Geophysics at the U of S

Editors’ Note: At the request of the editors, the following update on the activities at the University of Saskatchewan, Department of Geological Sciences, in Saskatoon, with emphasis on the geophysics program, was provided by Don Gendzwill.*

We have a new building which the department has occupied since 1986. The old geophysics “shack” is only a memory. For recent graduates, this is old news, but some of the older alumni may not have seen the new building. It is very nice, occupying a space on the edge of the Bowl, forming the centre of a science complex and physically joined to the Biology, Physics, and Chemistry buildings. Last year, the new Agriculture building was completed and there is now a glass-enclosed, elevated walkway from Engineering, through Agriculture to the Geology-Biology-Physics-Chemistry complex. That’s just what we need for January days.

There is a large atrium and display area three stories high in the Geology building. It is like a mini-Tyrell Museum, featuring several large dinosaur skeletons, a variety of live animals and plants, educational panels and displays. Tens of thousands of visitors view it each year. It’s a great place for a reception!

The building has three main floors and two basement levels. Geophysics, geological engineering, and the general office occupy the ground floor. Petrology and geochemistry occupy the second floor; paleontology and sedimentology are on the third floor. The first basement level has a garage for the seismic truck, storage rooms and rock crushing labs. The most recent addition in 1991 is our new rock mechanics laboratory in the sub-basement. We can do all standard rock testing procedures and many that are not standard.

Geophysics programs have been offered through the College of Engineering for over thirty years and through the College of Arts and Science for about twenty years. The department also offers B.Eng. degrees in geological engineering (since 1928) and B.Sc. degrees in traditional geology. We also have a paleobiology program jointly with biology, and a new program in environmental geology is being planned.

The tenured faculty number was 16 in 1992/93 but Fred Langford and Willi Braun are retiring in June. We have three geophysicists, Don Gendzwill, Zoli Hajnal, and Jim Merriam, and other faculty have interests in geophysics and participate in geophysical programs.

The undergraduate program has been affected by the downsizing of the petroleum industry during the past few years. Earth science graduates from all universities have had fewer job offers because of the down-sizing. The reduction of job offers over several years has resulted in reductions of enrollment in traditional geology and in geophysics. In fact, in May 1993, we had 19 graduates in geology, 6 in geological engineering and none in geophysics, neither science nor engineering. Fortunately, this low point has been passed because we expect to have five or six geophysics graduates in 1994. The losses in geology and geophysics have been partly made up by increases in geological engineering. Many of the geological engineers find jobs in the mining industry. Indications are that petroleum-related job opportunities will soon increase with the stabilization of the industry.

Graduate student numbers have increased recently, opposite to the trend in the undergraduate enrollment. In the department there are 54 graduate students of whom 14 are in geophysics, and six in geological and engineering. Most graduate students are working on projects funded from research grants to their professors.

There are many research activities in the department, supported by industry and government. We have two chairs supported by private funds, the George J. Mcleod Chair and the Cameco Chair. We also have three E.W.R. Stacie Fellows elected in the last eight years, Rob Kerrich, Euan Nesbit and Kurt Kyser. NSERC pays the replacement salary for a Stacie Fellow for two years so the individual can concentrate on research. The geochemical laboratory is among the best in North America and does a lot of research but active research is going on in all parts of the department.

The computer system is especially important for the research programs in geophysics and geological engineering. Our old Vax computer is being removed this year in favor of the new workstations and a Unix operating system. We have a large software library for processing geophysical data, and it is always growing.

In geophysics, the big research item is the Trans-Hudson Orogen Transect (THOT) of the Lithoprobe program, funded by NSERC. Zoli Hajnal of our department and John Lewry of the University of Regina are co-directors of THOT. The THOT program has collected over 1000 km of deep crustal seismic reflection data along a transect from Thompson, Manitoba to Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. This information, together with a variety of other geological and geophysical data, has provided high quality images of the subsurface and new interpretations of the geological evolution of the mid-continent crust to depths exceeding 50 kilometres. Zoli has other projects in reflection seismology at much shallower depths; one or two kilometres and even less than one hundred metres.

Don Gendzwill has been working on high resolution seismic reflections in underground potash mines and the AECL Underground Research Laboratory. High resolution in a mine means frequencies up to 1200 Hz or more. With this type of resolution, he can detect narrow fractures in granite and fine layering in sediments. On the surface, he does seismic work with glacial sediments, kimberlite intrusions, and Devonian stratigraphy. He also has programs on natural and induced seismicity. There are not many natural earthquakes in Saskatchewan, but some of the potash mines have caused small earthquakes, up to magnitude 3.7, capable of doing damage in a mine. Funding is mostly from industry.

Jim Merriam is a lead researcher on the superconducting, super-sensitive gravity meter NSERC funded, operating near Ottawa. The superconducting gravity meter has sensitivities in the nano-gal range. At that sensitivity, even the changing water level in Fundy Bay generates a significant signal at Ottawa that Jim must remove, together with a lot of other stuff, before he can sense tidal deformations of the core-mantle boundary. Jim also has done gravity surveys in potash mines.

The department is performing well in many areas despite lower undergraduate enrollments and reductions in our base budget. Due to financial restrictions from the province, the university is implementing a series of cuts totaling 12% over three years and all programs are under review. We think the Geology Department has a strong position due to research productivity and vigorous academic programs, but we have already lost positions due to retiring faculty who will not be replaced. Our programs will not disappear, but letters from alumni and industry could help us defend and maintain a strong and useful department. Our present department head is Dr. Hugh Hendry if you care to write.