College Exhibits 2008

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COLLEGE EXHIBITS 2008 KC GEM & MINERAL SHOW

Kansas Geological Survey-University of Kansas

Unconventional Energy Production from Kansas & Missouri

Coals and black shales in the Middle Pennsylvanian Cherokee and Marmaton Groups are becoming increasingly important commercial sources for unconventional gas in eastern Kansas & western Missouri, with over 200 wells being drilled in the last two years. Most of the development is in southeastern Kansas, but gradual expansion of this production northward and westward is anticipated, particularly along existing pipeline corridors.

Metropolitan Community College-Blue River

Fish scales, Vertebrae, and Shark Teeth, Oh My! Fossil Collecting at MCC-Blue River

Are we still in Kansas Toto? Yes Dorothy, it’s not the land of Oz. It is however a time when the Western Interior Seaway covered much of Kansas with seawater 80 or so million years ago creating the beautiful and unique landscape of Western Kansas that we see today. This exhibit will showcase marine fossils collected from Western Kansas during the Summer 2007 Geology Field Study course led by MCC-Blue River. Fossils displayed include Inoceramus shells, fish scales, shark teeth, and fish vertebrae collected from the Cretaceous Niobrara Chalk near Oakley, Kansas.

Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods

History of Galena Mining in Missouri

Examine galena mining in Missouri; its industrial uses and environmental impact

Northwest Missouri State University

Economic Minerals of the United States and Their Uses.

This display will be a survey of specimens collected at economic mineral deposits from the United States and will include information on their properties, localities, description, and uses.

University of Central Missouri

The Cause of Color in Minerals

Besides the unique crystal forms and shapes a mineral may exhibit, the most eye-catching aspect or “wow” factor is generally associated with the color of the mineral. Perhaps initially, the COLOR of a mineral represents the most common assessment “tool” used in the preliminary identification of a mineral. Yet as a reliable physical property, it is a double-edged sword. For some minerals it is in fact a very consistent and diagnostic feature, but in the majority of cases, color represents one of the least reliable physical properties to use in mineral identification, and great care must be observed if the identification is based solely on this feature. Typically, when one considers why a given mineral has some distinctive color, it is attributed to some trace elemental impurity as the culprit. However, over the past few decades, chemists and physicists have come to learn that the nature of color in minerals is an amazingly complex process involving a variety of mechanisms well beyond simple impurities. When white light strikes a mineral, certain wavelengths (colors) are preferentially absorbed, and we perceive the remainder as the color of the mineral. The complexity arises in explaining why or how this selective process of absorption occurs.

There are four distinct mechanisms which cover the range of processes that produce the visual effects we designate as color. These are; 1) Crystal Field effects, 2) Molecular Orbital effects, 3) Band (gap) effects, and 4) Physical Optical effects. Just as the names suggest, the physics of these processes are quite complex, but broadly speaking, the color(s) we perceive in a mineral are tied to how light (photons) interacts with the electrons that make up each element (atom) within the mineral. As light strikes these electrons, certain wavelengths (colors) are preferentially absorbed. This is additionally complicated by other factors such as the type of chemical bonds, the coordination or “packing” of the atoms, “sharing” electrons between elements, structural defects, etc.

Although great strides have been made in deciphering the fundamental mechanisms of mineral color, there are still a great many minerals that exhibit colors for which their underlying cause is not yet clearly understood!

University of Kansas-Lawrence

Stump the Paleontologist!!!

Booth/exhibit will feature a variety of fossils. Paleontologists at the booth will identify your fossils and answer questions.

University of Missouri-Kansas City

Kansas City Fossils from periods influenced by Glaciation between 10,000 and one million years ago and about 300 million years ago.

Kansas City Fossils: Pennsylvanian and Pleistocene: Two periods affected by glaciation