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Associate Professor of Geology Chair, Department of Geosciences North Dakota State University Stevens Hall Fargo ND 58105-5517 USA Tel: +1-701-231-8785 Fax: +1-701-231-7149 bernhardt.saini-eidukat@ndsu.edu |
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Many rare metals play a nearly invisible but vital role in modern society. These "high-tech metals," e.g., germanium, indium, gallium, arsenic, cadmium, selenium, tellurium and thallium, often exhibit unusual semiconductor properties, and thus are used for the production of electronic devices, coatings, fiber optics, polymerisation catalysts, and defense applications such as infrared sensors. They share common geochemical and economic features such as: low abundance in the average crust, lack of significant enrichment in ore deposits, low production capacities and high production costs. The Tres Marias Mine in Chihuahua state, Mexico, has potential to become a germanium producer. The deposit contains two ore zones: a primary zone consisting of zinc and lead sulfides with germanium, and a so-called oxidized zone containing hemimorphite and willemite, some of which is germanium-bearing. My work on understanding the ore genesis and mineralogy of this deposit is being done in collaboration with Dr. Frank Melcher of the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Hannover, and with War Eagle Mining. David Hopkins and Tom Desutter of NDSU Department of Soil Science and I, along with graduate student Vijaya Jyoti, are researching the natural occurrence of high levels of cadmium in specific soils in northeastern North Dakota. Eaerlier work by Hopkins et al. showed that A horizon Cd concentrations on the Pembina Escarpment are 10 to 20 times higher than the baseline level of 0.3 ppm total Cd established for northern prairie soils. Erionite, (Na2,K2,Ca)2 [Al4Si14O36]-15(H2O), is a fibrous mineral of the zeolite group found in strata of altered volcanic ash. It has been identified in the Arikaree Formation of the Killdeer Mountains by Nels Forsman, and may also occur in other units in western ND. Because erionite has been reported to be associated with increased human health risk, graduate student Jason Triplett and I are investigating the occurrence of the mineral erionite in specific rock and sediment units in western North Dakota.
Extensive silicic magmatism exists in South America that is not directly attributed to subduction and arc formation. The Somoncura Magmatic Belt in northern Patagonia, Argentina, is an example of such an area with an equivocal genesis. It comprises a suite of intrusive and extrusive silicic units with an enigmatic tectonic origin. This project seeks to determine what the petrogenetic relationships and emplacement timings are between intrusive and extrusive units and host rocks of the Central Somoncura Magmatic Belt in the context of widespread Jurassic magmatism in South America. This NSF-funded work has been carried out with Daniel Gregori, Ernesto Bjerg, and a graduate student at the Universidad Nacional del Sur in Bahia Blanca (Argentina), undergraduate students (Joy Turnbull, Cody Jacobs) at North Dakota State University (Fargo), in cooperation with Clark Johnson and Brian Beard at the Radiogenic Isotope Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Karl Wirth at the Department of Geology at Macalester College (St. Paul, Minnesota); George Gehrels at the University of Arizona; and Jeff Vervoort at Washington State University.
Research Areas
Igneous Petrology/Economic Geology/Geochemistry/TeachingCurrent Research
Only sparse sampling has been carried out to date from the research area. In order for trace element surveys to be applicable to broader areas of soils and landscapes in central and eastern North Dakota, intensive sampling and analysis is being carried out, and the mineralogic properties of the substratum are being investigated and interpreted in terms of soil chemical development.
This is a multi-year project to study science learning in authentic, immersive, virtual environments involving 1) simulated environments for teaching science topics, each framed according to a theoretical approach, role-based learning, 2) an innovative, integrated, distributed software platform for developing and hosting virtual environments, 3) empirical studies using an innovative protocol, scenario-based assessment, for measuring student learning in virtual worlds, and 4) a graduate-level summer school course for in-service teachers who will be trained, beginning in year three, to use virtual environments in their classrooms. The intent of this research is to produce a large, controlled study demonstrating the statistical significance of the impact of the above methods on student learning.
The upper portion of the Souris River, from the border with Saskatchewan, Canada to Lake Darling, a total of 43.4 miles, has been on the North Dakota Section 303(d) list for water quality impairments since 1998.This river reach has been identified as "Fully Supporting but Threatened" for aquatic life and recreation purposes. This classification means that water quality and/or river conditions have not met the standards for designated uses on relatively low frequencies, but enough to raise concerns. This project's goals are to study the reach, and document any impairment that may exist.
Past research interests have included platinum group element (PGE) geochemistry of igneous rocks as related to problems of magma evolution, tectonic setting and hydrothermal transport of PGE's (Duluth Complex, Minnesota and northern Finland - Russia); investigation of a new, silver-rich massive sulfide deposit in the Lumby Lake region of Ontario; the sedimentary petrology, mineralogy, and geochemistry of manganiferous iron formation from the perspective of developing the novel extraction method of in situ leaching for manganese, and the feasibility of pulsed power technology as a rock disaggegation method. For some examples of minerals and microfossils separated using pulsed power technology, click here.
Graduate Students
Awards and Honors
Links to Web Resources
Selected Publications and Reports
Education
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