Geology

Navigating uncertainty (link is external)

With an Innovation Transfer Grant from the TomKat Center, John Mern and Anthony Corso received early support to develop their startup that is accelerating the underground modeling process for minerals, geothermal energy, and carbon storage.

The evolution of the Stanford Geoscience Specimen Collection (link is external)

The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and Stanford University Libraries are collaborating to reorganize, rehouse, and revitalize the Geoscience Specimen Collection, which contains an estimated half a million specimens, including rocks, minerals, fossils, cores, soil, water, and other physical materials.

How toxic is wildfire smoke?

Some wildfire smoke plumes are more toxic than others, depending on the geology where a fire burns. Stanford scientist Scott Fendorf explains why.

‘I cook rocks’

Emmanuel Codillo recreates geologic processes hundreds of miles beneath Earth’s surface to understand the inner workings of planets, shedding light on magma generation and volcanic activity, earthquakes, and critical mineral deposits.

Exploring the Pacific coastline helps students decode Earth’s deep history

Stanford’s EPS 5 field course immerses students in the geological history of the Bay Area through a two-day excursion to ancient beaches, landslides, and earthquake sites, revealing the many ways people are tied to Earth’s shifting landscape.

Oxygen levels fluctuated wildly long after the Cambrian explosion

New analysis of isotopes preserved in ancient seafloor sediments suggests oxygen levels in Earth’s deep ocean stabilized at modern-day levels long after the rapid burst of evolution that gave us most major animal groups.

The rise of plant life changed how rivers move, study shows

Research reveals that unvegetated meandering rivers can geologically masquerade as braided rivers, suggesting they were much more common in the first 90 percent of Earth’s history than previously thought.

A blueprint for mapping melting ice sheets

Stanford researchers have created an open-source tool so other scientists can make ice-penetrating radar systems at a fraction of the cost of current methods. Ice-penetrating radar is a core tool used by glaciologists monitoring how ice sheets contribute to rising sea levels.

Ancient climate analysis reveals unknown global processes (link is external)

A search for ancient deposits of sandy material expected at continental margins has come up empty. This prominent geological gap hints at poorly understood, powerful, global-scale erosion processes, illustrating profound changes caused by climate upheaval.

An AI tool for scanning grains of sand reveals volumes about the past (link is external)

The shapes and textures of quartz grains speak to the processes that molded and transported them. A new tool from Stanford researchers enables quick, accurate, insightful analysis of this sand, which can be used in geology, geoarchaeology, forensics, and more.

Revisiting the Cambrian explosion’s spark (link is external)

New research provides the clearest evidence to date that a rapid burst of evolution 540 million years ago could have been caused by a small increase in oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere and shallow ocean waters.

The science of scenery

Associate Professor Jane Willenbring brings her passion for people and surface processes to understand how environmental changes impact life on Earth, and how life impacts the planet.

The future of coastal erosion (link is external)

Studying the chemical secrets locked in coastal rocks, a geoscientist says we can know what coastlines looked like long ago and understand where they are headed tomorrow.

Before reaching the skies, the Himalayas had a leg up, new study shows

A new technique for measuring past topography shows the Himalayas were more than halfway to their summit before a continental collision made them the highest range in the world.

The art of geology: Stanford maps spur international recognition of Northern Snake Range in Nevada (link is external)

Arctic river channels changing due to climate change, scientists discover

Researchers have tracked the migration pace of large meandering rivers in permafrost regions – a natural process that impacts the amount of organic carbon released into the ocean.

Climate patterns shape sand deposits in the deep sea

New findings about how sand deposits form in the deep sea during different climate eras reveal mysterious processes miles beneath the ocean’s surface, and could help future-proof offshore operations like wind farms as the Earth warms and water rises.

What’s Earth cooking? Stanford’s Ayla Pamukçu wants to know (link is external)

As a young adult, Ayla Pamukçu found herself at a crossroads between college and culinary school. Thanks in part to an influential box of rocks, she chose a research path that eventually led to a career studying the inner workings of the Earth.

Capturing high pressures in diamond capsules

Scientists have created diamond capsules that can entrap other phases and preserve high pressure conditions even after returning the capsules to low pressure. The technique mimics the process in nature where diamonds can have inclusions that are only stable at high pressure.

Four questions for Paul Segall on the Iceland volcano (link is external)

Stanford geophysicist Paul Segall discusses the Fagradalsfjall volcano currently erupting 20 miles southwest of Reykjavík, Iceland.

Data is transforming our understanding of natural disasters (link is external)

Earthquakes from oil field wastewater

Underground disposal of wastewater from fossil fuel production in the nation’s largest oil field is causing long-dormant faults to slip in a way that could damage wells, according to new analyses of satellite and seismicity data.

Snowpack changes how a California volcano ‘breathes’

A Stanford University study suggests the weight of snow and ice atop the Sierra Nevada affects a California volcano’s carbon dioxide emissions, one of the main signs of volcanic unrest.

Hot springs reveal where continental plates collide beneath Tibet

By analyzing the chemistry of over 200 geothermal springs, researchers have identified where the Indian Plate ends beneath Tibet, debunking some long-debated theories about the process of continental collision.