For their innovative contribution to the knowledge of Colombian geology, the students of the School of Geology of the Industrial University of Santander, Carlos Mario Alarcón and Juan Guillermo Rodríguez Lizcano, received first place in the “Michel Hermelin Arbaux” award, recognition awarded by the Antioquia Chapter of the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences.

The distinction, which is considered as a tribute to the memory and academic life of Professor Michel Hermelin Arbaux (1937-2015), was awarded to the two students for their degree work called “Stratigraphy, facies and paleoenvironment of sedimentation of the Formation Jordán: a fluvio-lacustrine record with incidence of volcanic activity ‘, which was directed by the professors of the School of Geology, Jairo Clavijo Torres and Luis Carlos Mantilla Figueroa.

As highlighted by the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, this research is based on the interpretation of the stratigraphy and deposition environments of the Jordán Formation, applying scientific methods. “The results of this study undoubtedly represent a novel contribution to the knowledge of Colombian Geology. They integrate basic geological, field, stratigraphic and cartographic work with the new radiometric ages U-Pb in zircons. The results are analyzed and integrated into the previous studies carried out in the study area, with a good illustration of both field work and laboratory work ”.

The “Michel Hermelin Arbaux” Award was established by the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, Chapter of Antioquia, to recognize the best Degree Projects carried out by Colombian students from undergraduate university programs. On this occasion, the qualifying jury was made up of academics José A. Lozano and Carlos Vargas and professor Dr. Gloria Elena Toro Villegas.

In total, 15 candidatures were presented throughout the country, of which 12 managed to meet all the requirements proposed by the 2020 call. The application for the competing works for the 2020 call was in charge of university careers related to Geology and related areas , including Regional Geology, Stratigraphy, Evolution of Sedimentary Basins, Geomorphology, Geophysics, Seismology, Rock and Mineral Physics, Volcanology, Geochemistry, Petrology, Paleontology and Evolution, Mineral and Energy Resources, Geodesy, Risks from Extreme Events, among others.

The award will be delivered in a special ceremony, during the annual meeting of the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, Chapter of Antioquia, which will be held in November 2020.