Dr. Kathie Marsaglia, CSUN, will be presenting
The early history of mature ocean basins is often buried by thick, continent-derived sediment prisms or carbonate build ups and rarely tapped by deep ocean drilling. Drilling in young ocean basins, such as those in the Gulf of California, Mexico, offers insights into the interplay of tectonic, magmatic and sedimentologic processes and into the extent and nature of post-depositional diagenesis/alteration and microbiological activity in the basin fill. The ~4km of biosiliceous to terrigenous sediments and mafic rocks recovered during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 385 provide an unprecedented record for a nascent ocean basin setting. Expedition results have applications to hydrocarbon exploration and environmental implications for large-scale carbon cycling. A summary of drilling results and shipboard analyses is first presented. This is followed by more detailed look at the nature of the sedimentary record, stratigraphic variation across the basin and integration of previous Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 64 results. Ongoing and future Expedition research activities are discussed. Opportunities for audience participation in future IODP activities are presented.
Kathie Marsaglia joined the Department of Geological Sciences in 2000. She is a sedimentologist with expertise in sandstone petrology, sedimentation and tectonics, and marine geology. Between graduate degrees and before coming to CSUN, she worked at various levels in the petroleum industry including several summer internships and full-time positions, the latter first as an exploration geologist and later as a senior reservoir geologist. Over her career she has spent over two years at sea on scientific cruises collecting, describing, and interpreting marine sediments and sedimentary rocks. She is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, was an AAPG distinguished lecturer, and received both the Outstanding Faculty and Exceptional Service to Students Awards at CSUN. In 2019 she was honored by AAPG with a Grover E. Murray Distinguished Educator Award. She has served on the U.S. Advisory Committee (USAC) for the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), and is the incoming co-chair of the IODP Science Evaluation Panel.
