Contact: Patti Klein Lerner,
(818) 677-2130

CSUN Appropriate Site For Geologic Conference

CSUN's Department of Geological Sciences is sponsoring the spring field conference of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers ­ Far West Section, from Friday, April 14 through Sunday, April 16.

About 240 people, including geologists, college faculty members and students and middle and high school teachers are scheduled to attend the sold-out conference, said Peter Weigand, a faculty member in CSUN's Geological Sciences Department, who is coordinating the conference.

"Wešre having one of the largest meetings of this group ever," said Weigand, "What we're trying to do with this conference is to share our excitement about the incredible geologic happenings that have occurred in the western United States over the relatively recent geologic past with middle school and high school teachers and college faculty with the hope that they can pass this excitement on to their students."

The conference will include speakers, exhibitions and six field trips, including the Saturday morning expedition to the Mojave section of the San Andreas Fault and a Sunday morning ship trip to visit a submerged Pleistocene beach in Los Angeles Harbor near San Pedro.

The conference covers what geologists consider to be recent history ­ the last 65 million years, Weigand said, adding, "The earth is 4 and a half billion years old so it's really just the blink of an eye."

"With our short human life span and our incredibly parochial view of the world, we tend to think that what we see outdoors has been this way forever. And it hasn't," Weigand said. "This whole area, for instance, has been under sea level until the last few million years. The Santa Susana Mountains and the Santa Monica Mountains are only a few million years old. Parts of the Santa Monica Mountains and Channel Islands used to be located next to Orange County and San Diego County and have rotated as a block over 90 degrees in the past 20 million years and the western Santa Monica Mountains were the site of vigorous volcanoes about 15 million years ago."

"This history of dramatic change continues today. We're reminded of it with every earthquake," Weigand said.

Dr. Kerry Sieh, a Caltech geology professor and internationally renowned expert on recent earthquakes, will speak about "The Growing Role of Geologists in Mitigating Earthquake Hazards" from 7:45-8:45 p.m. Friday in CSUN's Engineering Building Room 100. The building is on Lindley Avenue north of Nordhoff Street.

Dr. Tanya Atwater, of UC Santa Barbara, an international expert on the geological history of western North America, will speak on tectonic plates in Southern California from 8:30-9:30 p.m. Saturday at the Airtel Plaza, 7277 Valjean Avenue in Van Nuys.

CSUN suffered massive damage in the Northridge quake and is still rebuilding.

For more information on the conference, call Weigand at (818) 677-2564.