The goal of this group is to understand the Earth and other planets, with a focus on interaction and impact of processes in the interior with the surface environment (hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere). This requires applying a broad range of knowledge in science, applied mathematics and statistics, to study complex, natural systems.

Our faculty address both practical questions and fundamental issues pertaining to planetary processes. Research topics encompass the structure and composition of the Earth’s crust and interior, heat and energy sources within the Earth, the origin of earthquakes and volcanoes, dynamics of the core, mantle, and crust as well as glaciers and ice sheets, mineral resources, interaction of the oceans and atmosphere, changes in the climate system, societal impacts of global change, and the evolution of Earth and other planets over billions of years.

Researchers within the division use a variety of instruments and techniques, including airborne and satellite remote sensing and geophysical platforms, GPS (Global Positioning System), mass spectrometers, synchrotrons, the diamond anvil cell, and electron microprobes to study Earth and planetary processes. In addition, we use theoretical and numerical methods and experimental techniques to reproduce conditions from the surface to the center of planets. The great strength of our research programs is the strong connection between data collection and analysis and quantitative interpretation and model development.

Graduates from this Division have strong skills in the quantitative, laboratory and field geosciences and readily find career opportunities in the private, government, academic, and public sectors.

Subspecialties

Geomorphology

The study of landforms, including their origin and evolution, and the processes that shape them.

Geophysics

The study of the Earth by quantitative physical methods, especially by seismic, electromagnetic, and radioactivity methods. The theories and techniques of geophysics are employed extensively in the planetary sciences in general.

Glaciology

the study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural phenomena that involve ice.

Ground Penetrating Radar

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. This non-destructive method uses electromagnetic radiation in the microwave band (UHF/VHF frequencies) of the radio spectrum, and detects the reflected signals from subsurface structures.

Isotope Geology

Petrology

A field of geology that focuses on the study of rocks and the conditions on which they form.

Structural geology

The study of the three dimensional distribution of rock bodies and their planar or folded surfaces, and their internal fabrics.

Tectonics

A field of study within geology concerned generally with the structures within the crust of the Earth (or other planets) and particularly with the forces and movements that have operated in a region to create these structures.