In-person Spr. Banquet+Lecture: Distribution of Ancient Carbon near Fuel Storage

MORE INFO:
1. There continue to be I-94 ramp and lane closures in the area. Especially if you are coming from the west, I recommend that before you leave use your favorite route mapping software to be sure of your route and the time it will take to arrive.

2. Sally Sloan, widow of paleontologist and U of MN professor Robert Sloan (Robert Sloan retirement article -- MN Daily), has donated many copies of his book "Minnesota Fossils and Fossiliferous Rocks" to GSM. These will be available for you to pick up at the banquet for a $10 donation. (If you cannot attend the banquet and would like a copy, let me know and I'll see what I can do about getting you a copy at some other time.)

3. GSM member Greg Brick is providing five grocery bags full of materials he no longer needs, including text books, lab books, and VHS tapes. These will be available for free to whomever can give them a good home, so give yourself times to browse Greg's offerings. Thank you, Greg.

Schedule: Dinner 5-7 pm. Lecture at 7 pm.

Location: The final meeting of the Geological Society of Minnesota for 2024-2025 is the Spring Banquet at U Garden Restaurant (https://ugardenrestaurant.com/), 2725 University Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414, (612) 378-1255, near the U of MN's East Bank campus. This is the same location as the Fall Banquet held in September, 2024. The restaurant is on the north side of University Ave SE, east of 27th Ave SE. (See map on lower right of this page.) There is a parking lot behind the restaurant; it is also less than a block from the Green Line's Prospect Park station.

The banquet starts at 5 PM. No reservation or registration is needed. We recommend the buffet, which is priced at $19.95 + tax & tip. Hot tea and other beverages (except water) are extra. Ordering from the menu at the posted price is also an option. To make payment easy, we encourage everyone to plan to pay using cash or credit card. The restaurant does not accept checks.

You may come for just the lecture, skipping the meal if you wish; however we encourage you to enjoy the meal also, as the restaurant appreciates our business in return for hosting this event.

During the banquet, the Video Library will be open for returns and rentals as usual.

Following the banquet, around 7 PM, will be our final lecture of 2024-2025. As with all GSM lectures, this lecture is free and open to the public.

Presenter: Jared Trost, M.Sc., hydrologist with Upper Midwest Water Science Center, USGS

Full Title: Distribution of Ancient Carbon in Groundwater and Soil Gas from Degradation of Petroleum near the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi

Summary: The Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility (facility) on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi has supported military operations in the Pacific since it was completed in 1943. The facility was designed to store up to 250 million gallons of fuel in a series of 20 steel-lined tanks that were encased in concrete and built into cavities mined out of Red Hill. The facility overlies the aquifer that is the main source of water for Honolulu County and the military. In November 2021 a fuel release at the facility resulted in residential water contamination of Navy water system users. In March 2022, a decision was made to permanently shut down and defuel the Facility. Understanding the fate of fuel from past spills still present in the subsurface is critical for ensuring a safe public water supply. This study used carbon-14 analyses to distinguish fuel-derived carbon from background carbon in groundwater and soil gas, along with other biodegradation indicators, to address two goals: (1) determine the extent and migration direction of groundwater affected by residual fuel below the facility and (2) determine if residual fuel locations in the subsurface could be identified by analyzing soil gas at the surface.

Biography: Jared Trost is a hydrologist with more than 20 years experience leading, managing, and communicating about environmental research topics ranging from plant ecology to groundwater quality. Current areas of interest include field studies and modeling approaches to understand the influences of climate, land cover, contaminants, and unsaturated zone properties on the quality and quantity of groundwater. He enjoys helping others succeed at scientific (and other) endeavors. ​When not working, his happy place is spending time with family, especially in places that lack electricity.

General Info: GSM lectures/seminars with slide show presentations are free and open to the public. They are presented by leading professionals in their fields and are aimed at learners from high school to adult. A question-and-answer session follows each seminar. In-person lectures and this banquet require no registration; just show up a few minutes early on the evening of the lecture, or around 5:00pm if you plan to eat at the restaurant. These lectures are eligible for 1 hour of Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credit.

Our full schedule of lectures and labs is posted at GSM Current Year Lectures, and a printable version is available at GSM Current Year Lectures (pdf). Our schedule is planned over 6 months in advance, so changes may occur; always check our home page shortly before each lecture for the latest seminar information.

Winter weather will come and snow might impact our lectures. The GSM will make any decision about cancelling or postponing a lecture due to inclement weather no later than 3:00 PM the day of the lecture. This information will be posted on the GSM home page, so check that page shortly before each lecture in case there is a cancellation or a last-minute change. Also, we will e‐mail lecture postponement and cancellation information to our dues-paying members.