Strock Lecture Focus: Unusual Cave Formations

Arthur N. Palmer, a top expert on caves, will deliver this year's Lester W. Strock Lecture in Geochemistry and Geology on campus. Titled "Hydrogen Sulfide as a Geologic Agent: Effect on Cave Origin, Petroleum Reservoirs, Aquifers, and Ore Deposits," Palmer's talk will begin at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, in Emerson Auditorium, Palamountain Hall.

Admission is free and open to the public.

The illustrated talk is based on the personal experience of Palmer and his wife throughout much of the world over the past three decades.

According to Palmer, some of the most spectacular caves were formed by deep-seated sulfide reactions, rather than by normal groundwater flow. These include the well-known Carlsbad Caverns, as well New Mexico's Lechuguilla Cave, which is considered one of the world's most beautiful caves, with unusual mineral deposits unheard of elsewhere. The caves were dissolved from limestone by sulfuric acid, which formed by the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide deep beneath the surface.

The caves have an important relation to nearby oil fields and marine gypsum deposits. Many of the same processes are essential to the origin of certain ores and some of the most productive aquifers. These processes can be seen in action in only a few places in the world. Cueva de Villa Luz in Mexico is one of the best examples. This cave contains toxic levels of hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide, sulfuric acid so concentrated that it burns skin and eats clothing, and a bizarre ecosystem that derives its energy from the cave-forming chemical reactions. These and similar processes account of the origin of many puzzling features seen in the geologic record.

Palmer is a SUNY distinguished teaching professor at the State University of New York College at Oneonta, where he teaches hydrology, geochemistry, and geophysics. He is a fellow and Kirk Bryan Award recipient of the Geological Society of America, and an honorary member of the National Speleological Society. He earned a B.A. degree with honors in geology at Williams College, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in hydrogeology at Indiana University.

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