2007 AWG Brunton Award
Anya Hess
AWG is pleased to announce Anya Hess as the 2007 Brunton Award Winner. Anya is a senior at Bucknell University, PA with a major in geology. Anya got her first taste of using field data to draw scientific conclusions in a semester long research project in sedimentology in which she isopac mapped, logged core, described thin sections, and interpreted paleocurrents. During the summer of 2006 she participated in an NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates project in the Southwestern USA. Anya explored the geology of the Northwest during field camp in 2007. She now is concluding an undergraduate senior thesis in the Appalachian Basin.
Silurian-Devonian period boundary carbonate strata in the Appalachian Basin have been reported to document the coincident onset of the Acadian Orogeny, a large positive carbon isotope excursion, and a regional anoxia event. These strata do not usually outcrop in central Pennsylvania, but a local quarry had recently provided an exposure. Anya saw this as an excellent opportunity to develop an improved understanding of the Silurian-Devonian carbon isotope excursion and its relationship to paleoenvironmental conditions. She set out to determine first if the Silurian-Devonian carbon isotope excursion is present in central Pennsylvania, and second if the strata contain evidence for climatic changes, specifically dysoxia or anoxia.
Anya measured cm-scale stratigraphic sections (110m) of the strata exposed at the quarry. Data concerning lithology, bed geometry and thickness, sedimentary structures, biogenic structures, and the occurrence and taphonomy of fossils were collected during the construction of these measured sections. This allowed her to interpret the paleoenvironment, which could provide information about climatic fluctuations. To refine these interpretations and investigate possible ties between these paleoenvironmental conditions and the carbon cycle, 18 samples of micrite were collected and analyzed for their carbon isotopic signature.
Preliminary results show that the positive carbon isotope excursion is indeed present in the strata of central Pennsylvania. The abundance of black shales and Zoophycos-rich micrites in the strata suggest that dysoxic to anoxic conditions were present shortly after the maximum peak of the isotope excursion – a possible linkage between oceanic dysoxia and positive carbon isotope excursions. This research was funded by the Geological Society of America.
Anya plans to attend the University of Kansas where she will pursue a Master's in geology. Her career goal is to become a professor of sedimentary geology and continue conducting field-based research in this field. We wish Anya all the best and are sure she will continue to contribute to the Earth Sciences.
It should be noted that it was a difficult choice, as we received applications from three other extremely qualified young women. We would like to congratulate them all by offering them a one year membership in AWG in hopes that they will continue to be leaders in our field.
The AWG Brunton Award promotes the future of field mapping and data acquisition for the upcoming generation of women geoscientists. It is awarded to a female geoscience student at the senior level or beginning their graduate studies who has been a summer intern, excelled at field camp, or performed field data collection that will lead to a senior or graduate thesis.
The award is funded by:
