Outcroppings

Outcroppings VoL. 2, No.2

O

utcroppings MAGAZINE OF THE EARTH, ENVIRONMENT, AND ENERGY

Volume 2, Number 2 Summer 2018

Summer 2018

Special Issue:

Celebrating John B. Anderson

earthscience.rice.edu

Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 1

2 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Outcroppings

Contents

Volume 2, No. 2 summer 2018

EDITOR Linda Welzenbach EDITORIAL BOARD Cin-Ty Lee (Chair) Rajdeep Dasgupta Jeffrey Nittrouer Laurence Yeung

Celebrating the Career of John B. Anderson Maurice Ewing Professor of Oceanography

STUDENT BOARD Laura B. Carter (Chair) Tian Dong Brandee Carlson Sriparna Saha Jennifer Kroeger

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ALUMNI RELATIONS Martha Lou Broussard Outcroppings is a biannual magazine that celebrates the science of our planet and the environment, encourages balanced discussions about energy, and chronicles the paths of people from the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences.

SUBMISSIONS Outcroppings@rice.edu

ON THE COVER:

Core sampling from the swedish research icebreaker ODEN, in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica in 2010.

(Photo by Alex Witus)

earthscience.rice.edu

Features

ADVERTISEMENTS Mary Ann Lebar Linda Welzenbach

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EEPS on IODP Cruises

4

CHAIR’S MESSAGE

8

MEETINGS

IRESS

12

DEPARTMENT NEWS

EEPS adds Sylvia Dee, climate scientist, to the faculty

14

AWARDS

AGU Fellow, GSA Fellows, Nemmers Award and Murchison Medal

18

PROFILES

Kirsten Siebach; Leila Wahab

24

RESEARCH BRIEFS

Hehe Jiang; Laura Carter

64

ALUMNI EVENTS

EEPS Faculty in Canada and Iceland

66

DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES

Outreach highlights and initiatives; Student pages Owl Pellets

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SCIENCE NOW!

Julia Morgan and David Blank receive NSF rapid grant to conduct offshore research in Hawaii Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 3

REPORT FROM THE CHAIR

August, 2018 Dear Members, Alumna, and Friends of Rice EEPS, Another year has passed. We have much to report. New assistant professors, environmental geochemist Mark Torres and rock physicist Melodie French, have now settled down at Rice.

In July, Martian geologist Kirsten Siebach, Ph.D. from Caltech and climate modeler Sylvia Dee, Ph.D. from the University of Southern California officially started as assistant professors.

Several of us were elected as fellows of the Geological Society of America (Droxler and Lenardic), and the American Geophysical Union (Lee). Our students independently established an internal seminar series (Graduate Interdisciplinary Earth Science Symposia, GIESS), which was successful in bringing all of us together to share our science as well as crazy ideas for future collaborations.

JohnFest John Anderson officially announced his retirement this year.

In honor of his legacy, we ran a day-long JohnFest in April.

Many of us gathered at John Sneider’s and Dorothy Ballentine’s home to talk about old times, followed by a whirlwind tour of John’s legacy the following day. We celebrated John’s impact on the geology of Antarctic ice sheets and coastal geomorphology along the Gulf Coast. But just as important was his impact on the lives of everyone he came across. John did more than just generate good scientists. He taught them how to rise to their fullest potential in terms of their research and in just being good human beings. He has been and will continue to be a role model for all of us, students and faculty. Although transitioning into emeritus status, John will continue to be involved with the department by sharing his expertise and advice.

Rising in the rankings Our department continues to get better, building on each previous year. Established as a department in the 1950s, we are still a relatively young Earth science department when compared to other departments across the country. Thus, we were excited to see that in this year’s US News and World Report rankings of graduate programs, we found ourselves ranked 24th (up from 25th for the last decade), making us now the highest ranked department in the School of Natural Sciences. I think, however, that this is only the beginning as our trajectory is accelerating.

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Industry Rice Earth Science Symposia (IRESS) In February 2018, we held our fifth IRESS symposium on Whole Earth Carbon Cycling, sponsored by our department, Chevron, Anadarko, the Deep Earth Carbon Observatory, Schuepbach Energy and Rice’s Center for Energy Studies.

We brought together experts in hydrocarbons, energy policy, climate and deep Earth processes to explore how carbon cycles from volcanoes into the atmosphere, oceans and biosphere, and ultimately into source and reservoir rocks.

IRESS 2019 will be held March 21 and 22. The theme will be Minerals and Energy: science, economics and policy. It is in partnership with the Baker Institute’s Center for Energy Studies, Rice Space Institute and the Deep Carbon Observatory. The goal will be to discuss metal cycling in the context of renewable and non-renewable energies.

How you can help EEPS is in the process of building a cross-departmental Institute of the Earth, Environment and Energy, which would work with the Baker Institute to provide the science needed for making a habitable planet. Our goals are to strengthen our program in the following: planetary habitability; climate and environment; natural resources and energy; and coastal sustainability. This effort is one of the items on the University’s Vision for the Second Century (V2C2) fundraising campaign.

But instead of waiting for the campaign, we are already systematically laying the foundation for such an institute. We believe that our highest priority is investing in talent, from students to post-doctorates to faculty, as they will accelerate the generation of ideas and scientific products. Towards these ends, we are gradually adding more faculty in fields that are of strategic interest (e.g., planetary, environmental, energy). We are also adding more postdoctoral positions and student fellowships.

For example, we just announced the Pan Family Postdoctoral Fellowship, which is supported by a $1 M endowment by the Pan family (Poh Hsi Pan, Ph.D. 1969 and Wanda Pan, B.A. 1977); this fellowship allows us to draw the best talent from around the world. Michael Johnson (M.A., 1975) provided $150 K to support student led activities and research, which will help us stir the entrepreneurial juices of our undergraduate and graduate students.

Finally, this past year, Mary Anne and William Dingus (B.A., 1981) established the Human Impacts Endowment as a fundraising challenge and have generously committed to matching any contribution greater than $2500. This endowment is to kickstart our efforts of an institute through the Center for a Sustainable Earth (www.earthscience.rice.edu/sustainearth). It will partially support a new John B. Anderson graduate fellowship as well as many other research and educational programs in our department. Over this past year, with large contributions from Jeffery Smisek & Diana Strassmann, Kevin Biddle (Ph.D., 1979) and Kathy Balshaw-Biddle (Ph.D., 1981), Yu-Ye Wen & Cin-Ty Lee, Lila Laux (in honor of Peter Laux, B.A. 1960) and Daniel Miller, and matched by the Dingus family, we have raised $200 K, and we hope to reach $500 K during this next year. Many others have contributed to the department and we thank you all for your generosity.

Please contact us if you are interested in contributing to the Human Impacts Endowment or if you would like to discuss other opportunities. Any amount helps us build collectively to moving our department forward.

See you in Madagascar?

You are always welcome to come visit the department. Our department has also launched a partnership with Rice Travelling Owls to run natural history based trips for alums and friends of the Rice community. In the last couple years, our faculty have hosted trips to the Galapagos Islands, the Canadian arctic, Iceland and the Canadian Rockies. We have a Rice exclusive trip planned for Madagascar between August 3-19, 2019 to see the geology, lemurs, birds and chameleons, and it will be hosted by our department. Please contact traveling owls at https://alumni.rice.edu/travelingowls to reserve your space!

We look forward to hearing back from all of you.

Fondly and sincerely, Cin-Ty Lee, Department Chair & Martha Lou Broussard (’57)

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 5

Our Contributors Jeanine Ash, Ph.D.

Hehe Jiang

Jeanine Ash, Ph.D. is a Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations Postdoctoral Fellow working with the Masiello group. She thinks hard about methane in aqueous environments on Earth, so that one day, we can figure out how methane is made on other ocean worlds in our solar system.

Hehe Jiang received her Ph.D. in 2018 for her work on the effects of mountain-building events, including volcanism, on Earth’s past on carbon sequestration, and also interested in high temperature geochemistry and geochronolgy. A native of Nanjing China, she enjoys the outdoors.

Joyeeta Bhattacharya

Jennifer Kroeger

Joyeeta Bhattacharya is a Ph.D. candidatew working on ocean rocks and sediments to reconstruct the past climate of our planet. She loves travelling to new places.

Jennifer is a Lovett College senior studying Environmental Earth Science.

She works closely with organizations around campus, and enjoys music and television, playing the violin, and traveling.

Brandee Carlson

Julia Morgan, Ph.D.

Brandee is a Ph.D. student who studies geomorphology and sediment transport. Rice has taken her all over the world to see how sedimentary processes manifest in rocks and modern systems.

Juli Morgan, Ph.D. is a professor who combines geomechanics, structural geology, and discrete numerical modeling in the study of mountain building, volcano deformation and landsliding in marine, terrestrial and planetary systems.

Laura Carter

Christopher Odezulu

Laura Carter received her Ph.D. in 2018. She is living the dream of working in science outreach and communication as the education and public outreach lead for a NASA-funded NExSS consortium grant.

Chris Odezulu is Ph.D. candidate working with Dr. John Anderson. He is a sedimentologist and stratigrapher studying barrier islands in the Gulf of Mexico. He enjoys playing soccer and traveling.

Tian Dong

Sriparna Saha

Tian Dong is a Ph.D. student and native Texan studying river geomorphology. He has gone as far afield as boating down a river in Russia, gathering data for his research. He enjoys playing basketball.

Sriparna Saha is a Doctoral Candidate working with Professor Rajdeep Dasgupta. She works on metasomatic processes in the continents and their geophysical and chemical manifestations. She loves writing (fiction), making crafts, reading and teaching.

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Get a closer look

BINOCULARS SPOTTING SCOPES MICROSCOPES TELESCOPES w w w. l a n d s e a s k y c o. c om

713-529-3551

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 7

INDUSTRY-RICE EARTH SCIENCE SYMPOSIA

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IRESS2018 WHOLE EARTH CARBON CYCLING

ee Kump from Pennsylvania State University provided the kick-off talk describing the our state of knowledge about how carbon cycling has evolved throughout Earth’s history to current research that is helping us better understand Anthropocene carbon contribution and strategies for mitigation. Follow up talks by Mark Torres (Rice) Chris Reinhard (Georgia Tech), and Marie Edmonds (Cambridge University) provided the biologic and geologic framework for source to sink carbon cycling. The unconventional science theme focused on how current research has led to the discovery of new types of hydrocarbon source rocks, and subsequent generation of reservoirs, to new technologies for rock characterization, hydrocarbon exploration and enhancing production. These talks were given by Lori Summa and Kurt Rudolf of ExxonMobil, Daniel Minisini and Taras Bryndzia of Shell and Andrew Madof of Chevron.

Unconventional views of whole Earth carbon cycling: From formation to production The fifth annual workshop brought together a

diverse set of experts from academia and industry to follow carbon from geology to biology, to the energy that sustains the people of our planet. Four themes were presented for the two day event: 1) whole Earth carbon cycling; 2) unconventional science; 3) energy, economics and environment; 4) unconventional technologies.

SPONSORED BY

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Ken Medlock presenting from the Baker Institute for Public Policy

T

he second day transitioned to discussions of carbon in the context of energy economics, energy policy and new technology. Rice’s Ken Medlock of the Baker Institute tag-teamed with Alex Archila of BHP Billiton to discuss the challenges of meeting the worlds energy needs through strategic energy-science partnerships.

Similar to the first day, the talks from Rice faculty (Melodie French) and alumni from both industry (Tobias Hoeink- Baker Hughes) and academia (Priyank Jaiswal- Oklahoma State; Yingcai Zhen- University of Houston) described new technologies arising from interdisciplinary research; such as how rock mechanics can inform fluid pressure and seismicity, to how modelers are using data science to illuminate fluid pathways and permeability in reservoir rocks and the interaction of biologic activity at the granular level in sediments, all to better understand the range sources to sinks in carbon cycling.

2019 I R E S S March 21 & 22

MINERALS AND ENERGY: SCIENCE, ECONOMICS AND POLICY

RICE EARTH, ENVIRONMENTAL AND PLANETARY SCIENCES IN PARTERNSHIP WITH THE BAKER INSTITUTE’S CENTER FOR ENERGY STUDIES BRINGS TO YOU 2019 IRESS A reliable and sustainable supply of natural resources, from hydrocarbons to the mineral resources needed to support alternative energies is critical for sustaining a prosperous and peaceful future of the seven billion people on our planet. While our needs for natural resources grow, we must also be responsible stewards of our environment, from our backyards to the scale of our planet. The purpose of this symposium is to break down the barriers between scientists, policy makers, industry leaders and business entrepreneurs to collectively generate a deeper understanding of our planet’s natural resources.

For more information: earthscience.rice.edu/iress

Themes: Policy and economics of natural resources Geology of strategic minerals Energy storage Metal transport – volcanism and beyond Metal transport – life and the oceans

SPONSORED BY

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 9

TOWARDS THE RICE CENTER FOR A SUSTAINABLE EARTH

Building a habitable planet in a complex and interconnected world through scientific discovery and communication To sustain 7 billion people in the world, it is necessary to consider energy, natural resources and the environment as one continuous spectrum, all part of a highly complex and interconnected system. We must worry about our impacts to the environment, but we also need reliable energy resources to sustain our economies and improve the lives of the world.

We are at a crossroads, where further progress requires an interdisciplinary approach, where we bring industry and academia together, and where we bring physicists, geologists, chemists, engineers and biologists together with economists, artists, writers, politicians and more.

Launched in 2014, the IRESS initiative offers a unique opportunity to bring together leaders in Earth and Environmental Science from both industry and academia.

THE FUNDRAISING CHALLENGE HAS BEGUN Initial momentum is building for our institute. To kickstart development, Mary Anne and William Dingus (B.A. ’81) formalized a challenge gift to the department this year to help establish an endowment called Human Impacts on the Earth. Their gift will match any donation or pledge of $2,500 to the fund. If we make this challenge we will have a $500,000 endowment to support research and education activities focused on understanding how to maintain a habitable planet.

We are grateful for this generous gift and we hope you might consider contributing to this endowment or getting involved with the department by providing advice, helping our students, and more.

HELP US BUILD THIS CENTER

TEXAS-SIZED GRAND CHALLENGES

Over the next five years, we will be building the center, with the ultimate goal of building an Institute of Earth, Environment and Energy. We will work with Houston’s energy, medical, chemical and space sectors to train the next generation of undergraduate and graduate students in complex systems thinking through Whole Earth Systems Science. We will pursue four grand challenges facing Houston and the Gulf Coast. However, we cannot do this alone. We will need your help. Come join us on this exciting journey of learning about our planet and how to make it more habitable. earthscience.rice.edu/giving

The city of Houston is the ideal place to develop new ways of tackling energy and environmental problems. How the Gulf Coast will move forward in the face of environmental change may ultimately be the template for sustainable growth for the world.

10 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Towards a natural resource strategy The Texas coast: past, present & future Fluid flow in everyday life Planetary habitability and exploration

Department of Earth Environmental and Planetary Sciences

2018 Department of Earth, Environmental 2017 earth science department and Planetary Sciences contribution form Contribution Form . Fill with department text .

We need your help and ideas!

Our development . . priorities are to grow the next generation of geoscientists, who can navigate the complex world ahead of us. Our ultimate goal is to build a center for . . sustaining the Earth, which ultimately will lead to an institute of the Earth, Environment and Energy. . .

Towards these goals,we need help in establishing research support for students, enhancing opportunities . . for female geoscientists, building new analytical and computational facilities, adding new faculty lines . . through endowed chairs, and establishing post-doctoral fellowships in partnership with industry or the . planetary community in Houston. . . . . Contact Cin-Ty Lee for more information or if you have . other ideas of how to enhance DEEPS (ctlee@rice.edu; . 713 348 5084) EEPS, Rice University, 6100 Main Street MS-126, Houston TX 77251-1892

Contributor Information Name Address City

State

ZIP Code

Country If we have questions, how may we contact you?

Phone ( Fax (

) )

Email

Contribution Options Check or money order enclosed. Please make checks payable to Rice University Check # Check amount $ Please charge my credit card: Visa Mastercard American Express Discover $ one-time charge OR Deduct $ per month until OR until further notice Credit card # Expiration Date Name on card Authorized signature

Contribution Opportunities $_______Human Impacts on the Earth Fund

$_______ Douglas and Martha Lou Broussard Memorial

This endowment kickstarts the building of the Rice Center for a Sustainable Earth

Fellowship Endowment Given to a graduate student in the later year(s) of their program, preference to female students

$_______Industry-Rice Earth Science Symposium IRESS

$_______ Devlin-Schnable Memorial Scholarship Fund

This endowment goes to supporting industry-Rice relationships through workshops, conferences and collaborations

The award helps to offset the cost of summer field camp for Geology/ Geophysics students

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 11

DEPARTMENT NEWS

NEW FACES

Sylvia Dee is a climate scientist specializing in atmospheric modeling, water isotope physics, and paleoclimate data-model comparison. She completed her undergraduate degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering with certificates in Geological Engineering and Environmental Sciences at Princeton University, and her Ph.D. at the University of Southern California Earth Sciences department. She completed postdoctoral fellowships at University of Texas Institute for Geophysics and Brown University. Sylvia’s research projects include topics in climate modeling and climate of the past millennium, using general circulation models (GCMs) and proxy system models (PSMs) to explore the dynamics of the tropical climate system.

FAREWELL

Sylvia Dee Assistant Professor

John B. Anderson Maurice Ewing Professor of Oceanography

Photo: Alex Witus

John Anderson retired from EEPS in April of 2018 after 43 years at Rice University. As the Maurice Ewing Professor of Oceanography, he applied marine geology to solve glaciological and sedimentological problems of societal relevance, mainly from Antarctica and the Gulf Coast. John’s discoveries are widely useful to government, academia and society, all while empowering over 60 students to continue his important work.

Patricia Jordan, retired from EEPS in October 2017, passed away on February 27th, 2018 due to complications associated with a long-term battle with MS. Pat was the grants administrator for the department for over 10 years, managing departmental funds and faculty grants.

Patricia Jordan Resarch Administrator

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Photo: Jeff Fitlow

IN MEMORIUM

Mary Ann Lebar Graduate Coordinator

Photo: Jeff Fitlow

Mary Ann Lebar retired from EEPS in July 2018. Mary Ann was the Graduate student coordinator for the department for 10 years, provided recruitment opportunities, advertising support for Outcroppings magazine, and handled social media activities. Mary Ann heads to Louisville KY where she will be able to spend time with her new grandson.

Photo: Jeff Fitlow

Professor Cin-Ty Lee was made an American Geophysical Union Fellow in 2018. AGU Fellows are recognized for their scientific eminence in the Earth and Space sciences. Only onetenth percent of 62,000 AGU members receive this recognition in any given year.

Professor Andre Droxler was made a Geological Society of America Fellow in April 2018. Droxler has outstanding contributions to our understanding of neritic carbonate systems across Earth and especially for conveying this information to students, colleagues and the general public. Society Fellowship is an honor bestowed on the best of our profession through exceptional scientific scholarship, leadership and community service.

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA FELLOW

Professor Rajdeep Dasgupta, from the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences was awarded the Duncan Medal for the academic year 2018 at the annual University Awards Ceremony & Reception held April 24, 2018.

Earlier known as the Teaching Awards Ceremony, it was hosted by the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) at Rice University.

CTE provides an opportunity for Rice administrators, faculty, and students to celebrate the contributions of Rice instructors who have devoted themselves to both their students and the craft of teaching. The Duncan Medal is presented by the Dean upon the recommendation of senior faculty to honor tenure-track or tenured faculty members who have less than 10 years of experience.

Photo: Jeff Fitlow

DUNCAN AWARD

Photo: Jeff Fitlow

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA FELLOW

AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION FELLOW

Photo: Jeff Fitlow

FACULTY

AWARDS

Professor Adrian Lenardic was made a Geological Society of America Fellow in April 2018. Lenardic has made outstanding contributions to our understanding of the geodynamic evolution of Earth and other planets and how planetary interiors and surfaces interact. Society Fellowship is an honor bestowed on the best of our profession through exceptional scientific scholarship, leadership and community service.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 13

MURCHISON MEDAL

Her award speech touched upon this sensitive issue, but only to emphasize that she was proud to be the one ending the drought, and while grateful to have a platform to discuss the issue, was honored and confident that her nomination was wholly based on merit.

Photo: Courtesy of GSL

ADJUNCT FACULTY

DEPARTMENT NEWS

Geochemist Janne Blichert-Toft, Wiess Visiting professor in the department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, has been awarded the Murchison Medal by the Geological Society of London.

Blichert-Toft, CNRS Research Director at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Lyon, France, and a regular visitor to Rice since 2008, is recognized for her research using isotopes to understand planetary mantle-crust evolution, as well as the chemical composition of matter in the Universe.

From the Geological Society citation: “Janne Blichert-Toft is one of the leading figures in her field through an impressive body of highly cited work in the fields of isotope geochemistry and geochronology and has already received numerous accolades for her contributions to our understanding of the early history of the Earth and Solar System.

Janne Blichert-Toft has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of crust-mantle evolution and the chemical composition of matter in the universe. These have included developing major techniques, and the use of high-temperature radiogenic isotope geochemistry, with applications to: geochronology, terrestrial and planetary mantle-crust evolution and mantle dynamics, the evolution of the early Earth and the growth of the crust – as well as meteoritics.”

Janne is the third woman to receive this honor since 1873, and almost 100 years after the second was awarded. Expressing how deeply humbling it is to receive the award, Blichert-Toft said, “Many famous geologists and geochemists have received this before me, including Arthur Holmes (in 1940), and only two other women, in two consecutive years almost a hundred years ago-in 1919, the first year women were allowed to the Society by a change of the bylaws, and in 1920.”

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When asked what advice she might give to younger scientists and women in STEM: “It is hard to give good advice as the landscape they work in today, where at almost every frontier is very different from the one I worked in at their ages.” Yet with the benefit of hindsight and almost 30 years experience working in countries and universities worldwide, it is no surprise that Janne recommends hard work combined with focused research.

“Sustaining both is hard, so one must absolutely love what one is doing, otherwise it is not possible to stay motivated and make some of the sacrifices this entails. So passion is key to choosing for one’s career, what one likes. Also, try not to plan too much but be open-minded to unexpected opportunities, even if risky, when the chance is there. Don’t be afraid to run a risk. Improvising may diverge from what one had initially carefully planned (as if one could actually plan one’s life!!! I now know that one cannot!!) but often brings results and opportunities one could never have imagined.”

Blichert-Toft works with Rice faculty members Cin-Ty Lee and Alan Levander on a variety of projects, from teasing out the earliest history of planetary differentiation in our solar system, and determining the presence of volatiles on the moon, to applying her expertise in unique isotope systems for deep Earth studies to better understand the history and complex relationships between magma generation and growth of continental crust in the western U.S. and Europe.

“Alan [Levander] wonderfully complemented our geochemical and isotopic perspective on the structure and melting beneath the Western US and the Colorado Plateau from his seismological perspective, a true interdisciplinary collaboration which was really fun and challenging and taught us both new things. It is not that easy for a geochemist and a seismologist to find a common vocabulary!”

AWARDS

Geochemist Francis Albarède, the Wiess Visiting Professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, has been awarded the inaugural Nemmers Prize in Earth Sciences

by Northwestern University. The award includes a $200,000 cash prize.

Albarède, emeritus professor at the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon, France, and a regular visitor to Rice since 2008, is a pioneer in the use of unconventional stable isotopes as markers of natural processes and has explored the use of isotopic tracers in applications as diverse as archeology, history, biology and medicine. The Nemmers Prize recognizes “his fundamental applications of geochemistry to Earth sciences.”

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA FELLOW

Photo: Jeff Fitlow

Photo: Courtesy of J. Blichert-Toft

EMERITUS

NEMMERS PRIZE

Alumni coordinator and Rice University Geology almuni Martha Lou Broussard (B.A. 1957) celebrates the 50th anniversary of being a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. Martha Lou joined the Geological society of America in 1961 and was nominated for the fellowship in 1968 by William ‘Bill’ Muehlberger, Ph.D. in structural geology at the University of Texas at Austin.

Albarède’s work with Rice faculty members Cin-Ty Lee and Rajdeep Dasgupta has helped shift conventional thinking about the chemical behavior of Earth’s early mantle and also helped confirm the status of water and other volatile molecules in the moon.

The lucrative biennial Nemmers Prizes were established in 1994 to recognize works of lasting significance in the fields of mathematics and economics. A prize for music composition was added in 2004, and Rice University trustee Huda Zoghbi won the inaugural Nemmers Prize for Medical Science in 2016. Zoghbi is a professor of pediatrics, molecular and human genetics, neurology and neuroscience and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Baylor College of Medicine. She also is the director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 15

DEPARTMENT NEWS

AWARDS

STUDENTS

AAPG Grants-in-Aid Program The purpose of the AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid program is to foster research in the geosciences. Grants are made to provide financial assistance to graduate students whose thesis research has application to the search for and development of petroleum and energy-mineral resources, and/or to related environmental geology issues.

Ph.D. candidate Joyeeta Bhattacharya is one of ten U.S. participants (among 60 world-wide) selected to participate in the coveted Urbino Summer School in Paleoclimatology (USSP). The NSF sponsored fellowship is a three week long intensive course and workshop that provide participants with an advanced working knowledge on paleobiological and geochemical proxy data and how they are used in the reconstruction and modeling of past climates.

The summer school is taught by the world’s leading senior scientists, with student selections based on the strength of their CVs and recommendations.

“Joyeeta’s participation at USSP continues an admirable Rice “tradition” of placing our graduate students in prestigious international “schools”. For USSP, Joyeeta follows fellowships granted to Lizette Leon-Rodriguez (Ph.D., 2011) and Benjamin Slotnick (Ph.D., 2015)”, said Gerald Dickens, EEPS professor and advisor to Bhattacharya.

Meckel Family Named Grant David Worthington Named Grant Sherman Wengerd Memorial Grant Grants-in-Aid General Fund Grants-in-Aid General Fund

Chenliang Wu Eric Barefoot Rahul Sudhakar Joyeeta Bhattacharya Tian Dong

2018 EEPS Awards: Alison Henning Teaching Award David G. Blank

Sriparna Saha Chenliang Wu Douglas & Martha Lou Broussard Fellowship Brandee Carlson Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award Alexandra K. Holmes Outstanding Graduate Student Award Pankaj Khanna

Department of Earth Science Service Award Eric Barefoot

Laura B. Carter The Sam Worden Endowed Memorial Award in Geophysics Ruichao Ye

Photo: Courtesy of HGS

The Eugen Merten Memorial Prize in Geology and Geophysics Jared Nirenberg Jackson J. Stiles

The Houston Geological Society Undergraduate Scholarship Foundation chose Shannon Wang to receive a scholarship for the 2016-2017 academic year.

The scholarship goal is to provide financial support for applicants in their endeavor towards a career in geoscience.

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The Leroy Caleb Gibbon Award Hehe Jiang

The Torkild Rieber Award in Geology John P. Cornthwaite Lindsay Prothro

Aitash Deepak Jennifer Kroeger Lodieska Stockbridge Vaughn Fellowship for 2017-18 James Eguchi

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The Martian...

New Faculty Interview: Kirsten Siebach

by Sriparna Saha & Tian Dong

The year is 2008, the place is the Science Operations Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona and Kirsten Siebach is busy operating the Phoenix Mars lander. Little does she know that her journeys to Mars would include crossing paths with Andy Weir, author of the best selling book “The Martian.”

For someone who has studied Mars since her undergraduate days, it is only natural that Kirsten’s business card introduces her as a “Martian Geologist.” She, however, does not bear any resemblance to the cephalopod-looking-Martians in disguise from H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds.

Kirsten’s decision to study the geology of Mars was not a conscious one. “I started studying the geology of Earth and Mars at the same time,” she says. With a double major in chemistry and geology at Washington University at St. Louis, Kirsten started her martian research career by participating in mission operations for the Mars Polar Lander, Phoenix. Her undergraduate experience enhanced her fascination for Mars, so she decided to pursue it further. “I went to Caltech for my graduate studies, where JPL was operating their Mars rovers missions.” Working with John Grotzinger who was the chief project scientist for the Curiosity Mission, Kirsten started following Martian diurnal cycles, even as she spent her days on the Earth.

Kirsten studies sedimentary rocks on the surface of Mars to understand how they formed and reconstruct the past environments recorded in them. “Early environments on Mars and Earth were very similar.” she says. However, processes on early Earth caused terrestrial rocks to evolve differently from their Martian counterparts. “An understanding of what these early processes were, can help us to better understand the history of our own planet Earth.”

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Geologist Self portrait of the Curiosity rover at the “Mojave” site in Gale Crater, where Mars Science Laboratory collected the mission’s second sample of Mount Sharp. The view combines dozens of images taken during January 2015 by the MAHLI camera at the end of the rover’s robotic arm.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Under development at Rice is a 3-D planetary visualization lab and research to design and utilize portable field instruments that will make rapid field measurements of mars analogue rocks (on Earth). These research tools will support and test new avenues of Mars exploration, such as collecting data from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), a new science support instrument that is expected to be a part of future rover missions such as Mars 2020.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 19

Kirsten stands with life-sized mockup of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at the Exploratoreum in Mobile, Alabama.

A

s one of the newest faculty in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Kirsten is currently setting up her lab. “My focus is to build up an operations lab for remote planetary science and to be able to dial in to NASA meetings and help with spacecraft operations.” For the martian rovers to operate efficiently, scientific objectives have to be programmed before their daily operation. This requires around eight hours of telephone meetings, where scientists from around the world dial-in and make key decisions about the mission’s science goals.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

For the Curiosity rover, three to five such meetings are held each week, where scientists must convince the operations’ instrument engineering team that their research objectives are important, including justification of what resources are required to achieve their goals.

“When the rover first landed on Mars, all the participating scientists who wanted to influence the operations part of the rover came to JPL for three months. We all worked according to Mars days, which last 24 hours and 39 minutes,” Siebach says. All mission operations are executed during Martian days, and the data accumulated is sent back to Earth during Martian nights.

2 Truths and 1 Lie:

20 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

•

She rode through a forest fire in the back of a pick-up truck

•

She was once evicted from her home for taking a shower at the wrong time

•

Her favorite trip was SCUBA diving off the coast of Italy

While this sounds simple, the process itself is replete with challenges. In order to prepare the rover for the next day’s mission, it is important to analyze the data from the day before, to inform and update the operation program. Thus, scientists need to stay and work from the time the data arrives to ensure that the rover is programmed and ready for the following day. The challenging part for the scientists is the time shift. Each day the data transmission time is extended by 39 minutes to match Mars daily cycle.

S

PROFILES Kirsten explains a geologic map to youngsters at the Huntington Library in 2016.

As a teacher who wants to encourage more students to get into research, Kirsten believes that the study of Mars geology can inspire students [and the public] to dive into the mysteries of science.

Added to that delay is the small transmission window for orbiting communications satellites to pass within range of the rover. Thankfully, Mars time only lasted for the first three months of operations, allowing the team to transition back to living on Earth time. Still, Mars time affected her graduate school experience. She recalls, “I was also taking a class (in Earth time) then, and the time differences almost made me crazy.”

Kirsten plans to set up a 3-D visualization lab at Rice, and to utilize portable field instruments to take several types of measurements of mars analogue rocks (on Earth) that are similar to the types measured by the rover.

One of her ideas is to utilize unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) to test mission operations that visualize, compare and understand the data brought back by the rovers. “We want to use drones to fly over different outcrops on Earth to understand and plan the operations on Mars better.” she says.

“One of the privileges of working on martian geology is that it is an inspiration to people, especially students and [the] public in general, making them ask the right questions and think like a scientist.” She believes that communicating science through outreach opportunities has been very important to her career. Back in graduate school Kirsten would speak to the public every month about science, in addition to teaching Earth Science to homeschooled children. More recently, she has been involved with LEGO Education, a program that teaches youth around the world to build robots and iPad applications to operate them. She has traveled extensively for this initiative, and has spoken at countries like Turkey, Dubai and Singapore. “It is always exciting to see the amount of enthusiasm amid students. I always show them the latest picture from one of the NASA missions and they get really excited. That reminds me why I am here.”

Kirsten’s connection to Rice is not new. Amid the prepations for setting up her visualization lab, she shares her plan of bringing to Rice the very program that lured her to Washington University. “I almost came to Rice for my undergraduate program. When Rice reached out and made me an offer [to join the faculty], I was absolutely thrilled. I really like the size of the department, the flexibility here, and the outstanding quality of students at Rice.” she says.

At Rice, she plans to start an environmental sustainability/planetary habitability program similar to the one that made her choose Washington University for her undergraduate degree. “This program will allow freshmen undergraduates to take Earth science courses and conduct case studies/field work to understand how the Earth works as a system. Eventually, as they move on to other majors, graduate study or enter the job force, they will have a broad background with a core in the Earth sciences.” As a teacher her goal is to encourage more students toward research. “It is easier for students to relate to scientists when they can actually see them [doing research] and [be able to] go to them and ask for advice.”

While Andy Weir’s “The Martian” sits on her bookshelf, Kirsten admits that she grew up reading English classics. Kirsten even has a minor in English, and loves to listen to Ed Sheeran’s music in her spare time. Given her diverse interests, it comes as no surprise that she dreams of sailing around the Mediterranean Sea. Or for that matter “Sail to Mars...,” if she has her way. 

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 21

Leila Wahab and Sam Zapp looked at changes in soil properties under two different types of grazing at the Katy Prairie Conservancy (KPC). In one case the grazing is intense and intermittent in what’s called Adaptive Multi Paddock grazing (AMP). In the other case it is continuous grazing.

Undergraduate profile:

o c c

Texas’ wn Soil arbon owgirl

By Jennifer Kroeger Leila Wahab’s project is an example of team based undergraduate research, where multiple students work together on a larger project, each one tackling a separate aspect of the problem and then coming back together to create a larger solution. The approach also fits into the Authentic Project-based Learning (APBL) pedagogical model advocated by the late Sandra Bishnoi, Ph.D. (former Coordinator of Rice’s Sustaining Excellence in Research), where students tackle an open-ended problem with a real client that needs a solution.

-Carrie Masiello For other examples of this area of research check out this site: www.soilcarboncowboys.com

Images: Carrie Masiello

Leila Wahab:

Leila looked at changes in soil carbon content while Sam looked at changes in soil physical and water properties. KPC is interested in understanding whether they should move toward this AMP model.

L

eila Wahab started her undergraduate Rice career knowing she wanted to study science but wasn’t sure what kind of science would spark her interest. After taking ESCI 301 “The introduction to the Earth” course, she was drawn to the subject. Leila recounts, “Earth science struck me as a good match because the possibilities are really exciting and extremely relevant to society at large.”

During her freshmen year, Leila pursued science by applying to the “Sustaining Excellence in Research” program, run by the Rice 360 and initiative designed to connect undergraduates with research at Rice. Following her acceptance, she was connected with the program coordinator, Sandra Bishnoi, Ph.D., and was then introduced to Caroline Masiello, Ph.D., joint faculty in the Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, BioSciences and Chemistry departments. Masiello would come to be Leila’s primary research adviser throughout her undergraduate years.

Leila’s scientific curiosity was put to use the spring semester of her freshman year. Leila started working with Masiello’s graduate student Lacey Pyle sorting soil samples. She continued working in the lab during that summer helping Xiaodong Gao, Ph.D., research scientist also working for Masiello in the department. Leila asserted, “I learned many different field, lab and data methods from doing projects in the Dr. Masiello’s lab.”

She received her first publishing credit working with another graduate student on a project studying the effects of freezing and thawing on charcoal soil grains. Leila says she is very grateful for the opportunities to do meaningful research early in her undergraduate career which enabled her to gain confidence and data analysis skills which helped her complete her own thesis later on.

Despite these experiences, when it came time for Leila to embark on her own senior research thesis, she faced a difficulty with a project idea. In the spring of 2017, she wanted to do a project that would determine the effect that worm digestion had on the chemical properties of soil. She explained, “I thought it was a really weird, yet interesting idea, but I really wanted to know how it would effect the mobility of soil particles in the environment.” The problem was that she found the project difficult to complete without a biologist.

22 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

PROFILES

the pasture lands, but in fact found very weak root systems at the KPC site. She concluded that the potential of the KPC to accumulate carbon, and participate in AMP grazing as part of the soil value exchange, is quite low, “until significant management decisions are made about changing the plant species at the field site,” emphasized Wahab. Leila thinks that the site also provided a valuable lesson for the Soil Value Exchange (SVX; www.soilvalue-exchange.org), “It’s not as simple as finding a prairie to accumulate carbon. There’s a whole constellation of soil factors that will impact that [carbon] accumulation.”

Leila decided to work with Blackburn during the summer of 2017 doing research for the Texas Coastal Exchange. Specifically, she focused on the “Birch effect”, a process of respiration-bursts that occur when water is introduced to dry soils. From this work with the Texas Coastal Exchange, Leila was able to formulate her own thesis to investigate land usage and the resultant soil carbon stores at the Katy Prairie Conservancy right outside of Houston.

Leila credits the success of her thesis research with her early connection to Carrie Masiello and seizing the opportunity to work with Jim Blackburn. With both professors’ support, she was “able to formulate a question that had relevance to the Earth Science department but also furthers the carbon sequestration project.” She was proud to be able to apply her research skills in a foundational step for the soil value exchange and future soil projects in the Earth Science department. “It’s different when you’re working on a project with real world implications, which is part of why I want to be a scientist in the first place.”

The Katy Prairie Conservancy (KPC) is a nonprofit organization in Houston that is dedicated to restoring local prairies. It was Leila’s job to go to this potential soil value exchange partner, study the different land types on the property, e.g., prairie and pasture, identify their subsequent soil properties, and then determine their overall soil carbon inventory potential.

Image: Jeff Fitlow

Around this same time, Leila saw an advertisement for Jim Blackburn’s carbon sequestration project. Jim Blackburn, Ph.D. is a professor in the civil engineering department at Rice. Blackburn is known for his dedication to a project called the “Texas Coastal Exchange.” The “exchange,” which works like a carbon market on the gulf coast, would pay Texas landowners through credits to store carbon in their soils that could later be bought by oil and technical companies. Leila acclaimed that Blackburn, “is the kind of person you can tell has really big ideas. He’s really inspiring in how he approaches his work.”

While participating in her own APBL project, Leila simultaneously served as a teaching assistant for freshman APBL projects such as this one at Hope Farms in Houston, where she collected soil samples as part of a study to determine the suitability of the soil for cultivation.

Leila’s work with the conservancy on this comprehensive project included discussions about their management practices and how they interact with the community. Leila recalls that this portion of her thesis work- the field work- was her favorite. “There’s something about being outside while working that brought me to earth science in the first place.” After taking many field samples, Leila evaluated the bulk density and carbon content of the soils in order to understand the site’s carbon accumulation potential.

The results were quite surprising to her. She explained, “At most prairies, the soil carbon at the surface is around 1.5-3%.” What she found at the KPC, however, was that these values were less than 1 percent. Leila also expected to find high density roots within the near surface of the prairie soil compared to

Leila’s successful research has opened up the opportunity for her to continue her biogeochemistry studies at the University of California at Merced. She’ll be working toward a Ph.D. with the Environmental Systems department, and is excited to go to a new school and work on new things.

Through her graduate work, she hopes to gain more expertise in environmental processes. Leila wants to play a role in helping humanity overcome the environmental problems to be faced in the next century. She also believes that local connections are important. She would love to bring her passion for environmental research back to Texas where her expertise will help her home state.

When asked about advice she would give to future Earth Science students, she says, “Take advantage of how good, and small, this department is. I’ve been able to have so many good interactions with grad students and faculty because they care about educating the undergraduates. I couldn’t be more thankful.”  Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 23

RESEARCH BRIEFS

Volcanism:

By Laura B. Carter, Ph.D. and Hehe Jiang, Ph.D.

W

hen thinking about carbon in nature, most of us think about carbon in terms of a building-block for life. Yet carbon is also essential to the Earth’s geological make-up. In fact, most carbon occurs deep underground in the form of diamonds (for jewelry), or in the oil used to make the petroleum we use for cars, but the most important carbon to the Earth and life is not only invisible, but is all around you. That invisible form is carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas that comprises a very small part of the atmosphere, but is critical for maintaining the Earth’s temperature in a range sustainable for life.

Carbon is stored in almost every part of Earth: the air, the oceans, the soil, the rocks, and even the core. More important than these carbon reservoirs is the transportation of carbon between them. The burning of fossil fuels, which we know to be

By tweaking variables like depth below the surface, temperature of the magma which cools as it ascends, and type of assimilated carbonate rock (calcium-rich, called limestone, or magnesium-rich carbonate called dolostone), we were able to determine that the deeper, hotter assimilation can spit out a significant amount of carbon dioxide and that dolostone will even release its carbon dioxide into the atmosphere within range of the heat emanating from the magma chamber rather than needing direct contact .

24 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

a significant control over just how warm our climate may become, is not the main driver of temperature throughout Earth’s lifespan.

What is noe obvious, but is fundamental, is that plate tectonics governs these processes.

What makes Earth unique from the other rocky planets in the solar system is the presence of brittle plates that shift around on or near the Earth’s surface, bumping into each other and changing directions like abandoned floaties in a pool. When they converge, they can smash into each other, forming mountains at their edges

Image: Linda Welzenbach

The thermostat keeping Earth comfortable for LIFE

Image: Linda Welzenbach

as they are forced upward (the Himalayas for example), or by forcing one plate to slide beneath the other, known as subduction, where the down-going plate melts to form magma that erupts in a volcanic chain above. This is how the Ring of Fire formed around the Pacific Ocean, to include famous active volcanoes such as Mt. St. Helens in the American northwest, the Andes mountains of South America, and the iconic Mt. Fuji in Japan. These volcanic chains are how we get the expulsion of gases, including carbon dioxide, that populate the atmosphere and provide an insulating layer that keeps the Earth habitable.

It was always thought that the carbon in these volcanic gases came to the surface from deep beneath the crust, following an exceedingly slow recycling loop of subducted and digested oceanfloor . However, recent investigations of the erupted lava rocks in Italy and Indonesia, combined with gases measured from volcanoes around the world indicate that there is an additional source: the crust itself.

The Scoop on Carbon Carbon dioxide is a naturally-occurring greenhouse gas that insulates and heats the Earth, which is necessary for life. It currently comprises the smallest amount (0.04 percent!) of the Earth’s atmospheric composition. In terms of mass, that 0.4 percent of CO2 comes out to be about 750 petagrams of carbon (a petagram [Pg] is 1015 grams).

As magma rises from the deep, hot interior, it has to pass through existing layers of rock that make up the crust. As with pouring hot fudge on an ice cream sundae, those rock layers can melt and mix with the molten liquid in a process called assimilation. Sometimes, those rocks contain carbon, and are thus called carbonates, which, when assimilated, deliver extra CO2 to these volcanic systems.

Since this is happening deep underground where we can’t directly observe these processes, Rice’s high-pressure lab can experimentally explore just how much carbonate rock magma can assimilate.

The results? Enough to make eruptions more explosive and contribute notable amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere.

Today, only a few volcanoes sit on top of carbonate rocks, like Mt. Vesuvius and Mt. Etna in Italy, and Mt. Merapi in Indonesia, so only a tiny fraction of the global CO2 going into the atmosphere is contributed by rocks in the crust. Back in the Cretaceous period, over 65 million years ago (when dinosaurs roamed the Earth), sea level was higher, more land was underwater resulting in the deposition of extensive carbonate rocks (these constitute the oilrich trap rocks of the Western US and Texas). Volcanoes were also more active, with a subduction occurring in the region of Big Bend, Texas which is famous for outcrop exposures of lava and carbonate rocks right next to each other. During this time, we estimate that the volcanic CO2 output from these crustal sources was several times higher than present day contributions without considering the additional recycled carbon from subduction. With further study this could also perhaps explain the warm, tropical climate associated with the age of the dinosaurs.

Carbon is also stored elsewhere in the Earth. Of the four places where carbon is stored—atmosphere, oceans, the biosphere and the Earth’s crust—approximately 93 percent of CO2 is found in the oceans.

Source: EPA

There is a flip side to plate tectonics’ ability to shift carbon. The same volcanic arcs are also a way to suck CO2 out of the atmosphere, and are thus also capable of cooling the Earth’s surface.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 25

This 2 x 3 mm electron microprobe backscattered (reflected as opposed to transparent) image of a sample experiment, shows a light grey color for the magma on the top filled with holes left by CO2 bubbles, which were formed when the carbonate (the dark grey on the bottom) was assimilated.

When erupted lava is weathered by rain and groundwater, it reacts with the CO2 that is already dissolved in the water from the atmopshere. This CO2 is eventually cycled back into the ocean as carbonate sediments on the seafloor. Much later (up to billions of years) those sediments become rocks that are recycled through the subduction of the oceanic plate beneath continental crust. Recall that mountains are formed by convergence of plates like these. Additional factors such as steep slopes, low vegetation, and weathering at high mountain elevations will accelerate erosion. The “refreshing” of the exposed rock surface by rapidly removing old material provides new rock that can react with even more atmospheric CO2, isolating more and more CO2 from the air into the new rock. As a result, over long timescales, tens to hundreds of million years, volcanic arcs are both capable of outputting greenhouse gases, and yet removing them from the atmosphere.

26 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Which is more dominant? What is the time lag between the two?

How does Earth’s climate change if there’s this regulating balance?

Another study looked at how rock geochemistry and mass balance modelling determine how periods of extensive volcanism in Earth’s history can be linked to climate. We found that a volcanic arc is dominated by intense eruptive activity during its early life, but later on, after the subsurface magmatism wanes with the building of mountains, the arc transitions to the erosion phase. In this model, the volcanic arc switches from CO2 source to CO2 sink over its lifetime, with erosion lagging behind the climax of the volcanism by a few million years.

The carbon dioxide consumed through weathering of these arc mountains alone may be on the same order of magnitude with the CO2 released when the arc volcanos are active.

Comparing the timing and amount of CO2 from volcanic degassing versus weathering sequestration show over time in an arc shows an early surge and later drawdown.

There are also a variety of ways carbon moves between these reservoirs, via processes like fossil fuel burning or volcanic degassing (see figure below.) For the last 1,000 years, the concentration of CO2 was constant at 280 parts per million (ppm) by volume. This is due to balance in the processes that added and removed CO2 from the atmosphere. Today, it is estimated that CO2concentrations in the atmosphere have increased by from 280 to 370 ppm.

Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history is characterized by alternating greenhouse and icehouse climates, which coincide well with the wax and wane of the volcanic activities in major arc chains, like the Cordillera that lined the western Americas in the Cretaceous, and perhaps the closure of the Tethys sea when India smashed into Asia forming the Himalayas, likely due to this competition between CO2 production and consumption in the arcs.

Although individual hot-spot volcanoes like Hawaii are making headlines, with active lava flows and expulsions of new land surface and gas, it is actually the global volcanic chains spanning areas previously underwater that could be more of a long-term CO2-source and -sink. Volcanoes are a natural hazard, but like the spider that catches and eats the dreaded mosquitoes here in Houston, these dangers are actually Earth’s modulator for a uniquely habitable climate, long before humans had any input.

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References: Carter, L.B. & Dasgupta, R. (2018). Decarbonation in the Ca-Mg-Fe Carbonate System at Mid-Crustal Pressure as a Function of Temperature and Assimilation with Arc Magmas - Implications for Long-term Climate. Chemical Geology.

Carter, L.B. & Dasgupta, R. (2016). Effect of melt composition on crustal carbonate assimilation—Implications for the transition from calcite consumption to skarnification and associated CO2 degassing. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Rv. 17, no. 10, p.

3893-3916, DOI: 10.1002/2016GC006444.

Carter, L.B. & Dasgupta, R. (2015). Hydrous basalt-limestone interaction at crustal conditions: Implications for generation of ultracalcic melts and outflux of CO2 at volcanic arcs. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 412, p. 132-142, DOI: 10.1016/j. epsl.2015.06.053.

Jiang, H., Lee, C-T.A., 2017. Coupled magmatism-erosion in continental arcs: Reconstructing the history of the Cretaceous Peninsular Ranges batholith, southern California through detrital hornblende barometry in forearc sediments. Earth and Planetary Science Letter, 472: 69-81.

Black=pre-industrial levels; Red = modern levels For reference, 2 Pg = 1 billion cars in weight.

Source: IPCC

The global carbon cycle transports approximately 90 to 100 Pg of carbon back and forth between the atmosphere and the oceans, and between the atmosphere and the land biosphere.

These exchange rates are large relative to the total amount of carbon stored in the atmosphere. Volcanoes transport 0.1 Pg, and only a fraction of a percent is contributed by crustal carbonates.

Lee, C-T. A., Shen, B., Slotnik, B. S., Liao, K., Dickens, G. R., Yokoyama, Y., Lenardic, A., Dasgupta, R., Jellinek, M., Lackey, J., Schneider, T. & Tice, M. (2013). Continentisland arc fluctuations, growth of crustal carbonates, and long-term climate change.

Geosphere 9, 21-36. doi:10.1130/GES00822.1 Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 27

RESEARCH BRIEFS

WOOD

A HIDDEN HYDROLOGIC HISTORY REVEALED BY ANCIENT FOSSIL Every year, thousands of people visit the Petrified Forest National Park in northern Arizona. All are astonished by the abundance and beauty of the ancient woodland made of stone. Within the Painted Desert, almost every piece of petrified wood appears unique.

Some show perfect preservation of the original wood structure, as if the trees were alive only yesterday. Like giant gem crystals, some display a “rainbow” of flaming red, orange and yellow to milky white; their surfaces sparkling in the sunlight as if covered by glitter.

What the casual observer does not know is that apart from the park’s aesthetic riches, there is an even richer history “locked” in these fossils.

By Hehe Jiang, Ph.D.

28 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

he story of Arizona’s petrified wood started about

od, when dinosaurs and large reptiles dominated the Earth.

The land was a lush subtropical forest filled with the ancestors of our present day conifers. Episodic flooding of rivers washed mud and other sediments into the low lying areas, seen in the present as the classic layer-cake strata of yellow, peach and lavender sedimentary rocks known as the Chinle Formation. In the Late Triassic, when the rivers were more active, fallen trees and broken branches were often buried by flood water sediments fast enough to cut off the supply of oxygen. The lack of oxygen protected the trees from the fungus and bacteria that lead to biologic decay that breaks wood down into compost.

Eruptions from nearby volcanoes blanketed the land in volcanic ash. When the ash is mixed with rain and river water, it dissolves the fine glass in the ash to extract the silica, carrying it into the groundwater. As the groundwater encountered the buried trees, the wood’s cellular framework, called cellulose and lignin, readily absorbed the silica. This absorp-

tion of silica occurs through a process known as “capillary attraction” which allows fossilization to occur on a molecular scale. This replacement process is called “Silicification,” whereby silica replaces the original woody tissue. The silica will also fill all of the spaces between the woody structures.

When silica fills in this pore space- it is known as permineralization. The silica that is absorbed in the wood starts off as a gel (similar to an icy slush that is a mixture of irregular shaped ice and water.) As time goes by the water evaporates and the silica locks into a more crystal-like form known as quartz. The mineral quartz is hard and brittle, and thus over time breaks easily when subjected to geologic processes that modify the land such as mountain building, faulting, weathering and erosion. Yet the very small scale of the crystalline nature of the quartz creates clean fractures, evenly spaced along the tree trunk, giving the present-day appearance of logs cut with a chainsaw.

Silica replacement of the wood began rapidly after burial.

But there wasn’t just one episode of quartz permineralization. Wood is porous, much like human bones, and those open pathways within the wood may persist over long periods of time, allowing some parts of the wood to remain permeable to continuous groundwater flow. Within any one

The clean fractures seen in these fossil logs are enabled by the very fine scale crystalline nature of the fossilizing material- Quartz. The hardness of quartz comes from it’s elemental composition of silicon and oxygen, which was an abundant component in the fluids that migrated through the soils and rocks and fossils that are presently exposed in the petrified forest. The wood absorbed the silica over a 200 million year time span, recording a complex array of geologic processes, from mountain building, faulting, weathering and erosion.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 29

Image credits: NPS

D

T225 million years ago during the Late Triassic peri-

Thin sections of petrified wood showing a variety of preservation of the wood’s original cellular texture, crystallization pattern of quartz and colors.

sample, differences in the textures and colors are an effect of the presence and random distribution of impurities- what geologists and chemists call trace elements. Iron is one such, and it’s presence suggests that as the wood was solidifying, the penetrating groundwater chemistry changed with differing environmental conditions over the course of time.

The fact that petrified wood can be formed and changed through multiple episodes of silicification makes it a potential recorder of the geologic history, specifically of the place where it was formed, and in particular, the ancient hydrologic cycle.

We can potentially discover the timing of major episodes of groundwater penetration that brought in more silica, resulting in the complete permineralization of the wood. It can also tell us about the environmental and/or tectonic conditions associated with these groundwater events. To better tell the story, we need to extract this information from the fossil wood, which comes from analyzing the geologic chemistry recorded inside.

Along with silica, the dissolution of volcanic ashes also releases other trace elements, such as uranium (U). Uranium is an interesting element in the way that it is sensitive to the chemistry of the water, which means that it has different mobility (how easy it can be dissolved in solution and being transported by fluid) in environments with different oxygen level. We use the word “Redox” where “Re” means reducing or less oxygen, and “ox”- means oxidizing, or more oxygen in the environment. In the oxidizing conditions of fluid systems, U is released from and mobilized from volcanic ashes. However, when these U-bearing and Si-rich waters come in contact reducing fluids rich in sulfur or organic carbon (such as remains of the wood), the U is reduced to an immobile form and deposited. Recall that the wood organic matter would absorbed silica? In this process U is precipitated along with silica, and we get U-rich quartz crystallized at different times in the petrified wood.

30 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Groundwater flow through volcanic ash-rich sediments and precipitation of Si and U in petrified wood.

Uranium is also an radioactive element. Radioactive elements change and are thus unstable; they give off radiation in the effort to stabilize themselves. In the U-rich quartz that composes the petrified wood, the U changes or decays into specific measurable proportions of lead (Pb) and helium (He). U decay has a fixed rate, therefore quartz formed at different times will give different U/Pb proportions or ratios, which in turns tells us the length of time, or age, since the U was deposited in the petrified wood. We use a Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (LA-ICPMS) to analyze the types and amounts of U and Pb isotopes in the petrified wood to determine the age of quartz, which will in turn tell us when the original oxidized groundwater penetration took place. The technique has the advantage of focusing a laser beam with small size (.08 millimeters!) on different parts of a given rock sample, so we can obtain in-situ results from very small crystals of quartz that may have very different crystallization histories, all within the same sample!

Our analyses showed that petrified wood from the Petrified Forest National Park record a 200 million-year long interval of groundwater flow in the southern Colorado Plateau with strong clusters of dates around ~220, 180, 140 and 40 million years ago (Ma). The Chinle Formation, which is the sedimentary unit containing these petrified wood, was deposited between 225-205 million years ago. The ~220 Ma age cluster thus suggests that initial fossilization of the wood took place shortly after the wood was buried in river sediments. As the fossil wood may not become completely fossilized after initial influx of silica rich water, remaining pores still served as fluid pathways for the younger events recorded by U-Pb dating.

Ultimately, what do these groundwater events tell us about the geologic history of the southern Colorado Plateau? Additionally, how can we get oxidized groundwater flow through the strata to mobilize U from volcanic ashes and precipitate it in the petrified wood? The simple hypothesis states that because

there is more oxygen available near the surface, we can change the redox condition of the sedimentary strata through uplift or subsidence. If the region is undergoing subsidence it may become submerged within an inland sea or lake. Strata might remain waterlogged and hence experience periods of oxygen deprivation. On the other hand, regional exhumation (either by uplift or weathering) could force rock strata toward the surface, exposing them to more oxidizing groundwaters or even intermittent drying. In fact, except for the major ~220 Ma event, younger age events at 180-170, 150-120 Ma and 80-20 Ma appear to coincide with development of major regional unconformities (either an erosional event or break in deposition of sediments that creates a gap in the sedimentary stratigraphic record)…like missing pages in our Earth history book. These unconformities are often associated with exhumation events.

Correlation between the U-Pb age distribution in the petrified wood and major geologic events in northern Arizona.

Now let’s use the age groups to zoom out and take a look at what happened in northern Arizona since the Late Triassic.

To the west, there was subduction of the oceanic Farallon Plate underneath the continental North American Plate.

Convergence of the two plates resulted in intense compression and thickening of the crust to the northwest, leading to development of a series of mountain belts along the present-day western Utah and eastern Nevada region. The immense mass of these mountains caused the lithosphere to bend, or flex, downwards to the east. As a consequence, a structural depression called foreland basin developed adjacent and parallel to the mountain belt, which then captured sediments that eroded off the mountains. Imagine if you put some weight on one end of a thin slab while holding the other end of this slab. The slab will be bent toward the end with the weight, and a bulge will be developed on the other side to balance the force. During Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous (230-100 million years ago), northern Arizona area was located on a moving bulge that formed in response to thickening and development of mountain belts in the west.

From 180-170 Ma and 150 Ma development of the bulge led to exhumation and prolonged subaerial exposure in this area, which introduced oxidized groundwater into the Chinle sedimentary strata.

In the late Cretaceous (~100 Ma), continuous loading of the crust by the mountains and subsidence of the foreland basin led to the development of a broad, shallow inland sea in western North America. This is known as the Late Cretaceous Western Interior seaway. With time, continued subsidence caused the Western Interior Seaway to expand into the present-day Four Corners region. Back in northern Arizona, the Chinle Formation was now completely submerged and buried again, with a maximum sea level rise occurring between 100-90 million years ago. The Chinle formation was buried in a reduced environment, allowing little to no U mobilization in the petrified wood, resulting in sparse U-Pb ages for this time period.

From the Late Cretaceous to mid-Cenozoic (80-20 Ma), the western coast was affected by the Laramide Orogeny (mountain building in a continental interior by lateral compression) which partitioned the Western Interior into a series of small basins and uplifts.

The Colorado Plateau started rising at a similar time period to bring the Chinle Formation up to a more oxidized environment.

Oxygen rich groundwater passed through the strata again and contributed U to the petrified wood, resulting in the 80-20 Ma cluster of ages.  References: Jiang, H., Lee, C-T.A., Parker, W.G., 2018. Trace elements and U-Pb ages in petrified wood as indicators of paleo-hydrologic events. Chemical Geology, 493: 266-280.

In the Painted Desert, the fallen wood may be petrified, but it has “lived” through the past 225 million years to tell us stories of the geologic history and hydrologic cycle of northern Arizona’s past.

The Petrified Forest is in essence a nature-made museum of art and history.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 31

“One of the best industryoriented graduate programs available. The combination of management coursework and advanced technical education trains students to become

Professional Science Master’s Program

professional scientists with an astute knowledge of business and technology.”

—Antara

Goswami ’12

SUBSURFACE GEOSCIENCE

PROGRAMS AVAILABLE BIOSCIENCE AND HEALTH POLICY ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AND DECISION MAKING NANOSCALE PHYSICS SUBSURFACE GEOSCIENCE SPACE STUDIES

profms.rice.edu HOUSTON, TEXAS

32 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Subsurface Geoscience Master’s Program:

A New Energy Data Management Focus Rice University’s Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences has developed a new focus area within in the M.S. in Subsurface Geoscience. The offering is a new and unique track in Energy Data Management. Rice recognizes that with the exponential growth in data volume, complexity and diversity, the success of a business is increasingly dependent on effectively managing data.

“The professional management of subsurface data is becoming more and more important to the oil and gas business yet capable data managers at all levels are hard to find, with little prospect of the situation improving.”

-Dagmar Beck, Director of the Professional Science Master’s program at Rice.

Rice faculty collaborated with leading Houston oil and gas companies to develop this new focus area that promotes the modern understanding of exploration and production as a data-driven business, emphasizes the importance of the curation and exploitation of data within the upstream oil and gas industry, and provides a graduate study opportunity for students to become data-enabled geoscientists to match current demands in the industry.

With strong industry support, the new course integrates experts in data management from various partner companies who will take part in lectures and projects. The program is data-oriented, aiming to use background knowledge on exploration and production data compilation with innovative data management methods. It deals with specific aspects of managing the physical and digital data used across the energy industry.

Four core courses establish a strong foundation in geophysical, geological and reservoir engineering knowledge and methods.

These are complemented with three data management and science courses providing the core skills expected of a data-enabled geoscientist, including the fundamental principles of energy data management and data governance.

This foundation is then used to build capability in the tools and methods for data science and subsurface modeling in the energy industry and their underpinning information technology and data management requirements.

www. profms.rice.edu/subsurface-geoscience Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 33

John FEST John Anderson in 2010.

Photo: Alex Witus

34 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

CELEBRATING THE CAREER OF JOHN ANDERSON In April of 2018, more than 100 former students, family and friends gathered together to celebrate John Anderson’s career with a science symposium and gala dinner event. The symposium featured former graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and colleagues on topics of glacial history, sea-level change, coastal geology, sediment transport, and sequence stratigraphy.

Over the next pages, we highlight John Anderson’s career achievements, chronicle his Antarctic and Gulf Coast research, provide former student recollections and appreciation, and profile one of his graduates.

Research Ships John sailed on: (starting on the previous page, going left to right)

USNS Eltanin, later RV Islas Orcadas (Antarctica) RV Trinity (Gulf of Mexico) RV Lone Star (Gulf of Mexico) RV Nathanial B. Palmer (Antarctica) RV Oden (Antarctica) RV Polar Duke (Antarctica) RV Matagorda (Gulf of Mexico)

Organizing Committee: Jerry Dickens, Ph.D., EEPS Faculty Jeff Nittrouer, Ph.D., EEPS Faculty Martha Lou Broussard, B.A. ‘57 Stephanie Shipp, Ph.D. ‘99 Ken Abdulah, Ph.D. ‘95 Sandra Flechsig, EEPS Staff Susi Haveman, EEPS Staff Linda Welzenbach, EEPS Staff

The Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences extends its deepest appreciation and thanks to alumni John Schneider and Dorothy Ballentine for hosting the pre-symposium reception, and to Stephanie Shipp, Ph.D. ‘99 and and Ken Abdulah, Ph.D. ‘95 for organizing and executing the Gala dinner and roast.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 35

DR. JOHN B. ANDERSON: D

THE HEART AND S

r. John B. Anderson, Maurice Ewing Professor of Oceanography at Rice University, is the intellectual

leader in applying marine geology to solve glaciological and sedimentological problems of societal relevance. By using the history of ice sheets to learn how they behave, he provides essential knowledge for projecting changes in sea level. And, by studying the past and ongoing response of the Texas shelf to the rising sea level, he informs decision-makers tasked with adapting to the changes. With 44 years as a dedicated teacher with a strong, diverse service portfolio, John has made his discoveries widely useful to government, academia and society, all while empowering the next generation of researchers and educators to carry on this important work.

Listing many of John’s numerous accomplishments is straightforward, although a real effort because he has so many of them. A few highlights include:

• • • •

More than 250 research papers, 9 books, 13,000 citations, and h-I of 63 62 graduate students Department Chair, Director of the Rice Shell Center for sustainability Testimony to Congress, service on key national committees

Such a list misses John’s most important contributions. He identified leading problems of societal relevance and set out to solve them within the framework of teaching and service that define a true professor. This required improved Antarctic support, ships, corers, and more, so he served on the committees to make these happen. It also required community commitment, so he set the right example through service on the necessary steering committees. It required a cadre of new researchers with a broad range of skills, so he advised students who went on to succeed in many directions. John did all of this with integrity and good humor. And, when political interference threatened science, he stood firm and communicated reality.

John’s greatest scientific result, with his students, is the “death mask” of the Antarctic ice sheet. Sea-level rise is one of the most pressing issues in a warming world, with huge uncertainties and potentially very expensive outcomes that greatly complicate efficient response. Reliable models projecting the future must be informed by knowledge of the past. John tirelessly led the effort to map the sea floor around Antarctica, including 24 research voyages, and to read the history revealed there. The ice sheet exhibited long-term stability and short-term rapid retreats, confirming physical understanding that humans could trigger changes that would be dangerous for coastal communities. Confident scientific advice to policymakers thus rests in important ways on the scientific discoveries of John Anderson and his students.

John successfully supervised 62 students and research for their masters’ degree, Ph.D., or both. Many of those students, along with scores of undergraduates and guests from various universities, were able to participate in cruises to the Antarctic, where they were witness to how much John enjoyed being at sea. Many students were equally inspired by the experience of being in Antarctica and found it launched their careers, although there were certainly a few that discovered they were not suited to being at sea and decided to pursue future land-based studies.

Image: Davin Wallace 36 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

D SOUL OF EARTH SCIENCE AT RICE UNIVERSITY Like John, many students had projects in both Antarctica and in the Gulf of Mexico as part of their research, allowing each student to see the impact and interconnectedness of the two programs.

Ten of John’s graduate students went on to hold faculty positions and have supervised dozens of additional students studying glacial history, sealevel change, coastal geology, sediment transport, and sequence stratigraphy, among other topics. A few dozen of John’s former students have gone to work in the oil industry, in Houston and around the world; these students are equally successful in their careers and are influencing the petroleum industry, in part by recruiting the next generation of students to internships and jobs. Other past students have gone on to work in science education and outreach, Antarctic logistics management, and the environmental industry.

] Anderson Achievements: GCAGS Outstanding Educator Award 1992 Elected to Fellowship, The Geological Society of America May 1995 Rice GSA Faculty Teaching & Mentoring Award May 1996 AAPG Haas-Pratt Distinguished Lecturer President-Society of Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) 2003-2004 Rice University Presidential Mentoring Award 2004 SEPM Shepard Medal 2007 Distinguished Lecturer-University of Durham, England Spring 2008 Image: Stephanie Shipp, Ph.D., 1999

Many of the 62 former students gathered together to mark John’s retirement. Some of them graduated over 40 years ago and there is one who has yet to defend. Not all have met each other, especially if their time at Rice was separated by a couple of decades. However, most of us know each other by name as part of the same community, a long chain of overlapping students that have heard the stories about each of those that preceded, and sometimes heard them often enough to retell those stories on our own. John’s insight and guidance has helped make all of these careers possible; the community of alumni that have come together around John will continue to value the rich experience of our connections to him and to each other.

Richard Alley , Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University Julia Wellner , Ph.D. ‘01, University of Houston André Droxler, Ph.D., EEPS, Rice University

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 37

PORTRAIT: Antarctic Ice Shelves Exposed-

BY LINDA WELZENBACH

“If you went to McMurdo in the 1980s, you were called ‘a red coat’ …”

quipped John Anderson, Maurice Ewing Professor of Oceanography in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, in reference to the bright red parka that everyone wore, and still wear, when they go to Antarctica. A veteran of 24 Antarctic cruises since 1970, Anderson has donned the red coat to help understand the past behavior of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) and its contributions to sea-level rise (SLR). He retires from academia this spring of 2018, but he has no plans to end his Antarctic adventures. “We are in exciting times. We are finally getting to the point where we are making exponential increases in our learning curve.” That learning curve is about deciphering the past behavior of ice sheet areas that are resting on substrates below sea level, particularly at a location called “the grounding zone,” where ice transitions from being coupled to the sea-floor to floating ice shelf.

The grounding zone is a dynamic setting now acknowledged by glaciologists as a significant control on ice sheet behavior. Ancient clues recently revealed from high-resolution multibeam bathymetry data have enabled Anderson and his academic progeny Dr. Lauren Simkins, to connect the grounding zone with 47 years of research on the marine geology of the Antarctic continental shelf with the role AIS contribution may have to global SLR. From 1978-1987, Anderson’s research was limited to a set of opportunistic piggy-back rides with military ice-breaking missions aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Glacier. Anderson and his students were forced to focus much of those early cruises learning about ice sheets underlying submarine geology from hit-or-miss traverses using acoustic subsurface data along with the contextual collection of sedimentary drill cores. In spite of the limitations, they collected more than a thousand cores, sampling a diversity of ancient glacial deposits. In 1987, the military was decoupled from science operations. Anderson now had the freedom to choose traverses from a dedicated science vessel Polar Duke, which was equipped with more sophisticated subsurface capabilities, allowing better data acquisition from a variety of depth profiles and resolutions. At the same time, a new theory was published by University of Wisconsin scientists suggesting that the behavior of the AIS was regulated by both the ice and the bed on which it rested. “Clearly the ice is sliding on its bed, but how it was sliding on its bed, and what controlled that behavior was unknown,” recalls Anderson. It turns out that the ice at the base, where it is “grounded” to the continental shelf, was producing pressure melt water that was being incorporated in subglacial sediments to produce a mobile, deforming substrate, which acted as the lubricant that allowed ice streams to flow at high velocities. These deforming sediments feed sediment accumulations at the grounding zone producing landforms known as grounding zone wedges. This led Anderson and his team to take advantage of a new type of sea-floor interrogation technique to look for additional features specific to those formed at past grounding zone locations.

It was 1995 when Anderson first acquired multibeam bathymetry data, but it wasn’t until 1998 that he was confident he was seeing large scale subglacial lineations and grooves that would convince the community that ice had been further out on the continental shelf and therefore representative of past grounded ice streams. The critical leap came in 2015 with the use of an improved multibeam bathymetry system, which revealed sub-meter scale glacial landforms on the sea-floor. Most of these landforms represent features that can’t be seen beneath the modern AIS. “This is beyond anything we can do through the ice for decades to come,” Anderson asserts. “So now all of the data we collected over the last 20 years comes in handy.” The multibeam and subsurface datasets combined with the physical evidence provided by thousands of sedimentary cores allowed Anderson to characterize grounding zone landforms and processes relevant to the modern ice sheet. That data ultimately confirmed a catastrophic collapse of the Ross Ice Shelf that began 5000 years ago, resulting in the current configuration about 1500 years ago.

38 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Decoding Advance and Retreat from 48 Years of Seafloor Exploration Anderson believes the most compelling evidence for global climate change is sea-level rise.

As the current global rate nears three millimeters per year, as compared to the half millimeter per year that was the average over the last 4,000 years, Anderson believes potential AIS contributions should be taken more seriously than it has been in the past. Assessments by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) focus on projected contributions of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets to SLR. Since his first trip to Antarctica in 1970 as a graduate student, Anderson has been trying to convince the glaciological community that the AIS may have been as dynamic as those in the glaciated Northern Hemisphere. “We know it’s the biggest volume of ice, so that if you changed the volume of the AIS just 1 percent, the rate of sea level rise would be greater than all the combined ice sheet and glacier contributions elsewhere,” says Anderson. Most of those volume contributions could come over the next decades to centuries, and they would have to involve the fast-flowing ice streams that are capable of transporting continental ice to the ocean over those time scales. The 2002 breakup of the Larsen B ice shelf along the Antarctic peninsula supported Anderson’s point, suggesting that additional focus on the role of ice shelves was needed to determine their function in advancing the AIS to the ocean. While ice shelves themselves don’t contribute to SLR, glaciers and ice streams that feed into these ice shelves accelerate when the ice shelves are diminished.

“So, this small-scale breakup has provided the proof in the pudding, that yeah, you get rid of an ice shelf, then discharge from the continent increases dramatically” added Anderson.

John Anderson 2010 Photo: Alex Witus, Ph.D., 2013

To help address the question of how important this effect is to SLR, Anderson has been working with glaciologists and modelers to provide a geologic context for past ice shelf behavior.

In 2015, almost 50 years since his first trip to Antarctica, he finally saw evidence for past ice shelf collapse, and it came from the home of the largest ice shelf on earth in the Ross Sea. Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 39

Anderson and international colleagues had been working on deciphering information from subsurface sediments that suggested a catastrophic event occurred, even before acquisition of the multibeam data. “We were already hot on the trail! We saw these rapid changes in sedimentary cores and were just starting to do work on 10Be[beryllium]” said Anderson. Initial hints of the breakup came from a shift of sediment types that reflected a transition from sub-ice sheet to open marine conditions. This was corroborated by an increase in radiogenic beryllium (a cosmogenic radionuclide whose presence or absence from sediments is an indicator of expanse of ice coverage over the sediments where it is found), combined with the first systematic application of compound-specific radiocarbon (an isotope of carbon-14C that is useful as a clock for determining the age of materials on Earth) ages from the marine sediments, to constrain the timing of ice shelf breakup. Additional evidence from specific fossil foraminifera assemblages (opportunistic planktonic species that take advantage of the warm deep water incursions) indicated that warmer water was present at the grounding zone, and may have played a role in the breakup. There is also evidence of past subglacial lakes and channels that supplied freshwater to the grounding zone and into the ocean, but very little is known about the impact of these water sources on the stability of grounded ice. Recently, Anderson and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Lauren Simkins employed the expertise of fellow faculty member and volca-

Bathymetry of the seafloor at Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica, in 2010 showing distinct iceberg plow marks formed by an ancient collapse of the ice shelf. Small corrugation ridges (transverse to the long lineations) within the individual plow marks (10’s to 100’s of meters in width) were formed by tides moving the iceberg up and own, bouncing off the sea floor.

(Image provided by John Anderson)

nologist Professor Helge Gonnermann, who provided geothermal modelling of volcanic seamounts that may have been associated with the ancient channels, to help identify all the variables that contribute to the instability of the grounding line. “There are [still] a lot of dead end roads…and we don’t like to talk about those, but what the research will do is encourage the glaciological modeling community to recognize the diversity of factors, and [the] complexity of their interactions. I won’t quit research because we’ve come too far. We are making discoveries that are very informative to the ice sheet community, and so we really feel like we are playing an important role.”  Recent papers published: Simkins, L. M., Anderson, J. B., Greenwood, S. L., Gonnermann, H. M., Prothro, L. O., Halberstadt, A. R. W., ... & DeConto, R. M. (2017). Anatomy of a meltwater drainage system beneath the ancestral East Antarctic ice sheet. Nature Geoscience, 10(9), 691.

Bart, P. J., Anderson, J. B., & Nitsche, F. (2017). Post‐LGM Grounding‐Line Positions of the Bindschadler Paleo Ice Stream in the Ross Sea Embayment, Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 122(10), 1827-1844.

Anderson, J. B., Simkins, L. M., Bart, P. J., De Santis, L., Halberstadt, A. R. W., Olivo, E., & Greenwood, S. L. (2018). Seismic and geomorphic records of Antarctic Ice Sheet evolution in the Ross Sea and controlling factors in its behaviour. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 475, SP475-5.

40 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Images: Alex Witus, Ph.D., 2013

Images: Alex Witus, Ph.D., 2013

“The Antarctic Research Facility is a national repository for geological materials collected in polar regions, which houses over 20,000 meters of deep-sea core sediment as well as other geologic samples.

John Anderson, USCG Glacier, 1981

The vast holdings of the AMGRF, which includes the entire decades-old Eltanin and Islas Orcadas piston-core collections, have provided critical data that inspired many follow-up or expanded investigations.

Notable are the “groundtruth” data that led to major initiatives by the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), its successor, the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), and other national and international groups.”

Image: Pam Polite Fisco, Ph.D.,1982

Excerpts from 2004 AMGRF proceedings and NSF //www. research.gov/

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 41

GULF COAST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT:

HOLOCENE EVOLUTION OF THE CENTRAL TEXAS COAST

Seismic data and rock cores show that the Texas shoreline has experienced episodic sea level change, where the shoreface shifted inland, moving the Gulf coastline up into central Texas and then retreating seaward as recent as the earliest Holocene (the most recent geologic time period that started at the end of the last ice age around 12 thousand years ago and continues today).

John Anderson and Chris Odezulu are setting up the vibracore (the three meter aluminum barrel above is sent into the ground with a motor) to collect samples from the barrier beach along East Matagorda Bay, Texas during the summer of 2017.

C

hanges in Texas coast location were caused by variations in both alongshore and onshore sand deposition. Fifteen transects were made along the Matagorda coast, taking sediment cores from the back-barrier to beyond the toe of the shoreface. To track how fast the beach shifted through time, we also measured radiocarbon ages of foraminifera shell materials.

ka), the ancient shoreline migrated rapidly landwards. Until this study, little was known about coastal evolution from that time because the coastal deposits had since been buried beneath a layer called the Texas Mud Blanket (TMB). Back then, an embayment existed along the central Texas coast that was flanked to the north and south by the Colorado Delta and Rio Grande deltas, respectively (Fig. 1).

During what is called the Marine Isotope (MIS) 5e highstand, the Texas shoreline was situated approximately 30 kilometers (~18 miles) landward of the modern shoreline of the upper Texas coast, although less than half the distance from the modern central Texas shoreline (Ingleside paleo-shoreline). Prior to the Stage 2 sea-level lowstand and during the overall fall in sea level, major rivers such as the ancestral Brazos, Colorado and Rio Grande Rivers, delivered sediments to the shelf and formed large fluvial-dominated deltas (Abdulah et al., 2004; Banfield and Anderson, 2004). Between these deltas, the shoreline advanced seaward until the end of MIS 3 time, when the rate of sealevel rise increased, outpacing this seaward shifting of the shoreline (Eckles et al., 2004).

Starting approximately 11.5 ka, both the Rio Grande and the Colorado rivers constructed large deltas on the inner shelf that stood as promient bathymetric highs. We estimate their age with respect to the layer upon which they were deposited, but only the Colorado delta has yielded exact radiocarbon measurements that constrain its age as early Holocene (~11.5 to ~9.5 ka), while the age of the Rio Grande delta is loosely assumed to be similar in age by comparing water depth with the known sea-level curve for the region (Milliken et al., 2008).

Both deltas exhibit sloping deposits whose thickness and variable orientations indiate that the delta’s mouth shifted laterally over time as it evolved, which is supported by detailed mapping of these old deltas and the interpretation that both were fluvial-dominated deltas (Banfield and Anderson, 2008; Snow, 1998; Anderson et al., 2016).

Both the Rio Grande and Colorado deltas were eroded during sea leve rise, removing topset layered strata entirely and truncating forset beds.

Both deltas changed from lobate- fluvial-dominated deltas to elongateshore aligned wave-dominated deltas around 9.5 ka (Fig. 2), when the sediment supply from these rivers could no longer keep pace with sea-

During the Stage 2 sea-level lowstand, the rivers and streams eroded the exposed continental shelf that had previously been underwater, creating the irregular surface on which present-day coastal systems were established (Anderson et al., 2016). During the initial flooding of the outer continental shelf about 11.5 thousand years ago (11.5 42 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Image: Travis Swanson

BY CHRISTOPHER ODEZULU

Fig 1: Map of the study area showing bathymetry, Texas Mud Blanket’s dimension, and the convergence of alongshore transport.

Image: Travis Swanson

Fig. 2: Map showing the paleoshoreline reconstruction from 11.5 ka to recent.

level rise (Snow, 1988; Banfield and Anderson., 2004).

Starting at around 6.5 ka, shoreface deposits in the central Texas Barrier Islands moved an average of 5 km seaward (Fig. 3). This growth of coastal sediments is believed to have been driven by an increase in drift of sand via the longshore current parallel to the shore and supplied by erosion of the offshore Colorado and Rio Grande deltas. During this same time interval, the TMB experienced minimal growth. Our sediment budget analysis indicates that erosion of the Colorado and Rio Grande deltas yielded sufficient sand supply to prograde (meaning to advance seaward) the shoreface in the mid-Holocene.

The culmination of mid-Holocene progradation is marked by flooding, separating the shoreface deposits from overlying marine mud. Off Mustang and North Padre islands, evidence of a flooding surface extends as far as ~4km landward (Fig. 3). Radiocarbon ages from cores indicate that this phase, where the shore backstepped, occurred over a period of ~3300 years. Beginning ~3.5 ka, the TMB expanded and accumulated ~172 km3 total volume, or 2.86 X 1016 tons of

sediment, accounting for 57 percent of its total volume (Weight et al., 2011). Thus, the shore’s change from moving seaward to landward is interpreted to have been caused by a reduction in sand input as offshore sand sources were overstepped by the advancing shoreline and then buried by the TMB. Following this episode of retreat of the shoreface, there was another phase of shoreface progradation that lasted until modern time (Fig. 3). The cause of this remains uncertain and is still under investigation.

What we do know is that rates of shoreline retreat along the upper Texas coast have increased historically (Wallace and Anderson, 2010; Odezulu et al., 2017) and that a portion of that sand is currently being transported westward toward the central Texas coast; although most is being sequestered in tidal deltas. Anthropogenic effects may have contributed to this more recent change.  References: Abdulah, K.C., Anderson, J.B., Snow, J.N. and Holdford-Jack, L., 2004. The late Quaternary Brazos and Colorado deltas, offshore Texas, USA—their evolution and the factors that controlled their deposition.

Anderson, J.B., Wallace, D.J., Simms, A.R., Rodriguez, A.B., Weight, R.W. and Taha, Z.P., 2016. Recycling sediments between source and sink during a eustatic cycle: Systems of late Quaternary northwestern Gulf of Mexico Basin. Earth-science reviews, 153, pp.111-138.

Banfield, L.A., Anderson, J.B., 2004. Late Quaternary Evolution of the Rio Grande Delta: Complex response to eustasy and climate change. In: Anderson, J.B., Fillon, R.H. (Eds.), Late Quaternary stratigraphic evolution of the northern Gulf of Mexico Margin. Society of Sedimentary Research, Special Publication pp. 79, 289–306.

Eckles, B.J., Fassell, M.L. and Anderson, J.B., 2004. Late Quaternary evolution of the wavestorm-dominated central Texas shelf. In: Anderson, J.B., Fillon, R.H. (Eds.), Late Quaternary Stratigraphic Evolution of the Northern Gulf of Mexico Margin. Society of Sedimentary Research, Special Publication 79, pp.271–287.

Milliken, K.T., Anderson, J.B. and Rodriguez, A.B., 2008. Record of dramatic Holocene environmental changes linked to eustasy and climate change in Calcasieu Lake, Louisiana, USA. Response of Gulf Coast Estuaries to Sea-Level Rise and Climate Change: GSA Special Paper, 443, pp.43-63.

Odezulu, C.I., Lorenzo-Trueba, J., Wallace, D.J. and Anderson, J.B., 2018. Follets Island: a case of unprecedented change and transition from rollover to subaqueous shoals. In Barrier Dynamics and Response to Changing Climate (pp. 147-174). Springer, Cham.

Wallace, D.J., Anderson, J.B. and Fernández, R.A., 2010. Transgressive ravinement versus depth of closure: A geological perspective from the upper Texas coast. Journal of Coastal Research, 26(6), pp.1057-1067.

Fig. 3: Lithologic logs, grain sizes and ages for core transect 13, offshore North Padre Island showing two episodes of shoreface progradation separated by onlap of marine mud.

Weight, R.W., Anderson, J.B. and Fernandez, R., 2011. Rapid mud accumulation on the central Texas shelf linked to climate change and sea-level rise. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 81(10), pp.743-764.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 43

Anderson Alumni Profile:

Ken Abdulah, Ph.D. ‘95

By BRANDEE CARLSON

Image: Ken Abdulah

Ken Abdulah completed his Ph.D. in 1995 with professor John Anderson. Ken’s graduate work focused on how sea level fluctuations impact fluviodeltaic systems on the Texas continental shelf. With expertise in geology and geophysics, Ken has been able to dabble in petroleum industry research, consulting, and education. This fall, DEEPS warmly welcomes Ken back to the department to instruct students on topics such as 3D Seismic Reflection Data and interpretation of regional 2D Seismic Data.

BC: How did you become interested in Geosciences?

KA: In the Caribbean, I always enjoyed physcial geography and wanted to combine geography with physics and applied math during my advanced level studies in highschool but was allowed physics and math alone. I took my first geology course in college.

This is an image of dee-water slope channels off the coast of New Zealand based on work carried out on 3D seismic data volumes at Subsurface Clarity.

The composite was assembled from blended seismic attributes using highdefinition frequency decomposition (the RGB colors), dip (structural information), and instantaneous phase attributes. (Data source: New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals) 44 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

BC: What led you to work with John?

KA: I wanted to combine geology and geophysics in a stratigraphic framework. I only applied to two schools - the University of Texas at Austin and Rice [University]. When I visited Rice, I got to meet a lot of the students and faculty, including John. I really liked the size of the department, and it seemed well integrated. I accepted the offer from Rice, but I didn’t have a project my first semester. As soon as I met John, I knew that I wanted to work with him, but spent that first semester getting to know the other faculty and taking their courses. I really liked John’s personality and was intrigued by his projects in the Gulf of Mexico that integrated many datasets to evaluate the stratigraphic evolution of the continental shelf.

BC: What was the focus of your graduate research?

KA: Initially my project was looking at the incised valley of the Brazos [river]. In particular, we were trying to understand the effect of sea level fall on the creation of incised valleys and the subsequent valley fill. The project ended up expanding to the Colorado River system, and to the broader fluviodeltaic dominated shelf. After the project expanded, John suggested that I do a Ph.D. We ultimately combined high-resolution seismic profiles, sediment cores, biostratigraphic ages, and oxygen-isotope stratigraphy to understand the role of sea level change on the Texas shelf.

The most exciting outcome of Abdulah’s Ph.D. research was deciphering the historical interaction between two very different types of fluvio-deltaic systems and their behavior as a function of sealevel rise in the Gulf of Mexico. The behavior of those systems in the past will inform the present response to future sea level fluctuations for similar Gulf of Mexico fluvio-deltaic systems.

The most exciting research outcome of my PhD was the interaction between the Brazos and Colorado fluviodeltaic systems.

The Colorado River is bedload dominated (particles transported along a channel bed by a flowing fluid.) The coarser fractions (e.g. gravel, sand) of the material transported by the fluid slide, hop, saltate, and roll along the bed. The Brazos has a higher suspended load (particles transported above the channel bed.) The particles are generally finer (e.g. silt, clay) and are kept in suspension by turbulence. These interactions manifest themselves in the prograding delta lobes in interesting ways. The Brazos avulsed (the rapid abandonment of a river channel, which reroutes the river) around its lowstand delta, while the Colorado maintained a straighter course toward the shelf edge.

BC: What is your favorite memory in grad school?

KA: My favorite memory is collecting data on the RV Lone Star. We’d spend 3-4 days out on the boat for team projects.

It’s exciting to see images of the Gulf of Mexico shelf that no one else has seen before. There is a real feeling of exploration.

Another good memory is of the graduate student soccer team, informally called Rigor Mortis. We came from many different countries, including the U.S.A., Venezuela, Hungary, India, China, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Trinidad and Tobago. It was very cosmopolitan. We always did well during the first half of the game, but the second half was much harder as our joints got stiffer – hence the name.

The schematic map above (from Abdulah’s Ph.D. thesis) shows the complexity of delta deposition (Staged deltas 3 and 5) and channel incision of the Brazos and Colorado rivers, interpreted from Gulf of Mexico core samples and high resolution seismic reflection data.

Deltiac stages are compared with the timing of sea level fluctuation (the colored sections reflect Stages 6, 5e, 5c, 5a, 3, 2, and 1 from above). Determining the periods of sea level rise and fall is based on many lines of evidence, here showing direct age dating of sediments and the amount of particular isotopes of oxygen that are extracted from the shells of foraminifera found in the sediments.

Oxygen isotopes vary in type and concentration in ocean water as a function of ice volume at the poles. Lighter isotopes of oxygen tend to be held within ice, so during times where more ice covers the earth, heavier isotopes of oxygen accumulate preferentially in the ocean. Those flucationas are captured in the composition of the shells (composed of CaCO3 ) of developing foraminifera. These fluctations in concentration between the two types of oxygen isotopes serve as a marker for periods of global glaciation, which when compared with seismic reflection data and sedimentary ages, provide independent but corroborating proxies of sea leavel fluctuation.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 45

Image: Ken Abdulah

This group shot was taken in May 1992 during a three-week field trip throughout New Mexico and Colorado. The group was studying a number of outcrops in the region, and most participants were John’s students, or had John as a thesis committee member. Back row, standing from left to right: Visiting student, Elmer Ferro, Mike Hamilton ’95, Stephanie Staples-Shipp ’99, John Anderson, Sabrina Sarzalejo ’94, Alice Woolf (the owner of the Circle A Ranch where the group lodged near Cuba, New Mexico), Fernando Siringan ’93. Front row, from left to right: Phil Bart ’96, Ken Abdulah ’95, Robyn WrightDunbar ’88, Laura Banfield ’94.

BC: Describe the working dynamic of being John’s student?

BC: What is your advice to students going into the job market?

KA: We always had to work as a team, so our group was quite tight. We had adjacent field areas, so we helped each other with data collection and interpretation and we published together a lot.

We even put out an SEPM special publication together. The RV Lone Star was the center of not only our data acquisition but also where we built our life-long collaborations.

KA: There is the basic advice – know your skills, prepare for your interviews, etc. More broadly, my advice is to throw yourself into what you do and make sure you enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy what you do, this will always show in your interviews – you can’t fake it.

Also, be open to new experiences. Continue learning, be flexible, and don’t get discouraged. Your career will probably take many turns. It used to be normal for people to work one job for life, but now the norm is to work, something like, four jobs over your whole career. Don’t be too rigid when you make career choices.

BC: How did your experience influence your career path?

KA: During our seminar series, Manik Talwani told the graduate students to chose their projects wisely because it influences the rest of your career. For me, the skills that I developed in graduate school were seismic interpretation, understanding depositional systems, evaluating the distribution of reservoirs, and understanding stratigraphic successions. I learned a lot of these skills in the oil industry, but graduate school helped me master them.

My path has been from the oil industry, to Ph.D. studies and further industry work, to owning my own business. For consulting, I think the biggest leap I’ve had to take is losing the safety net you have when working for a big corporation. You have to find out if the market values your skills enough to pay you for them. Yet there is a lot of freedom in finding the marriage between your skills and market demand. I’m still using my fundamental skill, which is 2-D and 3-D seismic data interpretation.

BC: What traits of John as a former boss do you emulate?

KA: To see all people as peers. Everyone has valuable ideas and I try to treat everyone as equals, which requires being a good listener. John gave a lot of guidance as an advisor, but always through listening and exchange on equal footing. He is always open to ideas.

46 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

BC: How is seismic data impacting geosciences and technology today?

KA: Every single dataset is fascinating. Seismic technology is rapidly advancing, and the unconventional world requires an extremely integrated approach because rock mechanics matter more than ever before. To develop unconventional reservoirs, we are moving towards a better understanding of physical rock properties and we can do this using seismic data, well logs, micro-seismic data, core measurements and field production data. The world of reflection seismology is continuing to grow, so fortunately I will never stop learning.

BC: Would you like to share anything else about John?

KA: John was always a champion of diversity, even before it was a common goal. It’s clear when you look at his students. He should be thanked and admired. 

Image: Lou Bartek, Ph.D., 1989

Vibracore drilling in Matagorda Bay, 1987 Left to Right: Lou Bartek Captain Ken John Anderson Mark Thomas

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 47

RECOLLECTION & APPRECIATION We didn’t just do science, we were really explorers at heart, particularly in the Antarctic, collecting data where none had been collected before, and seeing things no one had ever seen before.

I

arrived in Houston from New Hampshire in August of 1985, with all of my worldly possessions in the trunk and back seat of my 1973 Oldsmobile. I had never been to Houston, never even been to Texas. One of my undergraduate professors back East suggested I should apply to Rice, so I did. I was accepted, and offered a tuition waiver and a decent fellowship, so I headed south.

On the day I arrived, John Anderson and several of his grad students, Margaret Herron, Jill Singer and Doug Kennedy, were eating lunch at the picnic table on the balcony of the 2nd floor of the geology building. I was immediately welcomed into that group, and although I had come to Rice “undecided” about whom I would work with, from that point forward I think it was just assumed I was part of that team – by me and by them. John’s other students at that time were Liz Watkins, Tom Griffith, and Lou Bartek. I was assigned an office with Lou, across the hall from Doug and Tom. We quickly came to learn that we were about as opposite as two people could be, in every sense – not just the obvious ones (he was Big Lou, I was Little John), but also in our approach to just about everything. Mark Thomas, Dave Reid, Peter Pope and Wendy Smyth arrived a year or two later, and Ken Abdullah and Phil Bart shortly after. It was a tight group, particularly among those of us who were working on Antarctic projects. Not only was there a lot of interrelationship between our projects and the data and techniques we were using, but also the need to serve together and support each other as science staff on the cruises where the data was collected. So although we each had individual thesis projects, we, along with John, were really a team in every sense of the word.

I learned a few things very quickly about John. First, we were all treated like family by John and Doris. I hear so many stories from friends and colleagues about the horrors of their graduate school experiences. My experience at Rice was completely the opposite, and I attribute this to John and Doris, their warmth and support, and can’t thank them enough for making me feel like family. Second, John treated us as peers -- meaning our independent work and ideas were valuable to him, and although a big part of his mission was to mold us into practicing earth scientists, he generally treated us as colleagues rather than minions carrying out research on his behalf.

48 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

T

he Antarctic cruises on Polar Duke and Glacier were probably the most memorable part of my experience at Rice – three cruises to the Peninsula and one to the Ross Sea. I think I set a record for a Masters student. John’s rapport with the ships’ crews was fantastic. He treated them with respect, and endeavored to make the cruises both meaningful from the scientific perspective, and fun for those on board. In return, they went above and beyond to ensure that his cruises were successful. He was truly in his element out on the fantail, pulling core on deck in foul weather, ice in his beard and a cigar hanging from his mouth. Or standing on the bridge, urging the captain to pick his way between icebergs to get into an elusive bay to collect an important core, and also to take advantage of the calm water to have a barbeque on the deck. And who can forget that bootleg David Allen Coe tape that played over and over and over again until it mysteriously disappeared. Rumor has it that Larry Lawver tossed it overboard in the Drake Passage, and that it now rests on the seafloor of the Southern Ocean, somewhere near the wreckage of MH 370...

W

e didn’t just do science, we were really explorers at heart, particularly in the Antarctic, collecting data where none had been collected before, and seeing things no one had ever seen before. Of particular note was the seismic data we collected in the bays and fjords of the Antarctic Peninsula, and on the foredeepened continental shelf, which set the framework for coring and shallow drilling of a series of glacial and interglacial sequences where they outcropped on the scoured shelf. The international Antarctic geology community was a fairly small, tight one, and I had the privilege of meeting many of them at various meetings and conferences. One I remember particularly was the 1987 SCAR Conference in Cambridge, UK, hosted by the British Antarctic Survey. The first night there, after we arrived and dropped our bags in the dorm rooms where we were staying, John suggested we should head out to the pub to meet some of the FAGS. This being my first trip to England, I wasn’t sure what to make of this suggestion, but I quickly discovered that the FAGS were the Friends of Antarctic Geology.

Of course, preparing for the Antarctic cruises was a logistical challenge, so each of us received a deep indoctrination into the months long process of planning and preparing for a cruise, packing and shipping equipment and planning out the details of the scientific program. Usually half of it was thrown out the window when weather and ice conditions didn’t cooperate, so

BY JOHN JEFFERS, M.A. ’88 we also got first-hand experience in changing plans on the fly and adapting to what was possible, to ensure we accomplished something of value. When equipment broke at sea, we figured out how to fix it, and John’s diverse talents in all things mechanical and electrical (and his absolute lack of fear in taking a stab at something he’d never tried before) rubbed off on all of us. The science team on these cruises truly worked as a team, putting full effort into the work at sea even if the data was for someone else’s research project. And John set a clear expectation–no matter how late the hour, no matter how miserable the conditions on deck, if the ship’s crew was out there doing work for our program, we were out there with them, until the work was done.

Cassidy at the Brown Derby in Tallahassee. I saw clear blue ocean water and snow white sand for the first time in my life.

There were really only three famous people who grew up in the sixties around Mobile Bay – Ken Stabler, Jimmy Buffett, and John Anderson.

J

ohn is a great story teller, and I think he married one of the best in Doris, who provides additional prompts and fills in overlooked details, and I suspect occasional embellishment of her own. Most of the stories I remember involve the people who meant the most to him – his students and colleagues, and their adventures at Rice, on field trips, on research cruises and the like. Certain people were absolutely legendary in these stories -- Dennis Kurtz, Scott MacDonald, Ken McMillen, HC Clark, and of course Martha Lou, and these stories helped connect us to those who came before us and those who have come since. John certainly wasn’t above poking fun at himself either, and this characteristic made him much more human and approachable to his students. Of course, John comes from the school of story telling that firmly believes that the point of the story and keeping the audience engaged takes precedence over the actual facts. Fortunately, that is different from his approach to science, where data and analysis provide the foundation, but where there is still room for creative thought where data is incomplete.

John was famous for designing, and sometimes home-building the equipment we needed, from the settling tube connected to the Apple II computer in his lab, to a lot of the coring and high resolution seismic acquisition systems on the Polar Duke and Glacier. I remember a few trips with him to a government surplus yard along the Ship Channel to “see what we could find”. The place was filled with cold-war era control panels, steel office furniture, and all kinds of salvaged motors and pumps. I think we came away with a few high-pressure hoses, an aluminum storage locker, and I seem to remember a 12foot john boat that we strongly considered taking “because we might need it someday.” Maybe the biggest coup in the used equipment procurement arena was in 1987 when John somehow convinced the Dean that Rice really needed to acquire a 38-foot Chris Craft motor yacht to use as a research vessel in the shallow waters of the Gulf. We spent weekends outfitting it with a generator, hydraulic winch, and a high resolution seismic acquisition system, christened it the R/V Matagorda, and commenced to perform research along the Texas gulf coast. I became intimately familiar with that vessel, as I was apparently the only person in the program who was capable of snaking between the engines and the pumps to run hoses and cables through the bilge in order to complete the conversion.

The Matagorda served the department for a few years until the larger and more capable R/V Lone Star was acquired and outfitted.

I didn’t continue with glacial marine geology after receiving my Masters degree from Rice. But what I learned here at Rice, from John, has served me very well over those years. How to frame and solve problems, how to plan logistically complex projects and programs. How to build a team and work together with them until the job is done. How to look around and get to know the places where I am working and the people who are there. How to tell stories and inspire people to tell their own.

How to treat my employees as colleagues, and my colleagues as family. I’ll never be John, but I hope to be like him in many ways.

Not Big John, but Little John. 

ohn is an authentic son of the Alabama Gulf Coast, and a 40+ year academic career in Michigan and Texas, fortunately, did little to change that. Many of us got to experience the annual roadtrip to Tallahassee to deliver and pick up samples from the repository at Florida State. This journey required a stopover at John’s family home in Saraland, just north of Mobile, with a homecooked meal prepared by his mom, a drop-in visit from his sister and brother, and an evening of storytelling with John and his Dad. Along the way, I was introduced to the beauty of the coastline from Gulf Shores to Pensacola, eating smoked mullet in St. Marks, and fine dining with Dennis

Image: John Jeffers

J

John Jeffers. M.A., 1988 Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 49

Image: Stephanie Shipp, Ph.D. 1999 50 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

JOHN’S CONTINUING INFLUENCE IN THE WORDS OF HIS STUDENTS….

I

t can be difficult to precisely gauge a person’s influence on the broader society. There are brief, dramatic events that historians identify as turning points in the trajectory of world affairs. But what about the less obvious changes that individuals go through in the process of higher education? These are more difficult to measure, yet for the students concerned, passage through graduate school often profoundly alters their future. We recall Manik Talwani, during the seminar class in which incoming graduate students learn about each faculty’s current research, emphasizing the importance of carefully selecting your research topic. Reason being, your thesis is likely to be the foundation for, and therefore shape, your entire career. Looking back over the years, these words certainly have been true. Studying under John Anderson’s direction has not only shaped our own careers but those of over 60 graduate students. We have been influenced by his infectious curiosity, passion, and high-energy drive in addressing critical questions regarding ice-sheet behavior and climate and sea-level change, through the study of the stratigraphic and sedimentologic record. As graduate research students, we benefited from John’s crucial guidance within a creative, supportive, and inclusive environment. Neither of us can think of a time when John was inaccessible to his students, even while running dual research programs in Antarctica and the Gulf of Mexico, and handling the demands of Department Chair…and…editing theses, writing articles, publishing books, teaching classes, running field trips, leading committees, all the while maintaining that tremendous sense of humor and joy of life that is one of his many hallmarks. A champion for openness, respect, inclusivity, and diversity, John’s impact has not necessarily been the result of a single dramatic event, but rather a series of life-changing events that have impacted not only his students but many others within–and beyond–the department. These events have generated ripple effects that will continue to reverberate and positively influence the broader society as his students strive to replicate the values John instilled and create a similar environment for their own students, colleagues, friends, and families.

The comments from his students that follow, and those shared at John has been a great the JohnFest Celebration, touch mentor supporting my on these values again and again, academic career for more and illuminate our shared experithan 15 years. Starting in my ences and our deep appreciation first year of graduate school, he has never treated me less for all that John has done for us. than a valued colleague. He Thank you John!

Ken Abdulah, Ph.D. 1995 Stephanie Staples Shipp, Ph.D. 1999

has always been there to bear me up. Not only is he a great academic mentor but also an excellent role model for how to treat other people.

Alex Simms, Ph.D., 2006

Image: Alex Sims

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 51

The Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences is pleased to announce a new fellowship opportunity:

THE JOHN B. ANDERSON FELLOWSHIP FOR A SUSTAINABLE EARTH To help with this effort, consider giving to the Human Impacts Fund at: earthscience.rice.edu/giving

The Human Impacts on the Earth Endowment supports research and education in Earth systems science, through the building of a world class center in Earth, Environment and Energy.

52 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

The Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences is pioneering a new frontier of systems thinking called Whole Earth Systems Science. We are studying how the ocean, atmosphere, biosphere, and deep Earth interact to give us a habitable planet. Students are working with complex datasets that span a vast array of processes, length scales and time scales, to make predictions about the future of our planet.

The John B. Anderson Fellowship for a Sustainable Earth will help support the next generation of students to develop science-based solutions for the world’s most pressing problems, through collaborative research with Houston’s unique combination of energy, medical, chemical and space sectors.

For additional information please visit: https://earthscience.rice.edu/sustainearth/

Chile, Falkland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula December 2012- Jan 013 Image courtesy of Robert Milam

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 53

2018 celebrates almost 50 years of the career of John Anderson and his achievements in the field of oceanography, so it is fortuitous that the 50 year anniversary of scientific ocean drilling would include off-shore research conducted by several other EEPS research scientists. In fact, EEPS students and scientists participated on four of the six most recent Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) expeditions in just the last few months. Remarkably, the research they conducted spans all four science focus areas of IODP’s 2003-2013 comprehensive science plan: Climate, Deep Life, Planetary Dynamics and Geohazards.

OFFSHORE RESEARCH FOCUS:

EEPS heads out to sea...

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ers wat 374. m l a o c ti n the xpedi n i PE on luti IOD eso uring R d ES OID ss Sea J e o Th he R Sciences Earth, Environmental and Planetary of t

Having recently returned from their voyages, three EEPS scientists share their personal experiences and the scientific goals for their missions. Specific results are not fully presented since much of the data are still being synthesized for future publication. So stay tuned for future articles that will tell us more about what our EEPS family have discovered from their ocean drilling expeditions!

The History of Scientific Ocean Drilling

O

n July 20th, 1968, The Glomar Challenger departed Orange Texas, going on to drill seven sites in the Gulf of Mexico and Bermuda Rise under the guidance of Maurice Ewing and Joe Worzel for the initial expedition of NSF’s scientific ocean drilling program. The first report of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) describes a new record for drilling in water depths greater than 5000 meters and penetrating the seafloor more than 700 meters.

“Fifty years after the first official expedition, organized scientific ocean drilling is still going strong.

Twenty-three nations jointly participate in the International Ocean Discovery Program, through which large diverse international multi-disciplinary science parties work on carefully selected hypotheses to make new discoveries about Earth’s past, present, and future.” -IODP

Scientific ocean drilling got its start with advances in Piston coring in the 1940’s, which allowed recovery of long soft-sediment sections from the upper seafloor, enabling scientists to study ancient and very detailed fossil and chemical evidence of Earth’s past history. In 1961, the ability to keep a drill stable while on a dynamic platform permitted drilling of the subseafloor hard rock geology. As a result, the NSF proposed to access to the earth’s interior down to the geologic boundary that marks the transition from oceanic crust to mantle, known as the Mohorovičić discontinuity. This endeavor was known as Project Mohole.

From the National Academy of Science on Project Mohole: “Project Mohole represented, as one historian has described it, the earth sciences’ answer to the space program. If successful, this highly ambitious exploration of the intraterrestrial frontier would provide invaluable information on the earth’s age, makeup, and internal processes. In addition, evidence drawn from the Moho could be brought to bear on the question of continental drift, which at the time was still controversial.”

Project Mohole ran from 1958 to 1966, but only succeeded in implementing one of three planned phases. Among five holes drilled during phase I, in 11,700 feet of water to a depth of 601 feet into the seafloor, they penetrated a second layer of basaltic crust. Although the project did not meet its intended purpose, the successful acquisition of geologic samples launched the next generation of scientific ocean drilling.

A formalized Deep Sea Drilling Project was launched in 1966, and through 1983, the Glomar Challenger conducted expeditions in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans as well as the Mediterranean and Red Seas. In 1985, the research vessel JOIDES Resolution replaced the Glomar Challenger in what became the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). ODP would complete 100 expeditions throughout the world.

Image: IODP/Justin Dodd

As a way to build on international partnerships, the ODP became the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) in 2003, going on to employ multiple drilling platforms financially supported by 26 participating nations, thus enabling access to new areas of the subsurface to complete 52 expeditions through 2013.

Since 2013, IODP has developed a comprehensive decadal science plan titled “Illuminating Earth’s Past, Present and Future” to encourage and guide multidisciplinary collaborations (earth, ocean, atmosphere and life sciences) in four broad topics; Climate, Deep Life, Planetary Dynamics and Geohazards.

IODP research is intended to advance our understanding of Earth’s past to be able to better understand and predict its future, which may inform decision-making about some of the most important environmental issues facing society today.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 55

OFFSHORE RESEARCH

Conducting science aboard ship Since 2003 ODP and IODP expeditions have been conducted from the JOIDES Resolution (JR), which is owned by Overseas Drilling Limited and operated by the JOIDES Resolution Science Operator (JRSO) at Texas A&M University through funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation.

The JR is named for HMS Resolution, the famous exploration ship that sailed 200 years ago under the command of Captain James Cook, who is known for the detailed exploration of the Pacific Ocean and Antarctic region. JOIDES stands for Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling which represents the original partnership of universities who created the early exploration DSDP program to explore the geology below the seafloor.

Research operations for every mission occur 24 hours a day, with roughly half of 115 ship’s complement dedicated to the science activities of the specific expedition, chosen specifically to achieve the mission’s goals. The rest of the crew, marine professionals and ocean drilling specialists, manage ship safety and operations.

Of five IODP expeditions launched since August of 2017, four have hosted EEPS scientists. The following pages recount their experiences of science at sea.

IODP 381 Corinth Active Rift Development (Autumn 2017-February 2018) Research Scientist Clint Miller (see the last issue of Outcroppings v. 2, no. 1, p. 30) Continental rifting impacts climate, deep life, geohazards and planetary dynamics. Drilling within the active Corinth Rift, Greece had been physically restricted from the JR, but coordinating with ECORD, IODP was able to employ a new type of ship to access the active rift.

The Corinth rift is characterized by high rates of deformation, but the geologic succession is well preserved and accessible, and drilling would be complimented by a complete database of high resolution fault network and seismic stratigraphy of the recent rift history. What made the Corinth Rift so important is that it offered access to sedimentary sequences of unprecedented precision timing and spatial complexity of rift-fault system development and rift-controlled drainage system evolution in the first 1-2 million years of a rift’s history.

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IODP 375 Hikurangi Subduction Margin (March 2018-May 2018) PROFESSOR JULI MORGAN The Hikurangi subduction zone is located at the northeastern corner of the island of New Zealand and exhibits processes called slow slip events (SSE). Hikurangi was selected because the SSE recur every ~2 years which will allow scientists to monitor changes in deformation rate and associated chemical and physical properties around SSE source area throughout an entire slow slip cycle. This location is unique because the slow slip zone lies very close to the subduction zone trench, probably the shallowest example of this type (down-dip slow slip) known in the world, and therefore in a location that can be reached by ocean drilling.

IODP 374 Ross Sea West Antarctic Ice Sheet History (January 2018-March 2018) POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW JEANINE ASH The Ross Sea West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) History Expedition would test modeled relationships between climatic change and subsequent ocean temperature changes on the evolution of the WAIS from data representing the Neogene through the Quaternary time periods. Models suggest that parts of Antarctica may be very sensitive to changes in ocean temperatures and subsequent sea level rise, so the expedition would test the predictability of the models over a range of climatic forces that would impact an ice sheet. The drilling sites would provide information about past Antarctic ice sheet location, the historic ocean chemistry and ice mass balance during periods when the past climate was warmer than the present.

IODP 371 Tasman Frontier Subduction Initiation and Paleogene Climate (July 2017-September 2017) PROFESSOR JERRY DICKENS (EXPEDITION CHIEF SCIENTIST) JOYETTA BHATTACHARYA (3RD YEAR PH.D. STUDENT) The Tasman Frontier expedition falls under the planetary dynamics category, and while broadly providing more information about the newly designated continent of Zealandia, the primary focus was to investigate the specific aspects of tectonic history of the new continent. The drilling mission would gather cores along a transect that included Norfolk Ridge, New Caledonia Trough, Lord Howe Rise and Tasman abyssal plain to constrain the timing and mechanism of initial development of the current Tonga-Kermadec subduction zone during the Eocene. As drilling had not been done previously, the younger seafloor sediments would provide information about the climate that may have been impacted by the changing tectonics as well as identify evidence of broader climate transitions that were taking place.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 57

Image: IODP/

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By Julia Morgan

ulia Morgan is a structural geologist specializing in the mechanics of geologic materials, in particular, marine sediments.

Her third IODP expedition, she sailed on Expedition 375 from March to May 2018, to drill into the Hikurangi Subduction Margin, located just offshore the eastern coast of New Zealand’s North Island. This portion of the margin has experienced repeated slow slip events, which are analogous to earthquakes, but they occur so slowly that they do not cause the devastating ground shaking, or possible tsunamis, that often accompany great earthquakes that occur along subducting margins. The big question is “Why do some portions of subduction zones experience earthquakes, but others do not. This expedition is one of several dedicated to answering that question.

The main goals of the expedition were twofold: (1) to recover rocks and sediments that will eventually enter the subduction zone and possibly contribute to slow slip generation, to understand what are the compositions, and their physical and mechanical properties, of the rocks that may be responsible for that behavior, and (2) to deploy two ocean bottom observatories in boreholes to monitor fluid flow and fluid chemistry within the prism in response to the next slow slip event. During the expedition, approximately 4 kilometers of core was recovered from four different drilling sites, providing a broad overview of the rock types and their properties, from the subduction zone to a nearby seamount.

Cores are split into working and archive portions. The scientists describe both the working and archive halves, and then sample the working half for follow-up studies.

58 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Serving as a shipboard scientist on a drill ship can be very exciting, as we listen for the intermittent call: “Core on Deck!” as an indication that there is something new, and probably different, to look at. Approximately 15 of the shipboard scientists are on shift at any one time, and when everyone crowds around the core description table, it can get quite busy and noisy, with chatter about what the cores show and what it means. But there can also be long periods in between those exciting moments, and these are readily filled by recreational activities (Ping-Pong, board games, movies, going to the gym, and friendly conversations), as well as report writing, ship tours and of course, sleep!

Image: IODP

Image: IODP

As one of four structural geologists on the expedition, I was responsible for examining the cores for any and all evidence of sediment and rock deformation, including faults, folds, and much more subtle features such as sediment fabrics (e.g., how colors, minerals, and grain sizes are distributed and oriented within the cores). With only an hour or two to study each ~10 meter long core, these observations could only be descriptive, but they provided a detailed log that could be used for subsequent analysis of the overall distribution of different types of features. And they also guide future post-cruise research on samples collected from the core by shipboard and shore-based researchers.

OFFSHORE RESEARCH

Image: IODP/Tim Fulton

These cups were carried down to depths over 1000 meters. Styrofoam shrinks when exposed to high water pressures, which increase with depth. Instead of elastic recoverable deformation, they experience permanent shrinkage. The effect is similar to what happens sediments beneath the seafloor, which also experience volume change due to burial, and this volume change is not recoverable, but rather permanent.

Life at sea can also become monotonous, governed by routine day after day. So it is exciting when the monotony is occasionally broken by marine visitors, such as whales, dolphins, seals and seabirds, or by beautiful sunrises and sunsets over an absolutely flat horizon, and on rare occasions, the sight of land in the distance. But it is also a different world, completely self-contained and occupied by ~135 people for up to two months at a time, with only slow and intermittent internet to communicate with the outside world. It is a time to focus, unhindered by other work or personal distractions, and a time to contemplate the vastness of the world’s oceans, which make up more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, and yet have barely been explored. 

Image: IODP

The time required to drill and recover a core depends on rock type and depth. Hard rocks (volcanic basalts, for example) are strong and resistant and so require extensive cutting. Then the core (in the plastic core barrel) must be pulled back up to the sea surface from the bottom of the drill hole, which also takes time. The shallowest sites with least lithified sediments could yield ~1 core every 30 mins; the deepest ones in hard rock might take 2-3 hrs between cores. The deepest site was U1520 at ~3500 m below sea level; the shallowest, U1519 was less than 1000 m deep.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 59

Image: IODP/Rosa Huges Currie

By Jeanine Ash

A

fter days of pitching, rolling and white-knuckled grasping for balance, we slide across the invisible Antarctic Circle and head toward our rendezvous with the ice-breaker Nathanial B. Palmer (NBP). We’ve been at sea for nearly a week now, taking a route few privileged humans ever see; from Christchurch, New Zealand down through the “roaring 40s” and “furious 50s” latitudes of the Southern Ocean. During the transit (when I was able to leave my bunk - Sadly, I am a seasick oceanographer), I enviously watched the albatross effortlessly gliding above the swells while my stomach flopped. At last, the NBP leads us safely through scant austral summer sea ice to the heart of the Ross Sea: here in these strangely calm and pond-like waters, we’ll delve for secrets of ice sheets and microbes.

Image: IODP/Mark Leckie

After days of pitching, rolling and whiteknuckled grasping for balance, we slide across the invisible Antarctic Circle and head toward our rendezvous with the ice-breaker Nathanial B. Palmer (NBP)

60 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

During the offshore phase of the International Ocean Discovery Program’s (IODP) 374th Expedition, we never see or set foot on the continent of Antarctica, but like astronomers listening for radio waves from galaxies they will never visit, we retrieve cores of sediment from the Ross Sea that will help us to interpret the history of West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The WAIS alone contains enough water to increase global sea level by as much as 10 feet, but how much the WAIS will contribute to sea level rise due to anthropogenic climate change - and how suddenly it can do so- is currently one of the largest sources of uncertainty for coastal communities, like Houston, facing rising waters in the decades to come.

My 30 collaborators at sea represent 13 nations. Among them are sedimentologists, diatomists, paleomagnetists, stratigraphers, paleoceanographers, geochemists and ice-sheet modelers.

We are targeting sediments from the Neogene. In this period of time beginning ~23 million years ago, clues from previous ocean coring expeditions tell us that sea level was highly variable during this time. The immensely cold waters and nearly year-round sea ice in waters offshore Antarctica have limited our ability to collect sediments close to this important source of the history of sea level variability. The records we collect here will help bridge the gap as we are targeting sediments close enough to WAIS that we will hopefully be able to directly link its past activity to records of global climate and sea level.

Image: IODP/Imogene Browne

OFFSHORE RESEARCH

Methane bubbles up inside a vial. Every time a new core comes on deck, I use a syringe to take a sterile sample and put it in a very high pH solution that halts biological activity. I get just as excited on the first sample (shown here) as the last one hundreds later.

Image: IODP/Jule Muller

My role on the ship is a bit different from the others. Within the last decades, our understanding of life below the seafloor has grown exponentially. There are microbes that live not just in the shallow subsurface a few meters below the seafloor, but as much as kilometers below it, in the barely explored ecosystem we call the “Deep Biosphere.”

It can be a place of great scarcity, where microbes must be piezophiles (pressure lovers) and chemolithoautrophs (chemical eaters) that live on the edge of thermodynamic possibility. Elsewhere, it can be a place of strange plenty, where geothermal gradients warm organic rich sediments and provide abundant food for hydrocarbon degraders (oil eaters). The lifestyles of these organisms and the circumstances they thrive in are so unusual, the vast majority of them are undiscovered, have not yet been cultured in the lab and may be only distantly related to microbial cousins in the ocean above.

Among the many reasons these curious lifeforms drag happy lab scientists out to sea – like the possibility they will be the source of the next wonder-drug, or the clues they provide to the origin of life, I am most interested in the role they play in global biogeochemical cycles. Two of my favorite microbes are methanogens and methanotrophs- methane makers and methane eaters. When other microbes have used up all the oxygen and other tasty treats like nitrate and iron, methanogens metabolize carbon and hydrogen, releasing methane. This microbial methane accumulates with deeper sources from thermogenic cracking of old organic matter to create a subseafloor reservoir of methane that is the largest on Earth. Then the methane eaters go to work. These microbes have a bacterial partner that help them break down methane as it diffuses, keeping this large reservoir trapped below the surface and out of our atmosphere as a potent greenhouse gas. Understanding the interplay between these two halves of the subseafloor methane cycle is what has brought me here, and in the coming months, microbiologist collaborators and I will apply methods of metagenomics and metabolomics (who is there and what are they doing?) as well as my own specialized tool, clumped isotopes of methane (how is it being made?) to push the limits of knowledge in this strange, dark environment.

Our expedition was carefully planned for the brief period of time when the Ross Sea is clear of sea ice, but there is always an ice watcher on duty, and we occasionally must stop coring to get out of the way of ice that floats in kilometerwide swaths. Though the sea ice disrupts our work, it brings with it the endless entertainment of penguins, seals and whales. We head out on the decks with glee whenever Captain Terry announces “whales off the starboard side!” and as we squint for the glistening black backs of orcas and minkes, star-shaped snowflakes accumulate on steel-toed boots. As the daylight grew shorter and February marched on, we began to head north again toward New Zealand through a parade of icebergs. I finally found my sea legs (and my sea stomach) in time to envy the albatross once more before the waters turned from the deep navy of the Southern Ocean to an unreal shade of bright emerald in the port of Lyttleton. 

A not-uncommon sight were icebergs- like this one spotted in the Ross Sea, approximately the size of the faculty parking lot behind the Wiess Geological Sciences building. This is a “clean berg,” but we were always looking for “dirty bergs” - those carry glacial dropstones and other clues from the continent.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 61

Image: IODP/Stephen Pekar

By Joyeeta Bhattacharya

I

My part of the mission would focus on carbon cycling recorded in the Paleogene aged sediments. The early Paleogene was warm and ice free with different atmospheric and oceanic chemistry.

During middle-late Eocene (50-34 Ma), the Earth experienced a transition from greenhouse to icehouse conditions and that major climate change is linked with global carbon cycling processes. The changes may also have some causal relationship with Pacific plate tectonic reorganization that occurred during this time.

Image: IODP/Tim Fultone

am Joyeeta Bhattacharya, a fourth-year Ph.D. student working with professor Gerald (Jerry) Dickens. I study 50-million-year-old sedimentary rocks from the deep ocean to understand how earth’s climate and the oceans differed in the past; how a much warmer earth (warmer than the present) evolved into a cooler planet with the present day ice capped poles and similar outstanding questions about the geological evolution of our planet.

The science goal was to understand the processes that were associated with the Tonga Kermadec subduction Initiation event, and to decipher if it is anyhow related to a major climate change event called the Early Eocene Climate Optimum (EECO). The EECO is a 2.5 million yearlong warm interval which has been identified as the warmest time in the last 65 million years of the Earth’s geologic history. The EECO coincides with the initiation of subduction in Tonga Kermadec region which is also coincidental with the Paleogene Pacific Plate Reorganization which makes this a fascinating area of geologic research. This region has also garnered much media attention since it was given the status of a new continent. Zealandia is unique among continents; only 4 percent of its landmass is exposed above sea level while the rest remains below the water as shallow continental shelf.

The expedition was led by Co-chief scientists Jerry Dickens (for his focus on chemical oceanography) and New Zealand’s Rupert Sutherland (for his focus on plate tectonics.) Dickens is collecting pore water for geochemical analysis and discussing expected outcomes from the ongoing drilling and whether they will match earlier seismic predictions.

From July to September 2017, I sailed in the south Pacific waters of the Tasman sea as a participating scientist aboard the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 371 to better understand the geologic history of the recently formalized submerged continent of Zealandia. IODP Expedition 371 brought together 31 participating scientists from 12 countries, supported by 30 technical science staff from IODP. 62 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

The six sites drilled (red spots above) during our expedition for exploring Zealandia are unique for the range of geological rocktypes sampled; from amygdaloidal basalts which erupted in the Paleogene crust of Zealandia, to Paleogene aged marine turbidite and slump deposits, indicating that this area was tectonically active ~50-40 million years ago. Organic rich claystones were obtained from the New Caledonia Trough region with some fossil evidence suggesting that the region was not always submerged.

Zealandia experienced periods of exposed land area that was much larger in geographical extent. Inferring more about the complete tectonic history of present day Zealandia constitutes the detailed onshore activities which are still in progress.

OFFSHORE RESEARCH

As one of eight sedimentologists, we were divided into two working groups, each covering 12 of the 24-hour ship operations. Everyone works for ~13 hours each day, with no weekends, yet despite the long hours, ocean science drilling is a one of a kind, vibrant and thrilling opportunity; well worth any hardship to do science from a remote location that few will ever see or experience.

Three types of coring techniques were applied during drilling operations of Expedtion 371. Rotary (RCB) drilling was done at sites with just one hole and relatively harder sediments. Piston coring was done at sites with multiple drill holes and for soft sediment recovery. The sediments/rocks were contained in cylindrical pipe shaped cores each about a 9.5 m long and then each core was divided into 7 sections. E ach core section was split along its length into two halves. One half, called the working half, is used by geochemists and geophysicists on board to carry out various scientific studies. The other half is archived and is not sampled for any destructive analytical study. The sedimentologists carry out their work on these archive sections.

Image: IODP/Tim Fulton

Image: IODP/Laia Alegret

My fundamental job was to describe the sedimentary cores that were obtained from sea floor drilling. This “onboard” work included taking high resolution images, measuring magnetism of the sediments and making both macroscopic and microscopic observations to describe the various lithological and biological components that make up the sediments/rocks. The results of those combined activities were used to assign a scientific name to the rock. Each core was then used to create the downhole

lithostratigraphic column which would establish a broad geologic history for a given site. Combined cores formed the lithostratigraphy for the region.

Image: IODP/ Michele Drake

Living and working at sea is an altogether different life experience for a scientist. Waves up to six feet crashing against the ship can suspend drilling operations until the ship is moved a safe distance away from a storm. Apart from the occasional roller-coaster ride, most days are calm, the sky and the waters a perfect color of blue. The open ocean is absolutely enthralling. We could spot curious whales, dolphins and beautiful birds during the day and now bioluminescent squids and the Milky Way Galaxy at night!

Sailing as a scientist on IODP Expedition 371 has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. Apart from learning to do better science, it has also given me great sense of leadership and real time problem-solving skills. I am a better scientist for having sailed on Expedition 371. 

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 63

ALUMNI EVENTS - Traveling Owls

In 2018

DEEPS continues to partner with Rice’s Traveling Owls programs. Faculty in our department have served hosts and guides for trips to Belize (Andre Droxler), Manitoba, Canada (Cin-Ty Lee), Iceland (Helge Gonnerman) and an upcoming train trip is scheduled in September to Canada with Julia Morgan. In 2019, Professor Cin-Ty Lee will host a trip to Madagascar. Traveling Owls trips are run by highly reputable tour companies. You will be taken good care of!

Polar Bears & Beluga Whales In July, department chair Cin-Ty Lee accompanied Rice Traveling Owls in search of polar bears and beluga whales in Churchill, Canada, on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay. small town on the banks of the Hudson Bay is a summer home for these majestic animals, who spend the warmer seasons on the local shores before returning to the pack ice of the North Pole when it forms in early winter. In summer, this area is also home to more than 60,000 beluga whales and a fascinating variety of other wildlife. The group had amazing views of polar bears, pods of belugas, migrating shorebirds and waterfowl, and great geology.

Above: Traveling owls group photo Above left: Polar bear swimming through Hudson Bay. Image by CinTy Lee (note super telephoto zoom hanging from the shoulder of C.T. Leein the group image.) Cin-Ty did not swim with the bears or whales.

Below: Crack-seal en echelon quartz veins in Proterozoic quartzites.

Images: Cin-Ty Lee

Images courtesy of Cin-Ty Lee

64 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Iceland In July, EEPS faculty Helge Gonnerman accompanied Rice Traveling Owls to the island of Iceland, which holds the world’s only exposed mid-ocean spreading ridge in the world. Starting in Reykjavík, Gonnerman and Rice alumni travelled around the entire island, from the interior sites including the famous Gullfoss Falls (below left), to northern seas for whale watching from Húsavík (below right.)

Images courtesy of Charlie Green and Helge Gonnerman

UPCOMING TRIPS

Madagascar Join Cin-Ty Lee as an alum or friend of Rice on a wildlife and geologic tour of Madagascar, August 3-19, 2019. On this trip, we will explore Madagascar’s diverse landscape of spiny desert, tropical moist and dry forests, and mountainous terrain in search of Madagascar’s renowned creatures, botanical and geological marvels. To sign up, go to the Traveling Owls website (alumni.rice.edu).

For more information about these trips, and to view a complete 2018 Traveling Owls catalog please visit www.alumni.rice.edu/travelingowls

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 65

STUDENT PAGES

DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES

GeoUnion Report

by Eric Barefoot

A

s the final exams are completed, and term papers turned in, every student’s mind turns to the summer.

The promise of a break from classes, a much sought-after internship, or a critical field season makes summer one of the most exciting times to be a graduate student. It’s during summer that we often make our fastest strides in our research. It’s during summer that we take advantage of flexible schedules to visit beautiful places with “science” as an excuse. The summer is our chance to stretch out and relish the best parts of being a student.

So bright is the light at the end of the spring semester, that January through May are a blur of preparation for the promised months. But in that time, Geounion has had thrown parties, supported student initiatives, and worked to promote geoscience outreach. Before the memory of the spring fades, it’s worth reflecting on the success and shortcomings of the last semester.

Rice students made a strong showing at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in New Orleans this year, and I know that many of us came back to Houston fired up for research and outreach. Strongly motivated by current attitudes toward science funding in the government, many students, supported by Geounion, have taken part in a teaching initiative known as EEPS Reach. Led through the tireless work of Alana Semple, these students have gone to local schools using their charisma and passion for the geosciences to show younger students that learning about the environment is important.

This semester, Geounion worked to foster a community amongst graduate students in the department. The cornerstone of this effort was the annual Crawfish Boil, orga-

Geounion 2018-2019 Cabinet: Trevor Cole - President Jules Spector - Vice President Mariaisabel Johnston - Social Chair Michael Lara - Outreach Coordinator Asmita Banerjee - Treasurer

66 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

nized jointly with the Biosciences Department and Valhalla.

EEPS students took a major leadership role in the planning and execution of this event. Two of our own, Trevor Cole and Patrick Phelps, were even crowned next year’s Crawfish Boilmasters. Credit for less glamorous work behind the scenes goes to all those who helped clean and sort crawfish, and especially to those who stayed behind to pick up after everyone else had gone home.

Even so, we are always looking for students to get more involved in departmental activities.Those who volunteer their time and energy to enrich the student experience here in EEPS are a small and dedicated elite crew. I strongly encourage students who may not have volunteered in the past to get involved. Graduate students in EEPS have a rich set of experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds and we want you to share yours with everyone. It is Geounion’s responsibility to foster inclusion and involvement from all students in the department, and this is a clear shortcoming of this year’s leadership. This will be a major focus of the next Geounion leadership, so reach out to them with your ideas, and when they offer opportunities to involve yourself, take them!

Proof of the impact of student involvement can be seen in the success of GIESS, the Graduate Interdisciplinary Earth Science Seminar. Spearheaded by Andrew Moodie, the program has drastically increased attendance for student research presentations to the department, and survey responses indicate that the changes have been viewed very favorably overall. This is an example of the kind of innovative work that graduate students are doing to enhance the department with the support of Geounion.

I look forward to new programs, social events, and opportunities initiated under the guidance of the next Geounion Cabinet! It is with great pleasure that I pass the torch to Trevor Cole, the incoming Geounion President, who I am certain will build on the work of the past, and promote new and exciting ideas.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this a fantastic year.

Have a productive, fun, and life-changing summer, and let’s make the next year even better!

AAPG Report

by Joyeeta Bhattacharya & Rice AAPG Committee

EEPS students attended a field trip to the Houston offices of ALS Oil and Gas with Mr. Jim Tucker (Field Instructor.)

T

he 2018 academic year was a year of roller coaster rides for a few of us from the greater Houston area. Though natural forces like that of Hurricane Harvey upset plans and created challenges for the fall, we faced them with brave hearts and overcame them with smiles. Some of the important yearly events of AAPG Students’ Chapter did not occur due to these unforeseen circumstances.

Spring 2018 was better, even with the ice storm at the beginning of the semester, and the AAPG Rice Students’ Chapter successfully conducted a field trip to an ALS location in Houston. The committee continues to develop more opportunities to increase the frequency of such trips, which aim to provide a platform for students to interact with industry professionals and ultimately increase employment opportunities for EEPS students.

Several departmental graduate students along with the alumni coordinator, Martha Lou Broussard, made it to the AAPG annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they interacted with many members of AAPG from around the nation.

The AAPG Students’ Chapter would like to thank the 20172018 committee members for the time and effort they put in forwarding the chapter towards a better future.

President (s): Harsh Vora and Rahul Sudhakar Vice President (s): Joyeeta Bhattacharya and Chenliang Wu Treasurer: Minglong Pan Secretary (s): Celine Fliedner and Sizhuang Deng Professional Science Representative: Chia-Jui (Renn) Chang

EEPS students with Mr. Jim Tucker in front of core CT (X-ray computed tomography) scanner inside the ALS core laboratory facility.

AAPG would also like to welcome and congratulate the newly elected 2018-2019 Chapter Committee for the coming academic year.

President (s): Chenliang Wu and Rahul Sudhakar Vice President (s): Joyeeta Bhattacharya and Trevor Cole Treasurer: Sizhuang Deng Secretary: Celine Fliedner Professional Science Representative: Mariaisabel Johnston

The new committee aims to make RIGS—Rice Industry Geoscience Series—a success in the fall semester of 2018, enabling graduate students to interact with industry professionals at on-campus sessions including resume reviews.

They will also be actively involved in the AAPG Students’ Expo (in August/September of 2018). Most importantly, AAPG is also currently making plans to organize a geological field trip for students with the help of industry professionals. The plans are currently in process and more information is coming soon on this long-awaited AAPG Geological Field Trip.

We hope this year that the AAPG Students’ Chapter can bring out the best and continue developing the bridge between the excellent academia of our department with the vivid opportunities of oil and gas and related industries in Houston.

We have updated our website: www.earthscience.rice.edu/aapg/

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 67

OUTREACH

DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES

Outreach Report

Text and Images by Laura Carter, Ph.D.

EEPS Reach Over 365 students in as many days would be impressive, but this past Spring EEPS Reach, the Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences grad-student run and Rice GradStarter-funded outreach program, taught that many students in just 4 days’ time!

The new EEPS Reach program, headed by 2017-2018 Geounion Outreach Coordinator and 3rd year Ph.D. student Alana Semple with the help of recent Ph.D. graduate Laura Carter and overseen by EEPS science communicator Linda Welzenbach, began quietly. The first request from local schools was a Saturday engagement at a local HISD school consisting of four 30-minute sessions with about 6-8 kids each, focusing on sediment transport. The team- including Semple, Carter and 2nd year Ph.D. student Patrick Phelps- focused on a hands-on sandbox demonstration and rock identification with 5th grade students.

Alana Semple (left) and Patrick Phelps (right) help HISD students improve their Earth Science knowledge with a hands-on lab about erosion and deposition using an EEPS Reach-made miniature delta activity.

At the annual Sally Ride Reach for the Stars Festival for Girls in STEM, Rice EEPS was represented by Laura Carter, Sriparna Saha and Jules Spector manning a table where at least 50 elementary aged girls and parents could learn about plate tectonics using Oreos, identify fossils, try floating pumice, and learn that the Earth’s interior is GREEN. There were several repeat visitors who expressed a love of geology, many who have rock collections. Teachers took notes on the activities for future use in their classrooms.

The afternoon was lesson time. Interested students could elect to visit one of two geology classrooms. Carter and Spector went over a module developed for EEPS Reach about water in Texas, coving Houston floodplains to the gulf coast, for which approximately 30 students made an edible aquifer. In the second classroom, Semple and Saha taught about the Earth’s interior using a module Semple developed for her final project in the EEPS department’s new Earth Science Communication class led by Carter and Welzenbach.

68 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Sriparna Saha (middle image) and Laura Carter (bottom) engage middle school students with the oreo-plate tectonics lab activity at the Reach for the Star Stem Festival held at Rice.

....In Action

Students (Asmita Banerjee in front of the rock) from Earth Science Communication class practice their tour of rocks on Rice’s campus for their final project.

Just two days later, several Ph.D. students including Semple, Saha, Phelps, Carter, Geounion president Eric Barefoot, 5th year Brandee Carlson, and 2nd year Michael Lara, tag-teamed to cover 3 7th-grade classrooms at a local middle school for 2 entire days. That meant twelve 85-minute classes, with ~30 students each. The 360 studentschallenging mix of excited, eager, short-attention spanned, curious, hungry for lab materials and knowledge- were taught the Texas water module using edible aquifer, settling bottle, and wave tank labs with worksheets they had to fill out.

The following weekend several students, including Carter, Semple and Saha, volunteered as mentors for the 2nd Scouts n’ Science day, wherein ~40 Girl Scouts were invited on to campus to go on tours of graduate student research labs and learn about careers in STEM. It was a very fulfilling day with lots of eager young girls, great questions from the kids and the parents chaperoning them, and the EEPS students even learned about other graduates’ research on campus as every mentor was paired with another from a different department.

The first semester of EEPS Reach has been a very busy, very successful one that continues to move towards its goal of bridging the Rice EEPS community with the local Houston community around geological awareness, culminating in the design of a logo for official T-Shirts.

If you are looking for Earth Science lessons or outreach events, you can reach us through our website at: www. earthscience.rice.edu/outreach/eeps-reach/ Contact the EEPS Reach chair Alana Semple at: ags7@rice.edu.

Jules Specter (middle image) and Laura Carter (this image) engage with middle-school students at Reach for the Stars and Scouts and Girls Stem Festival respectively held at Rice University.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 69

OUTREACH

DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES

In April, EEPS newest faculty and planetary scientist Kirsten Siebach led an outreach program for 5th and 8th grade robotics club students from the Village School, a Chevron STEM outreach partner school.

Chevron reached out to Kirsten following her keynote talk at the AAPG ICE meeting in 2017. Kirsten started the event in EEPS newly renovated Chevron Visualization laboratory, with a lecture on the nuts and bolts of Mars mission planning, including new images sent by the Curiosity rover.

MARSBOUND! MISSION TO THE RED PLANET

This activity was created by the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Public Outreach program that designs classroom tools for educators.

Student teams are tasked with designing a mission to Mars. Tasks include developing a science question that requires a technical design solution.

The education module provides mission specific communication systems, computer systems, and scientific instrument packages that students prioritize while making trade-offs to remain within the limits of mass, power and cost. The goals of the exercise are team problem solving and to gain an awareness of the processes made by scientists and engineers when developing actual missions to Mars.

70 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Text and photos by Linda Welzenbach

Credits: AGU

From steadily growing interest by the scientific community and ever increasing demand from educators and policy makers, science communication has become the need of the hour.

Doctoral candidate Sriparna Saha was selected by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) for their inaugural Voices for Science Program. The program will empower scientists to share the value and impact of Earth and space science with key decision makers, journalists, and public audiences, with the goal of increasing the widespread understanding and support of science. Sriparna is one of 30 scientists selected from a competitive applicant pool for her demonstrated leadership and potential to positively influence the local community. The Voices for Science provides participants with numerous resources, but is notable for its unique mentoring program focused on communications and policy and hands-on support from AGU staff. All participants attended an all-expense paid inaugural workshop held in Washington D.C in April 2018.

In addition to professional development, the workshop participants produced a session proposal titled “Why American Geophysical Union Scientists Study the Earth and Space” for the AGU Fall meeting to be held on December 10-14 in Washington D.C. Sriparna has been invited to speak for the afore-mentioned session, where she will be presenting her research to geoscientists across diverse fields.

-Sriparna Saha

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 71

DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES

pellets.

This issue of OwlPellets captures the natural artistry, faunal diversity and conversational reflectivity of our faculty, students and alumni.

Enjoy!

Telling Stories I remember taking “Field Investigations” with Dr. Helge Gonnermann in 2012. We learned how to go up to an outcrop, make observations, take measurements, and occasionally draw a picture.

After making observations, the next task was, and still is, the difficult one for me because the professor invariably asks, “Now that we’ve seen the outcrop, who can tell me what happened here?” This question baffled me for years. However, I believe the quality of your answer to that question is what makes a great geologist.

My Dad is not a great geologist, but he does have some related skills. He is the one who first taught me about the “Law of Uniformitarianism”. When he tells a story he will often say, “This story is from the past, but it teaches us about the present.” My Dad is a country pastor who has spent his whole career telling stories to help people make sense out of life. He shares anecdotes about heroes, struggles, defeat, and the occasional victory. Although I know he does not fully understand life, I enjoy his simple stories.

I am working on a master’s thesis in Stable Isotope Geochemistry and it seems that research can be so distant from my first days at an outcrop. As the tools for data collection continue to get more and more sophisticated, it is easy to ignore my field notebook and only pay attention what the Mass Spec is saying. As the lab equipment gets more and more expensive, I find that the ability to interpret data and communicate a simple story remains my most valuable asset. Some prefer a complex lecture when they go to their religious service; I find that I learn more from one my Dad’s simple stories.

When I graduated from Rice University I felt that I had learned very little, only scratching the surface of the geosciences. I know now that with a surface-level knowledge of geology and a bit of intuition, I can convince people that I understand the inner workings of the Earth. My Dad and I are both working in interpretation. While he tells old stories, I search for stories in the present that teach about the past.

-Caleb MCBride B.S. 2014

72 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

PENCIL AND COMPRESSED CHARCOAL DRAWING BY PH.D. STUDENT TIAN DONG. “I spend most of my time working in the KWGL building doing my research, and as a result, my hair is taking on the shape of the channel network of the Selenga River delta. This is my field site. While half of my face is realistic, the other half is a hollow structure that represents how the real part of myself both transitions and transforms into a channel network. The coiled objects hanging off the lower branches demonstrate balance.”

- Tian Dong

Image credit: USGS Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 73

pellets. EEPS

PETROLOGY

Sandra Flechsig - Graycie and Georgie are stray babies who adopted us in August 2016, and are now beautiful, full-grown cats.

Brandee Carlson – Olive is president of the Bad Girls Club.

Laura Carter - My curious orange tabby, Tyrellite, or Ty for short, named after a rare copper mineral) a rescue who loves to snuggle and eat--just like his human!

Adrian Lenardic - Name: Spartacus (1 of 3 lenardawgs) This is Spartacus. He has lots of theories.

Muni Zulkifli - Millidarcy or Darcy for short (named after the unit for permeability flow) is a GSP who loves running at the reservoirs, swimming, hunting birds and squirrels, and digging backyard holes to China.

Mary Ann Lebar – This is BF Higgs (aka Bugs), named after the god particle. However, he has a goofy personality, it occurred to me that his real character was more like that of Bugs Bunny.

Colin Zelt - This is Max and Ruby, 8-yearold rescues who are siblings.

Cailey Condit - Daphne the dog

Linda Welzenbach- Currently weighing in at 22 pounds, the big black blob (akaFootus rex) is Dexter. A Maine Coon who beats the Texas heat on his back.

74 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Trevor Cole - Hi my name is Everest, Poopa-loop and sometimes Fatty. I enjoy eating burritos but more importantly looking like one... Maybe that’s why my name is Fatty.

Travis Swanson - Maggie loves walks, napping and eating lost Cheetos at Valhalla.

Tian Dong - This is Nala (right) and Piston (left). Nala is a Harvey rescue and Piston is her sidekick.

Pedram Hassanzadeh- Here is Joey, sitting on his favorite book “Advancing Weather and Climate Science”. He likes sun and birds and once caught a mouse, but let it go.

Cin-Ty Lee - Basil

Lauren Simkins - Black one - Ferrari loves the beach and bathing in the sun and has a strong opposition to window blinds and lint rollers.

Eric Barefoot - Name: Bay Leaf I don’t know what bay leaves actually taste like, but I know that my soup would not be complete without it.

Dale Sawyer - This is Islay, our rescue wire-haired something something. She is named for the Isle of Islay, Scotland, home of some of the world’s best single malt Scotches.

Lauren Simkins - Gray one - Enzo’s favorite place to be is on a bed, preferably with a pillow to rest his head. He will sniff out a squirrel at all costs.

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 75

pellets. EEPS

T

PETROLOGY

The Mighty Brazos

hirteen years ago, John Anderson and his students pulled up to the bank of the Brazos River. This particular spot, long used as a dumping ground for just about everything, featured a textbook-worthy point bar buttressing the opposite bank, making it an annual stop for John’s undergraduate sedimentology class. On what would be a fateful trip, the class was greeted by a skinny, flea-ridden mutt.

He was very friendly, but more importantly, he happened to be the very color of the river they were visiting. The dog followed the group, listening intently to the discussion held at the point bar. When the group hiked over to a sand pit along the bank, the dog continued to follow along, indicating an inherent interest in the sedimentology. As the class returned to the vehicles, without warning, the dog hopped in a car. Graduate student assistant, Kristy Milliken (Ph.D. ’07), took pity on the furry hitchhiker, insisting that if the dog could continue on the trip for the rest of the day, she would find him a home upon returning to Houston.

The next stop was another sand pit along the Brazos. However, this one was filled with very shallow water and a lot of bullfrogs. As soon as the vehicle doors swung open, the dog flew out of the car and began to hunt frogs. As he pounced on frogs in the pit, it became evident that it was filled not with water, but with a soupy red clay. The dog was completely covered in mud. Hi new hero Kristy ran into the pit after him, joining the mutt in the red clay.

To this day, John claims that Kristy’s ulterior motive was for John to keep the dog, so she never looked too hard for another home. After a few weeks, and one costly vet visit later, the pup became the newest addition to the Anderson family. Naturally, they named him Brazos.

Brazos is a unique and independent dog. He takes this independence seriously- so much so that he doesn’t want to sit on the couch with anyone–in fact, he fights to stay off it. While he is friendly by nature, he is not the affectionate lap dog. He also isn’t a ‘go to work’ kind of dog. John tried this once, and when he left Brazos in the office during his lecture, everyone could hear his incessant yelps ringing through the halls.

76 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Images courtesy of John Anderson

That evening, as the group returned to Rice, Kristy informed John that her apartment had a no-pet policy. Following a stern warning to Kristy that she needed to find a home for the dog, John agreed to shelter him for one night. John was then left standing in the parking lot with the wily mutt. When his wife, Doris, pulled up to take John home, the first thing out of her mouth was, ‘No way!’ To the dog’s oblivious delight, he went home with them. The next day passed without a successful rehoming for the dog. John’s generous nature prevailed, so the pup got to stay a little longer. That night, John decided to treat Doris to a nice steak dinner. As John prepared the meat, the dog sat at his feet as his faithful companion. Not surprisingly, the moment John turned his back, the dog seized the opportunity to devour one of the steaks! Yet something about the dog’s mischief attracted John. Doris certainly didn’t feel the same way– particularly after the steak incident.

B

razos also keeps a rebel-rousing agenda. He is well acquainted with the Jamaica Beach police and neighbors of John’s Galveston homestead. Any time the fence is left open (which is an often occurrence when the grandkids are over), Brazos takes the opportunity to go on an adventure. Retrieving Brazos has at times required the entire beach village. Several years ago, a neighbor saw Brazos running down the street and alerted John. John jumped in his golf cart and set off to catch him. Once Brazos caught sight of John, he took evasive action, darting through yards to avoid him. The police force in Jamaica Beach caught wind of Brazos’ escape and joined the hunt.

Finally, a police radio transmission announced that Brazos was located along Pelican Way. John raced over in his cart, along with three other police officers, to find Brazos being held at bay by two more officers. The entirety of the Jamaica police department had joined the search and apprehension party.

Outside of his escape and evade adventures, Brazos keeps his hunting skills honed. Once, as two seagulls staged a fight over food in front of the Anderson household, Brazos immediately went into fierce hunting mode. Crouched low and crawling his way toward the gulls, neither bird saw his approach. The gull fight suddenly ended with one bird taking off while the other got the food prize. As the victorious bird attempted to fly off with his spoils, Brazos jumped into the air and grabbed the gull out of the sky. Brazos then dutifully presented the gull to John just as a strange man approached the scene. John feared that this person was from the Audubon society, coming to scold him about Brazos’ catch. However, the man simply said, “that your dog? I’ve never seen anything like that!” For the record, Brazos has also put a good dent in the grackle population of Jamaica Beach.

The fearlessness that exemplifies Brazos can occasionally land him in trouble. Once, John was sitting with Brazos when they heard a clamor. Brazos ran downstairs with John following close behind. The racket was two raccoons scuffling. When they saw Brazos, they turned and ganged up on him. Then hair really started to fly.

John picked up a stick and shooed the raccoons away, one of which left behind a trail of blood. Brazos was also wounded in the battle, so much so that John had to carry him back up the stairs. The poor pup didn’t move all night. A visit to the vet the following morning revealed that Brazos was covered with tiny puncture wounds. It turns out that raccoons continuously and repeatedly bite rather than rip flesh, so Brazos’ muscle tissue was pierced hundreds of times. To the delight of the Andersons, Brazos survived his raccoon scuffle, among many other escapades.

At approximately 14 years old, Brazos is the first to welcome visitors to the Anderson home. He even lets the grandkids lasso and ride him. His hips are showing their age, but thanks to an outdoor cargo lift installed outside the Jamaica Beach residence, Brazos doesn’t need to take the stairs anymore. His best days are spent visiting the west side of Galveston Island where he can roam free and roll over dead fish. It’s a lifestyle that keeps his tail wagging.

Once, John took Brazos back to the point bar where it all began. Brazos didn’t seem to remember his past life or his old haunt. He didn’t even seem interested in sedimentology anymore. But just like the first time, as John was ready to leave, Brazos jumped in the car, and together, they went home.

- Brandee Carlson Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 77

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Texas Petrographic Services Inc. Thin and Polish Sections Preparation

GEORGE CHALHOUB

OWNER

12520 Market Street Houston, TX 77015 713-330-1018 texaspetrographic.com TEXASROCKS1@GMAIL.COM

Dedicated to the education of geophysics through STEM, K-12 outreach, scholarships, continuing education and professional development

The Geophysical Society of Houston • is currently the largest section of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (over 2000 members) • encourages and supports scientific, educational, and charitable activities to benefit geophysicists • sponsors more then 100 technical and social events each year • provides opportunities for professional growth and the strengthening of business connections If you live in Houston, work in Houston or travel to Houston for business, it pays to be a member of the Geophysical Society of Houston.

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78 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

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Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 79

!

EEPSCIENCE NOW

Rice Scientists Seek Seismic Data from Kilauea Eruption Text by Laura Carter, Ph.D. Images by Julia Morgan, Ph.D.

F

ootage of Hawaiian lava flows has flooded the news since early May, when Kilauea volcano oozed through neighborhoods following a 6.9-magnitude earthquake that shook the area. Continuing until just a couple weeks ago, rivers of lava built up the Big Island of Hawaii with the addition of fresh crust, while subsequent seismic activity brought additional scrutiny to an active landslide on its flank. With scientists from Western Washington University and the University of Rhode Island, Rice Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences professor Julia Morgan and her doctoral student David Blank saw an opportunity to investigate what was happening to the flank off-shore. Through an NSF RAPID grant, they engaged a small vessel to place seismometers on the seafloor, with the goal of recording any more aftershocks or earthquakes induced by the eruption and any shifting they might trigger in the landslide, known as the Hilina Slump.

Kilauea lava flow and ocean entry as veiwed during a helicopter reconnaissance flight.

Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, has been erupting almost continuously since the 1980s, although the current rise in activity has destroyed over 700 homes. “If you’re following the flows, you can look down and watch the lava tear across the countryside,” Morgan said in Rice University’s press release about the eruption that they were able to view via helicopter while there, which she called “an extraordinary opportunity.” While the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which oversees the Hawaii Volcano Observatory, records ground-based motion, the seismometers acquired for this study are the first to be deployed underwater, not far from Kilauea’s lava ocean entry. Morgan, who took the night shift to conduct bathymetric mapping, could see the red glow of the eruption. “You see these littoral explosions as the lava is flowing into the ocean. You might get a big pulse of lava and suddenly it gets cooled and quenched so rapidly that it just explodes up into the air.”

80 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Blank worked days, helping to deploy the 12 seismic instruments, which will monitor the effect of tremors on the offshore flanks of the volcano. A structural geologist and geomechanicist, Morgan studies how rocks and sediments, i.e., strata, deform, to cause faulting and folding. “Essentially, Kilauea is a bulldozer sliding out on the ocean crust and scraping off packages of strata that have accumulated,” Morgan explained.

The team also mapped out the size and location of the slump, determining how its shape (morphology) has been altered by the earthquake, while its seaward slip may be picked up by the seismometers.

David Blank is ready to deploy the 12 seismometers that will collect submarine earthquake data for the next two months.

Before coming to Rice, Morgan worked at University of Hawaii Manoa researching the active Hilina slump on Kilauea, along with the ancient Nu’uanu Landslide off the island of Oahu, the largest known on Earth, which shifted debris 120 miles from its origin and likely resulted in a catastrophic tsunami that reached as far as the West Coast of the contiguous United States.

Although evidence suggests long intervals (50-100 thousand years) between past landsliding events, this project, addressing present-day concerns over tsunami hazards from the Hilina Slump, will help scientists better understand the impact associated with future eruptions of Kilauea volcano. Although she believes a collapse is not imminent, the seismometers will help pinpoint active faults in the slump and allow the scientists to investigate what, where and why deformation is occurring to better predict when, where and why failure might occur.

David Blank and Julia Morgan in front of the ship from which they conducted bathymetric mapping of the boundaries of the Hilina slump and deploy the seismometers .

Although the mapping survey aboard the University of Hawaii’s R/V Ka’imikai-OKanaloa lasted only a week, the instruments will collect data until September, after which the team will analyze the data to understand the eruptions’ effects on Kilauea’s flanks. “They’re still going on,” Morgan said of the earthquakes. “Nature is doing what nature does.” But with this investigation, improvements could be made to predictions and preparations for the various natural hazards Hawaii’s volcanic eruptions present, besides the dangerous lava flows Morgan and Blank observed from their unique vantage point, floating on the Pacific. 

Summer 2018 • Outcroppings 81

Rice University Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences KWGL, MS-126 6100 Main Street Houston, TX 77005

John Anderson and students on a ESCI class field trip to Whidbey Island, Washington in April 2011.

Photo by Alex Witus 82 Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences