Department of Earth and Space Sciences
March 19, 2018
University of Washington graduate and professional disciplines rank highly in US News’ Best Graduate School lists
Nearly 50 different graduate and professional programs and specialties at the University of Washington are among the top 10 in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Graduate School rankings released March 20.
March 6, 2018
Glaciers in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert actually shrank during the last ice age
High in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, the climate is so dry and cold that glaciers shrank during the last ice age. Dating of rock deposits shows how glaciers in this less-studied region can behave very differently as the climate shifts.
February 7, 2018
Ice core shows North American ice sheet’s retreat affected Antarctic weather
A study from the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Washington finds that the retreat of the ice sheet covering North America made Antarctic weather more similar from one year to the next.
January 24, 2018
A new ‘atmospheric disequilibrium’ could help detect life on other planets
A University of Washington study has found a simple approach to look for life that might be more promising than just looking for oxygen.
December 18, 2017
Partnership will use robotic network to explore Antarctic ice shelves
A new partnership between the UW and Paul G. Allen Philanthropies will use a network of robots to observe conditions beneath a floating Antarctic ice shelf.
December 1, 2017
UW astrobiologists to discuss work, introduce IMAX film ‘The Search for Life in Space’ Dec. 6 at Pacific Science Center
Three University of Washington astrobiologists will discuss their research and introduce the new 3-D IMAX movie “The Search for Life in Space” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, in the PACCAR Theater of the Pacific Science Center.
November 27, 2017
Less life: Limited phosphorus recycling suppressed early Earth’s biosphere
The amount of biomass – life – in Earth’s ancient oceans may have been limited due to low recycling of the key nutrient phosphorus, according to new research by the University of Washington and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
November 15, 2017
Salt pond in Antarctica, among the saltiest waters on Earth, is fed from beneath
One of the saltiest bodies on Earth, an analog to how water might exist on Mars, shows signs of being one piece of a larger aquifer.
October 23, 2017
50 simulations of the ‘Really Big One’ show how a 9.0 Cascadia earthquake could play out
The largest number yet of detailed simulations for how a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake might play out provides a clearer picture of what the region can expect when the fault unleashes a 9.0 earthquake.
October 20, 2017
Mountain glaciers shrinking across the West
A satellite technique provides a new way to monitor the status of more than 1,200 mountain glaciers in the lower 48 states.
October 9, 2017
Paul Bodin named interim director of Pacific Northwest Seismic Network
Paul Bodin, a UW seismologist and manager of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, has been named interim director of the network that monitors earthquakes and volcanoes in Washington and Oregon.
August 21, 2017
Native American youth launch high-altitude balloons for unique perspective on solar eclipse
While many people across the country donned viewing glasses and prepared to watch Monday’s solar eclipse, a group of 100 teenagers from tribes across the Pacific Northwest launched balloons thousands of feet into the air, gaining a novel perspective of the eclipse — and the chance to send meaningful artifacts to the edge of space during a memorable moment in history.
May 22, 2017
Weathering of rocks a poor regulator of global temperatures
Evidence from the age of the dinosaurs to today shows that chemical weathering of rocks is less sensitive to global temperature, and may depend on the steepness of the surface. The results call into question the role of rocks in setting our planet’s temperature over millions of years.
May 4, 2017
UW seismologist John Vidale elected to National Academy of Sciences
John E. Vidale, a UW professor of seismology and director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
May 2, 2017
New book by UW’s David R. Montgomery addresses how to rebuild Earth’s soils
“Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life,” is a good-news environment story about how shifts in farming practices can restore health and fertility to soils.
April 10, 2017
USGS, partners launch a unified, West Coast-wide earthquake early warning system
Events Monday celebrated the launch of a West Coast-wide earthquake early warning prototype system, and initial test users in Washington and Oregon.
March 28, 2017
Using a method from Wall Street to track slow slipping of Earth’s crust
An algorithm for stock prices can be used with GPS data to automatically detect slow-slip earthquakes at a single station, offering a new way to monitor seismic activity.
February 8, 2017
Hidden lakes drain below West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier
Drainage of four interconnected lakes below Thwaites Glacier in late 2013 caused only a 10 percent increase in the glacier’s speed. The glacier’s recent speedup is therefore not due to changes in meltwater flow along its underside.
January 17, 2017
Conditions right for complex life may have come and gone in Earth’s distant past
Conditions suitable to support complex life may have developed in Earth’s oceans — and then faded — more than a billion years before life truly took hold, a new University of Washington-led study has found.
January 10, 2017
Rapid Arctic warming has in the past shifted Southern Ocean winds
Ice core records from the two poles show that during the last ice age, sharp spikes in Arctic temperatures triggered shifts in the winds around Antarctica.
December 12, 2016
Mountain glaciers are showing some of the strongest responses to climate change
A University of Washington study addresses controversies over the cause of mountain glacier retreat, and finds that for most glaciers the observed retreat is more than 99 percent likely due to climate change.
November 2, 2016
New study co-authored by UW geologists looks at what lies below Mount St. Helens
Research that peers below Mount St. Helens finds that the material below the western and eastern half of the mountain is different material and temperatures, and suggests that the source of explosive magma is coming from the east.
September 13, 2016
Westerly winds have blown across central Asia for at least 42 million years
The winds that gust across the Tibetan Plateau have done so for far longer than previously believed, showing they are resilient to the formation of mountains and changes in carbon dioxide and temperature.
August 15, 2016
UW research backs up ongoing efforts to protect the enigmatic Nautilus
University of Washington biologist Peter Ward’s body of research has helped policymakers recognize the impact nautiluses have on ocean ecosystems, as well as how they can — and cannot — replenish their numbers in the face of unrestricted, unregulated fishing. At a CITES meeting in September, Ward and his team hope nautiluses will get much-needed protections from trade and harvesting.
August 9, 2016
Three UW Earth scientists elected as AGU fellows
Charles Eriksen, Deborah Kelley and Stephen Warren are among 60 newly elected fellows from U.S. and international institutions.
August 4, 2016
UW geologist: Ancient Chinese flood is latest to match oral, geologic histories
A Science commentary written by UW professor of Earth and space sciences David Montgomery discusses how recent geological findings support the historical basis for traditional tales about China’s Great Flood.
July 15, 2016
Joseph Wartman, David Montgomery honored for Oso landslide report
The Geological Society of America has honored two UW professors and other authors of a 186-page report on the causes and consequences of the deadly March 2014 landslide in Oso, Washington.
June 28, 2016
UW geologist wins early career award from American Geophysical Union
Alison Duvall, a UW assistant professor of Earth and space sciences, was selected for the Luna B. Leopold Award for early-career scientists.
June 13, 2016
Arc volcano releases mix of material from Earth’s mantle and crust
Rock from a common type of volcano shows surprising evidence of the descending tectonic plate. Analyses show that magnesium atoms are somehow drawn out of the crust, deep below the surface.
May 19, 2016
Will more snow over Antarctica offset rising seas? Don’t count on it
Heavier snowfall over Antarctica was supposed to be one of the few brakes on sea-level rise in a warming world. But that prediction is not reliable, says a new study of Antarctic snowfall over the past 31,000 years.
May 9, 2016
Early Earth’s air weighed less than half of today’s atmosphere
The idea that the young Earth had a thicker atmosphere turns out to be wrong. New research from the University of Washington uses bubbles trapped in 2.7 billion-year-old rocks to show that air at that time exerted at most half the pressure of today’s atmosphere. The results, published online May 9 in Nature Geoscience, reverse…
March 25, 2016
Geology and art connect at UW light rail station
Alison Duvall talks about the geology of the UW light rail station in a narration to accompany the station’s art installation, which was created by UW alumnus Leo Saul Berk.
February 19, 2016
UW part of team that drilled first deep ice core at the South Pole
UW glaciologists helped drill the first deep ice core at the South Pole, which will provide new clues to Antarctica’s climate history.
February 17, 2016
NASA-funded consortium to support science education in Washington, Oregon and Montana
A new program based at the University of Washington will bring together educational institutions, K-12 teachers and informal education organizations to inspire, teach and recruit the next generation of students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The new Northwest Earth and Space Sciences Pipeline, or NESSP, has begun a $10 million, five-year cooperative agreement with NASA…
February 2, 2016
UW awarded private, public grants to develop earthquake early warning tool
The UW is among West Coast universities awarded new funding to further develop ShakeAlert, an earthquake early warning system for the region.
February 1, 2016
UW seismologist speaking at White House earthquake preparedness summit
UW seismologist John Vidale will participate in a White House summit focusing on national earthquake preparedness.
December 22, 2015
Dating historic activity at Oso site shows recurring major landslides
The large, fast-moving mudslide that buried much of Oso, Washington in March 2014 was the deadliest landslide in U.S. history. Since then it’s been revealed that this area has experienced major slides before, but it’s not known how long ago they occurred. University of Washington geologists analyzed woody debris buried in earlier slides and used…
December 18, 2015
Oxygen provided breath of life that allowed animals to evolve
It took 100 million years for oxygen levels in the oceans and atmosphere to increase to the level that allowed the explosion of animal life on Earth about 600 million years ago, according to a study co-authored by two University of Washington scientists and led by the University College London.
November 16, 2015
Microbes that are key indicators of Puget Sound’s health in decline
Paleontologists with the University of Washington’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture find that tiny organisms called foraminifera have a big story to tell about the health of Puget Sound. Two recent studies about the health of Bellingham Bay and inlets in the Bremerton area found the diversity and number of foraminifera — single-celled marine organisms that live on the sea floor — deteriorated significantly. The decline of these microscopic organisms is consistent with the deterioration of snails and other larger marine animals, even though analysis showed a reduction of chemical pollutants in Bellingham Bay and Bremerton over the same period of time.
November 12, 2015
From garden to gut: New book from UW’s David Montgomery explores an unfolding scientific revolution
A new book by University of Washington geologist David Montgomery weaves history, science and personal challenges into an exploration of humanity’s tangled relationship with microbes, perhaps the least loved and most misunderstood creatures on Earth — and in you. “The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health” comes out Nov. 16…
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