| School of Earth and Space Exploration

Are Yellowstone Eruptions Triggered in the Course of a Human Life?

The May 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens ushered in the modern era of volcano monitoring, and as a result we are on occasion able to identify increases in the likelihood of an eruption in the months to days before they occur. However, we still struggle to tie the observed monitoring signals to specific processes occurring in the magmatic system over the centuries to days prior to an eruption. In other words, what are the specific processes that trigger eruptions and how long do these processes take?

Read more about Christy Till Colloquium Abstract (Apr 12, 2017)

Science, Art, Narrative

The Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and the School of Earth and Space Exploration are located on opposite sides of ASU’s Tempe campus. This spatial arrangement is a key part of a larger, though rarely discussed, plan. The “Architects” of the University fear the dangers that might result from the mixing, or even close proximity, of such opposing disciplines.

The previous paragraph is probably false. How would we prove that?

In what sense might it be true?

Read more about Lance Gharavi Colloquium Abstract (Mar 22, 2017)

What Samples of a Comet Tell Us About the Origin of the Solar System

The return of comet samples collected by the NASA Stardust mission provided a unique opportunity to do detailed laboratory analyses on materials that formed small icy bodies at the edge of the solar system. Unexpectedly, isotopically anomalous presolar grains were found to be only a trace component.

Read more about Don Brownlee Colloquium Abstract (Feb 22, 2017)

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Psyche: Journey to a Metal World

The Psyche mission, lead by ASU, has been selected as the fourteenth in the NASA Discovery program. This mission will investigate what is likely an exposed planetary metallic core, the asteroid (16) Psyche. In this talk I'll describe our partners, our spacecraft, instrument, trajectory, and operations plans, and the questions we are investigating with the mission. I'll also talk about the intense process of planning and proposing the mission.

Read more about Lindy Elkins-Tanton Colloquium Abstract (Mar 15, 2017)

MESSENGER's View of Hollows on Mercury, and Links to the Planet's High Volatile Content

MESSENGER, a mission in NASA's Discovery Program, was the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury and only the second to visit the planet. MESSENGER orbited this planetary oddball for four Earth years (2011-2015), mapping and determining the elemental composition of the surface, probing areas of permanent shadow at the poles, and making measurements of topography, the exosphere, magnetic field, and gravitational field.

Read more about David Blewett Colloquium Abstract (Feb 1, 2017)

Exploring and Managing Forests from Above

Human activities are rapidly changing the biosphere, calling for innovative ways to measure, monitor and manage ecosystems at large geographic scales. Fortunately, the science and technology landscape is also evolving fast to meet the challenge of better managing the biosphere in the coming decades. In this lecture, I will explain an advanced Earth mapping project called the Carnegie Airborne Observatory, and how we are using it to explore and conserve forests undergoing land use and climate change.

Read more about Greg Asner Colloquium Abstract (Jan 25, 2017)

Observing the Distant Universe through Powerful Gravitational Lenses in Space

The history of modern astronomy can be seen as the quest to achieve the best possible observational sensitivity by building larger and larger telescopes and more and more sensitive instruments. However, there is another effective way to improve the observational sensitivity. That is, to discover and study sources that are strongly magnified by the effects of gravitational lensing.

Read more about Eiichi Egami Colloquium Abstract (Jan 18, 2017)

How Our Understanding Of Climate and Precipitation is Influenced by Uncertainties In Particle and Cloud Measurements

Measurements of aerosol particle size, morphology and chemical composition have been conducted in the laboratory for several decades and have now become an almost routine component of ground based and airborne atmospheric research. Satellites are now able to retrieve many relevant properties that are then compared to in situ measurements.

Read more about Dan Cziczo Colloquium Abstract (Apr 19, 2017)

Freeze-Dried, Rapidly Thawed Permafrost Landscapes, Breached Milldams, and Their Relation to Modern Wetland-Stream Restoration, Eastern US

With no equivalent in the Holocene or late Pleistocene sedimentary record, modern incised stream channel forms in the mid-Atlantic US south of Pleistocene ice margins represent a transient response to major changes in land use and anthropogenic base-level forcing that began centuries ago. Walter and Merritts (2008) documented late 17th-early 20th c.

Read more about Dorothy Merritts Colloquium Abstract (Apr 5, 2017)