHOUSE WORLD PROXY RECORDS IN THE LOWER TUSCALOOSA FORMATION, MISSISSIPPI

Michael A. Haney* and David Ufnar, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 39406

Siderite nodules (sphaerosiderites) in paleosols of the Lower Tuscaloosa Formation of southwestern Mississippi have oxygen isotopic values that are a proxy record for low-latitude precipitation oxygen isotopic values during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse warming. This investigation will refine an existing model for the mid-Cretaceous hydrologic cycle of the Cretaceous Western Interior Basin (KWIB) and yield quantitative estimates for ancient precipitation rates and latent heat flux values. The oxygen isotopic values of paleosol siderite nodules have been analyzed from 35[degrees]N to 75[degrees]N paleolatitude in the KWIB, and they are a proxy record for mid-Cretaceous meteoric water isotopic values. The latitudinal trend in the mid-Cretaceous isotopic values is interpreted to be the result of an intensified hydrologic cycle, and has been quantified with a stable isotope mass-balance model. The intensified hydrologic cycle enhanced the transfer of tropical heat towards the poles, and preliminary quantitative estimates of latent heat flux (LHF) have been generated from the modeling results. The quantified LHF values are significantly greater than present, and may help resolve a long-standing data misfit between general circulation models of past greenhouse climates and empirical data. A critical limitation to the mass-balance modeling is a lack of data from the low latitudes. Sphaerosiderites in the Lower Tuscaloosa Formation will extend the paleolatitudinal gradient in meteoric [delta][d.sup.18]O compositions 10[degrees] further south to 25[degrees]N paleolatitude. These data will greatly improve the mass-balance model, and yield better quantitative estimates of paleoprecipitation, evapotranspiration, and LHF.

1:40 AN EXPERIMENTAL LAB EXERCISE USED TO DETERMINE IF MISSISSIPPI'S SCIENCE FRAMEWORK IS ADEQUATELY PREPARING HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS ABOUT GROUNDWATER

Rodney W. Beasley*, James H. May, and Darrel W. Schmitz, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762

According to the National Science Standards, eighth graders should possess appropriate knowledge about groundwater and its role sustaining life on Earth. There are two groups of students studied, Mississippi eighth graders and earth science students at Mississippi State University. Both groups are tested to identify what types of ideas they possess about groundwater. This information can be invaluable information for high school and post-secondary science teachers in addressing students' prior conceptions. In addition, the data could in so far give science educators insight on where curriculum revisions in the science framework are needed. Both groups were given one multiple choice question and one drawing exercise. The multiple choice question and drawing were both scored by a rubric for the evidence of understanding the formation, movement, and storage of groundwater. It is to be noted that from 5 Mississippi Public Schools, 92 percent of the eighth graders have naive conceptions concerning groundwater. At this point in time, the college student data for this exercise is still being analyzed.

2:00 Divisional Poster Session

COMPARISON OF TWO CANDIDATE SITES FOR GAS HYDRATES SEA FLOOR MONITORING

Carol Lutken (1*), Tom McGee (1), Allen Lowrie (2), Charlotte A. Brunner (3), John C. (4), Rudy Rogers (5), Leonardo Macelloni (1), Allesandro Bosman (6), Ken Sleeper (1), Jennifer Dearman (5), J. R. Woolsey (1), and Leo Lynch (5), (1) University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, (2) Picayune, MS 39466, (3) University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 39406, (4) Stennis Space Center, MS 39529, (5) Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, and (6) University of Rome, Rome, Italy

Two known hydrates sites were examined by the Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research Consortium for suitability for a seafloor station to monitor changes in the gas hydrate stability zone. Common at the surface and in the shallow subsurface of the world's continental slopes, hydrates of hydrocarbon gases represent a potential energy resource. Changes in temperatures and/or pressures can cause hydrates to dissociate into their component gases and water, altering stability of the sea floor and concentrations of gases in sea water, and, eventually the atmosphere. We compared sites of contrasting hydrate and depositional environments: Mississippi Canyon (MC) block 798 in a minibasin on the slumped west flank of the Mississippi Canyon and MC 118, ~75km east of the MC in a region largely unaffected by slumping. The locales were surveyed using several seismo-acoustic systems. Gravity and piston cores were analyzed for pore fluid chemistry, clay mineralogy, foraminiferal biostratigraphy, physical properties, and other variables. In MC798, methane hydrates occur removed from vent structures and apparently associated with near-surface muds; MC118 contains clear evidence of gas hydrates only in proximity to its vent. Sedimentation rates at MC798 were 3 to 7 times faster than those at MC118, possibly connected to increased delivery of organic carbon to drive bacterial methanogenesis in near-surface mud facies.

MISSISSIPPI WATERSHED CHARACTERIZATION AND RANKING TOOL

John J. Storelli, Information Management Systems, Vicksburg, MS 39180

The MWCRT uses geographic information systems (GIS) to assess the environmental parameters within the river basins of Mississippi. The general parameters of the tool are to assess readily available statewide spatial data layers within the sub-basins or 12 digit hydrologic unit codes. The assessments are used to characterize the sub-watersheds within each river basin. Each spatial layer will be placed into a broad category to determine its resource value on the environment, its human welfare component and to assess the stressors placed on each sub-watershed. These characterizations are used to calculate a score for each sub-watershed. The score of each sub-watershed is based on raw spatial data in the form of points, lines and polygons. The raw point, line and polygonal data are calculated as observations, miles and acres of data. Raw data values are normalized and weighted by relative importance to create the ranking system. Each data layer can then be assessed individually or combined to produce a ranking of each sub-watershed. The MWCRT provides a way to identify watersheds of interest, make meaningful decisions and to prioritize watersheds for protection and restoration activities. The purpose of MWCRT is to provide the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and its state and federal agency partners with a tool to help manage the state's water resources.

2:30 Divisional Business Meeting