Revising the stratigraphy at Mollies Nipple, Kane County, Utah, USA to better understand the origin of jarosite and alunite cements

<p>Mollies Nipple—a butte located in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM)—is of special interest because of the presence of unusual alunite and jarosite cements within the caprock. These minerals precipitate in hyperacidic environments (pH1-2) and are not stable over ~pH5; yet they are abundant on Mars where they are used to interpret depositional and diagenetic environments. The caprock at Mollies Nipple is historically interpreted as Navajo Sandstone via photogeologic mapping; however, it is ~200 m above the mapped upper extent of the Navajo Sandstone in this region. The units overlying the Navajo Sandstone have complex stratigraphic relations in this region and the caprock could be the Carmel or Temple Cap Formations, or the Page Sandstone. This study aims to characterize Mollies Nipple through measured sections, mineralogical analyses, palynomorph analysis, and radiometric age dates from ash lenses present in the caprock. The results will better define the stratigraphy of Mollies Nipple and determine the regional correlation of the caprock. Ultimately, this work will contribute to the understanding of how alunite and jarosite were precipitated at Mollies Nipple; why these minerals are still present at Mollies Nipple, and potentially revise the understanding of Martian depositional environments.</p>

Integrity

This chapter examines the libelous article which was written by part-time columnist Bill Page and published by the Kane County Chronicle. The article told the story of Mary Elizabeth “Meg” Gorecki, who had been a rising star in the Illinois legal community but committed ethics violations. In his column, Page claimed Bob Thomas originally wanted to pursue a much steeper penalty for Gorecki—up to and including disbarment. Yet in the end, Page contended, Thomas pushed a four-month suspension in return for the Gorecki camp assisting one of Thomas's appointed judges, Robert Spence, in an upcoming election. Thomas then called Chicago attorney Joseph Power, Jr. and suggested they consider filing a defamation lawsuit. Backed into a corner, Thomas was left with no alternative. He would not be able to uphold any semblance of moral authority if he permitted the libelous statements to live. Justice was necessary for him to keep working as a justice. An unconditional exoneration through litigation, he knew, was now the only way to retain the confidence of attorneys. The defamation suit was filed on January 16, 2004, naming Page, managing editor Greg Rivara, and the Shaw Suburban Newspaper Group (which owned the Chronicle) as defendants.

Justice Tempered with Civility

This chapter discusses how Bob Thomas was elected to the high court. On December 11, 1998, Illinois Supreme Court Justice John Nickels announced he was retiring from the bench, with plans to return to his family farm outside of St. Charles in Kane County. Nickels stated that his departure would be immediate, thus leaving him two years short of completing his ordinary ten-year term. With the election to fill his position not scheduled to take place until November of 2000, an appointment was necessary to fill the vacancy in the interim. Thomas wished to be considered and also had an eye on the election two years down the road. On September 13, 1999, Bob Thomas announced from the steps of the DuPage County Courthouse that he was entering the race for the Republican primary in March 2000. Now, more than ever before, Thomas would be relentlessly hitting the campaign trail nearly every night, requiring the understanding and cooperation of those closest to him. On November 7, 2000, Thomas was overwhelmingly elected to the high court.

Cut, Fill, Repeat: Slot Canyons of Dry Fork, Kane County

The slot canyons of southern Utah have become popular destinations for hikers, climbers, and photographers. For most of these canyons, the geology is simple: sediment carried by flowing water abrades a thick, homogeneous sandstone. As time passes, the rate of down- cutting is rapid compared to the rate of cliff retreat. End of story. The strange abundance and configuration of the slot canyons along Dry Fork Coyote (a tributary of Coyote Gulch and the Escalante River), however, have a convoluted geologic history that is climate-driven and involves canyon cutting, canyon filling, and more canyon cutting.

Jarosite and Alunite in Ancient Terrestrial Sedimentary Rocks: Reinterpreting Martian Depositional and Diagenetic Environmental Conditions

Members of the alunite group are precipitated at low pH (<1 to ~4) in oxidizing environments, are unstable in circumneutral conditions, and are widespread on Mars. At Mollies Nipple in Kane County, Utah, USA, jarosite and alunite are abundant as diagenetic cements in Jurassic sandstones. This research characterizes the jarosite and alunite cements with the goal of determining their origin, and tests the hypothesis that jarosite and alunite may be more stable than the current understanding indicates is possible. Previous studies have placed the jarosite- and alunite-bearing caprock at Mollies Nipple in the Navajo Sandstone, but the presence of water-lain deposits, volcanic ash, volcanic clasts, and peloids show that it is one of the overlying Middle Jurassic units that records sea level transgressions and regressions. A paragenetic timing, established from petrographic methods, shows that much of the cement was precipitated early in a marginal marine to coastal dune depositional environment with a fluctuating groundwater table that drove ferrolysis and evolved the groundwater to a low pH. Microbial interaction was likely a large contributor to the evolution of this acidity. Jarosite and alunite are clearly more stable in natural environments than is predicted by laboratory experiments, and therefore, the Martian environments that have been interpreted as largely acidic and/or dry over geologic time may have been more habitable than previously thought.