The Geological Sciences Colloquium Series presents Dr. Lewis Land discussing "Geophysical prospecting for new cave passages: Fort Stanton Cave, southern Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico" on Friday, Nov. 20, from 12:55 to 1:50 p.m.

Land will present the results of electrical resistivity surveys used to explore for new cave passages during the early history of exploration of the Snowy River passage of Fort Stanton Cave, in the Sacramento Mountains of southern New Mexico. His presentation will include a discussion of the Snowy River Formation, a cave pool deposit that lines the floor of the Snowy River passage for over 17 km that has been described as the world’s longest speleothem.

Land is a karst hydrogeologist with the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) in Carlsbad, NM, and is the Institute’s lead geophysical investigator. Dr. Land’s research focuses on regional investigations of groundwater resources within the extensive karstic aquifers of southern New Mexico and west Texas; and on geophysical investigations of karst geohazards. He earned Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Oklahoma, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where his doctoral research included submersible investigations of submarine sinkholes in the Straits of Florida.

For more information, contact Dr. Gregory Springer .