Friehauf, Kurt C.

Mineralogy
Petrology & Geochemistry
Economic Geology
Senior Seminar in Geology
Geology of National Parks and Monuments
Applied Scanning Electron Microscopy

B.Sc. Geology - Colorado State University
Ph.D. Geology - Stanford University
P.G. license for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

I'm most interested in how geological fluids transport metals and concentrate them to form economic mineral deposits.
For example, when underground caverns filled with molten rock (magma) crystallize, those magmas may release bubbles of dissolved water that leach copper, gold, molybdenum, etc. from the magma. Those metal-rich waters escape into fractures in the surrounding rocks, causing the waters to cool and chemically react with the rocks. These changes in the nature of the meta-rich waters cause them to deposit the metals in veins. I study the minerals the deposit in those veins to deduce how what chemical reactions took place - sort of like a detective analyzing clues to solve crimes.

I do a fair number of smaller research projects, though, with students who are interested in other chemical aspects of geology. Those projects can be interesting (isn't there something interesting to find ANYWHERE one looks?), but I mainly do those projects to give students original research experience.

Faculty advisor for Kutztown University Geology Club
Geological Society of America (GSA)
Society of Economic Geologists fellow (SEG)
Pennsylvania Council of Professional Geologists (PCPG)
Microscopy Society of America (MSA)