Wooster Geologists

Editor’s Note: Independent Study (IS) at The College of Wooster is a three-course series required of every student before graduation. Earth Sciences students typically begin in the second semester of their junior years with project identification, literature review, and a thesis essentially setting out the hypotheses and parameters of the work. Most students do fieldwork or lab work to collect data, and then spend their senior years finishing extensive Senior I.S. theses. Ryan Sullivan was advised by Mark Wilson (me!). The following is his thesis abstract —

In this study I created a hydrological and geological profile across a series of private groundwater wells in Shreve, Ohio. I started by making a cross section of this area through well log data. I discovered that this consists of alternating layers of shale and sandstone, as well as varying depths of glacial deposits. These changes in sediment and bedrock allow for a distinct groundwater flow, as well as different extraction rates. By analyzing the topography of the greater Shreve area, I also identified the drainage basin for this aquifer and potential sources of surface water and groundwater interactions. To assess water quality, I sampled two private wells located above this aquifer, testing for major trace elements. I found that the water utilized by these residents of Shreve is mostly free of contamination; however, there is eight to nine times the accepted maximum concentration limit of thallium. Long-term exposure to excess thallium can result in adverse health effects, so I present possible mitigation strategies, as well as a new potential well site that could be utilized to maximize groundwater extraction while minimizing contamination levels.

Editor’s Note: Independent Study (IS) at The College of Wooster is a three-course series required of every student before graduation. Earth Sciences students typically begin in the second semester of their junior years with project identification, literature review, and a thesis essentially setting out the hypotheses and parameters of the work. Most students do fieldwork or lab work to collect data, and then spend their senior years finishing extensive Senior I.S. theses. Shipei (Vicky) Wang was advised by Mark Wilson (me!) and was on Team Utah 2022. The following is her thesis abstract —

My research is about the invertebrate trace fossils in the Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) Carmel Formation of southwestern Utah. In this study, I focus on three types of trace fossils, Gyrochorte Heer, Lockeia James, and Lingulichnus Hakes, 1976. In De Gibert and Ekdale’s (1999) research, the trace fossils they found in the Carmel of central Utah represent an environmentally-stressed benthic community in a marginal marine, restricted setting, with salinities above normal marine and with depletion of oxygen in pore waters. Our study site is in southwest Utah, which was more marginalized and restricted than that of De Gibert and Ekdale (1999) in the Bajocian. My hypothesis is that our trace fossils will have a similar restricted trend with what De Gibert and Ekdale (1999) found in central Utah but show more characteristics related to marginalized and restricted marine settings (such as lower diversity and smaller sizes). In my study, the width of Gyrochorte fossils do not have a significant difference from what De Gibert and Ekdale (1999) found in central Utah. Besides that, the trace fossils we found in the Bajocian of southwest Utah have less diversity. My results did not show characteristics related to more marginalized and restricted marine settings.

Lingulichnus in bedding plane view. (See this blog post for details.)

This afternoon Gloria and I hosted my Junior and Senior Independent Study students for a dessert reception in our home. We haven’t done this since 2019, and it is the first time we joined the juniors and seniors. It was so much fun. I am enormously proud of these young people, and honored to be their advisor.

The College of Wooster has a required Independent Study system for all students, and it is a marvelous program. Each student, usually in the spring semester of their junior year, signs up for the Junior Independent Study course. It is taught as a tutorial in the Earth Sciences department, so each student chooses an advisor and a project that will likely form the basis of their later Senior Independent Study thesis project. It is a delight to see our students starting their research lives with independence, curiosity and enthusiasm.

Today the juniors presented posters on their work to date. Nick Wiesenberg, our ace geological technician, took these photos in Scovel Hall. We didn’t get everyone, but you can get a good impression of the events.

Garrett is here presenting his poster on sponge spicules in Brown’s Lake cores. He is going to see if these sponges can serve as proxies for environmental changes associated with European settlement.

Natalie is working on a joint anthropology/environmental geoscience investigation of Lake Erie and the various stakeholder communities involved with it environmental protection and conservation.

Athena, another double major with Anthropology and a self-designed major, is studying climate change in the Arctic and its environmental and geopolitical effects on stakeholder communities.

Mike is studying conflict minerals, especially in Africa.

Van is doing paleoseismology in the Caribbean associated with a summer internship he recently earned.

Corey is looking at the origins and properties of the mud used on baseballs in major league games.

Jameson, a double major with Chemistry and environmental geoscience, is studying the distribution of PFAS pollutants in rainwater.

Jimmy (in the gray shirt) is investigating drainage and tile systems on an Ohio farm.

Good luck to these intrepid Juniors as they pursue their research dreams!