CU Boulder Geological Sciences

Researchers wake up microbes trapped in permafrost for thousands of years Across the Arctic, bacteria and other microorganisms have become trapped underground in frozen soil and ice. A new study finds that these ancient microbes may

🧊💡 CU Boulder researchers have awakened microbes trapped in Arctic permafrost for tens of thousands of years—and found that they spring back to life when thawed. Their activity could offer new insights into climate feedbacks and Earth’s ancient ecosystems.
Read more: www.colorado.edu/today/2025/1...

Detection of Landslide‐Generated Tsunami by Shipborne GNSS Precise Point Positioning We present the first observation of a landslide-generated tsunami from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) precise positioning of ships The R/V Sikuliaq detected waves in Resurrection Bay i...

Adam Manaster, a previous CU Graduate Student and co-author, along with Anne Sheehan, wrote a groundbreaking study on a landslide-triggered tsunami captured via satellite and ship data for the first time. Read it yourself below!
🔗 Paper: tinyurl.com/3p2379fc
📖 Article: tinyurl.com/6rxhhvnj

Cool new work from CU GEOL, CIRES, and LASP

🧬 Where does all the photosynthetic sugar go?
Come hear Dr. Ana Gonzalez Nayeck break it down at our Geo Colloquium!

🗓️ Tues 4/23
🕛 Snacks @ 12:00 | Talk @ 12:20
📍Benson 380

Marine microbes, carbon isotopes, and sweet science 🍬🌊 #Geology #ScienceTalks #CUEvents

Accelerated Organic Carbon Burial Rates Reconstructed in Elephant Butte Reservoir, New Mexico During a Megadrought Sediment-laden Rio Grande inflows generate hyperpycnal plumes into Elephant Butte Reservoir Sedimentation and organic carbon (OC) burial rates are higher over the submerged reservoir bottom as op...

New paper from CU Boulder PhD student Abby Eckland (Geological Sciences & @instaar.bsky.social), with advisor Irina Overeem! Their research shows desert reservoirs like Elephant Butte can trap carbon during floods & droughts. Read more: doi.org/10.1029/2023...

This week’s CU Geo Colloquium features Dr. Erik Hanschen on how diploid algae handle spaceflight stress 🌿🪐 Join us 4/16 at 12:20pm in Benson 380. Come early for snacks + coffee! ☕ #CUGeo #SpaceAlgae #GeologyColloquium #SciTalks

⚡️CU Geological Sciences Colloquium – Lightning Talks!
📅 Wed, April 9 | 🕐 12:20pm | 📍Benson 380
🥤Snacks & drinks @ 12:00
Hear quick-hit talks from Lexie Millikin, Daniel Gittens & Alta Howells on the GOE, aseismic slip, & methanogenesis on Enceladus!

www.colorado.edu/geologicalsc...

Modeling Sediment Fluxes From Debris‐Rich Basal Ice Layers We develop a model of sediment entrainment beneath an alpine glacier to predict sediment fluxes and basal ice stratigraphy at the terminus The model explains the co-occurrence of solid, debris-ri...

🚨 Student Paper Alert! 🚨

Ethan Pierce (CU alum), with Irina Overeem & G. Jouvet, published a new study in JGR! The paper combines novel modeling of sediment entrainment and glacier dynamics with field observations🏔️🧊

Read it here: doi.org/10.1029/2024...

Atmosphere to Surface Profiles of Water‐Vapor Isotopes and Meteorological Conditions Over the Northeast Greenland Ice Sheet The first campaign retrieval of summer water-vapor isotopes in central Greenland up to 1500 m above the ice sheet surface Model-observation gaps in atmospheric water-vapor isotopes can be used to...

New paper alert!

Grad student Kevin Rozmiarek leads a study on water-vapor isotopes and weather patterns over NE Greenland’s ice sheet. Findings offer key climate insights.🌀📊☁️

📄 Read the paper: doi.org/10.1029/2024...
📰 CU Today feature: www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...

Potential Health Impacts, Treatments, and Countermeasures of Martian Dust on Future Human Space Exploration From microgravity to harmful radiation, human space exploration causes physiological changes, and a journey to Mars introduces novel issues The small size, oxidative properties, and chemical comp...

New study in GeoHealth explores health risks of Martian dust for astronauts. Toxic particles like perchlorates and metals may cause respiratory issues. Proposed countermeasures include air filters, self-cleaning suits, and electrostatic shields. 👨‍🔬🌍🔬Read more below: doi.org/10.1029/2024...

Watch seismic waves from the M7.7 earthquake in Myanmar ripple across North America.

This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows how the ground moved as detected by seismometers across the continent.

Picture of a measurement site on the Greenland Ice Sheet. In the foreground is a fixed‐wing uncrewed aerial system (UAS), looking like a small, light plane with a wing span of 3 m. The UAS is prepared for take-off on a launching system with a high pressure flask that is filled with air through a connected compressor. In the background are white, heated measurement cabin and a turbulence measurement system (eddy covariance) that is connected with a thick bundle of cables to the cabin.

📚 New paper alert! 🧵
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

🧪 We present a unique dataset of 465 (!) in situ measurements of the #water_isotopes in vapor up to 1500m above the #Greenland Ice Sheet.

🌍 We demonstrate the use of water isotope profiles to reveal gaps in climate model physics.

Join us for a fascinating colloquium talk with Daniel Coe on crafting effective Earth science graphics and maps! 🎨🗺️ Plus, explore the power of lidar in visualizing geologic and geomorphic features!
📅 Talk: Wednesday, 3/12 @12:20
📍 Location: Benson 380

Join us for Dr. Andrew Du's colloquium: The effects of time averaging on ecological inference in large mammal fossil assemblages 🏔️📡

📅 March 5th, 2025
📍 Benson 380 | 12:20 - 1:20 PM
☕ Snacks & coffee at noon outside Benson 380!

#GeologyColloquium #CUGeology

🌍✨ How fiber-optic cables are changing earthquake science!

Dr. Jimmy Atterholt presents: Imaging Big Things at Fine Scales with Fiber-Measured Earthquake Wavefields 🏔️📡

📅 Feb 26, 2025
📍 Benson 380 | 12:20 - 1:20 PM
☕ Snacks & coffee at noon outside Benson 380!

🚨 CU undergrad-led paper is a top 10 most-read Lithosphere article of 2024! 🚨 Kainz et al. use (U-Th)/He thermochronology to reveal major Oligo-Miocene exhumation in SE Colorado’s High Plains, shedding light on Rocky Mountain uplift. Read it here: doi.org/10.2113/2023... #Geology#GeoBuffs

Paper Alert!❄️

Research led by graduate student Jordan Herbert reanalyzes how well automated snow monitoring stations represent surrounding snow depth using airborne lidar data. Shows spatial variability and suggests improvements for snow measurement networks.
tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/...

A person standing next to a fully loaded snowmobile and trailer looking out at a vast frozen river. This is an advertisement for Icy River, a film about a researcher and her student venturing into the high Arctic in the name of climate science research. The film features Irina Overeem & Josie Arcuri, INSTAAR researchers, and Ryan Vachon, a climate scientist turned-filmmaker. The film was a 2024 Official Selection at the Raw Science Film Festival.

ICY RIVER: Follow faculty member IRINA OVEREEM & grad student JOSIE ARCURI as they set up sensors to monitor when the Canning River, clogged by winter ice, begins to flow. Filmed by Ryan Vachon.

Watch the ~30 minute video online at:
PBS www.pbs.org/video/icy-ri...
Vimeo vimeo.com/901251616/ea...

Postdoctoral position in hydrogeology; Davis, CA or Las Vegas, NV. Reviews will start 1 March. See also: csdms.colorado.edu/wiki/Jobs

Want to be a part of saving our ocean, our planet, and our future? We’re #hiring! Check out some of our #STEMjob postings today if you’re #opentowork: careers.whoi.edu

Summer internships for both undergraduate and graduate students, variety of opportunities, deadline Feb. 15

Geology is finished

Summer internship, deadline Feb. 9

Deep Beneath California’s Sierra Nevada, Earth’s Lithosphere May Be Peeling Away - Eos Evidence for lithospheric foundering, or the process of denser material sinking into the mantle, is emerging.

From AGU's @eos.org — Deep beneath California’s Sierra Nevada, Earth’s lithosphere may be peeling away. Story highlights work led by CIRES' Vera Schulte-Pelkum.

🧑🏽‍🔬Hey #undergrad juniors and seniors! Seeking paid, hands-on experience in #marinescience + #engineering? Spend the #summer doing research with a WHOI #SummerStudentFellowship!

📲 Applications are due Feb. 5 - get the details: go.whoi.edu/ssf-program

Join us Wednesday 2/5 at 12:20 PM for a talk by Xinyuang Zheng (University of Minnesota) on using stable K isotopes to study Earth’s climate and geochemical cycles! 🌎

Context matters: Modeling thermochronologic data in geologic frameworks using the Great Unconformity as a case study The critical importance of sample context and geologic information for interpreting geochronologic data has long been fundamental to the Earth science…

🚨 New Paper Alert! 🚨

New research by Prof. Becky Flowers and grad student Barra Peak outlines a geologic context-based approach to thermal history modeling.

Read more here: 🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#NewPaperAlert #Geology #Geochronology #Thermochronology #GreatUnconformity