News Release 472

THE FORRESTER GROUP DONATES ROCK CORE
TO MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES’ MCCRACKEN CORE LIBRARY

Volume 35-472

Contact: Hylan Beydler

(For immediate release)

573-368-2118

ROLLA, MO, OCT. 18, 2007 -- A recent donation of approximately 420 feet of rock core, including core descriptions, petrographic thin sections and electrical and nuclear geophysical well logs, was made to the McCracken Core Library by The Forrester Group Inc., an environmental consulting company with offices in Missouri and Kansas. These materials from the greater Springfield area had been used for purposes of environmental site characterization and remedial action planning. Thanks to The Forrester Group, this geologic record is now in the public domain and can be used by anyone needing geologic data in this area. The Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Geology and Land Survey manages the McCracken Core Library in Rolla.

“Core samples are an important scientific and economic resource that would be very expensive or impossible to reacquire,” said Doyle Childers, director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. “Donations of core greatly increase the department’s ability to provide technical assistance and geologic information to those who develop, market, manage or regulate the state's mineral resources.”

Core is a cylinder-shaped segment of rock obtained by using a hollow-core drill. Drilling may be to depths of 1,000 feet or more. Core samples from across Missouri are stored at the department’s 21,000 square-foot facility located in Rolla. Most of the core is 1 3/8 inches in diameter and stored in 2-foot sections. The repository holds nearly 3,000 drill core containing nearly 3 million feet of core.

“We want to thank The Forrester Group for making this generous donation in the best interest of Missouri citizens,” said Mimi Garstang, state geologist and Division of Geology and Land Survey director. “Gifts such as this are the key for conducting academic research in geology. They are also important in protecting and developing our natural resources.”

“This core comes from the Springfield Plateau Aquifer, which is an important component of the hydrologic cycle in southwest Missouri,” said Robert Kick, principal geologist with The Forrester Group in Springfield. “We have studied the geology of this aquifer extensively to understand how best to protect groundwater in the Springfield area. We hope that future researchers and the State of Missouri and will benefit from an opportunity to study this core and the data that we have collected.”

Department geologists examine core and prepare logs that describe the geologic characteristics of the rock, along with its potential for natural hazards, environmental risk and water and mineral resources. Core research and examination preserves geological history, leads to a better understanding of Missouri geology and hydrology and yields data useful in solving environmental, industrial and engineering problems.

The core donated by The Forrester Group was collected by Syntex Agribusiness Inc. in the early 1990s and extends through some or all of the Burlington, Elsey, Pierson, Northview, Compton and Cotter formations. These geologic formations are significant because they occur above the Ozark Aquifer, a regional source of high quality drinking water. They act as the first line of defense against pollutants of all types that may threaten this valuable groundwater resource. The Forrester Group is an environmental consulting services company with offices in Jefferson City, St. Louis, and Springfield, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas.

Parties interested in reviewing this core and related materials should contact the Department of Natural Resources at 573-368-2100 and reference Syntex Core 11C. Core available for study generally comes from landfills, quarries and hazardous waste sites, as well as highway department construction and oil, gas and mineral exploration drilling in Missouri. Access to core is free and has proved to be invaluable to geoscientists researching the geology of an area.

The McCracken Core Library is one of the largest such collections in the nation and is open to the public (www.dnr.mo.gov/geology/geosrv/geores/mccracken.htm). For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel.

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Editor: Photo is available at /newsrel/mccracken.jpg.

Cutline: Three million feet of core, stored in Rolla at the McCracken Core Library, is maintained by the Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Geology and Land Survey.