USU Geosciences News

Alexis Ault, associate professor in USU’s Department of Geosciences, will discuss the energy transformation phenomenon at USU’s Science Unwrapped public outreach program. She will present at 7 p.m. Friday, April 12.

Sedimentologist and paleoclimatologist Don Penman is featured by the International Ocean Discovery Program and as an Ocean Discovery Lecturer.

Dr. Dehler and grad student Hannah Cothren use trilobite fossils and C-isotopes to confirm the Cambrian SPICE climate event

Study of stratigraphy and geochronology led by Emeritus professors reveals the deeper Pleistocene history of Cache Valley.

Alexis Ault is among a select cohort of U.S. scientists named a 2023 Kavli Fellow by the National Academy of Sciences.

MS Student April Phinney researches if tiny bits of quartz record the intensity of fires from hundreds or even thousands of years ago, potentially offering new ways to study historic fires and how heat affects soil.

Ph.D. candidate Natalie Tanski has a new paper in Geology deciphering and luminescence-dating the complex record of Colorado River terraces in Canyonlands

Doctoral student Alexandra DiMonte studies shallow creep events along the southern segment of the sliding boundary between the Pacific and North American Plates.

Dr. Dennis Newell and colleagues conduct NSF-funded research in our own Bear River Range.

USU graduate student Jordan Jensen explores whether hematite thermochronology can help date the secondary magnetism of rocks along Colorado fault.

New analysis of samples collected from underneath Greenland’s ice sheet reveal the Arctic island was much greener as recently as 416,000 years ago.

Understanding the restless Denali Fault’s mantle-to-crust connections provides critical information for understanding the lithospheric-scale fault’s seismic cycle, says Dennis Newell

South America’s Andes Mountains, the world’s longest mountain range and home to some of the planet’s highest peaks, feature thousands of hot springs. Driven by plate tectonics and fueled by hot rock and fluids, these thermal discharges vary widely in geoc...

UPR article of the presentation Susanne Janecke did for Science Unwrapped.

Renaissance polymath Leonard da Vinci demonstrated that frictional forces slow down the motion of surfaces in contact. Friction, he determined, is proportional to normal force. When two objects are pressed together twice as hard, friction doubles.

Michelle Norman pursued field work in Utah’s west-central desert, near the Millard County town of Delta, where the Drum Mountains stand as steadfast sentinels of history ranging from their origin some 500 million years ago during the Cambrian Period.

Using self-constructed hydraulic and pneumatic presses, newly arrived Utah State University geophysicist Srisharan Shreedharan generates experimental earthquakes in the lab.

How did the world’s largest sand island ,K’gari, along with the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef, come to be?

Tony Lowry and students highlight the correspondence of cool lower crust with high elevation in the West -- describing upper mantle hydration as the cause, as it drives alteration up through the lithosphere.

Grad student Hannah Cothren and Dr. Carol Dehler provide the first numerical age constraint for the global SPICE isotopic event through study of the fabulous Cambrian section preserved in the Bear River Range.

New study published by grad student Ema Armstrong and Dr. Alexis Ault, among others, presents refined technique to estimate the temperature and intensity of paleo-earthquakes

Gas-rich hot springs throughout the Peruvian Andes contain a surprising contribution of mantle and crustal volatiles (CO2 and N2) despite being located along a volcanic gap associated with modern flat-slab subduction.

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is recognized by a major negative carbon isotope (δ13C) excursion (CIE) signifying an injection of isotopically light carbon into exogenic reservoirs, the mass, source, and tempo of which continue to be debated....

The machine hisses like a bike tube deflating. The 7,000-pound instrument parked in the basement of the Science Engineering Research building is worth more than many American homes.

USU Museums Host Interdisciplinary Outreach for Fourth Graders to help "explore, excite, engage and enhance"

USU Geosciences Department Named American Geophysical Union Bridge Program Partner

USU Geoscientist Don Penman Explores Ocean Dynamics Driving Climate Change.

Understanding the dynamics of the greater Yellowstone region requires constraints on deformation spanning million year to decadal timescales, but intermediate-scale (Quaternary) records of erosion and deformation are lacking.

The material properties and disribution of faults above the seismogenic zone promote or inhibit earthquake rupture propagation.

Originating from headwaters in the Rocky Mountains, the nearly 1,500-mile-long Colorado River traverses seven western U.S. states, as it crosses the Colorado Plateau and winds southwesterly toward Mexico’s Sea of Cortez.

Unraveling complex slip histories in fault damage zones to understand relations among deformation, hydrothermal alteration, and surface uplift remains a challenge....

USU geoscientist Tammy Rittenour is among an international team of researchers delving into rare sediment samples collected from underneath the Greenland Ice Sheet during a secret, Cold War-era military venture. Video courtesy University of Vermont....

The transfer of large volumes of fluid to the overriding lithosphere during flat-slab subduction should drastically alter the physical and chemical properties of continental margins. However, this process is poorly understood and without active...

NASMP mentors from varied USU colleges crafted research kits, with equipment and instructions, that were sent to students at their homes. The mentors got acquainted with students over video calls and email.

Hot spring geochemistry from the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru, reveal the influence of crustal‐scale structures on geothermal fluid circulation in an amagmatic region located above a flat‐slab subduction zone. ...

Jared Bryan, who was named the university's 2020 Scholar of the Year at the Robins Awards and is the recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, is among scholars honored by USU’s College of Science.

Eight Utah State University scholars are honorees of the prestigious 2020 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship search. The Aggies, whose awards are collectively valued at about $828,000, are among nearly...

In October of 2019, the Geo Department ran its first Summit alumni field trip.

Utah State University undergraduate Madison Taylor is learning that most day-to-day research efforts...

Learn about USU Geosciences and Cache Valley with the new USU Department of Geosciences YouTube Channel.

Dr. Carol Dehler and Dr. Tammy Rittenour, both faculty in the Geology Department at USU, have been selected as fellows in the Geological Society of America (GSA). This is an honor bestowed on the best of our profession. GSA members are nominated by existi...

The International Standing Committee for Thermochronology awards the Charles and Nancy Naeser Prize annually to early career scientists who have made outstanding and innovative contributions in this field. This new award is named in honor of Charles “Chuc...

After a full April day of activities on the Quad on the Logan Campus for Earth Day celebrations, the Department of Geosciences capped things off with the unveiling of a commissioned sculpture of Utah’s new official state dinosaur, as part of its participa...

On the 12th April 2018, after a stormy morning of rain and snow, a break in the weather allowed the sun to peek through the clouds. The students, staff and faculty of Geology and their visiting Advisory Board members took the opportunity to go out to the ...

Two dinosaurs greeted families at the entrance to USU's Geology Building on Saturday. Over the low whir of her costume's battery-powered fan, volunteer dinosaur and grad student Sarah Wigginton said she saw a good mix of reactions from kids on their way i...

Four of the fourteen College of Science 2018 Awards of Excellence were given to faculty and students of the Department of Geosciences. The four honorees’ write ups from the College of Science website are listed...

New study published by grad student Ema Armstrong and Dr. Alexis Ault, among others, presents refined technique to estimate the temperature and intensity of paleo-earthquakes