Geophysical Sciences
Chairman's Introduction, Michael Foote | Faculty Research Summaries
The Department of the Geophysical Sciences covers a wide range of disciplines related to the origin and evolution of the earth and its fluid and biological envelopes. Concepts and methods in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology are applied to the problems of the atmosphere, oceans, the solid earth, and the evolution of life, a combination leading inevitably to far-reaching studies.
Within the stated scope of the department, specific research interests reflect the expertise and interests of the faculty, and these are constantly evolving, but there are several connecting threads. As one example, many research projects have fluid flow as a common denominator: many of the principles and techniques of analysis are the same, whether the fluids concerned are atmospheric gases, ocean water, or within the planetary interior. Exchange of ideas, of analytical approaches, and even of people among research areas of the department is an everyday rather than unusual pattern, and this forms the basis of the department's fundamental strength in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research.
Research facilities include special laboratories for sediment transport; high pressure geophysics; petrology; mass spectrometry; rock and fossil preparation; and general chemical analyses. Special types of equipment include a wave tank, field vehicles, an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, a scanning electron microscope, ion and electron micro probes, and X-ray diffractometers. Computing resources in the department at present include four separate clusters devoted to analysis of data from satellite-based remote sensors and modeling physical and chemical processes associated with the atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets, silicate melts, and the Earth's dynamo. In addition, students can have access to unique facilities at Argonne National Laboratory, including the Advanced Photon Source and CHARISMA. Access to the Advanced Photon Source is primarily through GeoSoilEnviroCARS and utilizing a range of x-ray techniques directed toward high pressure research with the laser-heated diamond anvil cell, high pressure research with the multi-anvil press, x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, x-ray fluorescence microprobe, microtomography, microcrystallography, inelastic scattering and powder diffraction. Current students also access CHARISMA, a state of the art resonance ionization mass spectrometer to analyze isotopic compositions of pre-solar grains.
Most graduate programs fall into one of three broad areas: (a) atmospheric and oceanic sciences; (b) solid earth geology, geophysics, and geochemistry; and (c) paleobiology and historical geology. The boundaries between these areas are anything but rigid. Students may, for example, combine meteorology, geophysics, and paleobiology in studies of paleoclimate and paleogeography. Work in geophysical fluid dynamics may be directly applicable to topics as different as generation of the Earth's magnetic field, mantle convection, ocean tides, and atmospheric transport. As a result, the curriculum of a graduate student is highly flexible, and programs are designed to meet the needs of the individual. Much of a student's course work and research may actually be carried out in other departments of the University. This is especially common in evolution and paleobiology, in aspects of geochemistry and cosmochemistry, and areas of geophysical fluid dynamics.
Michael Foote, Chairman