Department of Geosciences
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Virginia Tech's Department of Geosciences focuses on research, education, and outreach dealing with the nature of the earth. Our students and faculty investigate earth processes at scales that range from atomic to planetary. Our undergraduate program offers B.S. degrees with Geology, Geochemistry, Geophysics, and Earth Sciences Education options and our graduate program offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in one of our many research areas. Our department also operates the Museum of Geosciences, open to the public and located in 2062 Derring Hall.
Collections in this community
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Departmental Publications, Department of Geosciences [42]
Newsletters, annual reports, and other departmental publications -
Scholarly Works, Department of Geosciences [157]
Research articles, presentations, and other scholarship
Recent Submissions
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A new caimanine alligatorid from the Middle Eocene of Southwest Texas and implications for spatial and temporal shifts in Paleogene crocodyliform diversity
(PeerJ, 2021-01-15)Dramatic early Cenozoic climatic shifts resulted in faunal reorganization on a global scale. Among vertebrates, multiple groups of mammals (e.g., adapiform and omomyiform primates, mesonychids, taeniodonts, dichobunid ... -
Slip partitioning along a continuously curved fault: Quaternary geologic controls on Denali fault system slip partitioning, growth of the Alaska Range, and the tectonics of south-central Alaska
(Geological Society of America, 2015-06-01)Active transpressional fault systems are typically associated with the development of broad zones of deformation and topographic development; however, the complex geometries typically associated with these systems often ... -
Along-fault migration of the Mount McKinley restraining bend of the Denali fault defined by late Quaternary fault patterns and seismicity, Denali National Park & Preserve, Alaska
(Elsevier, 2016-12-14)The tallest mountain in North America, Denali (formerly Mount McKinley, 6,190 m), is situated inside an abrupt bend in the right-lateral strike-slip Denali fault. This anomalous topography is clearly associated with the ... -
Evolution of heat flow, hydrothermal circulation and permeability on the young southern flank of the Costa Rica Rift
(2020-01)We analyse 67 new conductive heat-flow measurements on the southern flank of the Costa Rica Rift (CRR). Heat-flow measurements cover five sites ranging in oceanic crustal age between approximately 1.6 and 5.7 Ma, and are ... -
Extensometer forensics: what can the data really tell us?
(2020-03)Extensometer data have an advantage over satellite-based data for monitoring land subsidence in that extensometer data provide continuous measurements (hourly or better temporal resolution) at very high precision (several ... -
Water loss during dynamic recrystallization of Moine thrust quartzites, northwest Scotland
(2020-06)Infrared absorption measurements of molecular water in sheared Cambrian quartzites in the footwall to the Moine thrust reveal a decrease in water content from 4080 to 1570 ppm with increasing recrystallization traced toward ... -
The Stratigraphic Evolution of a Submarine Channel: Linking Seafloor Dynamics to Depositional Products
(2020-07)We investigate the relationship between the cross-sectional geomorphic expression of a submarine channel as observed on the seafloor and the stratigraphic product of long-lived erosion, bypass, and sediment deposition. ... -
Carbonatite and highly peralkaline nephelinite melts from Oldoinyo Lengai Volcano, Tanzania: The role of natrite-normative fluid degassing
(2020-09)Oldoinyo Lengai, located in the Gregory Rift in Tanzania, is a world-famous volcano owing to its uniqueness in producing natrocarbonatite melts and because of its extremely high CO2 flux. The volcano is constructed of ... -
A comprehensive investigation of Bronze Age human dietary strategies from different altitudinal environments in the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor
(2020-09)The early presence of crops from East Asia and Southwest Asia in the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor (IAMC) has drawn attention to the Bronze Age mountain archaeology of Central Asia. Namely, the Bronze Age diffusion and ... -
Subsidence-Derived Volumetric Strain Models for Mapping Extensional Fissures and Constraining Rock Mechanical Properties in the San Joaquin Valley, California
(2020-09)Large-scale subsidence due to aquifer-overdraft is an ongoing hazard in the San Joaquin Valley. Subsidence continues to cause damage to infrastructure and increases the risk of extensional fissures.Here, we use InSAR-derived ... -
Early Holocene Greenland-ice mass loss likely triggered earthquakes and tsunami
(2020-09-15)Due to their large mass, ice sheets induce significant stresses in the Earth's crust. Stress release during deglaciation can trigger large-magnitude earthquakes, as indicated by surface faults in northern Europe. Although ... -
The Role of Chemistry in Fracture Pattern Development and Opportunities to Advance Interpretations of Geological Materials
(AGU, 2019-09-13)Fracture pattern development has been a challenging area of research in the Earth sciences for more than 100 years. Much has been learned about the spatial and temporal complexity inherent to these systems, but severe ... -
Inverse modeling using PS-InSAR for improved calibration of hydraulic parameters and prediction of future subsidence for Las Vegas Valley, USA
(Copernicus Publications, 2015)Las Vegas Valley has had a long history of surface deformation due to groundwater pumping that began in the early 20th century. After nearly 80 years of pumping, PS-InSAR interferograms have revealed detailed and complex ... -
Intrabasinal sediment recycling from detrital strontium isotope stratigraphy
(2020-10)Temporary storage of sediment between source and sink can hinder reconstruction of climate and/or tectonic signals from stratigraphy by mixing of sediment tracers with diagnostic geochemical or geochronological signatures. ... -
The Ediacaran frondose fossil Arborea from the Shibantan limestone of South China
(2020-07-20)Bituminous limestone of the Ediacaran Shibantan Member of the Dengying Formation (551-539 Ma) in the Yangtze Gorges area contains a rare carbonate-hosted Ediacara-type macrofossil assemblage. This assemblage is dominated ... -
Effects of Oceanic Crustal Thickness on Intermediate Depth Seismicity
(2020-07-10)The occurrence of intermediate depth seismicity (70-300 km) is commonly attributed to the dehydration of hydrous phases within the downgoing oceanic plate. While some water is incorporated into the oceanic crust at formation, ... -
Incipient evolution of the Eastern California shear zone through the transpressional zone of the San Bernardino Mountains and San Gorgonio Pass, California
(2020-08)The nature of the connection between the Eastern California shear zone (ECSZ) and the San Andreas fault (SAF) in southern California (western United States) is not well understood. Northwest of San Gorgonio Pass, strands ... -
Measuring snow water equivalent from common-offset GPR records through migration velocity analysis
(Copernicus Publications, 2017-12-19)Many mountainous regions depend on seasonal snowfall for their water resources. Current methods of predicting the availability of water resources rely on long-term relationships between stream discharge and snowpack ... -
A long-necked tanystropheid from the Middle Triassic Moenkopi Formation (Anisian) provides insights into the ecology and biogeography of tanystropheids
(Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2019-11)Archosauromorphs are a diverse and successful group of reptiles that radiated into a series of groups around the time of the end-Permian extinction. One of these groups of archosauromorphs, tanystropheids, consists of ... -
Metasomatism-induced wehrlite formation in the upper mantle beneath the Nograd-Gomor Volcanic Field (Northern Pannonian Basin): Evidence from xenoliths
(2020-05)Clinopyroxene-enriched upper mantle xenoliths classified as wehrlites are common (similar to 20% of all xenoliths) in the central part of the Nograd-Gomor Volcanic Field (NGVF), situated in the northern margin of the ...
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