The lectures all begin at 6:30 p.m. and are free and open to the public. The first three talks in the series focus on the geological origins of the caldera, located west of Los Alamos in the Jemez Mountains.
Scott Baldridge, a geologist in Los Alamos' Geophysics Group, will introduce the lecture series and talk about what to expect from the first three talks. His presentation will focus on the Valles as an active volcano and a geological phenomenon.
Baldridge also will discuss the crustal and mantle origins of magma in the Jemez Mountains, as well as the plumbing system beneath the volcanic field. In addition, Baldridge will present evidence for an active magma chamber 5-15 kilometers beneath the surface of the caldera.
Baldridge received his doctorate from the California Institute of Technology and came to work for the Laboratory as a postdoc in 1978. He has worked in the southwest for the past 25 years, specifically studying the Rio Grande rift. In addition, Baldridge has studied at the Hebrew University and the University of
Oslo, where he studied the Dead Sea rift and the Oslo Paleo rift. Balridge has worked as the associate editor for the Journal of Geophysical Research and is currently the associate editor of the Geological Society of America Bulletin. He also is an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico.
The second lecture in the series is by former Laboratory technical staff member Fraser Goff on April 11. Goff will examine current mapping processes and discoveries from his research. Goff will focus on the Valles lakebeds, lake formation, geothermal aspects and the current hydrothermal
activities occurring in the Valles Caldera.
Goff received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from San Jose State in 1971 and his doctorate in earth sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1977. Before joining the Laboratory in 1978, Goff worked for the U.S. Geological Survey as a chemist and geologist in the evaluation of the Geysers-Clear Lake geothermal region and as senior geologist at the Rockwell Hanford Operations working on the Basalt Waste Isolation Project.
Goff's work at the Laboratory included numerous geothermal energy research projects, along with the exploration and development of the field of volcanology. Goff retired from the Laboratory in 2004 and is a current adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico's Earth and Planetary Sciences Department.
The third lecture of the series is April 18 with Jeff Heikoop's discussion on the historical significance of sediments located in the lakebed of the Valles Caldera, along with the paleoclimate aspects of the Valles.
Heikoop received a doctorate from the Geology Department at McMaster University in Canada in 1997. His dissertation focused on the isotopic signals in reef corals, as well as studies related to paleotemperature reconstruction and tracing the impact of sewage on coral health. Heikoop joined the Laboratory in 1998 and began postdoctoral studies on paleoclimate signals in deep-sea corals with a side interest in tracing sewage pollution in wetlands. Heikoop is a staff member in Los Alamos' Hydrology, Geochemistry and Geology Group where he oversees the Laboratory's light stable isotope laboratory.
The Bradbury Science Museum is part of Los Alamos' Community Relations Office. The museum is located at 15th Street and Central Avenue in Los Alamos. Museum hours, apart from special events listed above are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday and Monday.
For more information, contact Pat Berger at 665-0896.
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Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.