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Senior Sarah Gately (Mount Bethel, Pa.) has the world at her fingertips as she maps subsurface geology in hopes of making discoveries about the structure of the earth.
Gately, who has traveled to Hawaii and New Zealand for geological research, is studying an area just south of Easton in the Newark Basin, where she is examining an igneous intrusion that lies within sedimentary rocks and investigating possible sources. According to Gately, an intrusion is where magma from the earth’s mantle pushes its way up through the crust and to the surface, where it cools and solidifies.
A double major in geology and art, Gately is conducting the project in pursuit of departmental honors in geology. Her adviser is Larry Malinconico, acting department head and associate professor of geology and environmental geosciences. He has conducted research in Pakistan, Italy, Central America, Hawaii, and the Cascades, receiving 29 grants totaling more than $1.3 million for research, curricular innovation, and facilities improvement. Malinconico helped pioneer a remote gas sampling approach for monitoring volcanoes, and earlier this year, BBC television featured him in “Volcano Hell,” a documentary in its flagship science series, Horizon (see related story).
Gately, who presented prior research in October at the national meeting of Geological Society of America is particularly interested in using potential energy such as gravity and magnetism as tools to understand the earth. In her studies she is employing a Lacoste-Romberg Gravimeter to measure the gravitational field; the magnetic data is based on measurements taken from stations on the earth’s surface.
“Through data processing and reduction, it is possible to make the measurements absolute so that they can be related to any other gravity values we have for the earth, and maps can be produced showing anomalies and changes in the gravitational field,” she explains.
“Gravity is primarily a function of the density of a mass. We know that mass creates energy. A dense mass will have a different effect on the earth’s gravitational field relative to a less dense mass. We know that a granite and basalt have different density. Understanding the effect mass has on gravity, we are able to model the subsurface of the earth.”
Gately adds that rocks have different magnetic properties, so comparing those properties to magnetic maps allows geologists to build models of the subsurface.
Gately says that Malinconico has been very encouraging and supportive of her research.
“I would not have accomplished half as much without him,” she explains. “The geology department has become a home away from home for me. We have such a wonderful faculty with a wide range of expertise. Students can go to any faculty member with a question or problem and know they’ll get help.”
Gately is also assisting Malinconico with research using gravity to explore subsurface structures and search for oil.
In her art major, Gately concentrates mostly on painting and is researching the relationship between art and science.
“I am using my interests in natural science and physics to develop scientifically driven paintings,” she says. “When you think of the atmosphere, particles of light, magnetic fields, and the motion, speed, and velocity at which they travel, you can develop some really interesting works of art.”
Gately is a teaching assistant, a peer tutor, and editor of the Melange (Lafayette yearbook). She received the James L. Dyson Geology Award in 2002, presented annually to a geology major who, by academic achievements and character, exemplifies the ideals by which Dyson lived and worked.