| School of Earth and Space Exploration

Why Does Life Start, What Does It Do, Where Will It Be, and How Might We Find It

Life was driven into being on our planet to resolve the disequilibrium between the fuels [H2 > CH4] emanating from submarine alkaline hydrothermal springs with the oxidants [CO2 >> NO3-] dissolved in the acidulous Hadean Ocean. The two fluids were kept largely at bay by the precipitation of iron minerals at the spring. It was in the mineral barriers that this 'free energy' was first converted via a protometabolism to organic molecules.

Read more about Michael Russell Colloquium Abstract (Feb 28, 2018)

The Climate History of Mars: A Geological Perspective

Mars today is an extremely cold and arid environment, but what has been the history of the climate of Mars?

Read more about James Head Colloquium Abstract (Feb 7, 2018)

Ceres, an Unexpectedly Active Dwarf Planet: Findings from the Dawn Mission

The Dawn mission to explore the largest asteroids Vesta and Ceres has uncovered unexpected findings from Ceres, the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt. Believed to be comprised of ice rock, new Dawn mission data have confirmed these inferences from telescopic data and have also shown evidence for brines in the Ceres subsurface extruding to the surface, as recently as a few tens to hundreds of millions of years ago.

Read more about Bethany Ehlmann Colloquium Abstract (Feb 21, 2018)

Understanding How Galaxies Reionized the Universe

Identifying the population of galaxies that was responsible for the reionization of the universe is a long-standing quest in astronomy. While young stars can produce large amounts of ionizing photons, however the mechanism behind the escape of Lyman continuum photons (wavelength < 912 A) from star forming regions has eluded us. To identify such galaxies and to understand the process of escape of Lyman continuum, we present an indirect technique known as the residual flux technique.

Read more about Sanchayeeta Borthakur Colloquium Abstract (Jan 24, 2018)

Mercury, 16 Psyche, Mars, and Titan: Exploring the Solar System with Gamma Rays

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, built the gamma-ray spectrometer that flew on NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft to the planet Mercury. We are presently building two new gamma-ray instruments: one that will visit an exotic metal asteroid called 16-Psyche, and another to visit the moons of Mars (Phobos and Deimos). In addition, we have Phase-A funding to explore flying a gamma-ray spectrometer to Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

Read more about Morgan Burks Colloquium Abstract (Apr 11, 2018)

The Mineral Physics Test Kitchen: Recipes for Earth's Mantle and Core

The interiors of Earth and other planets were "cooked" by processes of accretion and differentiation and can be "tasted" by geochemical sampling at the surface and remote geophysical observations of physical properties at depth. Mineral physics experiments and simulations seek to reverse-engineer the recipes that generate the features we detect in the deep Earth today.

Read more about Susannah Dorfman Colloquium Abstract (Mar 28, 2018)

Extraterrestrial Seismology: What We Can Learn on Mars and Icy Ocean Worlds

The InSight mission is planned to launch in May of this year, and will hopefully be returning seismic and other geophysical data from Mars by the end of 2018. Meanwhile, mission concepts that include seismometers landing on the icy ocean worlds of Europa and Titan are in active development, while the planetary science decadal survey has prioritized a possible new geophysical network on the Earth's moon. Seismology on other planetary bodies may be entering a new golden age after a long stretch w

Read more about Mark Panning Colloquium Abstract (Apr 25, 2018)

The Analysis of Carbonaceous Meteorites: Unusual Mirror-Image Properties Of Organic Compounds From The Early Solar System

Carbonaceous meteorites contain several classes of organic compounds including amino acids, amines, nucleobases (components of RNA and DNA), and sugar derivatives. Many of these compounds are thought to have formed in water solutions by the reactions of small precursor interstellar molecules (ammonia, cyanide, formaldehyde, etc.) on meteorite parent bodies, asteroids and comets.

Read more about George Cooper Colloquium Abstract (Apr 18, 2018)

Linking the Scales of Star Formation

Understanding galaxy evolution requires understanding star formation and its dependence on the local environment, spanning the scales from individual stars to kpc-size structures. The physical conditions within galaxies determine the formation of stars, star clusters, and larger structures, and their subsequent evolution.

Read more about Daniela Calzetti Colloquium Abstract (Mar 14, 2018)

Subduction Zone Pseudomorphs: Windows on High Pressure Grain Scale Processes

News has reached geologists that mysterious changes are occurring mere kilometers beneath the Earth's surface along convergent Plate Boundaries. Despite its proximity, at subduction travel speeds of only a few centimeters per year, a field trip down a Wadati-Benioff zone to investigate the purported activity takes too long to be practical. So to find out what is happening, ancient rock travelers who have had time to descend and return must be identified and interrogated. This task has be

Read more about John Brady Colloquium Abstract (Jan 17, 2018)