RESEARCH AREAS

The 'Land to Sea Transition'

Long Island sound provides the opportunity to examine natural anthropologic impacts on water as it travel from land to sea including coastal development, coastal marsh issues and shallow marine geology. Research includes work on the modern Sound (atmospheric monitoring, early diagenetic processes, in situ and satellite observations) and the Pleistocene-Holocene history of the estuary (e.g., sediment and pollutant budgets, water quality issues, sea level rise studies, side scan studies of the sea floor, etc). Current focus has included the history of hypoxia in the Sound, coastal marsh health and mercury pollution of the Housatonic River. Varekamp, O'Connell, Patton, Gilmore, Ku

Paleoclimatology

In concert with LIS cores, Ocean Drilling Program cores of the Atlantic and Pacific allow reconstruction of recent climatic history. O'Connell, Royer

Biogeochemistry

This research focuses on quantifying modern and ancient biogeochemical processes in both terrestrial and marine environments. Study areas include the coastal zones of Panama, Saint Lucia, and Connecticut and soils, groundwaters, rivers, and lakes located in Michigan and Ontario, Canada. Ku, Royer,Varekamp

Structural Mapping and Modeling

The Earth's crust deforms in a matter of seconds during an earthquake or over millions of year to build a mountain range. We seek to better understand the processes and patterns of this deformation by integrating field mapping, surveying, and remote sensing with mechanical modeling. Current projects explore syn-sedimentary deformation in the Guadalupe Mountains, and fault-related deformation in the Grand Canyon and Greece. Resor

Volcanoes and their Environmental Impact

We perform basic volcanological, petrological, and geochemical research on volcanoes in Argentina, the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, and Indonesia. Focus is on physical and chemical evolution of magmatic systems and crater lakes. Studies include the influence of volcanoes on human history and mythology. Varekamp, Gutmann, de Boer

Structural Geology of Connecticut

This research encompasses the deformation and magmatic history of Connecticut and the control of structures on regional hydrology. Geophysical techniques are brought to bear on the origin of Mesozoic dikes and associates structures. de Boer, Resor

Planetary Studies

Analysis of images of the surface of Mars, Venus and the Earth in order to interpret geologic process and history. Specific topics include mapping of Mars and Venus, cosmochemistry, geomicrobiology and the application of remote sensing to terrestrial environmental problems. Gilmore, Greenwood