energy resources and sustainability
BOB WINTSCH Professor of Geological Sciences | Metamorphic Petrology, Structural Petrology, Tectonics, Geochronology
The more seasoned (mature?) I get, the more
This fall I am teaching a field course where we will
busy I also seem to get. In spite of my years
participate in the New England Intercollegiate Geo-
of service, I do not seem to have atrophied in
logical Conference (New Hampshire-Maine border).

situ. On the contrary, I am having a very busy
Then I have accepted an invitation to China for field
year. I taught my usual introduction to petrolo-
work in hard rock tectonics – around Beijing and in
gy class, G222 in the spring, and led a field trip
the southwest along the Red River shear zone that
across the Appalachians as far as Providence
accommodated the extrusion of Indochina following
RI in May.

the collision of India with Southern Asia. From there I
I then did more fieldwork in New England in the
will go to South Korea to accept another invitation to
summer, on either side of being invited to the
University of Utrecht to work in the rock mechanics lab of Chris
Spiers. Two weeks of great experiences. Jody joined me after that
and we did a little touring including a climb to the highest point
in the Netherlands – a church tower. We also visited museums
in Holland and Belgium including the Van Gough, but also sever-
al battlefields, Napoleon’s Waterloo, and 1st and 2nd WW battle-
use their SHRIMP to date detrital zircons from high-
grade quartzites suspected to be Silurian. I will return
to Bloomington, just barely miss Thanksgiving, but
with this schedule I have opted not to attend either
the GSA or the AGU. I am sure to need a little home
time and a little rest. Wishing you all the best for the
New Year! Bob
fields. Belgium really got beaten up, but had nothing to do with
starting any of those wars!
Images from G420, a regional tectonic field course across the Appalachians from central Pennsylvania to
Boston crossing many suspect terranes. Emphasis was placed on interpreting the rock record.

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sedimentary geology | stratigraphy
Simon Brassell, Doug Edmonds, Lisa Pratt, Juergen Schieber, Bob Wintsch
JUERGEN SCHIEBER Professor of Geological Sciences | Sedimentary Geology
The past year has seen the completion of our latest
we do even supports innovative inter-
flume (see below), a facility that can mimic orbital flow
pretations of mudstones found on Mars
(wave action), tidal current regimes, and high shear
(as part of the Mars Science Lab mis-
stress situations. With its completion the flume lab has
sion). Current graduate students and
now four flumes that can experimentally explore every
academic visitors work on a range of
flow condition, chemistry, and flow regime that one
projects, including field studies, flume
might encounter on the continental shelf and in deep
research, and petrographic investiga-
sea environments. Because we additionally have the
tions. The research conducted at the
technical know-how to preserve and then petrograph-
lab is sought after by industry and val-
ically study flume produced sediments and compare
ued in academia as demonstrated by
them to the rock record, this is a unique research facility
requests for short courses (see below)
for shale studies that has no equivalent elsewhere in the
and symposia at the national (AAPG in Houston) and
world. The lab continues to conduct research on shale
international level (University of Vienna; China Univer-
sedimentology that is well received and published in a
sity of Petroleum).

variety of geoscience journals (ca. 7000 citations for
Juergen’s research site: http://www.shale-mud-
the lab and its various activities). Some of the research
The wave and tide flume in the 5th floor flume lab. It is a unique facility with
sophisticated electronic controls that allow us to program entire experiments
so that they can be repeated identically as specific variables are modified to
explore parameter space.

stone-research-schieber.indiana.edu As part of an appointment as a Visiting Professor at the University
of Vienna (Summer 2016), I taught our Shale Short Course to geo-
science students and geologists from OMV, the national oil company
of Austria.

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