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We are the University of Chicago Department of the Geophysical Sciences. We study the history, interior, and exterior of Earth and other planets.
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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
Stewart Edie is a paleobiologist who wants to understand why some groups of organisms are more diverse that others, and how extinction prunes the tree of life.
Learn More Spotlight ArchiveFaculty Spotlight
Malte Jansen is a creative physical oceanographer with impressive mathematical chops and great taste in problems.
Learn more about Malte See all PeopleGeophysical Science News
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Doug MacAyeal quoted in Eos Article
December 05, 2018
Prof. Douglas MacAyeal was quoted in a recent AGU Eos piece about penitentes on Europa, which could make landing on the Jovian moon difficult. Congratulations, Prof. MacAyeal!
The article sprung from a paper coauthored by Prof. MacAyeal, Prof. Dorian Abbot and Lawrence Maclagan Cathles, now at the University of Michigan. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-glaciology/article/intrasurface-radiative-transfer-limits-the-geographic-extent-of-snow-penitents-on-horizontal-snowfields/C4A22464F35B9FEDC0FF8E86B0C9FDBA/core-reader
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Apocalypse Cow: Kidwell and Tomasovych featured in popular article
December 04, 2018
Work by Prof. Susan Kidwell and former postdoc Adam Tomasovych was featured in a recent article on unsuspected marine ecosystem collapse in Southern California, driven by historic land use. The piece was produced by the Univ So Cal SeaGrant program, which provided early bridge funds for work on the Los Angeles continental shelf.
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Valley Geometry study featured in UChicago News and Quanta Magazine
December 04, 2018
Prof. Edwin Kite coauthored a study on valley network geometry on Mars and Earth this past June. The paper was featured in a UChicago News article re-issued for the InSight landing, and in a Quanta Magazine piece summing up the recent literature in this subfield. Congratulations, Prof. Kite!
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Prof. Kite quoted in Florida Today for Waterworld Study
November 28, 2018
Prof. Edwin Kite was featured in a Florida Today article for a recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal. Congratulations, Prof. Kite!