Geophysics News

The award recognizes individuals who go above and beyond their role to create a more inclusive, just, and welcoming community at the Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences.

In this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, geophysicist Eric Dunham details how new types of data collection and faster computers are helping our knowledge of earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes – and how to prepare for them. (Source: Stanford Engineering)

More than any class before, the 2022 graduates of the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences are prepared to navigate uncertainties in the pursuit of a life that brings happiness and meaning, according to Dean Stephan Graham.

To help find potential groundwater recharge sites, helicopters deploy spaceship-sized antennas and ping the ground with electromagnetic signals, mapping the geology deep below the surface. The technique was piloted in California by researchers at Stanford, led by Rosemary Knight.

"Much of the modeling that's been done in preparation of groundwater sustainability plans throughout the state assumes that if you stop the water level going down, the subsidence is going to stop. But that's wrong," says Stanford geophysicist Rosemary Knight.

In a new study, Stanford's Rosemary Knight and Matt Lees examined the sinking in one area of the San Joaquin Valley over 65 years and projected that subsidence will likely continue for decades or centuries, even if aquifer levels were to stop declining.

A Stanford University study simulates 65 years of land subsidence, or sinking, caused by groundwater depletion in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The results suggest significant sinking may continue for centuries after water levels stop declining but could slow within a few years if aquifers recover.

Underground disposal of wastewater from fossil fuel production in the nation’s largest oil field is causing long-dormant faults to slip in a way that could damage wells, according to new analyses of satellite and seismicity data.

A new certificate program provides a framework for Stanford Earth graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to learn new skills, gain practical experience, and produce portfolio pieces that will broaden their professional preparedness. The program will be carried into the new school focused on climate and sustainability.

Aydin was a field geologist who loved nothing more than leading teams of researchers and students into remote locations – the Valley of Fire, Point Reyes, Zion National Park, a Hawaiian volcano, Sicily – to study prehistoric rock formations.

A new hypothesis reveals that a global sedimentary cycle driven by seasons could explain the formation of landscapes on Saturn’s moon Titan. The research shows the alien world may be more Earth-like than previously thought.

According to Stanford geophysicist Dustin Schroeder's new research, similarities between Jupiter's moon Europa and Greenland suggest Europa might be able to sustain life. 

“Liquid water near to the surface of the ice shell is a really provocative and promising place to imagine life having a shot," says Stanford Earth geophysicist Dustin Schroeder. "The idea that we could find a signature that would suggest a promising pocket of water like this might exist, I think, is very exciting." 

Ice-penetrating radar data from Greenland suggests that shallow water pockets may be common within Europa’s ice shell, increasing the potential habitability of the Jovian moon’s ice shell.

New research shows how the impact that created the Moon’s South Pole–Aitken basin is linked to the stark contrast in composition and appearance between the two sides of the Moon.

The state pumps too much groundwater, especially during droughts. Now it's learning to refill the overdrawn bucket. "It's the simplest math in the world," says Stanford professor Rosemary Knight.