The Role of Fluids in Geology

GSM LECTURE, MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2008

Martin Saar, Ph.D., University of Minnesota 
will tell us about “The Role of Fluids in Geology”
Monday, March 24, 2008 at 7:30 P.M.

U of MN, Minneapolis Campus/ East Bank 
Room 3-210 Computer Science / Electrical Engineering 

Abstract:

Fluids play an important role in geologic processes. In this presentation, 
I will discuss some of the fluids that are being studied in the Geofluids 
Research Group which include groundwater in aquifers and karst (cave) 
systems, magma/lava, and gases (e.g., volatiles in magmas). The types of 
questions the Geofluids group tries to answer are: 

1) How much groundwater is flowing from where to where at what rate 

    with implications for drinking and irrigation water supply? 

2) Where is renewable geothermal energy usage possible? 

3) Can the greenhouse gas CO2 be stored in saline aquifers? 

4) How fast do caves form in Minnesota's SE karst system and 

    how fast do water and contaminants move through karst caves? 

5) What are the effects of magma permeability on volatile 

    degassing rates and related volcanic eruption dynamics? 

At the end of this talk I hope to have conveyed that there 

are more fluids in geology than one commonly considers 

and that they play an important role in many geologic processes.

Positions Held   
08/2006-date        Graduate Faculty, Water Resources Sciences (WRS)                       University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Minneapolis/St.Paul, MN, USA.  
01/2005-date        Assistant Professor, Geology and Geophysics                              University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA.   
01/2005-date        George and Orpha Gibson Chair of Hydrogeology and Geofluids  University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA.  
09/2003-12/2004 Turner Postdoctoral Research Fellow                                           University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.      

Education    
2003  Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences    University of California – Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States   
          Dissertation Topic: Geological Fluid Mechanics Models at Various Scales 
1998  M.S. in Geology, University of Oregon – Eugene, OR, United States 
Thesis Topic: The Relationship Between Permeability, Porosity, and Microstructure in Vesicular Basalts 
1995  Vordiplom (~B.S.) in Geology, Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany 

Martin O. Saar
Assistant Professor and Gibson Chair of Hydrogeology and Geofluids
Department of Geology and Geophysics
Winchell School of Earth Sciences
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
310 Pillsbury Drive S.E.
Minneapolis, MN 55455, U.S.A.
Phone: +1 612-625-7332
E-mail: saar@umn.edu
Geofluids Site: www.geo.umn.edu/orgs/geofluids
Hydrocamp Site: www.geo.umn.edu/orgs/camp/hydrocamp