Research with students
Maggie Holman and Alayna Rea discussing what they're discovering in their study of REE (rare earth element) ores from the Bayan Obo mining district in China. They are in the Fred and Martha Hafer Scanning Electron Microscope Lab that I manage at Kutztown University.
What do I study?
Economic geology - the geology of things that have economic value.
I am interested in how fluids flow through cracks and caves in the Earth's crust, gathering metals from metal-bearing source rocks, then precipitating those metals in high concentrations to form ore bodies. The fluids can be hot water (hydrothermal fluids), or magma (underground lava), or strange vapor-like fluids (supercritical fluids).
Most of my experience has been with copper, molybdenum, rare earth elements (REE), iron, and gold, but I am interested in the geology most mineral resources.
The recent drive to find more lithium and cobalt for rechargeable batteries, and to identify new titanium deposits for making strong, lightweight alloys that reduce our fossil fuel consumption and pollution, and to discover new platinum group element resources (PGE) that catalyze chemical reactions to save energy are all very interesting to me and fields into which I'd like to grow.
Michael Perrotta presenting his research results on molybdenum skarn deposits in Henan, China at the annual Geological Society of America meeting in Denver, CO
Past research projects
Past projects I've studied with my students include:
Origins of the giant rare earth element deposit at Bayan Obo (Inner Mongolia, China),
Origins of the molybdenite deposits in the Qinling Mountains (Henan province, China)
Evolution of the the Grasberg and Ertsberg porphyry copper-gold deposits (West Papua, Indonesia)
Sulfur isotope fractionation in the carbonate replacement copper-gold deposits of Superior, Arizona.
Origins of the Haib porphyry - one of the oldest, best-preserved porphyry copper-molybdenum deposits in the world (Karas region, Namibia)
Potential porphyry/epithermal mineralization on Mount Fairplay (Interior Alaska)
Geological factors affecting groundwater flow and cave formation near a local limestone quarry, and origins of the belt of magnetite deposits in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Hiking at the base of Mount Rainier with four Kutztown University undergraduate students before the annual Geological Society of America meeting in Seattle, WA.
Why do research?
I prioritize doing research with my students that results in them presenting research at conferences because:
Independent research drives home the awareness that science is a process of discovering new understanding rather than a body of knowledge to be memorized.
Doing research in collaboration with others builds meaningful relationships between people.
Scientific inquiry is a creative act that gives us opportunity to think!
Expanding our understanding of nature both expands our awareness and can produce useful results.
Presenting research results at scientific conferences builds connections between people - both friendships and professional network.
My graduate school advisor Marco Einaudi, my very good friend Guillermo Pareja, and myself after a day of mapping geology underground at the Superior mine in Arizona.
Papers published
I probably should prioritize more cutting-edge research with PhD'd professors and professionals in industry that result in publication of more full papers in scientific journals, but I don't because I really love seeing my undergraduate students grow in the short time they have with me. That said, I love working with people who have advanced understanding like Dr. Qu Hongying (Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences), Dr. Ryan Mathur (Juniata College), Dr. Richard Volkert (NJ Survey), Dr. Robert Smith II (PA DCNR), and Dr. Xiao Rongge (China University of Geosciences). I am grateful to them for sharing opportunities to do advanced research with them.
Qu Hongying, Zhang Binwu, Friehauf, Kurt, Wang Hui, Chengyou Feng, Dick, J.M., and Miao Yu, 2023, Apatite as a record of ore-forming processes: Magmtic-hydrothermal evolution of the Hutouya Cu–Fe–Pb–Zn ore district in the Qiman Tagh Metallogenic Belt, NW China: Ore Geology Reviews, v. 154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2023.105343
Qu Hongying, Friehauf, Kurt, Santosh, M., Pei Rongfu, Li Daxin, Liu Jiannan, Zhou Shumin, Wang Hui, 2019, Middle-Late Triassic magmatism in the Hutouya Fe-Cu-Pb-Zn deposit, East Kunlun Orogenic Belt, NW China: Implications for geodynamic setting and polymetallic mineralization: Ore Geology Reviews, v. 113
Volkert, R.A., Monteverde, D.H., Friehauf, K.C., Gates, A.E., Dalton, R.F., and Smith, R.C., II, 2010, Geochemistry and origin of Neoproterozoic ironstone deposits in the New Jersey Highlands and implications for the eastern Laurentian rifted margin in the north-central Appalachians, USA: in Tollo, R.P., Bartholomew , M.J., Hibbard, J.P., and Karabinos, P.M., eds., From Rodinia to Pangea: The Lithotectonic Record of the Appalachian Region: Geological Society of America Memoir 206, p. 283–306.
Friehauf, K.C., 2008, Iron-sulfur redox and its effect on sulfur-isotope fractionation in carbonate-hosted Cu-Au replacement ores, Superior, Arizona, in Spencer, J.E., and Titley, S.R., eds., Ores and orogenesis: Circum-Pacific tectonics, geologic evolution, and ore deposits: Arizona Geological Society Digest 22, p. 583-590. (Tucson, AZ, September 24-30, 2007)
Mathur, Ryan, Ruiz, Joaquin, Titley, Spencer R., Gibbins, Stacie L., and Friehauf, Kurt C., 2005, A detailed Re-Os isotope study of ores and sediments from Ertsberg District: Evidence linking porphyry copper mineralization to periphery skarn mineralization and the importance of the surrounding continental crust as a source for metals: Ore Geology Reviews, v. 26, no. 3-4, p. 207-226.
Friehauf, Kurt, Gibbins, Stacie, and Titley, Spencer, 2005, Porphyry-Style Mineralization in the Ertsberg Diorite, Gunung Bijih (Ertsberg/Grasberg) District, West Papua, Indonesia: in Porter, T.M., ed., Super Porphyry Copper & Gold Deposits - A Global Perspective, PGC Publishing, Adelaide, Australia, v. 2, p. 357-366. (another great volume!)
Friehauf, Kurt C., Smith, Robert C., II, and Volkert, Richard A., 2002, Comparison of the Geology of Proterozoic Iron Oxide Deposits in the Adirondack and Mid-Atlantic Belt of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York: in Potter, Mike, ed., Hydrothermal Iron-Oxide Copper-Gold & Related Deposits a Global Perspective - Volume 2: Australian Mineral Foundation Monograph series, Porter, T.M., ed., PGC Publishing, Australia, p. 247-252. (A really nice volume worth checking out!)
Friehauf, Kurt C., 1999, Review of MAC short course on Mineralized Intrusion-related Skarn Deposits: Economic Geology, v. 94, no. 3, p. 439-440.
Friehauf, Kurt C., and Pareja, Guillermo A., 1998, Can Oxygen Isotopic Haloes be Produced Around High-Temperature Dolostone-Hosted Ore Deposits? -- the Superior District, Arizona: Economic Geology, Volume 93, Number 5, p. 639-650.
Abstracts presented by my students
Perrotta, Michael, and Friehauf, Kurt, 2022, Importance of Retrograde skarn concentration of Mo from prograde skarn in the Qiushuwan porphyry deposit, Henan, China [abs]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Denver, CO (09-12 October 2022).
Holman, Maggie, and Friehauf, Kurt, 2022, Characteristics of hydrothermal inosilicate veins in the Bayan Obo REE district, Inner Mongolia, China - A potential exploration tool [abs]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Denver, CO (09-12 October 2022).
Rea, Alayna, and Friehauf, Kurt, 2022, Possible syngenetic sea-floor exhalative REE ores of Bayan Obo West Ore Body, Inner Mongolia, China [abs]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Denver, CO (09-12 October 2022).
Muller, David, Friehauf, Kurt, And Locmelis, Marek, 2019, Mineralogy of high-grade Mo-skarn ore in the Qiu Shu Wan deposit, Eastern Qinling Mineral Belt, Henan Province, China [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ (20 - 25 September 2019).
Domin, Mark R., Tindall, Sarah E., Eckert, Andreas, Friehauf, Kurt, and Hogan, John P., 2019, Redistribution of material in microfabrics associated with macroscopic folding: Observations from the Jacksonburg Limestone, Pennsylvania [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ (20 - 25 September 2019).
Dinter, Eric R., Tindall, Sarah E., Eckert, Andreas, Friehauf, Kurt, and Hogan, John P., 2019, Microfabric characterization of folded pelites of the Windsor Township Formation near Kutztown, PA [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ (20 - 25 September 2019).
Doyle, Liam F., and Friehauf, Kurt, 2017, Detecting hydrothermal alteration of coarse-grained igneous rock in drill core with portable XRF: A case study in the Ertsberg Porphyry District, Indonesia [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA (22 - 25 October 2017).
Haag, Beau J., and Friehauf, Kurt, 2017, Pyrite-induced redox precipitation of uranium in a dolomite breccia, Epler Fm., Allentown, PA [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA (22 - 25 October 2017).
Ilsemann, Lara, Sulthaus, Danielle Shannon, and Friehauf, Kurt, 2017, Comparison of carbonate vein/dike with east ore body carbonate, Bayan Obo REE Mining District, Inner Mongolia, China [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA (22 - 25 October 2017).
Maguire, Sara E., and Friehauf, Kurt, 2017, Reaction path modeling of sulfur isotope fractionation during progressive pyrite replacement of hematite, Superior C-Bed Cu-Au Ore Body, Arizona [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA (22 - 25 October 2017).
Malenda, Margariete, Friehauf, Kurt, and Mathur, Ryan, 2014, Re-Os isotopic dating of the Mesoproterozoic Haib porphyry copper deposit, southern Namibia [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia (19 - 22 October 2014).
Racosky, Alexandra and Friehauf, Kurt, 2014, Biotite alteration in the Precambrian Haib porphyry copper district, Namibia - Hydrogen isotope constraints on fluid origins [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia (19 - 22 October 2014).
Rock, Marlena; Mason, Kelsey; Friehauf, Kurt, 2013, Lateral Zonation of Gold Mineralogy in the Grasberg Porphyry Cu-Au Deposit, Indonesia [abs.]: Geological Society of America, Denver, Colorado (27 - 30 October, 2013).
Mason, Kelsey; Rock, Marlena; Friehauf, Kurt, 2013, Reconnaissance Study of District-Scale Geochemical Trends in the Bayan Obo REE District, Inner Mongolia [abs.]: Geological Society of America, Denver, Colorado (27 - 30 October, 2013).
Betts, T., Heness, E.A., Semian, Z.M., Malenda, M.G., Simpson, E.L., and Friehauf, K., 2013, A unique occurrence of adipocere on the lacustrine shoreline, Salton Sea California [abs.]: Geological Society of America National Meeting, Denver, Colorado (27 - 30 October, 2013).
Xiao, Ping; Friehauf, Kurt; Wang, Wei; Yang, Guoliang; and Yun, Long, 2013, Donggou Porphyry Mo deposit in East Qinling Mo Belt, China Highly Enriched in Fluorine? [abs]: European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2013, April 7-12, 2013, Vienna, Austria.
Ruth, Daniel; Schlosser, Kenneth; Tkach, Melania; Friehauf, Kurt; and McLeod, Rob, 2012, Collaborative exploration of the Mount Fairplay porphyry target - training undergraduate students while searching for ore [abs]: AME BC Mineral Exploration Roundup Conference, January 23-26, 2012 - Vancouver, British Columbia.
Xiao, Ping, Friehauf, Kurt, Wang, Yanbin, and Wang, Cuizhi, 2010, The implication of similarities and systematic variations among the monometallic high-fluorine porphyry deposits in the East Qinling Molybdenum Belt, China [abs]: Geological Society of America, Denver, Colorado (31 October - 3 November 2010).
Storm, Lauren, Friehauf, Kurt, Yuan, Zhenlei, Xiao, Ping, and Moorehead, Anthony, 2009, Mineralization within the Dong Gou porphyry molybdenum deposit, Eastern Qinling Mountains, Henan, China [abs]: 2009 Portland GSA Annual Meeting (18-21 October 2009), Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 41, No. 7, p. 84.
Smoyer, Justin, Kuhn, Michelle, Friehauf, Kurt, and Quinn, Paul V. Sr., 2006, Design for a manually controlled multiple electrode electrical resistivity array for student geophysical surveys [abs]: Geological Society of America Northeastern Section – 41st Annual Meeting (20–22 March 2006), Harrisburg, PA, Program with Abstracts, v. 38, no. 2, p. 89.
Friehauf, Kurt C., Dilliard, Kelly, and Pope, Michael C., 2005, A Geochronology Puzzle – Integrating Relative and Absolute Age Studies in Introductory Courses [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (October 16-19, 2005) Salt Lake City, UT, Program with Abstracts, vol. 37, no. 7, p. 152.
Artz, Zachary J., Friehauf, Kurt C., and Xiao, Rongge, 2005, Comparison of Banded Ores in the Main/East, West, and South Orebodies of the Giant Bayan Obo REE District, Inner Mongolia, China [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (October 16-19, 2005) Salt Lake City, UT, Program with Abstracts, vol. 37, no. 7, p. 500.
Gibbins, Stacie L., Titley, Spencer, and Friehauf, Kurt, 2005, Porphyry Cu-Au Mineralization in the Ertsberg Intrusion, West Papua, Indonesia: Style, Timing, and Sources of Hydrothermal Fluids [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (October 16-19, 2005) Salt Lake City, UT, Program with Abstracts, vol. 37, no. 7, p. 314.
Wolfinger, Seth, Brown (Ward), Kristen, Holland, Jeremy, Nase, Andrew, Ferguson, Lisa, Zellner, Greg, Friehauf, Kurt, Tindall, Sarah, and Schultz, Lane 2004, A Multidisciplinary Study of Controls on Ground-Water Flow in a Karst Aquifer in the Ordovician Beekmantown Group, Berks County, PA [abs.]: Geological Society of America Northeastern Section (39th Annual) and Southeastern Section (53rd Annual) Joint Meeting (March 25-27, 2004) Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, vol. 36, no. 2, p. 128.
Friehauf, K., Titley, S., and Gibbins, S., 2003, Application of Vein Abundance Studies in Exploration in the Ertsberg Porphyry Deposit, West Papua, Indonesia [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (November 2-5, 2003) Seattle, WA, Program with Abstracts, vol. 35, no. 6, p. 400.
Cook, E., Friehauf, K., Gibbins, S., and Titley, S., 2003, Gold Occurrences in the Stockwork Mineralization in the Ertsberg Diorite, West Papua, Indonesia [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (November 2-5, 2003) Seattle, WA, Program with Abstracts, vol. 35, no. 6, p. 232.
Gibbins, S., Titley, S., Friehauf, K., 2003, Age, Origin, Petrology and Petrography of the Ertsberg Diorite, West Papua, Indonesia [abs.]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (November 2-5, 2003) Seattle, WA, Program with Abstracts, vol. 35, no. 6, p. 400.
Hoefert Catherine M., Gardine (Burris), Lea, Yenchik, John, Black, Laurel E., and Friehauf, Kurt C., 2003, Mappin' Without Diggin': An Application of Magnetometry Techniques in the Rittenhouse Gap Mining District in Berks County, Pennsylvania [abs.]: Geological Society of America Northeastern Section - 38th Annual Meeting (March 27–29, 2003) Halifax, Nova Scotia, Program with Abstracts, vol. 35, no. 3, p. 94.
Friehauf, Kurt C., Smith, Robert C., II, and Volkert, Richard A., 2001, Regional Trends in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Proterozoic Iron Oxide Belt [abs]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, vol. 33, no. 6, p. 4.
Friehauf, Kurt C., Soebari, Lasito, and Titley, Spencer R., 2000, Porphyry-Style Mineralization in the Ertsberg Diorite, Gunung Bijih (Grasberg) District, Irian Jaya (West Papua), Indonesia [abs]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, vol. 32, p. 137.
Gibbins, Stacie, Friehauf, Kurt C., and Titley, Spencer R., 2000, Unusual Advanced Argillic Alteration of the SW Rim of the Grasberg Deposit, Irian Jaya, Indonesia [abs]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, vol. 32, p. 137.
Orner, Richard, and Friehauf, Kurt C., 2000, Geology of the Rittenhouse Gap Iron District, Berks County, Pennsylvania [abs]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 32, p. 83.