REPORT
OF THE 49TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE
INSTITUTE ON LAKE SUPERIOR GEOLOGY
Iron Mountain, Michigan
The U.S. Geological Survey, with
assistance from Michigan Technological University, hosted the 49th
Annual Institute on Lake Superior Geology on May 7 – 11, 2003 at
the Pine Mountain Resort in Iron Mountain, Michigan. The meeting
consisted of two days of technical sessions with two pre- and two
post-technical session field trips. John Gartner and Ted
Bornhorst provided pre-meeting assistance. Sally LaBerge,
Gretchen Klasner, and Suzanne Nicholson provided valuable logistical
assistance on-site at Pine Mountain. Connie Dicken was media czar for
the technical sessions, keeping all presentations on track while
ignoring all needless advice. Pre-meeting registration was 104
students and professionals with an additional 61 on-site registrations,
for a total of 165 registrants.
Proceedings Volume 49 was published in
two parts. Part I – Program and Abstracts, edited by
Laurel Woodruff and Ted Bornhorst – the volume contains 45 published
abstracts, for 33 oral and 12 poster presentations; and Part 2 – Field
Trip Guidebook, edited by William Cannon, with assistance from Connie
Dicken and Stacy Saari.
The 49th meeting marked the first time
in its history that an ILSG meeting was held in this part of Michigan.
Field trips visited areas new to the ILSG, which may have resulted in
the excellent subscription for all the trips. On Wednesday, May
7, Bill Cannon and staff from Cleveland Cliffs Mining lead a field trip
to the Republic Mine, where the life cycle of the deposit, from ore
genesis to mining and restoration, was covered. Three other field
trips were developed to examine exposures along and on both sides of
the Niagara suture zone, a major structural and geologic feature that
marks the boundary between the Superior craton and the Wisconsin
magmatic terranes. Klaus Schulz and Gene LaBerge lead the
Wednesday field trip to the Wisconsin magmatic terrane on the southern
side of the suture zone. On Saturday and Sunday, May 10 and 11,
Bill Cannon, Gene LaBerge, John Klasner, and Dick Ojakangas were
co-leaders for successive field trips through the Menominee Iron
District (Saturday) and the Iron River – Crystal Falls area
(Sunday). The Field Trip Guidebook for these three trips drew on
previous studies in the area and the more than 100 cumulative years of
Lake Superior geology expertise of the field trip leaders to provide a
comprehensive and definitive compilation of the Paleoproterozoic
stratigraphy and structure of the Niagara suture zone in this part of
Michigan and Wisconsin.
One hundred and twenty participants
attended the banquet on Thursday night. This year’s
banquet speaker was Susan Martin of Michigan Technological
University. Dr. Martin is a professor of industrial archeology at
Michigan Technological University and the author of the book Wonderful
Power: The Story of Ancient Copper Working in the Lake Superior
Basin. The title of Dr. Martin’s post-banquet talk was: The
indigenous people of the Lake Superior Basin: understanding the
links among environment, geology, and religious belief. As
always, a highlight of the banquet was the presentation of the 2003
Goldich medal to Klaus Schulz of the U.S. Geological Survey,
recognizing his long and productive career as a geologist in the Lake
Superior region.
The technical session began with three
invited presentations. The first was by Harold Bernhardt of the
Menominee Range Historical Foundation Museum on the mining history of
the Menominee Iron Range. The following two talks, by Bill Cannon and Klaus Schulz, were on the
Paleoproterozic rocks of the Niagara suture zone, established the
context for the three field trips on that topic. The
student paper committee had a difficult job this year. Twenty of
the presentations in the technical sessions were from students – 15
oral and 5 posters. In the end, three awards were given: Best Student Paper ($300) went to Karoun
Charkoudian (University of Wisconsin-Madison) for her talk
titled: Strike-slip separation of the Burntside trondjemite and the
Wakemup Bay tonalite, Northern Minnesota. In recognition of the large number of
excellent student presentations, two additional students were chosen
for Honorable Mention ($100 each) - Amy Garbowicz (Lawrence University)
and Stephanie Hocker (University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh).
The Student Paper Award fund was supplemented by silent auction of an
original volume of the classic Butler and Burbank USGS Professional
Paper 144 on Copper Deposits of Michigan. Eisenbrey Student Travel Grants were given
to 15 students: Greg Joslin and Phillip Larson – University of
Minnesota, Duluth; Merida Keatts and Mary McKenzie – Kent State; John
Marma and Karoun Charkoudian, – University of Wisconsin, Madison; Amy
Garbowicz – Lawrence University; Daniela Vallini – University of
Western Australia; Stephanie Hocker – University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh;
and Becky Rogola, Geoff Heggie, Justin Johnson, Riku Metsaranta, Eric
Potter and Adam Richardson, all from Lakehead University.
All awards were presented at the conclusion of the technical sessions.
The Institute’s Board of Directors met
on May 8, 2003 and a brief overview of the meeting is provided
below:
1.Accepted the Report of the Chair for
the 48th ILSG from Peter Hinz and minutes of last Board meeting, May
14, 2002 from ILSG secretary-treasurer, Mark Jirsa.
2. Accepted the 2002-2003 ILSG Financial Summary from Mark Jirsa.
3. Approved one co-chair from the 49th meeting, Laurel Woodruff, as
on-going board member.
4. Nominated George Hudak of the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh to
replace Frank Luther on the Goldich Committee, a position that George
later graciously accepted.
5. Approved Duluth, Minnesota as the location for the 2004 (50th
annual) ILSG and co-chairs Steve Hauck and Mark Severson.
6. Discussed the transition of the Secretary Treasurer position from
Mark Jirsa to Peter Hollings and accepted a proposal that both be
appointed co-treasurers during the transition period.
7. Discussed the transition and evolution of the ILSG webpage and
procedures required to move the ILSG into the electronic era.
8. Discussed possible activities related to 50th meeting to commemorate
the longevity and impact of the ILSG.
The 49th ILSG meeting was a great success and we wish to thank all the
people who contributed to that success. The staff of Pine
Mountain was professional and responsive to the needs of a large
group. Kleiman Pump and Well Drilling, Iron Mountain, MI, Prime
Meridian Resources, Ltd., Fond du Lac, WI, and Coleman Engineering Co.,
Iron Mountain, MI provided generous monetary contributions. The field
trips this year had a large number of participants, and thanks are due
to field trip leaders, van drivers, and everyone else who stepped up
when needed to drive, hand out lunches, unlock gates, or keep the
crowds moving. As always, everyone who attended the 49th ILSG was
willing to help as necessary or adapt to any situation that
developed. The meeting this year was well attended and we are
heartened by the excellent student participation and attendance, a
trend we hope continues. Because of the outstanding response to
the meeting and field trips, the 49th ILSG generated several thousand
dollars for the ILSG general fund.
We both are very happy with the outcome of the 49th meeting and hope
that others think it was a success. An ILSG meeting requires a
lot of work and time for all involved, but the assistance of the larger
ILSG community makes the job of the co-chairs almost bearable, and we
encourage others to take on the task.
Laurel Woodruff and Bill Cannon
Co-Chairs, 49th
Institute on Lake Superior Geology
Photos from 2003 Meeting
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