FROM THE CHAIR
GREETINGS FRIENDS & ALUMNI,
It is my pleasure to report that the Department of Geology & Geophysics is thriving. As the interim chair I am proud of our collective accomplishment, and I'm thrilled to share some highlights with you in this edition of Down to Earth. Our department continues to be at the forefront of groundbreaking research and innovative initiatives. One such project is the National Science Foundation-funded Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine, spanning Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. This ambitious endeavor aims to equitably transform water security, renewable energy, and net carbon emissions in the region. We're particularly proud that our own Brenda Bowen is leading the University of Utah's cohort in this important work.
The scope of our research is truly global, extending from Utah’s Cataract Canyon to the Baltic Sea. In central Utah, we're actively involved with the Utah FORGE, a cutting-edge facility developing breakthroughs in Enhanced Geothermal Systems technology. Alumna Anke Friedrich’s recent workshop there speaks to how trained scientists continue to give back with real-world innovations.
Our faculty continue to push the boundaries of geological knowledge. Keith Koper's fascinating work on Earth's inner core "backtracking" exemplifies our commitment to deep Earth. Meanwhile, in the realm of vertebrate paleontology, Mark Loewen and recent U graduate Savhannah Carpenter have thrilled the scientific community with their discovery of the world's newest horned dinosaur: Lokiceratops.
The heart of our department lies in our student body, particularly our undergraduates. Through courses like Wasatch in the Field and undergraduate research opportunities, we're providing unparalleled opportunities for hands-on discovery and research. The future of Geology & Geophysics is bright, with increased opportunities, including our recently launched Earth & Environmental Science major. Graduates from this program will be well-equipped to tackle the environmental challenges facing our planet.
We're also delighted to welcome new faculty members Sara Warix and Issaku Kohl. Their expertise complements our accomplished faculty who continue to garner recognition for their contributions to the field. A prime example is recent retiree and now emerita
faculty Marjorie Chan. She was awarded AGI's Outstanding Contribution to the Public Understanding of the Geosciences award.
We remain committed to advancing our understanding of Earth's systems and preparing the next generation of geoscientists. Our success in these endeavors is made possible by the generous
support of our donors and friends. Your contributions make a tangible difference in the education of future geologists and geophysicists, and in our ability to conduct advanced research and innovation.
Thank you for your ongoing dedication to our department and its mission. Whether through financial support, mentorship, or
other forms of engagement, your involvement is crucial in shaping the future of earth sciences at the University of Utah and beyond.
Sincerely,
Kip Solomon, Interim Chair
RECOGNITION
GABE BOWEN
DISTINGUISHED RESEARCHER AWARD
AUTUMN HARTLEY
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER AWARD
SANTIAGO RABADE
OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENT
D. KIP SOLOMON
O.E. MEINZER AWARD (GSA) UNION FELLOW (AGU)
MARJORIE CHAN
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THE PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE GEOSCIENCES (AGI)
PETER LIPPERT
OUTSTANDING PUBLICATION AWARD (GSA)
Cover: Researcher with Returning Rapids observes the changing landscape where Lake Powell floods the San Juan River. Photo credit: Elliot Ross.
Down To Earth is the official magazine of the Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Utah, published in partnership with Marketing & Communications, College of Science.
Associate Director of Marketing & Communications: Bianca Lyon
Writer & Editor: David Pace
Designer/Photographer: Todd Anderson
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IN 1875, GROVE KARL GILBERT LAID EYES ON UTAH’S REMOTE AND RECENTLY NAMED HENRY MOUNTAINS AND WAS FASCINATED BY THE “DEEP CARVING OF THE LAND WHICH RENDERS IT SO INHOSPITABLE TO THE TRAVEL AND THE SETTLER, [BUT] IS TO THE GEOLOGIST A DISSECTION WHICH LAYS BARE THE VERY ANATOMY OF THE ROCKS.”
He observed a “great depth of uplifted and arching strata,” which form domes of sedimentary rock over chambers of hardened “molten rock,” or what came to be called laccoliths.
Gilbert’s scientific exploration of the Henry Mountains led to the development of a mechanical model for mountain building that has remained valid for 150 years. In recognition of its role in the history of geoscience, the southern Utah range has been selected as a world geoheritage site by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), along with two other features in Utah:
Great Salt Lake and Coyote Buttes, the sandstone landscape on the Arizona state line that includes The Wave.
Nominated by University of Utah geoscientists, the three sites were among the Second 100 IUGS Geological Heritage sites announced August 27 at the 37th International Geological Congress in South Korea. “These are the world’s best demonstrations of geologic features and processes,” the union said in a statement. “They are the sites of fabulous discoveries of the Earth and its history. They are sites that served to develop the science of geology.”
U research professor Marie Jackson, who mapped the three southern domes of the Henry Mountains for her doctoral dissertation in the 1980s, applauded the selection, which is a testament to Gilbert’s forwardthinking genius in the 19th century.
“This world was unexplored. These domes record raw geologic processes that were here for the viewing,” she says. “This brilliant man came to the Henry Mountains by pack mule, carefully observed and described the structures, idealized physical principles to create mechanical models, and tested these models with field measurements to explain how laccolithic mountain building proceeds.”
Jackson and Marjorie Chan, both professors in the Department of Geology & Geophysics, nominated the Utah sites and compiled descriptions for the IUGS geoheritage catalog.
The MSc thesis of former U graduate student Winston Seiler is devoted to The Wave.
The Henry Mountains were named for physicist Joseph Henry, who served as the Smithsonian’s inaugural secretary from 1846 until his death in 1878. Of all the geoheritage sites in and around Utah, this range, the last to be named and mapped in the lower 48 states, is by far the least known.
The geological maps of Mount Holmes, Mount Ellsworth, and Mount Hillers assembled by Marie Jackson show the thick chamber of magma Gilbert coined “laccolites” (now termed “laccoliths”) are roughly circular in plan and formed at similar depths, three to four kilometers beneath Earth’s surface. The overlying sedimentary rock domes have similar radii, five to seven kilometers, but their amplitude increases from 1.2 to 1.8 to 2.5 kilometers, respectively. They thus record snapshots in time of evolving laccolithic mountains.
Laccolithic intrusions have been recognized in the La Sal, Abajo, and Pine Valley mountains in Utah and at Navajo Mountain in Arizona.
Gilbert’s monograph, Geology of the Henry Mountains, was published in 1877. From 1879 onwards he was a scientist at the US Geological Survey. His monograph on Lake Bonneville in 1890 forms the foundation of our knowledge of Great Salt Lake.
Coyote Buttes, in contrast with the Henry Mountains, is a wildly popular hiking destination with its own Instagram feed. This area within the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument is a feature in the Navajo Sandstone, deposited in the form of wind-blown sand during the Jurassic.
The largest saline lake in the Western Hemisphere, Great Salt Lake—a remnant of the Pleistocene freshwater Lake Bonneville that once covered much of northern Utah—was selected as a geoheritage site for how it illustrates geomorphic processes. Of the three Utah geoheritage sites it is the most well-known. Gilbert played a key role in describing the lake in the 1890s, and this led to his formulation of the theory of isostasy, that Earth’s crust “floats” on the mantle in a position of equilibrium.
The formation is Earth’s largest erg, or network of fossilized dunes, preserving a record of wind direction and climate conditions.
“Vibrant iron coloration reflects the fluids that interacted within the porous sandstone,” the Utah geologists wrote in describing the site, which was selected as an example of stratigraphic processes. “The Wave and Coyote Buttes capture the convergence of coloration and the exquisite etching and enhancement of cross-bedding through modern erosion.”
It was the growing peril the terminal lake faces that motivated Chan to nominate Great Salt Lake, as it faces a receding water level due to water diversions and drought. “A lot of this is to try to help bring attention and visibility to these sites so that people will make more of an effort to protect them,” she says. <
A longer version of this story first appeared in @theU.
A BREATH OF ANCIENT AIR
ISOTOPE ANALYSIS USED TO TRACK EARTH'S EARLY OXYGENATION
by BRIAN MAFFLY
ABOUT 2.5 BILLION YEARS AGO, FREE OXYGEN, OR O 2 , FIRST STARTED ACCUMULATING TO MEANINGFUL LEVELS IN EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE, SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE RISE OF COMPLEX LIFE ON OUR EVOLVING PLANET.
Scientists refer to this phenomenon as the Great Oxidation Event, or GOE for short. But the initial accumulation of O2 on Earth was not nearly as straightforward as that moniker suggests, according to new research led by a University of Utah geochemist.
"Emerging data suggest that the initial rise of O2 in Earth's atmosphere was dynamic, unfolding in fits-andstarts until perhaps 2.2. billion years ago," says Chad Ostrander, assistant professor of Geology & Geophysics and lead author on the study published in Nature. "Our data validate this hypothesis, even going one step further by extending these dynamics to the ocean."
His international research team, supported by the NASA Exobiology program, focused on marine shales from South Africa's Transvaal Supergroup, yielding insights into the dynamics of ocean oxygenation during this crucial period in Earth's history. By analyzing stable thallium (Tl) isotope ratios and redox-sensitive
elements, they uncovered evidence of fluctuations in marine O2 levels that coincided with changes in atmospheric oxygen.
"We really don't know what was going on in the oceans, where Earth's earliest lifeforms likely originated and evolved," says Ostrander. "So knowing the O2 content of the oceans and how that evolved with time is probably more important for early life than the atmosphere."
For the first half of Earth's existence, its atmosphere and oceans were largely devoid of O2. This gas was being produced by cyanobacteria in the ocean before the GOE, it seems, but in these early days, the O2 was rapidly destroyed in reactions with exposed minerals and volcanic gasses.
"Earth wasn't ready to be oxygenated when oxygen started to be produced. Earth needed time to
evolve biologically, geologically, and chemically to be conducive to oxygenation," Ostrander says.
Today, O2 accounts for 21 percent of the atmosphere, by weight, second only to nitrogen. But following the GOE, oxygen remained a very small component of the atmosphere for hundreds of millions of years.
To track the presence of O2 in the ocean during the GOE, the research team relied on Ostrander's expertise with (TI) isotopes. These findings were corroborated by redox-sensitive element enrichments, a more classical tool for tracking changes in ancient O2.
The study titled, "Onset of coupled atmosphere–ocean oxygenation 2.3 billion years ago", appears in the June 13th edition of Nature. <
This article originally appeared in @theU.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS AND THEIR MENTORS ARE HONORED EACH YEAR WITH THE OUTSTANDING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER AWARD FROM THE OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH (OUR).
This year Autumn Hartley was selected to represent the College of Mines and Earth Sciences, now a discrete college within the College of Science at the University of Utah.
“Most people don’t know what geology is and, if they do,” says Hartley, “it[‘s g]enerally reduced to dirt
and dinosaurs.” Geology, she says, “is about entire planets, and while Earth is exceptional for having so much life teeming on its surface, geology is a thing that goes all the way down to the core. You can find it everywhere in the universe because it is the universe.”
Now in her final year, Hartley has been mentored by Sarah Lambart since her second semester at the U. Thanks to support from the ACCESS Scholars program she’s been doing thermodynamic modeling to understand the cause of excess magmatism during the last phase of
EARTH'S INNER CORE IS 'BACKTRACKING'
by BRIAN MAFFLY
New research, supported by University of Utah seismologists, shows the rotation of Earth's inner core is slowing in relation to the planet's surface.
The research team, which includes
U geology professor Keith Koper, verified with new evidence that the inner core's rotation began to ease and synced with Earth's spin about 14 years ago.
The inner core is a solid sphere composed of iron and nickel, surrounded by the liquid iron outer core. Roughly the size of Pluto at 2,442 kilometers in diameter, it accounts for only one percent of Earth's mass, yet it influences the magnetic field
the Pangea breakup. With a travel grant, she was able to attend the Geological Society of America’s annual conference this year in Anaheim, CA where she presented her research. She is also a Wilkes Scholar, and for her current research project, she wants to estimate what is the potential of the flood basalts, such as the one emplaced during the Pangea breakup, as storage for atmospheric CO2
Originally from Midway, Utah, Hartley is involved in many different organizations including oSTEM, which connects LGBTQ+ students in STEM. As one of the college's ambassadors, she is a social media lead. She also works to bring geoscience demonstrations to K-12 students. “Hopefully, by building out some lesson plans and getting the word out,” she says, “we can inspire some curiosity about the ground we walk on every day.” <
enveloping the planet and the length of the day.
Researchers analyzed seismic data from 121 earthquakes that occurred in the South Atlantic between 1991 and 2023, revealing this shift in the core's movement. What causes these changes remains the subject of intense debate among scientists. <
The study appears in the June 13 edition of Nature . This article originally appeared in @theU.
NEW FACULTY
SARA WARIX
“One of the things I love about hydrology is that it’s something that everybody has a connection to,” says Sara Warix. “We all consume water every day, we’re all impacted by the weather, many of us use it for work or play. However far you get into the weeds of geochemistry or geophysics, you can always connect water back to people.”
Warix has been fascinated by our dependence on water from an early age. An avid swimmer born and raised in Sacramento, it was commonplace for wildfire smoke to cancel her practices. The irony fascinated her: to jump into a large pool of water and be forced to get out due to a lack of water to fight those fires. This dynamic captured her curiosity and established the track of her education moving forward, culminating in a PhD in Hydrologic Science and Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. The flow of this journey has now led to a Department of Geology & Geophysics faculty position here at the University of Utah.
Drawn to the dynamic relationship our region has with water dependency,
Warix’s field of research lies in headwater streams. She explains: “As the quantity and quality of water in headwater streams change, they carry those effects into the downgradient streams that follow. Upstream changes in water quality are going to be mirrored in downstream water quality.” Headwater streams commonly dry out, and the impacts of decreased headwater stream contribution on downstream water resources is unknown and has potential to impact streams across the country.
Warix is able to bring a unique perspective to the U’s research on this topic. Co-mentored by Alexis Navarre-Sitchler and Kamini Singha, a geochemist and geophysicist, respectively, Warix had to learn how to view and explain her research through multiple scientific lenses. Such experience will prove invaluable when she begins teaching next semester.
~ Michael Jacobsen
ISSAKU KOHL
"I want to continue the legacy and ensure that Utah stays on the map,” says new Research Associate Professor Issaku E. Kohl. Kohl has
grand aspirations for the Department of Geology & Geophysics, and is excited to create new methods, bring new instruments that will lead to new measurement capabilities, and solve problems that couldn’t be solved previously using stable isotopes. Along with the new generation of geochemists in the department, he hopes to keep Utah as a world leader in stable isotope geochemistry. “That’s the goal.”
Kohl grew up in Maryland, moved to Japan at the age of 13, lived all over the United States, and spent the last five years in Germany. He says that having a rich and diverse cultural background has significantly influenced his approach to working with other people in both science and everyday life. “Collaboration is so important right now, and being able to interact with people in other disciplines with different cultural backgrounds and personalities is essential for making big leaps in knowledge.”
Kohl became interested in the geosciences while taking an introductory geology course at Oberlin College in Ohio. Finally he was gaining the tools to address his childhood curiosities, like how mountains form and why rocks have different colors. During his
undergraduate thesis research, he became interested in meteorites and how these extraterrestrial objects shaped the early Earth environment. One of his current research topics is the origin of solar system material, specifically, what stable isotope ratios are preserved in what molecules within meteorites and what that
FORMER STUDENTS, CO-WORKERS, FRIENDS, AND FAMILY GATHERED SEPTEMBER 20, 2024 AT THE TRACY AVIARY TO CELEBRATE DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR MARJORIE CHAN’S RETIREMENT.
The evening was filled with food, celebration, and heartfelt tributes to honor the incredible impact Chan, now professor emeritus, has had on the department.
can tell us about the origin of planetary material. What were the conditions like in the interstellar and protoplanetary disk environments where the first organic molecules were being made? How did planetary objects evolve over the billions of years between then and now?
Kohl’s experiences and expertise will help the department maintain a leadership position in the research community, including helping to bring in new instrumentation. < ~ Ashley Herman
For more than 42 years, Chan had an active research program
EARTH SCIENCE ADVOCATE RETIRES
at the U, bringing national and international recognition to Utah geology. Her career has spanned the Precambrian up to the Pleistocene with recent research that applies terrestrial geology examples to better understand Martian geology. The breadth of her research also extends from basic sedimentology— stratigraphy and diagenesis—to geoconservation and geoheritage.
Chan is a highly visible sedimentary scientist spotlighted in many research features as well as National Geographic and Discovery Channel documentary films.
Chan was the first female-faculty hired by the Department of Geology & Geophysics and served as a visionary department chair from 2002 to
2009, overseeing the programming and building displays of the awardwinning Frederick Albert Sutton Building. She has received national society awards for her research, teaching, leadership, service, and outreach.
“Being a part of the Earth science community has been an experience beyond my expectations,” she says. “I’ve learned from so many wonderful people and made connections across cultures and countries that I will never forget.” <
The Marjorie A. Chan Geoscience Field Experiences Fund supports department-wide field trips or other field learning experiences for orientation, recruitment, outreach, and community building. More information here:
SEDIMENT STORIES
UNRAVELING THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF THE COLORADO AND SAN JUAN RIVERS
Returning Rapids researchers investigate reservoir sediments exposed within Nokai Canyon on the San Juan River, April 2023. Credit: Elliot Ross
SOMETIMES GEOLOGIC INQUIRY PRESENTS ITSELF SO FORCEFULLY AND ON ITS OWN TIMETABLE THAT RESEARCHERS HAVE LITTLE CHOICE BUT TO ‘GO WITH THE FLOW,’ AS IT WERE.
That has certainly been the case of late in the American Southwest as mega-drought conditions have plunged the nation's largest reservoirs to new lows, and terrain, underwater for decades, is quickly being daylighted.
University of Utah geologists Cari Johnson and Brenda Bowen are at the forefront of a remarkable collaborative effort to understand the dynamic transformation of the river corridors entering the Lake Powell Reservoir, in particular the Colorado and San Juan Rivers. Just capturing a moment of unprecedented geological change in real time has proven challenging.
DEEP TIME, MODERN MOMENT
Johnson, a deep time stratigrapher, brings a unique perspective to this contemporary geological puzzle. Traditionally, her work has involved studying sedimentary layers millions to billions of years old, deciphering ancient landscapes from rock formations. But now she finds herself
in an extraordinary "time machine"— the Colorado River, its tributaries and their surrounding landscapes—where she can observe sedimentation processes in near real-time.
"The Glen Canyon Dam, completed in 1966, created a closed lake basin that's essentially a living laboratory," Johnson explains. "We have an incredibly detailed, instrumented record of lake-level history, river discharge, and sediment load. These records establish the known boundary conditions that acted to form the textures and features we see in decades-old reservoir sediment along the Colorado and San Juan River corridors.” It's like a long term, regional-scale experiment that began with construction of the dam, the results of which are exposed for us to study now, due to falling reservoir levels.
Bowen complements Johnson's approach by focusing on geomorphic evolution in response to human infrastructure. Together, they're documenting how sediment moves, changes, and impacts the landscape.
"We're not just collecting data," Bowen emphasizes. "We're contributing to an
interdisciplinary community trying to understand active landscape changes and potentially inform management decisions."
RETURNING RAPIDS
Central to their work is the Returning Rapids Project, a collaborative effort that brings together researchers, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and tribal representatives. This initiative has been crucial in providing access to remote and challenging terrains, facilitating unprecedented interdisciplinary research. In a recent Rolling Stone article, the breathless pace and dynamism of the rapidly changing Cataract Canyon features
Returning Rapids, river-rafting enthusiasts who consider Cataract Canyon a second home. Their name counters the conventional view of many, according to the feature article, that “the emerging landscape is an area that will one day be under water again, even though the data suggests the opposite.”
"Returning Rapids doesn't just give us physical access," Johnson notes. "They bring together fish biologists, riparian ecologists, geologists, policymakers, land management agencies, and others to create a comprehensive understanding of the landscape."
MUD VOLCANOES
Johnson and Bowen’s research has yielded fascinating discoveries. One particularly intriguing finding is the presence of "sediment volcanoes"— small mud formations that emerge as reservoir levels drop, releasing gasses (likely methane) from decomposed organic material. These ephemeral geological features not only provide insights into sediment dynamics but also highlight the complex interactions between geological processes, organic matter, and carbon release.
Equally compelling is the rapid ecosystem recovery in areas previously submerged. "When these areas are exposed," Bowen explains, "we see native species returning surprisingly quickly. It challenges
our assumptions about landscape resilience."
THE SEDIMENT CHALLENGE
The researchers are keenly aware of the broader implications of their work. With an estimated eight percent of Lake Powell already filled with sediment, the reservoir's utility is finite. Current projections suggest the reservoir could be completely filled with sediment in 70-250 years, a nanosecond in geologic time. "Our
Looking forward, the researchers envision innovative approaches to data collection. Johnson dreams of a community science project where pilots, tourists, and local flyers can contribute aerial photographs, providing additional perspectives on the rapidly changing landscape.
CAPTURING CHANGE IN REAL-TIME
primary message is simple," Johnson states. "Sediment is an integral part of water systems. You can't separate water management from sediment dynamics."
The research extends beyond local concerns. Bowen points out the global significance of their work: "Worldwide, reservoirs are disrupting sedimentary processes. We're both trapping sediment and increasing sedimentation rates through land development. This is a quintessential Anthropocene challenge."
Publications are typically the final resting place for research, but Johnson and Bowen’s priority is to first capture a moment of extraordinary geological transformation. "We're witnessing amazing landscape changes over short time scales," Bowen reflects. "Our role is to document, understand, and help inform future management. It is both daunting and exciting to be collecting sedimentologic data with direct implications for important and pressing water management decisions."
In the dynamic terrain of the American Southwest, these geologists are not just observing change—they're helping humanity understand its own impact on the natural world. And sedimentation is telling that story. <
AS A GRADUATE STUDENT IN 1985, BEREKET HAILEAB MS'88, PHD'95 JOINED A U RESEARCH GROUP
WORKING IN KENYA WHERE JUST ONE YEAR PRIOR, THE “TURKANA BOY,” A HOMO ERGASTER , WAS DISCOVERED.
Haileab’s group needed to map the surrounding Turkana Basin in order to refine the dating process that allowed geologists and paleoanthropologists
DATING ‘TURKANA BOY’ COME TOGETHER
THE SOUTHWEST SUSTAINABILITY INNOVATION ENGINE (SWSIE), A NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF)-FUNDED PROGRAM IS ANGLING TO ESTABLISH THE REGION OF ARIZONA, NEVADA, AND UTAH AS A LEADER IN WATER SECURITY, RENEWABLE ENERGY, AND CARBON MANAGEMENT, WHILE DEVELOPING A WORKFORCE TO SUPPORT THOSE HIGH-WAGE INDUSTRIES.
to prove that the Turkana Boy was 1.6 million years old. Haileab’s research, however, expanded far beyond one basin.
“We found that the volcanic ash from Turkana to the sediments [of multiple other basins . . . ] was all formed originally [in the Turkana Basin], which makes it the most important point,” Haileab says. “For most of the fossiliferous [fossil rich] sediments, we could correlate all of the sedimentary basins and all of the findings temporally.” This work led to his dissertation and the successful
completion of his doctorate.
Today, he is the cornerstone of geology at Carleton College, a small, private liberal arts college in Minnesota. Says one student of Haileab’s, “Geology major or not, he wants to see everyone succeed.” <
Adapted from a story in Carleton News.
1.6 MILLION YEARS AGO
A recent multi-day site visit by the NSF and SWSIE partners showcased Utah’s efforts to make the state and the region a hub of green innovation. A key component of the NSF Engines program is to leverage existing partnerships and coordinate efforts among researchers, industry, and government to accelerate the pace of sustainability innovation and prepare a regional workforce.
“With SWSIE, we are able to accelerate the speed that things are happening,” says U geologist Brenda Bowen, CoPrincipal Investigator on the SWSIE project and Utah’s lead. “There’s this urgency to it, which aligns with the urgency of the issues that we’re facing around climate.” <
~ Xoel Cardenas
FORGE WORKSHOP
WITH DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA ANKE FRIEDRICH
“IT WAS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO ME TO HAVE THIS WORKSHOP AUTHENTICALLY AT THE SITE WHERE THINGS ARE HAPPENING,” ANKE FRIEDRICH SAYS, “BECAUSE IT HAS THIS SENSE OF URGENCY THAT REALLY MAKES IT SPECIAL AND DIFFERENT.”
A Geology & Geophysics alumna (BGL’90, MS’93), she is referring to the workshop at the Utah Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) for students from the U and from her home base of Germany where she has an appointment as endowed professor of geology at the LudwigMaximilians-University of Munich. (She is also an adjunct professor in Geology & Geophysics at the U.)
A recent recipient of the U’s Founder’s Day Alumni Award, Friedrich says it was “priceless” to have the project’s two principal investigators on site—geologist Joseph Moore and chemical engineer John McLennan, U professors with appointments at the Energy & Geoscience Institute. The setting too, is priceless: Milford Valley in Beaver County, a place of burgeoning alternative energy operations, including two geothermal plants in operation along with windmill and solar farms running like giant stitches in the dry steppe at the foot of the Mineral Mountains. As of
this year, the FORGE site is fully funded through 2028 by the Department of Energy to unlock the potential of nextgeneration geothermal power.
Ten students were the focus of the unique place-based workshop, but a total of 27 participants threaded through the 10-day event, including imported faculty and experts for half-day visits. Additionally, there was a visit from a YellowScan drone. It was an opportunity to learn how to fly these devices and operate Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). To get high surface resolution for fractures wherein is found “liquid gold”—water at a piping hot temperature of at least 275°C.
Some of that water is naturally circulating, a classic convection system in the earth. Other hot water used for generating turbines for electricity has to be recruited through fracking and inserting surface water underground where it is heated by natural forces, then re-surfaced. All of this has to be done using seismic monitoring via the U’s Seismograph
Station where professor Kris Pankow, who helped organize the workshop, is associate director. The monitoring is in concert with geological data collected from drill cores at the geothermal site as well as 3D models of fractures on the surface of nearby mountains using the drone.
Though a daunting task, it is a deeply calculated and calibrated one, and, happily, a recent benchmark test at Utah FORGE has proven successful. Students from both sides of the Atlantic are there, feeling the heat and doing hands-on research to better experience the process of hydrofracking in the geothermal industry. For Friedrich this unique experience, which will be repeated, is also a way to give back to the community she encountered as an undergraduate when she came to the U in 1989 as a competitive skier. Now she’s in the Beehive State to indelibly “give back” in a way that “is really worth sharing with students, young scientists, and even colleagues.” <
HORNED AND DANGEROUS
THE LARGEST FRILL ORNAMENTS IN PALEONTOLOGICAL HISTORY UNVEILED IN NEWEST DINOSAUR DISCOVERY
by LISA POTTER
MOVE OVER, TRICERATOPS THERE’S A NEW HORNED DINO IN TOWN.
The Lokiceratops rangiformis, meaning “Loki’s horned face that looks like a caribou,” was recently excavated from the badlands of northern Montana, and a cast skull is now on display at the Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU) at the U through January 2025.
This behemoth, which roamed the earth 78 million years ago, boasts the largest frill horns ever found on a horned dinosaur. Its distinctive features
include two huge, blade-like horns on the back of its frill and a unique asymmetric spike in the middle, reminiscent of the antlers of modernday caribou.
“This new dinosaur pushes the envelope on bizarre ceratopsian headgear,” says Joseph Sertich MS’06, co-leader of the study. “These skull ornaments are one of the keys to unlocking horned dinosaur diversity.”
The discovery of Lokiceritops is particularly significant as it’s the fourth centrosaurine, and fifth horned dinosaur overall, identified from a single assemblage.
“Previously, paleontologists thought a maximum of two species of horned dinosaurs could coexist at the same place and time. Incredibly, we have identified five living together at the
same time,” explains Mark Loewen PhD’09, U professor of geology and geophysics and researcher at NHMU. Loewen was co-lead author of the study, along with recently graduated Savhannah Carpenter BS'24.
This high prevalence suggests that dinosaur diversity may be vastly underestimated. Scientists now believe that rapid evolution, possibly driven by sexual selection, led to a turnover of individual species every 100,000 to 200,000 years.
The individual fossilized skull bones of Lokiceritops were integrated into a state-of-the art reconstruction of the complete skull, permanently reposited and displayed at the Museum of Evolution in Maribo, Denmark, alongside a collection of other scientifically significant dinosaurs. <
ALLOSAURUS AT THE AIRPORT
THE SALT LAKE CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF UTAH (NHMU) UNVEILED THE AIRPORT'S FIRST-EVER DINOSAUR— ALLY, A 30-FOOTLONG, 15-FOOT-TALL SKELETON OF ALLOSAURUS FRAGILIS .
"I'm absolutely thrilled to be here
today to reveal a project that's been 150 million years in the making," Jason Cryan, executive director of NHMU, said as the crowd gathered at Concourse B. As the Jurassic Park theme played, onlookers gasped when the curtain dropped to reveal Ally in all her glory.
"I'm originally from the Chicago area,
and O'Hare International Airport has an iconic Brachiosaurus skeleton that gets people excited. I've always wanted that for Salt Lake City's airport," said Randy Irmis, curator of paleontology at NHMU. "Utah is known for its dinosaurs. We hope this inspires visitors and locals to explore the really cool dinosaur heritage of our state." <
UNDERGRAD RESEARCHERS
FROM REUNITING FAMILIES WITH THEIR SERVICE MEMBERS’ REMAINS TO MEASURING SEDIMENT IN THE SAN JUAN AND COLORADO RIVERS, G&G UNDERGRADS ARE ON THE FRONT LINES OF RESEARCH IN THEIR FIELD.
How do undergrads access research as early as their first semester at the U? G&G students work through the Science Research Initiative (with stream leaders Wil Mace and Diego Fernandez), the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), or independently with one of the department’s faculty members. Below are just a sampling of this ambitious group.
NICK BAILEY
(Lauren Birgenheier)
Bailey is focused on the viability of rare earth elements in ash piles of two coal-burning power plants in Emery County, Utah. The sample types analyzed were bottom ash, fly ash, and slag, with the ash being the primary focus. Modes of analysis used were portable X-ray fluorescence and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, specifically looking for neodymium. The results showed little enrichment (>200 ppm) with small amounts of neodymium but moderate amounts of cerium. <
RAMON RIVERA
(Pete Lippert)
Lippert Lab uses field study in conjunction with paleomagnetic, rock magnetic, and collaborative stratigraphic, geochemical, and geochronologic approaches to investigate a wide range of geological puzzles. Rivera is studying the paleomagnetism of Triassic lavas from the Burgenhkangai region of Mongolia to help reconstruct the paleogeography of the MongolOkhotsk Ocean. <
CONSTANCE
SAUVE
(Sarah Lambart)
Sauve is a senior in her second semester of UROP. For her project, she conducted high-pressure, hightemperature experiments in the MagMaX Lab to better understand melt-rock interactions that happen in the mantle source of oceanic basalts. She presented her research this year at the Geological Society of America. <
ALEXANDER
STRALEY
(Mark Loewen)
Straley is working to document and illustrate for the first time the postcranial skeleton of the iconic horned dinosaur Torosaurus funded by UROP. His research has direct links to solving the
controversies surrounding the growth of Triceratops. <
MICHIKO ZAHARIAS
(Gabe Bowen)
Reuniting families with their service members’ remains, lab technician
Zaharias is preparing human tooth enamel samples for isotope analysis in support of Project FIND-EM, a collaboration between geography and dentistry researchers which aims to find ways to map a person’s remains to the region where they grew up, based on slight differences in tooth enamel that are determined by the composition of local tap water. <
MARY ROALSTAD & CHALLIS CONNALLY
(Brenda Bowen and Cari Johnson)
Roalstad is working on building an Arc-GIS database of landsat and other imagery/data to track delta movements in the Colorado and San Juan arms of Lake Powell. She also participated in the Spring 2024 survey in which the group collected high resolution CHIRP data that images the water bottom and sub-lake floor layers of sediment. Connally is now working through those data and initial results show some staggering rates of deposition since the last USGS survey. These findings are working toward publication soon. <
Thank you to all of our alumni and friends who contribute to the Department of Geology & Geophysics. Your support enables us to provide exceptional education, conduct groundbreaking research, and prepare the next generation of leaders in our discipline.
Visit our Giving Page ugive.app.utah.edu/designation/108
Funds raised will be used to support key student and faculty initiatives as determined by the department chair. Examples include graduate fellowships, field trips, scholarships, and other student support efforts.
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For more information about giving to Geology & Geophysics:
TJ McMullin Director of Development
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801-581-4414