Cornell Geology Professor to Discuss the Galapagos Islands
WILLIAMSTOWN - Karen Harpp, associate professor of geology at Colgate University, will deliver the Five College-University/Sperry Lecture in Geosciences at Williams College on Thursday, Oct. 2. Titled "Darwin's Enchanted Islands: The Geology of the Galapagos Islands," the lecture is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Clark Hall, room 105.The Galapagos islands and their abundant wildlife found no where else on earth inspired Charles Darwin's studies 200 years ago and contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
The volcanic islands sit about 650 miles west of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. Unique species of animals and plants, such as the giant turtle and various iguanas, are conserved on the islands, and in 1959 the islands were declared a national park. The Charles Darwin Association was founded at the same time with its primarily purpose to ensure the conservation of unique Galapagos ecosystems and promote the scientific studies necessary to fulfill its conservation functions. In 1985 UNESCO recognized the Galapagos as a Biosphere Reserve and in 1986 it recognized the surrounding ocean area as a marine reserve. Unfortunately, in 2007 UNESCO put the islands on the "World Heritage in Danger" list.
Harpp's research on the Galapagos focuses on the evolution of the islands and the mantle plumes through geochemical analysis of oceanic basalts. She is the author or co-author of numerous articles describing her research, including Wolf Volcano, Galapagos Archipelago: Melting and Magmatic Evolution at the Margins of a Mantle Plume and The Cocos and Carnegie Ridges: A Trace Element Record of Long-term Plume-Ridge Interaction. Her work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation. Harpp holds a B.A. degree from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. from Cornell University.
