UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH IN GRAVITY MAPPING AT SUNY POTSDAM

During the past two decades students at SUNY Potsdam have conducted detailed gravity mapping in New York with the support of the College Undergraduate Summer Research Program. This program provides the student with a $3000 stipend and $500 for travel expenses. Several students have taken advantage of the program to conduct detailed field gravity mapping to construct gravity maps of several 15-minute quadrangles in northern New York. The program provides the students with the opportunity to conduct research and obtain a valuable learning experience.

Five 15-minute gravity maps constructed by students will be displayed and the interpretation of the gravity anomalies will be discussed. These maps include Gouverneur, Hammond, Russell, Massena, and Potsdam quadrangles. The Gouverneur quadrangle gravity map shows two northeast bending elliptically shaped gravity highs. One of which lies over the Sylvia Lake Zinc district and the second high occurs over a possible prospect for zinc ore. The Russell quadrangle shows a northeast-southwest trending gravity gradient along the Carthage Colton Mylonite zone. The map also shows several earthquake epicenters around a circular shaped gravity high. The Hammond quadrangle shows gravity lows over Alaskite bodies and a gravity gradient along the Black Lake fault. The Massena map shows gravity highs in an area of earthquake activity including the largest earthquake in New York State. The Potsdam quadrangle shows a gravity gradient separating high gravity values in the northwest from lower gravity values over the crystalline rocks in the southeast.