M. Colin Marvin

Science Needs to Embrace the Idea of Style How do individual scientists approach their work? These stylistic differences can influence the process of discovery.

Some chemists build molecules incrementally. Others make risky moves to discover new chemistry. Both succeed. We call it methodology. But it's style. And we act like acknowledging different approaches threatens scientific rigor.

What I wish I knew: 33 thoughts for early career researchers Thirty three reflections I wish someone had shared with me early in my research career.

What would you share with an earlier version of yourself?

Did you know sand grains record their transport history?

New research in Geology shows zircon grains reveal their journey through microscopic abrasion “microtextures”—even in billion-year-old rocks!

Read more: geosociety.co/4oHG2J6
#Geology #GSAPubs

take a sec to check out our paper on zircon micro-abrasion features and what they can tell us about Earth’s surface billions of years ago (hot of the proverbial press in @geosociety.bsky.social)!

Yooo how about those Mariners??!!!

Just out: PhD candidate @mcolinmarvin.bsky.social shows that like in quartz, #zircon grains preserve microscopic archives of their transport history. But unlike in quartz, those archives remain decipherable for billions of years, unlocking first 90% of #Earth ’s history
@stanforddoerr.bsky.social

with Michael Hasson, Vittorio Colicci, Raisha Abubo, and @marslogander.bsky.social, all at @stanforddoerr.bsky.social

Did you know that sand records its transport history as it moves across Earth's surface? We developed a new tool to investigate billion-year-old rocks by looking at microscopic features on zircon sand grains. Check out our new paper in @geosociety.bsky.social to see how!

doi.org/10.1130/G537...

^^ a classic. “Puyallup” as a close second

Instant classic!

I also like to use some of their examples from previous underwater experiments (Reffet et al., 2010; doi.org/10.1130/G308...) to show how acute and obtuse diverging winds result in different dune types (inspired by @agunn.bsky.social 's Sharp Lecture last year):

Their results totally line up with the Rubin and Hunter model too! "As defined, the resulting dune orientation yields to the maximum gross transport normal to the bedform trend, as proposed by Rubin and Hunter"

Their underwater experiments and model comparison with modern aeolian dunes shows that the orientation relative to the RDD is the one that maximizes the growth rate. Also explains how dunes of different morphologies can exist under the same wind regime:

cool stuff! Courrech du Pont et al. (2014) took this a step further by showing that the dune type (elongating vs migrating) is dependent on sediment supply. doi.org/10.1130/G356...

eBook Preview

Statistical Physics of Rarefied Sediment Particle Motions and Transport: Applications to Hillslopes and Rivers

Posting this preview of material from my next (unfinished) book might be a mistake. But eh… what the hell.

1/n

cdn.vanderbilt.edu/t2-my/my-prd...

The rise of plant life changed how rivers move, study shows Research reveals that unvegetated meandering rivers can geologically masquerade as braided rivers, suggesting they were much more common in the first 90 percent of Earth’s history than previously thou...

Findings from a recent study could upend the conventional view of how rivers have shaped continents over time.

It’s “a significant revision to our understanding of the history of the Earth,” said lead author Michael Hasson.
@marslogander.bsky.social

So proud of Michael!! 😎

This work was a collaboration with @alvitello.bsky.social at @unipd.bsky.social and A. Ielpi and @ubcokanagan.bsky.social

Check also:

- Perspective by J. Pizzuto: doi.org/10.1126/scie...

- Stanford’s press release: sustainability.stanford.edu/news/rise-pl...

Vegetation changes the trajectory of river bends A primary axiom in geoscience is that the evolution of plants drove global changes in river dynamics. Notably, the apparent sinuosity of rivers, derived from the variance of sediment accretion directi...

Plants change how river bends move - paper by PhD student Michael Hasson out as First Release in #Science!!

Paper: doi.org/10.1126/scie...

Before #plants, #meanders did not grow laterally as much but translated downstream, making them look like braided rivers in rocks.

@stanforddoerr.bsky.social

A few semi-transparent grains of sand on a black background, with a frosted texture characteristic of wind abrasion

A lot of semi-transparent grains of sand on a black background

A few semi-transparent grains of sand on a black background, with a frosted texture characteristic of wind abrasion

The microscope and camera setup I used to take the photos

Sand grains from Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah 🧪⚒️

Tonight is the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s midnight ride. May his memory remind us all to resist the tyranny forming in our government.

we ❤️ dunes

Ripples formed in low-pressure wind tunnels suggest Mars’s large windblown ripples are not impact ripples - Nature Communications Low-pressure wind tunnel experiments suggest that large sand ripples on Mars are drag ripples, not impact ripples. Windblown drag ripples constitute an untapped record of atmospheric evolution under t...

Postdoc Carlos Alvarez shows that Mars’s large #aeolian #ripples are not impact ripples through low-pressure #wind tunnel experiments at #NASA Ames. Very excited about this one!
@stanforddoerr.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

PhD student Sophie Silver's first paper shows that crack geometry betrays presence of water on other planets! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
There's a nice write up in Penn Today here: penntoday.upenn.edu/news/penn-ca...

New paper by PhD student @mcolinmarvin.bsky.social uses #patterns formed by #dunes to better understand sources, pathways, and sinks of #sand on #Titan. Spoiler: #Xanadu has outsized influence on #eolian sediments, and sand travels far!!

@stanforddoerr.bsky.social

with @marslogander.bsky.social, Jani Radebaugh, and Wen Bo

Check out our paper in @agu.org where we provide evidence for a continuous transport pathway around Titan’s equatorial dune fields, only interrupted by the Xanadu region (with implications for the nature of Titan’s sand grains!) agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

8th International Planetary Dunes Workshop is held in Sassari/Alghero, Italy, from 19–22 May:
www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/dun...
🔔 Important Deadlines:
📌 Abstract submission: 12 March
📌 Registration: 31 March

Enhanced color cutout shows a closeup of a thick sand sheet draped over bedrock in Melas Chasma on Mars. The dark-blue and purple colors indicate coarse-grained sands that are comprised of basalt. The scene is less than 1 km across. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

Mars Wore Blue Velvet

The dark-blue and purple colors indicate coarse-grained sands that are comprised of basalt, an iron and magnesium-rich volcanic rock that formed from cooled lava millions of years ago.

uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_05...
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #NASA #science

Had a wonderful time today! It was really great meeting you and thank for the invite to visit your fantastic department (and beautiful campus!)