https://qanr.usu.edu/geo/news/index.xmlOn this page, you can keep up with the latest news within the Department of Geosciences. Research, awards, student events and more!https://templateresources.usu.edu/_resources/assets/images/U-State.pnghttps://qanr.usu.edu/en-usNewshttps://www.usu.edu/today/story/finding-faults-usus-annual-rock-n-fossil-day-set-for-feb-28USU's Department of Geosciences hosts the annual, free, family-friendly event on Saturday with demonstrations and hands-on learning for all ages.Monday, 23 February 2026https://www.usu.edu/today/story/breakthrough-expedition-hidden-clay-intensified-japan-megaquake-tsunamiBeneath four miles of ocean and a mile of rock and sediment, an international team, including USU’s Srisharan Shreedharan, recently uncovered new information — a hidden reason for the devastation of the 2011 magnitude 9.1 Tohoku earthquake, the most powerFriday, 16 January 2026https://www.usu.edu/today/story/usu-uintah-basin-professor-ben-burger-digs-into-own-past-in-inaugural-lectureThe inaugural lecture series honors USU faculty who have completed the promotion and tenure process and advanced to the rank of professor within the past year. Earning the title of full professor is one of the highest distinctions a faculty member can achMonday, 15 December 2025https://caas.usu.edu/news/2025/land-of-ice-and-rising-mountain.phpStudy investigates why older glacial advances in New Zealand were more extensive - due to climate or tectonics?Wednesday, 10 December 2025https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adv6383?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ScienceAdviser&utm_content=distillation&et_rid=17654451&et_cid=5686989In the July 23rd issue of Science Advances, lead author Dr. Giovanni Mussini from Cambridge University, along with USU Geoscientist Dr. Carol Dehler and collaborators from University of New Mexico, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Grand Canyon NationaWednesday, 23 July 2025https://www.usu.edu/today/story/waiting-for-the-big-one-usu-geologist-studies-frictional-behavior-of-the-southern-san-andreas-faultDoctoral scholar Alex DiMonte, with faculty mentors Alexis Ault and Srisharan Shreedharan, and Brown University colleague Greg Hirth, publishes new findings about California's iconic Earth crust fracture in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.Friday, 11 July 2025https://www.usu.edu/today/story/slickrock-usu-geoscientists-explore-why-utahs-wasatch-fault-is-vulnerable-to-earthquakesIn the GSA journal Geology, Srisharan Shreedharan, Alexis Ault and Jordan Jensen combine varied disciplinary perspectives to explain why properties of fault rocks and geologic events that occurred more than a billion years ago portend worrisome seismic acMonday, 28 April 2025https://www.usu.edu/today/story/two-usu-students-receive-national-science-foundation-research-fellowship/?nl=1016&utm_source=todaynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl1016&utm_content=two-usu-students-receive-national-science-foundation-research-fellowshipMechanical engineering student Ryan Lewis and geosciences student Michelle Norman were both selected for the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program, one of the nation’s most distinguished research fellowships.Friday, 18 April 2025https://www.usu.edu/today/story/time-will-tell-usu-geoscientists-develop-tool-to-chronicle-unexplained-gaps-in-the-rock-record/?nl=1010&utm_source=todaynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl1010&utm_content=time-will-tell-usu-geoscientists-develop-tool-to-chronicle-unexplained-gaps-in-the-rock-recordIn the journal Geology, Presidential Doctoral Research Fellow Jordan Jensen and Department of Geosciences faculty mentor Alexis Ault describe a new forensic tool to help geoscientists understand the creation of unconformities by tracking natural "rusting"Friday, 7 March 2025https://www.usu.edu/today/story/usu-easterns-evey-gannaway-dalton-named-department-teacher-of-the-year“Dr. Gannaway Dalton is an absolute rock star,” said Doug Miller, chief campus administrator at USU Eastern. “While this recognition is specific to her skill as an educator, her expertise in our region is valued beyond the classroom. We are incredibly forThursday, 27 February 2025https://eos.org/research-spotlights/how-rivers-carved-the-canyons-of-the-central-colorado-plateauUSU graduate Natalie Tanski & others looked at two reaches of the Colorado River to determine how and why incision varied during the PleistoceneTuesday, 25 February 2025https://www.usu.edu/today/story/state-of-flux-usu-inaugural-professor-studies-geochemistry-of-worlds-mountain-ranges/Utah State University geochemist Dennis Newell’s academic and professional path has never followed a straight line. But it’s a path that’s taken him across continents and into the world’s great mountain ranges: The Himalayas, the Andes and the Alaska RangMonday, 18 November 2024https://www.usu.edu/today/story/usu-geologist-colleagues-rewrite-textbooks-with-new-insights-from-bottom-of-the-grand-canyon/Geological Society of America Fellow Carol Dehler is part of an NSF-funded, multi-institution team using advanced technology and time-tested knowledge to offer innovative, updated perspectives of an iconic sedimentary record.Thursday, 7 November 2024https://news.fsu.edu/news/arts-humanities/2024/11/04/portal-to-the-past-fsu-geologist-identifies-metamorphic-rock-as-a-crucial-feature-of-the-ancient-earths-carbon-cycle/In a new article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USU Geoscience’s Dr. Don Penman and colleague Dr. Emily Stewart from Florida State University propose that carbon dioxide degassing during rock metamorphism may have been signiMonday, 4 November 2024https://www.usu.edu/today/story/dangerous-ground-usu-geoscientist-awarded-nsf-grant-to-study-earthquake-precursors/Assistant Professor Srisharan Shreedharan leads collaborative effort to gain knowledge of processes that could improve seismic hazard forecasting.Wednesday, 30 October 2024https://www.usu.edu/today/story/beginning-oct-5-usu-museum-of-geology-is-open-1st-saturday-of-each-month/In an effort to provide greater accessibility, the Department of Geosciences will open its Logan campus facility, featuring local rocks and fossils, to the public the first weekend each month, in addition to weekday hours.Monday, 30 September 2024https://attheu.utah.edu/research/what-microscopic-fossilized-shells-tell-us-about-ancient-climate-change/USU Dr. Don Penman and U of U geologists link rapid climate change 50 million years ago to rising CO2 levels.Monday, 26 August 2024https://www.usu.edu/today/story/dennis-newell-named-interim-head-of-usus-department-of-geosciencesGeochemistry professor aims to continue building a welcoming and supportive academic environment with robust research opportunities.Tuesday, 13 August 2024https://www.usu.edu/today/story/strike-force-usu-leads-collaborative-23m-nsf-grant-to-study-earthquake-critical-zones/?nl=975&utm_source=todaynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl975&utm_content=strike-force-usu-leads-collaborative-23m-nsf-grant-to-study-earthquake-critical-zonesGeoscientists Alexis Ault, Dennis Newell and Srisharan Shreedharan, along with engineer Brady Cox, are among an interdisciplinary, multi-institution team set to probe seismic cycle processes, examine associated human impacts of earthquakes and mentor the Wednesday, 7 August 2024https://www.usu.edu/today/story/aggie-geologists-say-yellowstone-steam-blast-among-parks-significant-hazardsA hydrothermal explosion July 23 at Yellowstone National Park sent visitors running for cover, as steam shot into the air and rocks rained down on a popular viewing area.Thursday, 25 July 2024https://www.usu.edu/today/story/earthquakes-and-hot-rocks-usus-science-unwrapped-explores-energy-transformations-friday-april-12Alexis Ault, associate professor in USU’s Department of Geosciences, will discuss the energy transformation phenomenon at USU’s Science Unwrapped public outreach program. She will present at 7 p.m. Friday, April 12.Thursday, 11 April 2024https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/cambrian-trilobites-from-the-nounan-dolomite-and-lower-st-charles-formation-upper-marjuman-to-lower-sunwaptan-miaolingian-to-furongian-series-smithfield-canyon-northern-utah/5C6ABD23D14EBC283A796A519127DB6CDr. Dehler and grad student Hannah Cothren use trilobite fossils and C-isotopes to confirm the Cambrian SPICE climate eventFriday, 9 February 2024https://giw.utahgeology.org/giw/index.php/geosites/article/view/142Study of stratigraphy and geochronology led by Emeritus professors reveals the deeper Pleistocene history of Cache Valley.Sunday, 14 January 2024https://eos.org/articles/fire-histories-may-be-written-on-grains-of-sandMS Student April Phinney researches if tiny bits of quartz record the intensity of fires from hundreds or even thousands of years ago, potentially offering new ways to study historic fires and how heat affects soil.Tuesday, 21 November 2023https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/doi/10.1130/G51599.1/629716/Pleistocene-Colorado-River-terraces-in-the?redirectedFrom=fulltextPh.D. candidate Natalie Tanski has a new paper in Geology deciphering and luminescence-dating the complex record of Colorado River terraces in CanyonlandsMonday, 20 November 2023https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2023GC010993?campaign=woletocUSU graduate student Jordan Jensen explores whether hematite thermochronology can help date the secondary magnetism of rocks along Colorado fault.Tuesday, 5 September 2023https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X22001194?casa_token=AyzWOjELDjIAAAAA:BkLcyIvRI7kCSlCQooktIfLTXbESJCgisaH3UyI5jvvFqmNlxZksIvaZ5hc7PMiVfYLUT3MnNATony Lowry and students highlight the correspondence of cool lower crust with high elevation in the West -- describing upper mantle hydration as the cause, as it drives alteration up through the lithosphere.Thursday, 10 November 2022https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/doi/10.1130/G50434.1/618212/Novel-age-constraints-for-the-onset-of-theGrad student Hannah Cothren and Dr. Carol Dehler provide the first numerical age constraint for the global SPICE isotopic event through study of the fabulous Cambrian section preserved in the Bear River Range.Friday, 14 October 2022https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000925412200081X?dgcid=coauthor#f0045Gas-rich hot springs throughout the Peruvian Andes contain a surprising contribution of mantle and crustal volatiles (CO2 and N2) despite being located along a volcanic gap associated with modern flat-slab subduction.Wednesday, 20 April 2022https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2022/03/ancient-carbon-emissions.pageThe Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is recognized by a major negative carbon isotope (δ13C) excursion (CIE) signifying an injection of isotopically light carbon into exogenic reservoirs, the mass, source, and tempo of which continue to be debated.Wednesday, 16 March 2022https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article/doi/10.1130/B35923.1/607511/Patterns-of-incision-and-deformation-on-theUnderstanding the dynamics of the greater Yellowstone region requires constraints on deformation spanning million year to decadal timescales, but intermediate-scale (Quaternary) records of erosion and deformation are lacking.Thursday, 9 September 2021https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GL094379The material properties and distribution of faults above the seismogenic zone promote or inhibit earthquake rupture propagation.Thursday, 19 August 2021https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X2100131X?dgcid=coauthorUnraveling complex slip histories in fault damage zones to understand relations among deformation, hydrothermal alteration, and surface uplift remains a challenge....Thursday, 1 July 2021https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X2030666X?via%3DihubThe transfer of large volumes of fluid to the overriding lithosphere during flat-slab subduction should drastically alter the physical and chemical properties of continental margins. However, this process is poorly understood and without active...Sunday, 21 February 2021https://www.usu.edu/today/story/research-excellence-eight-aggies-honored-in-nsf-grad-research-fellow-searchEight Utah State University scholars are honorees of the prestigious 2020 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship search. The Aggies, whose awards are collectively valued at about $828,000, are among nearly...Thursday, 9 April 2020https://www.moabhappenings.com/Geology.htmLearn about USU Geosciences and Cache Valley with the new USU Department of Geosciences YouTube Channel.Friday, 7 June 2019