Matthew L. Gorring

Adsorption Behavior of EDTA-Graphene Oxide for Pb (II) Removal

Chelating groups are successfully linked to graphene oxide (GO) surfaces through a silanization reaction between N-(trimethoxysilylpropyl) ethylenediamine triacetic acid (EDTA-silane) and hydroxyl groups on GO surface. EDTA-GO was found to be an ideal adsorbent for Pb(II) removal with a higher adsorption capacity. EDTA-modification enhances the adsorption capacity of GO because of the chelating ability of ethylene diamine triacetic acid. This study investigates the adsorption and desorption behaviors of heavy metal cations and the effects of solution conditions such as pH on Pb(II) removal. The adsorption capacity for Pb(II) removal was found to be 479 ± 46) mg/g at pH 6.8, and the adsorption process was completed within 20 min. The Langmuir adsorption model agrees well with the experimental data. The experimental results suggest that EDTA-GO can be reused after washed with HCl, suggesting potential applications in the environmental cleanup.

Neogene Patagonian plateau lavas: Continental magmas associated with ridge collision at the Chile Triple Junction

Extensive Neogene Patagonian plateau lavas (46.5° to 49.5°S) southeast of the modern Chile Triple Junction can be related to opening of asthenospheric “slab windows” associated with collisions of Chile Rise segments with the Chile Trench at ≈ 12 Ma and 6 Ma. Support comes from 26 new total-fusion, whole rock 40Ar/39Ar ages and geochemical data from back arc plateau lavas. In most localities, plateau lava sequences consist of voluminous, tholeiitic main-plateau flows overlain by less voluminous, 2 to 5 million year younger, alkalic postplateau flows. Northeast of where the ridge collided at ≈12 Ma, most lavas are syncollisional or postcollisional in age, with eruptions of both sequences migrating northeastward at 50 to 70 km/Ma. Plateau lavas have ages from 12 to 7 Ma in the western back arc and from 5 to 2 Ma farther to the northeast. Trace element and isotopic data indicate main-plateau lavas formed as larger percentage melts of a garnet-bearing, oceanic island basalt (OIB) -like mantle than postplateau lavas. The highest percentage melts erupted in the western and central plateaus. In a migrating slab window model, main-plateau lavas can be explained as melts that formed as upwelling, subslab asthenosphere which flowed around the trailing edge of the descending Nazca Plate and then interacted with subduction-altered asthenospheric wedge and continental lithosphere. Alkaline, postplateau lavas can be explained as melts generated by weaker upwelling of subslab asthenosphere through the open slab window. Thermal problems of high-pressure melt generation of anhydrous mantle can be explained by volatiles (H2O and CO2) introduced by the subduction process into slab window source region(s). An OIB-like, rather than a mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) -like source region, and the lack of magmatism northeast of where ridge collision occurred at ≈13 to 14 Ma can be explained by entrainment of “weak” plume(s) or regional variations in an ambient, OIB-like asthenosphere.

Plio-pleistocene basalts from the Meseta del Lago Buenos Aires, Argentina: evidence for asthenosphere-lithosphere interactions during slab window magmatism

Plio–Pleistocene (3.4–0.125 Ma) post-plateau magmatism in the Meseta del Lago Buenos Aires (MLBA; 46.7jS) in southern Patagonia is linked with the formation of asthenospheric slab windows due to ridge collision along the Andean margin f6 Ma ago. MLBA post-plateau lavas are highly alkaline (43–49% SiO2 ;5 –8% Na2O+K2O), relatively primitive (6–10% MgO) mafic volcanics that have strong OIB-like geochemical signatures. Their relatively enriched Sr–Nd isotope ratios ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr=0.7041–0.7049; 143 Nd/ 144 Nd=0.51264–0.51279), low 206 Pb/ 204 Pb (18.13–18.45), steep REE patterns (La/ Yb=11–54), and low LILE/LREE and LILE/HFSE ratios (Ba/La 15) are distinctive from most other Neogene Patagonian slab window lavas. These data are interpreted to indicate contamination of OIB-like asthenosphere-derived slab window magmas with an EM1-type component derived from the Patagonian continental lithospheric mantle (CLM). The EM1-type signature in Patagonian slab window lavas are geographically associated with the Deseado Massif and indicate important regional differences in lithospheric mantle chemistry beneath southern Patagonia. We propose that hot, upwelling subslab asthenosphere in slab window tectonic settings can cause significant thermo-mechanical erosion and thinning of the continental lithospheric mantle and, thus, may be an important process in slab window magma petrogenesis. D 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Geochemistry of the Late Mesoproterozoic Mount Eve granite suite: Implications for Late to post-Ottawan tectonics in the New Jersey–Hudson Highlands

The Mount Eve granite suite is a postorogenic, A-type granitoid suite that consists of several small plutonic bodies occurring in the northwestern New Jersey–Hudson Highlands. Mount Eve granite suite rocks are equigranular, mediumto coarsegrained, quartz monzonite to granite, consisting of quartz, microperthite, and oligoclase, with minor hornblende, biotite, and accessory zircon, apatite, titanite, magnetite, and ilmenomagnetite. Whole-rock analyses indicate that Mount Eve granite is metaluminous to slightly peraluminous (ASI or aluminum saturation index, A/CNK or Al2O3/(CaO + Na2O + K2O) = 0.62 to 1.12) and has A-type compositional affinity defined by high K2O/Na2O (1.4 to 2.8), Ba/Sr (3 to 12), FeOt/(FeOt+MgO) (0.77 to 0.87), Ba (400 to 3000 ppm), Zr (200 to 1000 ppm), Y (30 to 130 ppm), Ta (2.5 to 6 ppm), total rare earth elements or REE (300 to 1000 ppm), low MgO (<1 wt%), Cr and Ni (both <5 ppm); and relatively low Sr (200 to 700 ppm). Variably negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.13 to 0.72, where Eu/Eu* is the chondrite-normalized ratio of measured Eu divided by the hypothetical Eu concentration required to produce REE pattern with no Eu anomaly) and systematic decreases in Sr, Ba, Zr, Hf, Nb, and Ta, with constant total REE content and increasing Ce/Yb and SiO2 contents, suggest crystallization of feldspars + zircon + titanite ± apatite. Possible modes of origin include dry melting of charnockitic gneisses or Fe-rich mafic to intermediate diorites within the Mesoproterozoic basement. Two possible tectonic mechanisms for generation of Mount Eve granite include (1) residual thermal input from a major lithospheric delamination event during or immediately after peak Ottawan orogenesis (1090–1030 Ma) or (2) broad orogenic relaxation between peak Ottawan and a late (1020–1000 Ma) high-grade, right-lateral transpressional event.

EFFECTS OF HIGH-INTENSITY FOREST FIRES ON SOIL CLAY MINERALOGY

High-intensity forest fires can degrade, collapse, or completely destroy clay minerals in soils, with signatures of these changes remaining for years after the burns. To ascertain immediate impacts of high-intensity fire on soil clay minerals and mineral recovery over time, soil from the 2002 Hayman, Colorado, fire was analyzed by X-ray diffraction. Sample locations included burned soil from within the perimeter of the fire, unburned soil near the origin, and soil from adjacent historic burns. The unburned soils contain mixtures of illite, mixed-layer illite/smectite and illite/vermiculite, kaolin, and mixed-layer chlorite. Surface soils (surface-7.7 cm) contain illite, mixed-layer illite/smectite, and kaolin. Sub-surface soils (7.7-13.0 cm) contain mixed-layer illite/vermiculite, in addition to the same minerals found at the surface. Deep soils (13.0-27.0 cm) show disappearance of mixed-layer illite/smectite and illite/vermiculite and show evidence of the presence of mixed-layer chlorite. Comparisons between recently and historically burned soils and unburned soils showed slight trends in alterations of clay mineral structures in the surface soil, including alteration of the 001 illite peak, the 001 kaolin peak, and a decrease in the swelling component of mixed-layer illite/smectite. These trends indicate fire impacts the structure of soil clay minerals.

Source and fate of inorganic soil contamination around the abandoned Phillips sulfide mine, hudson Highlands, New York

The abandoned Phillips sulfide mine in the critical Highlands watershed in New York has been shown to produce strongly acidic mine drainage (AMD) with anomalous metal contaminants in first-order streams that exceeded local water standards by up to several orders of magnitude (Gilchrist et al., 2009). The metal-sulfide-rich tailings also produce contaminated soils with pH < 4, organic matter < 2.5% and trace metals sequestered in soil oxides. A geochemical transect to test worst-case soil contamination showed that Cr, Co and Ni correlated positively with Mn, (r = 0.72, r = 0.89, r = 0.80, respectively), suggesting Mn-oxide sequestration and that Cu and Pb correlated with Fe (r = 0.76, r = 0.83, respectively), suggesting sequestration in goethite. Ubiquitous, yellow coating on the mine wastes, including jarosite and goethite, is a carrier of the metals. Geochemical and μ-SXRF analyses determined Cu to be the major soil contaminant. μ-SXRF also demonstrated that the heterogeneous nature of the soil chemistry at the micro-meter scale is self-similar to those in the bulk soil samples. Generally metals decreased, with some fluctuations, rapidly downslope through suspension of fines and dissolution in AMD leaving the area of substantial contamination << 0.5 km from the source.

Amino Terminated Polyethylene Glycol Functionalized Graphene and Its Water Solubility

A chemical modification process was developed to functionalize graphene with specific groups. Graphene oxide (GO) was successfully functionalized with thionyl bromide which can be used as precursors for further functionalization. Amino terminated-polyethylene glycol (PEG-NH 2 ) molecules were linked to single-layer graphene sheets through covalent bond. FT-IR, SEM and UV-vis spectroscopy techniques were used to characterize PEG modified graphene oxide and PEG modified reduced graphene oxide (PEG-RG). PEG-RG could disperse in water, tetrahydrofuran and ethylene glycol, with individual, single-layer graphene sheets spontaneously. The dispersion behavior of PEG-RG in an aqueous solvent has been investigated. A series of solutions of PEG-RG with concentrations of 0.001% to 1.5% were prepared and the PEG-RG dispersions exhibited long-term stability. In addition, a PEG-RG film with layered structure and high conductivity has been successfully prepared by filtration.

REVIVAL OF THE GEOLOGY FIELD CAMP EXPERIENCE AT MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY

Enrollment:  So far, student enrollment is variable per year.  Has tended to show a more even male/female ratio in last 2 years  Dominantly undergraduate, though a few grad students take as well. REVIVAL OF THE GEOLOGY FIELD CAMP EXPERIENCE AT MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY Gregory A. Pope*1, Matthew Gorring1, Tanya M. Blacic1, Joshua C. Galster1, and William H. Thomas2 1. Dept. of Earth & Environmental Studies, Montclair State University 2. New Jersey School of Conservation, Montclair State University * popeg@mail.montclair.edu Abstract:

Recent find at the famous prospect Park Quarry: Prospect Park, Passaic County, New Jersey

The Prospect Park quarry began operations in 1901 (Vitali 1978), the same year the borough of Prospect Park was established. The quarry is located at the end of Planten Avenue. James A. Sowerbutt opened the quarry, and it remained in the family’s possession until 1969 when ownership passed to Warren Brothers, Inc. In the early 1980s, Tilcon New Jersey, Inc., purchased the quarry from Warren Brothers and has been operating it ever since. Unfortunately, suburban sprawl in the area limits further extension of the quarry perimeter, and it is likely that this quarry may run out of stone to blast by 2015. JAMES S. ZIGRAS 171 Arundel Road Paramus, New Jersey 07652 jzigras@hotmail.com