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Tag Geology

Remembering Klaus Westphal, longtime former director of the UW Geology Museum

August 24, 2023

Westphal's legacy of public engagement in the sciences lives on at the museum and across UW–Madison.

UW researchers working to improve and simplify models for how PFAS flows through the ground

November 22, 2022

Researchers found that several factors have a major influence on where and how long harmful PFAS chemicals stay locked in the ground before flowing below the water table.

Ancient example of modern global warming was too hot for tiny, important ocean creatures

March 9, 2022

During another time in which Earth warmed rapidly in conjunction with a spike in atmospheric carbon similar to our modern climate, seawater temperature and chemical changes decimated an important piece of the food web in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

Bird’s-eye view of geology using drones offers new way to protect groundwater

November 27, 2020

Researchers at the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey are spending a little less time on the ground and more time in the air — looking at the ground. What they're finding could help improve water quality.

Storing carbon dioxide underground may be feasible for helping achieve climate goals

May 22, 2020

A new study shows that underground reservoirs currently have capacity to store enough atmospheric carbon dioxide to limit planetary warming to under two degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees Fahrenheit) relative to pre-Industrial temperatures by the year 2100.

In uncertain times, you can lean on rocks … and The Rock

April 30, 2020

Stephen Meyers calls his last Geosci 100 lecture of the semester “Living in an Uncertain World.” This year, he and his team have created a multimedia production that features a Twitter conversation with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson about his favorite rock, a special video message from Chancellor Blank and a musical performance from local band Mr. Chair.

Complex local conditions keep fields of dunes from going active all at once

February 26, 2020

New research on dunes in China describes how even neighboring dunes can long remain in different and seemingly conflicting states — confounding the assessment of stabilization efforts and masking the effects of climate change.

Hard as a rock? Maybe not, say bacteria that help form soil

December 16, 2019

New UW–Madison research shows how bacteria can degrade solid bedrock, jump-starting a long process of alteration that creates the mineral portion of soil.

Student commencement speaker: Scholarship opened a rewarding academic path

December 4, 2019

Lisa Kamal says she auditioned to be the student speaker for winter commencement because she believes she has something to say about keeping an open mind and adapting to one’s circumstances.

Professor’s study of ancient crystals sheds light on earth’s early years

November 14, 2019

“If we can analyze melt inclusions, that will provide the first data on rock chemistry for the Earth’s ‘Dark Ages,’ the first 500 million years of earth history,” John Valley says. “This is a critical time that we know almost nothing about.”

Seeking basic info on “basement rocks”

September 5, 2019

Geologist Esther Stewart makes a living poking around in the geologic basement beneath Wisconsin, which provides many clues to the land's history.

Small Wyoming dinosaur helps rewrite the evolutionary story of birds, flight

July 10, 2019

A dinosaur found in Wyoming is helping UW–Madison researchers rewrite the family history of dinosaurs and modern birds.

Ancient poop helps show climate change contributed to fall of Cahokia

February 25, 2019

A study provides a direct link between changes in Cahokia’s population size as measured through a unique fecal record and environmental data showing evidence of drought and flood.

As Lake Michigan rises, bluffs collapse and geologists explore

February 15, 2019

UW-Madison researchers are more than one year into a project sponsored by Wisconsin Sea Grant aimed at a better understanding how the bluffs erode, and what triggers their collapse.

“Ring around bathtub” at giant volcano field shows movement of subterranean magma

June 27, 2018

It’s a major task to understand a Laguna del Maule mountaintop region that has erupted 50 times over the past 20,000 years. But the starting point of a UW–Madison study is simple: It’s the ring that standing water leaves on a bathtub.