Rare Earth Elements: A brief overview

Recent years have witnessed increasing awareness and interest in rare earth elements (REE). These several, usually unfamiliar elements, are key components of countless products used in our daily lives. Because of their use in many modern technologies, including those important for national security, the demand for REE grows, and so does the production, need to find their new sources and improve the extraction. This article provides an overview of REEs, their availability, production, and uses, and briefly discusses the future of these valuable and critical metals.

2022 IGWS calendar

The annual Indiana Geological and Water Survey calendar focuses on an area of Survey research, interest or history. The topic of the 2022 calendar is scientific illustrations. For nearly 50 years between them, two artist-draftsmen, Robert "Bob" Judah and Wilbur "Bill" Stalions, translated scientific concepts and research into a visual medium so that more people, including those without a scientific background, could understand the work of the Survey. This calendar contains scans of some original works which have been kept in Survey archives and have not been visible to the public, as well as previously published works from multiple decades.

Quaternary Geology of the Indiana Portion of the Western Extent of the South Bend 30- x 60-Minute Quadrangle

This is a map. It has no abstract.

Bedrock Geologic Map of the Northern Half of the Bedford 30- X 60-Minute Quadrangle, Indiana

The Bedrock Geologic Map of the Northern Half of the Bedford 30- X 60-Minute Quadrangle is an Esri File Geodatabase that contains six feature data sets, five geodatabase tables, and two raster data sets detailing the bedrock geology of the northern half of the Bedford 30- X 60-minute quadrangle in Indiana. This data set conforms to "GeMS (Geologic Map Schema)--a standard format for the digital publication of geologic maps." For more information on GeMS please refer to the supplemental information within this metadata.

Caves of Indiana--A release of an important publication to mark the International Year of Caves and Karst

The year 2021 is the 60th Anniversary of the first publication of Caves of Indiana by Richard L. (Dick) Powell. To commemorate that anniversary, the Indiana Geological and Water Survey (IGWS) is releasing a digital version of this book. This release also coincides with the UNESCO-sponsored International Year of Caves and Karst. This paper includes a link to the digital book, a memoir from Dick, and a preface from Art Palmer (a mentor of mine and mentee of Dick’s). Another version of Dick’s memoir was recently printed in Volume 23, no. 2 of the Bloomington Indiana Grotto Newsletter. Caves of Indiana has an interesting legacy in the IGWS and a lore among cavers in Indiana. This paper tells that legacy from Dick Powell’s point of view. For many, Caves of Indiana represents a masterpiece of information during the birth of American Speleology. For others, it is an archetype of publications that have damaged caves and relationships between cavers and landowners. Regardless, it is highly recognized for its data gathering and presentation. Many libraries refuse to carry a copy lest it be stolen.[1] Copies oft appear in personal libraries, sometimes with folded pages and broken spines. This version has been carefully revised and redacted to assure that the locations of, directions to, and maps of caves on private land are not available. In this, we attempt to balance the important, and often at odds, need to disseminate accurate information on caves while protecting this important, and frequently overlooked, fragile natural resource. For more information about caves and karst, and guides to responsible caving, please consult with the National Speleological Society (http://www.caves.org), the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (http://www.nckri.org), or caving clubs local to your area.

Atlas of Charcoal-Based Grilling Fuel Components

This “Atlas of Charcoal-Based Grilling Fuel Components” features compilation of over 620 microscopic images taken between 2019 and 2021 while our team was improving methodology of using reflected light microscopy in identification of charcoal-based grilling fuels constituents. These photomicrographs provide documentation of the composition of the fuels and demonstrate the array of impurities that can be present. As such, this atlas is a valuable source of information for anyone interested in grilling, pellet fuels, optical microscopy, and quality assessment techniques.

Photomicrogrph Atlas of Wood Pellet Components

Concerns about climate change, energy security, and the diversification of energy supplies have made renewable resources increasingly more attractive and important sources of energy. As interest grows, bioenergy (energy from bio-based sources) is becoming more environmentally friendly and economically viable and has started to play a more prominent role in the global energy mix. In this changing market, wood pellets have emerged as a sustainable source of power with the potential to become a mainstream fuel in the future energy market. Pellets are currently the most economical way of converting biomass into fuel, and they are a fast-growing component of the energy sector. Pellets can be made from various types of biomass including industrial waste and co-products, food waste, agricultural residues, and virgin lumber, which are compressed under high pressure. Among these, wood pellets are the most common, and they generally are made from raw trees, wood shavings, compacted sawdust, industrial wastes from the milling of lumber, manufacture of wood products and furniture, and construction. The wood pellets available on the market are sold as fuel (heating and grilling) or as absorbents for animal bedding. But while the wood pellets are a fast-growing component of the energy sector and important tool in fight with global warming, it is important to understand influence of wood pellet quality on combustion emissions, and how their usage impacts human health and environment. Thanks to wood pellet industry efforts, especially in the North America and European Union, many of the wood pellets follow rigorous production procedures, and certification. However, there are still some manufacturers that do not use the same production scrutiny, which can result in poorer quality of their pellets. Our research show that in some extreme cases these uncertified wood pellets contain more than 20 percent of impurities. While some of those contaminants are so big that can be visible even without microscope the majority of the contaminants are of micrometer size and can be detected and identify only under a microscope. While the current standards test the quality of pellets based on a variety of physical and chemical properties, some impurities in pellets (glass, plastic, metal, ceramics, coal, and coke) are not easily identified this way. Our research shows that reflected light microscopy can be successfully used to identify and quantify those contaminants. Although reflected light microscopy technique is a well-known and widely used method allowing examination of various materials, this is a novel application for pellet fuels.

Trans-Disciplinary Pedagogy for Science and Journalism Majors Linking Water Resource Information to Communities

Water Quality Indiana is a learning platform that leverages collaborations, community partnerships, and active mentorship of transdisciplinary student cohorts. Since 2013, this platform has engaged teams of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and communication and media students to investigate water quality in east central Indiana (since expanded to other domestic and international locations) in an experiential problem-based learning environment. For community partners, Water Quality Indiana provides scientific data, analysis, and multimedia deliverables about water quality, and it has a successful record of finding solutions to real-world problems. From the point of view of faculty, project deliverables enhance several aspects of a faculty portfolio. For student participants, the goal is to increase metacognition, civic engagement, and confidence in processes associated with STEM and media studies, and, therefore, the transdisciplinary skills required in an increasingly competitive workforce. Assessing learning artifacts (e.g., assignment, quizzes, or other evaluative metrics) reveals a cognitive dissonance between metacognition and accuracy in declarative knowledge related to topics in water quality—student scores did not increase in posttest data despite an increased confidence in selected answers. In contrast, pretest and posttest results, synthesis reports, and focus group data suggest that confidence in procedural knowledge in both water quality and media production significantly increased by the end of the course. Students cited time constraints imposed by academic calendars and project deadlines as a limitation of the learning environment. Course data reveal differences based on academic background and gender: 1) media studies majors became more confident in their multimedia skills, while STEM majors became less confident; 2) note-taking style and detail is more organized and meticulous for female and STEM students compared to male and media studies counterparts.

Bedrock Topography of the Berne, Domestic, Geneva, and Willshire 7.5-Minute Quadrangles, Indiana-Ohio

This map provides updated bedrock topography for the eastern extent of the Lafayette Bedrock Valley System in Indiana.

Paleoecological Significance of a Pre-Mortem Crinoid-Coral Interaction from the Silurian of Southeastern Indiana

A noteworthy specimen recording a syn vivo interaction between a stalked echinoderm and a tabulate coral is described herein from the middle Silurian (Wenlock: Sheinwoodian) Massie Formation of Ripley County, southeastern Indiana. Part of the column of the camerate crinoid Eucalyptocrinites is encrusted around the entirety of its lateral margin by a favositid colony. The radially outward orientation of corallites on both the upper and lower surfaces of the colony show that the coral was elevated completely above the seafloor and, more importantly, that the crinoid column had to be vertical at the time of initial encrustation and subsequent coral astogeny. Hence, the crinoid host was most likely alive throughout the duration of this interaction. No evidence for a paleopathological reaction is present on the crinoid column, suggesting that the encruster did not adversely affect the host. This most likely reflects the long and inflexible column of Eucalyptocrinites, which could have supported encrusting, secondarily tiered organisms—even relatively heavy ones—without interfering with the biological functions of the crown or weighing down the column.