Down to Earth 2023

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FROM THE DIRECTOR GREETINGS FRIENDS & ALUMNI! This annual publication highlights a fraction of the groundbreaking research happening in Geology and Geophysics at the University of Utah. We acknowledge award winners like graduate student Kevin Mendoza, who is using magnetotellurics, a specific subfield of geophysics, to measure water entrained in the geologic water cycle and has important consequences for plate tectonics.

Recipient of the 2023 University of Utah Teaching Assistantship Award, Kevin has developed python programming-based core curriculum for undergraduates.

We’re also highlighting a faculty member (Fan-Chi Lin) who’s analyzing ambient seismic noise measurements to elucidate groundwater storage of snowpack melt in the Great Salt Lake basin

D OWN TO EA RTH

and aid water resource management as well as his work on what’s been termed a “thumping thermometer” in Yellowstone National Park (on the cover). Keith Koper (Director of Seismograph Stations) is diving into the interactions between human activity and induced earthquakes. Other faculty research is also featured in this issue.

Some of our professors are involved in ambitious interdisciplinary collaborations as well. One group is investigating the role of groundwater in sustaining the Great Salt Lake in the face of drought, while another is piecing together the story of the last ice age glaciers in the American West.

A team focused on critical minerals is even searching in Utah's coal for rare earth elements needed for technology and renewable energy.

We're also proud that Brenda

| Department of Geology & Geophysics

Bowen was awarded a National Science Foundation ADVANCE grant to promote women faculty in STEM fields. She leads by example through her outstanding environmental geology program as well as her new position as chair of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences. Brenda has also been awarded a Geological Society of America (GSA) Fellowship, joining a cadre of GSA Fellows within our department (Cari Johnson, Marjorie Chan, Gabe Bowen, Thure Cerling, Jeff Moore, Kip Solomon, among others).

Beyond research, we have students getting invaluable field experience during summer trips exploring iconic Utah destinations like the Courthouse Towers rock formation near Moab. Scenes from their expeditions frequently grace the cover of our alumni magazine and our website.

Finally, we are awaiting the final results of the NSF Regional Innovation Engines competition that could bring a major research hub to our department and state.

Wish us luck!

There are too many research, teaching and outreach efforts to

recount here. All of this requires your help, and I want to thank our generous donors who support scholarships, field work, graduate fellowships, and other essential programs. We earnestly request your continued support this year to enrich our next generation of earth science leaders.

Sincerely,

William (Bill) Johnson

RECOGNITION DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR | 2022 ROSENBLATT AWARD THURE CERLING CRIMSON CLUB HALL OF FAME | FOUNDERS DAY

Cover: Doublet Pool in Yellowstone National Park.

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD ANKE FRIEDRICH

Down To Earth is the official magazine

NEW CHAIR, DEPARTMENT OF ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES BRENDA BOWEN

of the Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Utah, published in partnership with Marketing &

TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIP AWARD

Communications, College of Science.

KEVIN MENDOZA EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AWARD GABRIEL BOWEN

Associate Director of Marketing &

FULBRIGHT U.S. SCHOLAR FOR 2023-2024 RANDALL IRMIS

Communications: Bianca Lyon Writer & Editor: David Pace Designer/Photographer: Todd Anderson

IN MEMORIAM MARTA SUTTON WEEKS-WULF

Follow us on social media @uofugeo or University of Utah Geology and Geophysics

1930 - 2023 HELLMUT HANS DOELLING

1930 - 2023

Prefer only a digital version of

ALAN DAVID RIGBY

1969 - 2024

Down To Earth? Send us an email.

You can read more at earth.utah.edu

info@geo.utah.edu

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR | 2023

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by PAUL GABRIELSEN

WHILE THE CROWDS SWARM

found, is Yellowstone’s thumping

reaches of the hydrothermal conduit,

AROUND OLD FAITHFUL TO

thermometer.

they collapse suddenly. Thump.

A LITTLE POOL JUST NORTH

“By studying Doublet Pool, we are

A similar process happens in geysers

OF YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL

hoping to gain knowledge on the

and excites “hydrothermal tremor,”

PARK’S MOST FAMOUS GEYSER

dynamic hydrothermal processes

Lin explains, but occurs deeper in

IS QUIETLY SHOWING OFF ITS

that can potentially be applied to

the hydrothermal system, at depths

OWN UNIQUE ACTIVIT Y, ALSO

understand what controls geyser

of about 30 to 60 feet and ends

AT MORE-OR-LESS REGUL AR

eruptions,” says Lin, “and also less

with the geyser releasing pressure

SHOWTIMES.

predictable and more hazardous

through a narrow opening as an

hydrothermal explosions.”

eruption. Doublet Pool does not have

WAIT FOR ITS NEXT ERUPTION,

Instead of erupting in a towering

a plumbing structure that enables

geyser, though, Doublet Pool cranks

NOT EXACTLY LIKE A GEYSER

pressure accumulation and hence

up the bass every 20 to 30 minutes by

“We knew Doublet Pool thumps

no eruption occurs. Also, scientific

thumping. The water vibrates and the

every 20-30 minutes,” continues Lin,

instruments placed in and around

ground shakes.

“but there was not much previous

the pool aren’t at any risk for being

knowledge on what controls the

regularly blown out.

Doublet Pool’s regular thumping is

variation. In fact, I don’t think many

more than just an interesting tourist

people actually realize the thumping

So, to better understand how

attraction. In a study led by Fan-Chi

interval varies. People pay more

hydrothermal systems work, Lin and

Lin, associate professor and co-author

attention to geysers.”

his colleagues, including Cheng-Nan

of a paper published in Geophysical

Liu, Jamie Farrell, and Sin-Mei Wu

Research Letters, researchers show

The thumping, Lin says, which lasts

from the U and collaborators from

that the interval between episodes

about 10 minutes, is caused by

the University of California, Berkeley

of thumping reflects the amount

bubbles in the plumbing system that

and Yellowstone National Park, set up

of energy heating the pool at the

feeds water, heated by a magma

instruments called geophones around

bottom, as well as in indication of how

system beneath Yellowstone, to

Doublet Pool in seven deployments

much heat is being lost through the

Doublet Pool. When those bubbles

between 2015 and 2021. In winter 2021

surface. Doublet Pool, the authors

of water vapor reach the cool upper

and spring 2022, with the permission

D OWN TO EA RTH

| Department of Geology & Geophysics

of the National Park Service, they

Geyser Hill may have been turned

harder for the system to accumulate

lowered temperature and water-level

up more than usual. By 2021, like an

enough energy to thump,” Lin says.

sensors into the pool itself. Then they

Instant Pot on natural release, that

“One possibility is that the pool is

watched, waited, and listened.

heat and pressure had subsided and

actively convecting so the cooling near

the silence interval at Doublet Pool

the surface can affect the bottom of

had recovered.

the pool in a relatively short time scale.”

Focusing on the silence interval,

The researchers also noticed that

HEAT INPUTS AND OUTPUTS

researchers found that the time

silence intervals varied from day

Using principles of heat transfer, the

between periods of thumping varied

to day, and even hour to hour.

authors calculated the amount of

both year-to-year and also hour

When they compared the weather

heat and the heating rate needed to

to hour or day to day. Their results

conditions with the silence intervals,

initiate thumping at Doublet Pool.

suggest that different processes

they found that wind speed over the

Think again about blowing on a pot

of adding or removing heat to the

pools was correlated with the silence

of pasta. You can prevent boiling over

hydrothermal system are behind the

interval. When wind speed was

if you are removing heat (through

variation.

higher, the interval was longer. Nature

blowing) at the same rate the heat is

was blowing over the top of Doublet

entering the pot.

LIKE BLOWING ON A POT OF PASTA

In November 2016, the silence interval

Pool, cooling it off.

was around 30 minutes. But by

“And as we know how to calculate the

September 2018, that interval had

The team is still working to

heat being removed from the wind,”

been cut in half to around 13 minutes,

understand how the blowing wind at

Lin says, “we can estimate the heating

and by November 2021, the interval

the surface of the pool impacts the

rate at the base.”

was back up to around 20 minutes.

heat at the bottom, but it’s clear that the wind removes heat energy from

The heating rate for Doublet Pool

Yellowstone’s hydrothermal system

the water, just like blowing over a hot

works out to around 3-7 megawatts

is like an Instant Pot, building up heat

drink—or a pot of pasta about to boil

of energy. Knowing that heating rate,

and pressure leading up to eruptions

over—cools it off.

scientists can use the silence interval

of geysers and other features. The

as a measurement of how much heat

unusual behavior of Ear Spring,

“Right now, we are treating the pool

is coming into the pool, since more

Doublet Pool, and other features

as one whole system, which means

heat means a shorter interval.

suggests that in 2018 the heat under

energy taken away from the surface makes it

“A better understanding of the energy budget,” Lin says, “will also improve our understanding of how much energy from the Yellowstone volcano is released through these hydrothermal features.” < A version of this article was originally published in @theU.

COVER STORY | 2023

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by CJ SIEBENECK

Erin Jensen studying the Courthouse Crack. | Credit: Dr. Jeff Moore GEOHAZARDS, DUE TO THE WAY

different mechanisms and influences

surface of an instability. They aren’t

THEY CONSTANTLY CHANGE, ARE

that are happening at a particular site.”

providing much information about the internal structure, or what’s going

A SOURCE OF USEFUL RESEARCH INTO L ANDSLIDES AND HOW

Seismic resonance is an emerging

THEY HAPPEN.

technique within the field of

on at depth.”

geohazards and has allowed Jensen to

Seismic monitoring not only bridges

When landslides and slope failures

collect more data on the Courthouse

the gap between surface and

occur in our built and natural

Mesa instability than can be obtained

subsurface techniques but does so

environments, damaging property

with traditional approaches.

without being structurally invasive,

and threatening life, there’s a scramble

though it can be costly. In the end,

to secure reliable assessments to

Perhaps surprising to the uninitiated,

Jensen used a combination of new

prevent further damage. But what

structures like buildings, bridges,

and traditional techniques to create

if there were ways to measure the

as well as natural rock formations

a clearer picture of the instability of

character and instability of rock

like arches have natural vibration

Courthouse Crack as a whole.

and soil beforehand and to predict

modes and are constantly in motion

potential disasters?

at their resonance frequencies. The

THE MOTHER OF INVENTION

new technique can help detect and

At sites like Courthouse Mesa,

Recently, PhD student Erin

characterize rock slope instabilities.

traditional methods include expensive

Jensen used seismic resonance

Using sensitive seismic instruments

means of drilling and field mapping

measurements to characterize the

has changed how researchers detect

which means measuring the cracks

Courthouse Crack, a potentially

changes in slope stability and what

you can see, plotting it out on a

hazardous rock slope near Moab, Utah

those changes look like.

map, and viewing the geometry of

that is part of the Courthouse Mesa.

instability. Alternatively, generating

“It’s important to be able to see a site

“Traditional techniques are easy to

field data with seismic resonance and

like this in person,” Jensen says, “and

implement, and fairly inexpensive,”

then coupling the data with numerical

really appreciate the size and scale.

Jensen says. “But the main limitation is

models result in an improved picture

I get to experience firsthand all the

that they’re really only measuring the

of crack conditions, which Jensen

D OWN TO EA RTH

| Department of Geology & Geophysics

then uses to describe the instability

Jensen received her undergraduate

changes. Jensen can use this data to

geometry and how the Courthouse

degree in physics and civil

check if the changes are associated

Crack’s stability might fail. “The

engineering. Before coming to the U,

with progressive failure of the rock

combination of new and traditional

she worked on a variety of landslide

slope. For this project, she used a

techniques,” Jensen says, “generates

projects during her master’s degree

single seismometer installed on

an improved picture of landslide

work in geological engineering and

the rock surface for three years and

behavior and failure development.”

with the US Geological Survey. At

tracked the resonance frequencies

the U, she had an opportunity to

of the landslide over time. What

“We aren’t really concerned about

develop and apply techniques that

she found was that the Courthouse

imminent failure or any hazard

the geohazards group had been using

instability is particularly affected by

to the public,” continues Jensen,

for a decade. Before this, Moore and

thermal stresses created by heating

specifically about Courthouse

his group

and

Mesa. “So it’s a really good spot

had used

cooling,

to use as a field laboratory” and

seismic

which

to use different seismic resonance

resonance

causes the

techniques to understand work with

techniques

crack to

rock slope instabilities and how they

to study

open and

can be applied to different types of

natural

close both

landslides, an obvious application

arches and towers but had not yet

daily and on a seasonal cycle. “We see

for civil engineers, planners, and

applied these methods to large rock

a pretty big seasonal change,” Jensen

builders. Jensen’s work is a reminder

slope failures like those at Courthouse

says. “The Courthouse Crack opens

that scientific inquiry is not just about

Mesa.

and closes about fifty millimeters

discovering unknowns in the natural

annually. It’s very slowly increasing

world but also about developing

Jensen and Moore build on past

and opening by millimeters per year.”

and refining new tools that have

studies in order to refine and move

broader implications elsewhere. In

instrumentation forward by answering

In the future, characterization

this scenario, geological necessity has

basic questions such as how the

measurements repeated in another

become the mother of invention.

techniques of seismic resonance

season at the same site could be

measuring can be used at other sites.

useful to observe the changes based

“I came to the U because I was

Seismic resonance methods enable

on larger swings in temperature and

interested in working with Jeff,” she

geohazard practitioners to better

climate. These measurements could

says of Associate Professor Jeff Moore

characterize and monitor potentially

also detect a continuing extension

who is her advisor and leads the

hazardous unstable rock slopes,

and failure of the cracked mesa.

geohazards research group. His work

especially those where invasive

Coming back to the site several years

focuses on the mechanics of processes

equipment cannot be installed, and

later would be useful to observe

driving natural hazards and shaping

again providing a potential service for

changes in the overall geometry of

the evolution of bedrock landscapes.

developers and engineers.

the Courthouse Mesa.

for research into geohazards and

Another benefit of the instruments

Creating another technique in the

understanding the instability of rock

Jensen is using is that she can

toolkit of geological engineering is

formations because of the abundance

continuously track seismic data to

important for Jensen and her group

of natural rock formations found in

monitor how the site’s instability

because it helps mitigate outside risks.

places such as Arches National Park.

responds to temperature and rainfall

Her work, which is being published

Utah is in fact a prime location

FACULT Y | 2023

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soon, is instrumental in pushing

predict how resonance frequencies

Field measurements like those at

the new technique for practical

will respond during progressive rock

Courthouse Mesa are invaluable for

implementation and helps show how

slope failures of different types. These

establishing the new approach and

one can monitor landslide behavior.

models give new insights where

understanding the limitations.

Conceptually, seismic resonance

field data does not exist, because

measuring can anticipate what kinds

instrumented rock slope failures are

Erin Jensen’s work is taking her far

of other data and observations might

very rare.

afield from Utah. She is preparing

be seen in other landslides.

for a postdoctoral fellowship with Sometimes complex patterns of

the US Geological Survey as part of

Part of the project was stepping back

resonance frequency change before

the Mendenhall Research Fellowship

from the site and doing conceptual

failure, and the models showed, for

Program. Her research will focus

and numerical modeling, such as

the first time, the expected form

broadly on landslides in Alaska, as

testing out how frequency decreases

of resonance frequency change as

well as how landslides are affected by

with slope failure. This helps to

ultimate slope collapse approaches.

glacial retreat and climate change. <

Among the nation’s

National Earthquake Information

operations; and generation and

preeminent

Center (NEIC) which is the world’s pre-

management of earthquake catalogs.

earthquake

eminent seismic monitoring system.

His expertise and knowledge in these

seismologists,

areas have informed his continual A native of Georgia, Benz earned

efforts to educate college students

MS’82, PhD’86, scientist emeritus at

his BS in geophysics from the

and the general public about

the US Geological Survey (USGS)’s

University of Kansas and has been

earthquake hazards.

Earthquake Hazards Program, first

involved in a broad range of research

worked at the USGS in Menlo Park,

and applications in earthquake

In addition to educating college

California, and then, beginning in

seismology. This includes imaging

students—most recently as an adjunct

1993, in Golden, Colorado. With

earth structure, earthquake detection,

professor at the U during the 2021-

positions in the Branch of Seismology,

modeling of seismic sources, and near-

2022 academic year—Benz has also

the Branch of Earthquake and

real-time location and moment-tensor

been an exceptional leader in meeting

Geomagnetic Information, and

calculation to inform earthquake

USGS’s missions to quantify seismic

the Geologic Hazards Team, he

disaster response. Additionally,

hazards and to inform national, state,

became the Technical Manager

the range of his work extends to

and local governments, private industry,

of the Advanced National Seismic

measurement and prediction of

and the general public about such

System (ANSS) which oversees

strong ground motion; seismic

earthquake hazards and their mitigation. <

and coordinates seismic network

discrimination between natural

operations throughout the US.

seismicity and nuclear explosions;

HARLEY BENZ

understanding earthquake swarms; In 2003, Benz was appointed ANSS

induced seismicity and its implications

Megaproject Chief, overseeing the

for seismic hazard; seismic network

D OWN TO EA RTH

| Department of Geology & Geophysics

The Distinguished Alumni Award is given regularly by the Department of Geology & Geophysics. This past fall David Braxton MS’97 was announced as the 2023 recipient. His profile will appear in an upcoming issue of Down to Earth.

9

The edge of the Greenland Ice Sheet, where recent melting has left bare ground. | Credit: Kevin Krajick, Columbia University FROM TRACKING THE ROUTES OF

to the U through the Global Change

biogeochemical cycles, which can

WATER THROUGHOUT THE WEST

and Sustainability Center and is now

then be compared to modern day.

TO DETERMINING THE LEVELS

Professor of Geology & Geophysics

OF CARBON IN THE PALEOCENE,

and Co-Director of the Stable Isotope

GABRIEL BOWEN’S RESEARCH

Facility for Environmental Research

INTO ISOTOPES EXTENDS INTO A

(SIRFER).

VARIET Y OF CRITICAL RESEARCH PATHS.

Recipient of this year's College of Science Excellence in Research Award,

“One of the really cool things about

Bowen founded the Spatio-Temporal

isotope geochemistry is that it really

Isotope Analytics (SPATIAL) Lab, which

crosses disciplinary boundaries,”

uses stable isotope techniques to look

Bowen says. “It’s a subfield that

at a lot of different areas of application

grew out of earth science, geology,

of isotope geochemistry. “Isotope

and geochemistry, but it’s useful in

science has been kind of limited by

everything from forensic science to

our ability to make measurements,”

water research to planetary science.”

says Bowen.

Bowen grew up in rural Michigan and

The SPATIAL group has pushed

spent his childhood outdoors, which

forward uniting isotope geoscience

grew his love of nature and the earth.

with data science, which helps

He received his bachelor’s in geology

facilitate sharing within and between

at the University of Michigan and

fields of study. These data can then

went to UC Santa Cruz for a PhD in

be leveraged to tackle bigger systems

earth science. Bowen came to the U

questions, including reconstructing

as a post doctoral researcher before

Earth’s climate through its geologic

joining Purdue University as a faculty

past. This allows researchers to see

member for seven years. He returned

changes in climate, ecosystems, and

CONTEXTUALIZING CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS

“The Earth’s been through a lot,” Bowen says. “There’s a lot of context that shows how unusual what’s happening right now is. We’re pushing the climate system and carbon cycle much faster than it’s ever gone at any point in the geologic record.”

Bowen works with an international community of scientists whose initial study, published in November in the journal Science, has reconstructed CO2 concentrations going back through the Cenozoic, the era that began with the demise of dinosaurs and the rise of mammals 66 million years ago.

But this record does not extend very deep into the geologic past. To go deeper, Bowen says, “you have to rely on indirect evidence, what we call proxies.” One of those proxies are isotopes in minerals, the morphology of fossilized leaves and other lines

RECOGNITION & RESEARCH | 2023

10

of geological evidence that reflect

that go through the water cycle or

The SPATIAL lab runs an annual

atmospheric chemistry. Having a

rock cycle are the same ones that go

summer course for graduate

reliable map of past CO2 levels could

into an elephant or ponderosa pine.

students, which provides training

help scientists more accurately predict

We can really bridge the gap and

and experience in large-scale, data-

what future climates may look like.

understand the connection across

intensive, geochemically oriented

these spheres.”

research. The course consists of a

SOURCES OF WATER

discussion and lecture in the morning,

Isotopes also help the SPATIAL group

Bowen’s climate change research

delivered by specialists in the field.

study how natural cycles operate

includes tracking the sources of

Laboratory experiences introduce new

today, such as the water cycle.

water, such as where water originates

techniques and hands-on learning.

Additionally, they also study spatial

before it makes its way to southern

conductivity, or movement of things

California. The isotopes of water

“We live in a pretty amazing place

on the Earth’s surface, such as water,

in the Imperial Valley in California

for geology,” Gabriel Bowen says.

people, plants, and products. Bowen

look more like isotopes in Colorado

He appreciates the geology of Utah

looks at where plants are getting

water than in water elsewhere in

from the air, as an amateur pilot. He

water from in the subsurface of the

southern California. Most of the

flies a Cessna 182, mostly for geology

Earth, which can show the stability of

Imperial Valley water is irrigation

sightseeing. He also participates in

water supply within a community and

water diverted from the Colorado

charity flying, taking people around

help predict how water resources will

River. The irrigation water becomes

Antelope Island for sightseeing of

change due to climate change.

wastewater from irrigation because of

the Great Salt Lake. “I try to take my

overwatering, and then it enters the

scientist and artist friends out to see

“There’s an intimate coupling

groundwater. This has implications

things from a different perspective.” <

between the physical and biological

when agricultural runoff affects

processes that constitute a system,”

groundwater, as it could contain

Bowen says. “Isotopes are a common

pesticides and other chemicals used in

currency. The elements and isotopes

agricultural work.

D OWN TO EA RTH

| Department of Geology & Geophysics

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH GROUPS FROM INVESTIGATING RARE EARTH ELEMENT RESOURCES IN ABANDONED COAL MINES TO MEASURING GRAVIT Y AND AMBIENT SEISMIC NOISE DYNAMICS IN THE FARMINGTON BAY PL AYA , DEPARTMENT RESEARCHERS HAVE ENLISTED TEAM MEMBERS THAT EXTEND FAR BEYOND THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS.

Others include faculty and students from different departments in the College of Science as well as those from state and national geological surveys and even the Assistant VP at the U for Faculty Equity and Diversity.

The stories these research groups are telling are ones of impactful collaboration as they work together across disciplines on critical issues, such as saving the Great Salt Lake and better predicting water sources for the arid Mountain and Southwest.

11

GROUNDWATER AND SU STA INING THE G R EAT SALT L AKE

ANALY Z ING SE DIME NT IN T H E GRE AT SALT L A K E

Kip Solomon, Paul Brooks, Tonie VanDam, Mike

Gabriel Bowen and Deming Yang

Thorne, Fan-Chi Lin, and Bill Johnson

This research duo is analyzing This group, assisted by students, is

geochemical and sedimentological

installing piezometers (which measure

records from Great Salt Lake sediment

pore pressures in the ground),

cores to reconstruct lake-level and

analyzing environmental tracers,

salinity variation over the Holocene.

measuring gravity and ambient

These records document both natural

seismic noise dynamics, and collecting

and early human influences on the

resistivity profiles. These assessments

lake and provide context for recent

and measurements are occurring

and ongoing changes. <

at locations ranging from the high Wasatch to the Farmington Bay playa for the purpose of understanding what portion of water reaching Great Salt Lake becomes groundwater during its transit from snowpack downward. The results will elucidate the role of groundwater in sustaining wetland habitat on the lake’s eastern shore and the lake itself. <

The confluence of critical funding, cumulative decades of research experience, and the enthusiasm and new blood of student geologists and geophysicists provide a gallery of remarkable work by equally remarkable people shown here. <

RESEARCH | 2023

12

GR O U NDWAT E R STO RAGE IN M O U NTA I N CATCHME N TS

A N EW C L IMATIC D R IVE R FO R PR EC IPITATIO N & T EMPE RATURE

THE L AST IC E I N THE AME RICAN WEST

Paul Brooks and Kip Solomon

Court Strong and Paul Brooks

Chi Lin, and Surya Pachhai

Graduate students under the

A collaborative project between

As air temperatures continue to

direction of Brooks and Solomon

students and Strong and Brooks has

rise in the American West the

have demonstrated that groundwater

used a regionally coherent, periodic

remaining alpine, glacial ice is

storage in mountain catchments

variability in groundwater storage to

disappearing with implications for

throughout western North America

identify a previously unrecognized

downstream water and life. This team

is the primary control on variability

climatic driver for precipitation and

is documenting the remaining ice

in runoff efficiency each spring.

temperature in the western US.

in the Wasatch using geophysical,

Hydrochemical sampling and

Found in the North Atlantic Ocean,

glaciological, and numerical modeling

tritium age dating indicate that

the Atlantic Quadpole Mode (AQM)

techniques. They revealed massive,

these mountain groundwater stores

interacts with the well-known El Niño

glacial ice in both Timpanogos

are much larger and more variable

Southern Oscillation (ENSO) pattern in

and Gad Valley rock glaciers using

than previously assumed, calling for

the Pacific Ocean to influence winter

electrical resistivity tomography and

fundamental changes in how we

snowfall. Although the interaction

wrote a new numerical model to

predict water supply in response

of AQM and ENSO improves climate

represent hillslope-ice accumulation

to climate change. The team has

predictability throughout the West,

processes at these rock glaciers.

incorporated simple, transferable

the advances are most notable in the

They are continuing to measure the

metrics of these groundwater stores

area between roughly 38 and 42

downslope movement of ice-bearing

into tools for water managers that

degrees N latitude where ENSO exhibits

landforms with Jeff Moore and Molly

reduce the uncertainty of annual

little to no skill in predictability. This

McCreary and are dating rock glaciers

streamflow prediction by 50 percent.

region includes the source waters for

using 3He surface-exposure dating

These improvements in predictability

the Colorado River, Great Salt Lake,

with Wil Mace and Kip Solomon.

allow for more efficient allocation of

and the Northern Sierra Nevada range,

Alec Phips-Wirtz, with help from Bill

water resources as demand increases

three of the most important and most

Johnson, is measuring microplastics in

and supplies become more variable. <

water-stressed environments in the

Emerald Lake in front of Timpanogos

U.S.. Advanced knowledge of how

Glacier. Students as well as geologists

wet the winter will be in this region

from the Utah Geological Survey

represents a major advance in water

and biologists from Utah State

resource management in western

University have contributed to this

North America. <

interdisciplinary effort. <

D OWN TO EA RTH

| Department of Geology & Geophysics

Leif Anderson, Mike Thorne, Tonie Van Dam, Fan-

SPAT I A L , I S OTOPE GEO CHE MI ST RY Gabriel Bowen and Chris Stantis

ADVA NC E GRANT FOR WO ME N IN ST EM

CRITICAL MINERALS IN COAL Lauren Birgenheier and Emma Morris

Brenda Bowen, Claudia Geist, Ramón Barthelemy,

This research duo is helping to lead

and Myra Washington

two international efforts that will

This duo, assisted by students Haley Coe, Laura Wilcock, Peyton Fausett,

create interdisciplinary databases

This team is leading an institutional

Brittney Hoskins, Logan Ashurst-

promoting the Findability, Accessibility,

transformation project using a $3

McGee, Nicholas Bailey, as well as

Interoperability, and Reuse of digital

million grant from the National

colleagues from Utah Geological

assets (FAIR) exchange of stable

Science Foundation under its

Survey and Colorado Geological

isotope data (IsoBank and IsoArch).

ADVANCE program, devoted to

Survey are investigating the rare

PhD student Paige Austin and

enhancing the role of women in

earth element resources that may be

former PhD student Clement Bataille

the nation’s STEM workforce. The

available across Utah and western

are exploring the use of machine

challenges faced by women scientists

Colorado’s active coal mines for

learning and AI methods for isotopic

are compounded by their additional

mining and the clean energy transition.

modeling and data interpretation.

identities, including being women

The project is interdisciplinary,

The whole team contributes to the

of color and/or part of the LGBTQ+

involving several faculty in the U’s

annual SPATIAL summer course,

community, who experience additional

Mining Engineering and Metallurgy

which this year trained its 10th cohort

barriers as faculty members. <

or Materials Science and Engineering

of graduate students and postdocs

departments, including Michael Free,

in "big data" methods for isotope-

Prashant Sarswat, Jan Miller, Chen-

enabled science. <

Luh Lin, Swomitra Mohanty, Rajive Ganguli, Pratt Rogers, and Jessica Wempen. Current results suggest that there may be significant rare earth elements found in mudstone units above and below coal seams, which provide an opportunity to leverage and develop non-fuel critical mineral resources in active mines in Utah and western Colorado. <

Gabe Bowen and some of the SPATIAL team.

RESEARCH | 2023

13

14

BRIEFLY NOTED...

ICHTHYO S AU R M I GRAT I O N

T H E ‘RITE STUFF

Q UAKE SWAR MS

Jim Karner has trekked almost

U seismologists are analyzing

New research from a team of

annually to Antarctica on expeditions

decades of seismic data in the hope

scientists, including researchers

looking for meteorites. The research

of discerning the significance of

with the Natural History Museum of

associate professor in the Department

earthquake swarms in a geologically

Utah and Department of Geology

of Geology and Geophysics has

complex region known as a

& Geophysics, suggests that nearly

probably seen and handled more

geothermal hotspot and for recent—

200 million years before giant whales

cosmic debris than most will see in a

geologically speaking—volcanism.

evolved, school bus-sized marine

lifetime. But on the morning of August

“In central Utah, seismic swarms are

reptiles called ichthyosaurs may

13, 2022, he—along with the rest of

much more common than any other

have been making similar migrations

the northern Wasatch Front—heard

type of sequence. We looked into all

to breed and give birth together

one explode for the first time. “That

types of sequences, but 80 percent

in relative safety. The findings,

was really loud,” he remembers

of the sequences are swarms. That’s

published in Current Biology, examine

thinking as he stood in his driveway.

remarkable,” says Gesa Petersen,

a rich fossil bed in the renowned

“My immediate thought was, ‘Wow,

a post-doctoral research fellow.

Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in

that sounds like what people have

“We also saw that these are very

Nevada’s Humboldt-Toiyabe National

described as meteorites exploding

heterogeneous. So one location in

Forest, where many 50-foot-long

and breaking the sound barrier.’ ”

central Utah can have a very, very

ichthyosaurs (Shonisaurus popularis)

Within days, a piece of what would

different behavior than other locations

lay petrified in stone. Co-authored

eventually be named the Great Salt

just 30, 40, 50 kilometers away.” With

by Associate Professor Randall Irmis,

Lake meteorite made its way into

U geology professor Kristine Pankow,

NHMU chief curator and curator of

Karner’s hands, giving him and the U

Petersen published the latest findings

paleontology, the study offers a

an opportunity to learn what secrets

July 13 in the journal Geochemistry,

plausible explanation as to how at

of space this chunk of rock brought

Geophysics, Geosystems. <

least 37 of these marine reptiles came

with it to the Salt Lake Valley. <

to meet their ends in the same

Feel free to read the full story by Paul Gabrielsen

locality—a question that has vexed

online: magazine.utah.edu

paleontologists for more than half a century. <

Seismograph Stations | Credit: Dave Titensor

Jim Karner with meteorites. | Credit: Janelle Hanson

Ichthyosaur jaw and tooth. | Credit: Mark Johnston

D OWN TO EA RTH

| Department of Geology & Geophysics

A 'PLANET WITHIN A PLANET'

by BRIAN MAFFLY

seismometers in boreholes drilled up to 10 meters into granite formations and arranged in patterns to concentrate the signals they receive, similar to the way parabolic antennae work.

Pang analyzed seismic waves from 2,455 earthquakes. The way these

EARTH’S INNER CORE IS NOT THE

“The planet formed from asteroids

waves bounced off the inner core

HOMOGENEOUS MASS THAT WAS

that were sort of accreting [in space],”

helps map its internal structure. “This

ONCE ASSUMED BY SCIENTISTS,

says Koper. “They’re running into each

signal that comes back from the inner

BUT RATHER IT’S MORE LIKE A

other, and you generate a lot of energy.

core is really tiny. The size is about

TAPESTRY OF DIFFERENT “FABRICS,”

So the whole planet, when it’s forming

on the order of a nanometer,” Koper

ACCORDING TO GUANNING

up, is melting. It’s simply that the iron

says. “What we’re doing is looking for

PANG, A FORMER DEPARTMENT

is heavier and you get what we call

a needle in a haystack. So these baby

DOCTORAL STUDENT.

core formation. … The reason all the

echoes and reflections are very hard

metals are down there is because

to see.”

“For the first time we confirmed

they’re heavier than the rocks.”

that this kind of inhomogeneity is

The study's biggest discovery is that

everywhere inside the inner core,”

The protective field of magnetic

the inhomogeneity in the inner core

Pang says. Now a postdoctoral

energy surrounding Earth is created

varies. “Toward the center of Earth

researcher at Cornell University,

by convection occurring within the

it tends to be stronger,” Pang says.

Pang is the lead author of a new

liquid outer core, which extends 2,260

Continues Koper, “We think that this

study, published July 5 in the journal

kilometers (1,795 miles) above

Nature that opens a window into

the solid core. The molten

the deepest reaches of Earth. He

metal rises above the

conducted the study as part of his

solid inner core, cools

inner core grew really

doctoral dissertation at the U under

as it approaches

fast. It reached an

the direction of faculty member Keith

Earth’s rocky

equilibrium, and

Koper, director of the seismological

mantle, and sinks.

then it started to

observatory.

This circulation

grow much more

generates the bands

slowly. Not all of the

fabric is related to how fast the inner core was growing.

A long time ago the

“What our study was about was

of electrons enveloping

iron became solid, so

trying to look inside the inner core,”

the planet. Without a

some liquid iron could be

says Koper. “It’s like a frontier area.

solid inner core, this field would

Anytime you want to image the

be much weaker and the planetary

interior of something, you have to

surface would be bombarded with

This “planet within a planet” makes

strip away the shallow effects.” The

radiation and solar winds that would

life on the surface possible, at least as

best tools for sensing this hidden

strip away the atmosphere and render

we know it. <

realm are earthquakes’ seismic waves,

the surface uninhabitable.

propagating from the planet’s thin

trapped inside.”

A version of this article was originally published

crust and vibrating through its rocky

For the new study, the team looked at

mantle and metallic core.

seismic data recorded by 20 arrays of

in @theU.

RESEARCH | 2023

15

T

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