Department of the GeoPhysical Sciences

Geophysical Science News

• UChicago planetary scientists detect atmosphere on the coldest lava world to date

  September 08, 2026

  In a study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, a group led by University of Chicago graduate student Brandon Park Coy reports another: a rocky super-Earth 154 light-years away in the constellation Pisces. Named HD 3167 b, this very hot “lava world” zips around its host star in just one Earth-day.

• Forecasting Once-In-A-Millennium Weather With The Help Of AI

  August 11, 2026

  UChicago researchers combine AI with statistics and physics to better estimate the odds of rare weather events.

• Prof. Sunyoung Park’s paper studies the ScS-triggered slip on megathrust interfaces after the 2011 MW 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake

  June 24, 2026

  A new analysis of data from the quake, led by University of Chicago geophysicist Sunyoung Park, suggests an extraordinary answer: The waves from the earthquake traveled downwards to the Earth’s core and then back up, displacing the tectonic plates further. This permanently moved the entire island of Japan eastward by up to six millimeters. 

• Data analyzed by UChicago scientists reveals exoplanet Kua’kua is dark and rocky, offering clues to search for habitable worlds

  May 06, 2026

  Dr. Kite, Brandon Coy, and the team used the telescope to focus on a planet known as Kuaꞌkua, or LHS 3844 b by its formal scientific name, which is 48 light-years away from Earth. Kua’kua is about twice the mass of Earth, but is much closer to its sun and zips around it faster—its “year,” the time it takes to complete a full trip around its host star, is the equivalent of 0.5 Earth days.

  Kua’kua’s surface appears to be very dark, most likely made up of basalt or similar rock—much like the rock you might see in Iceland or Hawaii. The planet is probably covered in a dark, weathered powder, as our moon and Mercury are. And there’s no signature in the readings for an atmosphere with carbon dioxide, or even a sulfurous one belched from volcanoes. The color is of particular interest because a lighter-colored surface might have indicated a granite crust, which on Earth, is made in the presence of water and could also have indicated the presence of plate tectonics.

  The paper is published in Nature Astronomy.