Gov. Eric Holcomb has proclaimed Oct. 8-14, 2023, as Earth Sciences Week in Indiana, declaring that “geology and the other earth sciences are fundamental to society” and “earth sciences contribute critical pieces to our understanding of nature.”

Among the IGWS’s statutory responsibilities is to share the information we learn.

One way to do that is through the Indiana Journal of Earth Sciences, the IGWS’s online, open-access academic journal, founded in 2019.

Another new and far-reaching way to educate the public is through the IGWS Learning Lab, opened in June 2022. Here on the IU Bloomington campus, earth science education and outreach activities can happen in person, five days a week, for all ages. (Read about Learning Lab offerings here.)

In October and November, the Learning Lab will expand to six days a week, giving Saturday hours a try (see below)—which is something visitors have been asking for, said Polly Sturgeon, IGWS education and outreach coordinator.

Even without the Saturday option, Learning Lab visitor numbers have climbed this year. So far, total visitors for 2023 are at 2,393; last year’s total for the year was 1,705.

OWEN COUNTY — The musty-smelling house is long gone, but the springs are still flowing on the property where Tracy Branam’s great-grandparents lived.

It had been nearly 60 years since Branam, an IGWS geochemist, had crossed the stream and walked that driveway. On Sept. 12, he met the current owner of the property, near Rattlesnake Road in Owen County, and gathered samples from the water sources that had sustained his family for decades. They’ve been added to the 100+ springs that the IGWS Water Team analyzes and reports on annually through the Indiana Springs portal.

Branam’s great-grandfather, Oscar Evans, lived on the 40 acres, with no electricity, until he passed away in 1965. Over the intervening years, the property was sold and the family lost touch with it. But Branam’s mother, Janet (Evans) Branam, remembered.

When Tracy mentioned to his mom, age 90, that he was working on a project to monitor and characterize Indiana spring waters, she told him about the two springs on the homestead where her grandmother washed laundry, stored perishable foods, and gathered drinking water. A relative looked up the property, learned it had recently been bought off Craigslist out of foreclosure, and made the connection.

Last time he was there, 4-year-old Tracy “wasn’t allowed to go anywhere on the property other than the house, basically,” he said. This time, he explored all the paths, overgrown though they were.

The two springs have now been named MaryBelle Spring, after his great-grandmother, and Evans Spring.

“It’s pretty neat to think about,” he said, of his great-grandmother treading before him, kneeling at the same precious spots in the ground.

One new article and one new data set have been added to Vol. 5 of the Indiana Journal of Earth Sciences:

Noteworthy Taphonomic Attributes of a Nautiloid Cephalopod from the Middle Silurian (Wenlock) Massie Formation of Southern Indiana

Researchers James Thomka, Thomas Bantel, and Lilian Gunderson closely examined a fossil of a fairly common, small-shelled mollusk that lived about 430 million years ago, and found three noteworthy features that are “sufficiently rare to warrant documentation and interpretation.” The specimen (pictured at right) came from the New Point Stone quarry in Ripley County, Indiana. Read the article here.

2021 GIS Data for Bedrock Geologic Map of the Indianapolis 30- X 60-Minute Quadrangle, Central Indiana

This project, funded by a USGS STATEMAP award, converted a 2003 paper map to GIS data that is compliant with GeMS (Geologic Map Schema), the now-standard format for digital publication of geologic maps. Access the data here.

You’ve probably heard that a solar eclipse will be visible in Indiana in April—but what about the one coming next week?

And do you know what eclipses have to do with the work of the Indiana Geological and Water Survey?

On Saturday, Oct. 14, between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., the IGWS will take part in IU Kirkwood Observatory’s celebration of the annular eclipse. Indiana is not in the path of totality for this eclipse—parts of seven Western states are—but the moon will still cover about half of the sun here, so it will be noticeable. Maximum coverage is expected at 1:02 p.m. EDT.

Annular eclipses happen when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth and mostly covers our view of the sun, but at the moon’s farthest point from Earth; so, the smaller-looking moon retains a bright ring around it. It’s different from the total solar eclipse happening in April 2024 because the moon will be at its closest point from Earth in April, and Indiana will be in the path of totality for that pass.

You might think that earth science is centered on the Earth, not the sun and moon; so, why would earth scientists be interested in eclipses? That’s part of what the IGWS will be explaining at the Kirkwood Observatory event.

The IGWS Water Team runs the Indiana Water Balance Network (IWBN), a series of climate and groundwater monitoring stations around Indiana. Two of the variables those stations are measuring—solar radiation and temperature—are noticeably affected during an eclipse. Wind speed might change during an eclipse, and so could groundwater levels. Further connecting the moon and the Earth are rock records that show patterns of tides (see tidalites), which follow the cycles of the moon.

At the Oct. 14 event, IGWS staff will have instruments set up to measure some of these variables before, during, and after the annular eclipse occurs, and will be able to show how different those measurements are from “normal” when an eclipse isn’t happening.

Visitors to the IGWS table will also be asked to record and share their own observations.

Planning is underway for the April eclipse when IU Bloomington will host a mass viewing event. The IGWS plans to help to record and visualize the data.

“A big part of what I’m hoping people take away from this, and from science in general, is observation: Everybody is always observing whether you realize you’re observing or not. … So, the eclipse is a really good opportunity to sense those things and put them in terms of what you’re actually feeling,” said IGWS Research Scientist Ginger Davis, who’s leading IGWS eclipse planning. “This is what people in the past would do. They would observe something strange and then try to figure out what’s going on.”

• The IGWS has planned and invited Indiana legislators on a field trip of southern Indiana geology and geological issues on Saturday, Nov. 4. If you are a legislator and have not RSVP’d yet, please do so by Oct. 20 by clicking this link.

• IGWS Research Scientist Henry Loope will speak at the Oct. 11 meeting of Indiana Geologists about “Chronology of Glaciations in Indiana.”

• The IGWS Fall Plant Event in early September, organized by Research Scientist Nancy Hasenmueller, raised more than $250 for the IGWS Graduate Research Scholarship Fund.

• Ten IGWS staff members participated in a survey field day on Sept. 25 to clear space to drill bedrock core and install a new monitoring well at Cookson Preserve, a Sycamore Land Trust property in Greene County. (See photo at right.)

• Research Scientist Dr. Maria Mastalerz was a co-author of “Application of Organic Petrology and Chemistry in Forensic Studies of Solid Waste Sites,” published in the International Journal of Coal Geology in September. Mastalerz also was invited to write a book review for that journal, “Inorganic Chemistry of Coal: A Review.”

• Mastalerz was co-author of four presentations at the 39th Annual Meeting of Organic Petrology in Patras, Greece, in September: “Exploring the Influence of Maturity Evolving Maceral Composition on Shale Porosity: Example from the Lower Paleozoic Shale from the Baltic Basin (Poland),” “Distinguishing Fossil Inertinite from Modern Charcoal in Microscopic Images,” “Composition Verification of Biofuels Produced from Herbaceous and Woody Biomass Using Petrographic Analysis,” and “Interlaboratory Study: Testing Reproducibility of Solid Biofuel Component Identification Using Reflected Light Microscopy.”

• The Indiana Water Balance Network was highlighted in the statewide fall 2023 Indiana Climate INformer newsletter, prepared by the Indiana State Climate Office at Purdue University.

• New billboard panels focusing on the IGWS Center for Water are hanging in the Indiana Statehouse through the end of November (see below).

• Research Scientist Ginger Davis presented information about the water cycle and the Indiana springs portal to about 50 people at Owen County Water Day on Sept. 30.

• On Oct. 18, Davis will give a presentation at Benton County Field Day about general water concerns and the geologic framework for aquifers and springs in the area.

• IGWS Director Dr. Todd Thompson gave a presentation to the Bloomington Commission on Sustainability about the geology of Bloomington and Monroe County.

• Thompson and Education and Outreach Coordinator Polly Sturgeon attended the 60th Anniversary Conference of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) in Covington, Ky. Sturgeon staffed a booth outlining the Survey’s service, outreach, and research. Thompson gave a presentation titled “Indiana Geological and Water Survey in the 21st Century” for a session on “State Geological Survey Features and Research Findings, Resources, and Practical Applications for All States and Nations,” and was a panel member for a panel discussion titled “How Can States Work Together to Solve Current Geoscience Challenges Nationally and Globally?” Both sessions were livestreamed to AIPG members who were unable to attend in person.

• Sometimes, Survey work becomes personal. To understand chemical staining that can occur on Indiana limestone (Middle Mississippian Salem Limestone), IGWS Geochemist Tracy Branam set up an outdoor experiment at Thompson’s house. This now two-month-old project is allowing moisture to wick through the stone (right slabs) in bright sunlight conditions to bring chemicals to the surface. The left slabs are control. This experiment is designed to accelerate the movement of chemicals through the limestone slabs to the surface, where the full spectrum of solar radiation will cause alterations to occur. The slabs will be chemically analyzed in another month of outdoor conditions. Of course, there must be Indiana limestone stands for an Indiana limestone project. (See photo at right.)

• AIPG Illinois/Indiana and Citizens Energy Group are offering a lecture about and tour of the DigIndy tunnel project on Friday, Oct. 27 between 10 a.m. and noon EDT. Get more information and register at this link.

• IGWS Volunteer Affiliate Maggie Sullivan (with Friends of Lake Monroe) is helping to organize "Conservation Across Generations," an Oct. 20 field day about soil and water conservation to be held at Valley View Farms. The event will include a demonstration of cover crop planting and a free lunch.

• On Friday, Nov. 3, Friends of Lake Monroe will host "Our Wondrous Watershed," a new photo exhibit featuring photos taken in the Lake Monroe watershed, at the Brick Room Gallery, 107 N. College Ave., Bloomington.

• The USGS Ohio Kentucky Indiana Water Science Center is joining forces with both the Indiana Water Monitoring Council and the Indiana Water Resources Association (of which IGWS Research Scientist Ginger Davis is secretary) to host an "All Things Water in Indiana" Science Symposium on Thursday, Nov. 30 at Made@Plainfield (1610 Reeves Road, Plainfield, IN 46168). The all-day meeting will include presentations of research being conducted by the USGS in and around Indiana, along with invited presentations from partners and cooperators in Indiana. If interested in presenting your science at the meeting, email dclampe@usgs.gov.

The Indiana Geological and Water Survey, a longstanding institute of Indiana University, conducts research; surveys the state; collects and preserves geologic specimens and data; and disseminates information to contribute to the mitigation of geologic hazards and the wise stewardship of the energy, mineral, and water resources of Indiana.

• To join the monthly E-Geo News mailing list, please click here.

• To ask a question of IGWS staff or suggest an E-Geo News topic, email scliffo@iu.edu.