-
Welcome!
We are the University of Chicago Department of the Geophysical Sciences. We study the history, interior, and exterior of Earth and other planets.
Learn about our research -
People
Our world-class scientists are fascinated with the natural processes that shape our world and cultivate the skills it takes to study them.
LEARN ABOUT OUR SCIENTISTS -
Facilities & Resources
From wave tanks to mass spectrometers, our department's laboratories allow our scientists to push the limits of their fields.
LEARN ABOUT OUR FACILITIES & RESOURCES
Research Spotlight
Professor Sue Kidwell uses the fossil record from the last thousand years to understand changes in biological baselines due to human populations.
Learn More Spotlight ArchiveStudent / Alumni Spotlight
Francois Tissot works hard to measure and understand Uranium isotopes in rocks and meteorites to learn about the early Solar System and early Earth.
Learn More Spotlight ArchiveFaculty Spotlight
Assistant professor Tiffany Shaw uses fundamental principles from fluid dynamics to understand Earth's weather and climate.
Learn more about Tiffany See all PeopleGeophysical Science News
-
Ingalls, Colman, and Rowley, publish paper on India-Asia mass balance
September 19, 2016
Graduate student Miquela Ingalls, Assistant Professor Albert Colman, and Professor David Rowley have published a paper in Nature Geoscience titled, "Large-scale subduction of continental crust implied by India-Asia mass-balance calculation." Based on consideration of the mass balance of the subduction of the India-Tibet system, they were able to infer that lower crustal eclogite has been subducted into the mantle, affecting the evolution of mantle geochemistry. Congratulations guys!
-
Sprinkle of stellar dust onto Earth’s building blocks
September 17, 2016
Former postdoc Christoph Burkhardt and Lous Block Professor Nicolas Dauphas have published a new paper in Nature titled, "A nucleosynthetic origin of the Earth’s anomalous 142Nd composition." In it they consider the issue of whether meteorites are representative of Earth's building blocks. Isotope measurements of Nd made 10 years ago had cast some doubts on this view. Their newer and higher precision measurements show that the Earth may indeed be like meteorites to which a small amount of extraneous stellar dust was added.
-
T.C. Chamberlin Postdoctoral Fellowship Available
September 14, 2016
The Department of the Geophysical Sciences at The University of Chicago invites applications for the T.C. Chamberlin Postdoctoral Fellowship. We seek outstanding scientists who lead creative investigations into the nature of Earth and other planetary bodies -- their physics, biology, chemistry, climate, and history -- and who have a desire to participate in the broad intellectual life of the Department and the University. Click on the link to learn more.
-
Marzocchi wins Best Poster Award at ICP12
September 14, 2016
Postdoc Alice Marzocchi has won a Best Poster Awards for Early Career researchers at the 12th International Conference on Paleoceanography (ICP12) for her poster “The role of sea ice and buoyancy fluxes in shaping glacial and modern ocean circulation: An analysis of PMIP simulations”.