Events

Alumni Reception during NAPE in Houston

Join the Jackson School of Geosciences for an alumni reception in Houston during the NAPE expo.

WHEN: Thursday, February 2 | 5:30-7:30pm 
WHERE: Chapman & Kirby 

UTIG Seminar Series: Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Arizona State University

Speaker: Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Foundation and Regents Professor, School Of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University

Host: Krista Soderlund

Title: The NASA Psyche Mission: An Electric Journey to a Metal World

Abstract: When our solar system was just an infant, thousands of planetesimals formed in fewer than one million years. Heat from the decay of the short-lived radioactive 26Al melted many planetesimals, allowing metal cores to differentiate from rocky mantles.

Over the next few tens of millions of years, many planetesimals crossed paths catastrophically. Colliding worlds merged into even larger planets, eventually forming a small number of planetary embryos. Models show that some destructive “hit and run” impacts strip the silicate mantle from differentiated bodies. This is the leading hypothesis for the formation of asteroid (16) Psyche’s formation: it is a bare planetesimal core.

But we all know that the solar system is more complex than we have been able to imagine, and there are many possible origins of Psyche based on the limited data we now have. Deep space missions, too, are almost unimaginably complex. In this talk I will introduce what is known and what is hypothesized about asteroid Psyche based on the latest data, how we have planned a mission to an unknown object, how we progressed with the mission through COVID and what happened when our launch date slipped to October of 2023, and what we will measure and discover while our robotic spacecraft is orbiting the asteroid.

RoKafe

Faculty Meeting

DeFord Lecture | Demian Saffer

Wiring the Subduction Megathrust: Recurring and Triggered Slow Slip Events Near the Trench Along the Nankai Subduction Zone  by Demian Saffer, Jackson School of Geosciences

Abstract: The offshore reaches of subduction megathrusts fail in a broad spectrum of slip modes, spanning from coseismic slip in great earthquakes, to tsunami earthquakes, to tremor and low frequency earthquakes, to slow slip events (SSE) and aseismic creep. Understanding the nature of strain accumulation and release in this region is central to assessing hazards associated with shallow earthquake rupture and tsunamigenesis. In this talk I describe a family of newly discovered repeating SSE in the Nankai subduction zone offshore of Honshu Japan, updip of rupture zone of great (M8) earthquakes, using formation pore pressure data from instrumented borehole observatories.??After filtering oceanographic noise using a local hydrostatic reference, the records over a 6 year period from 2010-2016 reveal 8 events. Of these, 6  arise spontaneously, and occur at ~1 yr intervals with durations of ~7-21 days. The remaining 2 events are larger and immediately follow: (1) the 2011 M9 Tohoku earthquake; and (2) the 2016 M7 Kumamoto earthquake. In some cases, the SSE are accompanied by swarms of low-frequency tremor and low-frequency earthquake activity that appear to migrate trenchward. The data are well fit by slip of ~1-4 cm on a patch at the plate interface that extends 20-40 km in the dip direction. A key implication is that the SSE accommodate ~30-50% of plate convergence across the outer ~40 km of the forearc. This coincides with a region of the shallow-most megathrust characterized by: (1) elevated pore fluid pressure; (2) transitional frictional behavior that promotes the nucleation of unstable slip at low sliding velocities; and (3) low stress magnitudes as constrained by analysis of wellbore failures. The repeating nature of the events, taken together with apparent triggering by regional earthquakes and the inference of low in situ stress magnitudes, indicates that the outermost reaches of the megathrust are highly sensitive to perturbation and are perched near a state of failure.

DeFord Lecture Series
Since the 1940’s, the DeFord (Technical Sessions) lecture series, initially the official venue for disseminating DGS graduate student research, is a forum for lectures by distinguished visitors and members of our community. This is made possible through a series of endowments.

UTIG Seminar Series: Shuichi Kodaira, JAMSTEC

Speaker: Shuichi Kodaira, Director General, Research Institute for Marine Geodynamics, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)

Host: Thorsten Becker

Title: Imaging, monitoring and modeling a seismogenic zone — Results and a future plan of JAMSTEC project

Abstract: Toward understanding subduction megathrust processes at present, predicting a fault slip behavior in the future, and mitigating hazards by subduction zone earthquakes and tsunamis are central scientific themes and tasks that society expects a scientific community to address. To challenge those scientific themes, we, JAMSTEC, have been conducting an integrated project in subduction zones which consists of imaging megathrust fault structures, monitoring a wide spectrum of fault slips, and simulating future fault behavior using the results of the imaging and monitoring studies. The Nankai Trough megathrust seismogenic zone is one of the primally fields of the project. For imaging the Nankai megathrust zone, we have been mapping a precise 3D structure of the megathrust fault zone by densely deployed active-source seismic profiles covering the entire region of the Nankai Trough. From the 3D seismic image, we observe structural factors which are interpreted to control slips and coupling of the megathrust. For monitoring slip behavior, we have been developing a real-time seafloor geodetic monitoring system to detect activities of a wide spectrum of fault slips, including a regular earthquake, low-frequency tremors, very low-frequency earthquake, and short-term and long-term slow slip events. In this system, a tilt meter, pressure sensor, and fiberoptic strain meter are installed in a shallow or deep borehole. To continuously transfer the observed data to a land station in real-time, the geodetic sensors are connected to DONET, a cabled earthquake and tsunami monitoring system. To simulate and forecast a megathrust slip behavior, we have been constructing a realistic 3D Nankai megathrust zone model and developing simulation techniques to estimate the temporal evolution of fault slip and coupling in the megathrust zone with consideration of uncertainties of the model and the data. In addition to the Nankai project, I will talk about results of integrated study, which consists of seismic imaging, earthquake monitoring and tsunami simulation, in the outer-trench region of the Japan and the Kuril trenches.

CPSH Seminar Series: Mark Lever, UT Marine Science Institute

Speaker: Mark Lever, Associate Professor of Microbial Biogeochemistry, UT Marine Science Institute

Host: Brett Baker

Title: Potential importance of diffuse hydrothermal fluid seepage in supporting life along deep sea fracture zones

RoKafe

DeFord Lecture | Veronika Bray

Kuiper Belt Geology, as revealed by New Horizons  by Veronika Bray, University of Arizona

Abstract: This talk will  cover how impacts helped build our solar system, change planetary orbits and rotation, and create the environments and geology that we see today.   This talk will cover these topics as part of a tour of the geology of the Pluto System and of KBO Arrokoth.

DeFord Lecture Series
Since the 1940’s, the DeFord (Technical Sessions) lecture series, initially the official venue for disseminating DGS graduate student research, is a forum for lectures by distinguished visitors and members of our community. This is made possible through a series of endowments.

UTIG Seminar Series: Tim Urban, UTIG Texas Space Grant Consortium

Speaker: Tim Urban, Director, Texas Space Grant Consortium

Host: Krista Soderlund

Title: Texas Space Grant Consortium: Inspiring and Engaging a STEM Workforce for Artemis and Beyond

Abstract: The Texas Space Grant Consortium is one of 52 nationwide jurisdictions in the National College Space Grant and Fellowship Program funded under NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement. Space Grant’s goal is to contribute to the nation’s science enterprise by funding education, research, and public engagement projects through a national network of university-based Space Grant consortia. The Texas Space Grant network includes more than 60 entities statewide and works with students and faculty from more than 40 academic institutions across the state. This talk will present program opportunities for students at all academic levels and describe a variety of student projects. One highlighted project is the Texas Space Grant Design Challenge competition, which is a unique academic experience offering undergraduate students an opportunity to propose, design, and fabricate a solution toward solving research objectives of importance to NASA and its mission. Student teams work with mentors from NASA’s Johnson Space Center to provide students the opportunity to work on NASA’s most challenging new problems for sending astronauts into space, developing spin-off technologies for those of us here on Earth, returning to the Moon with the Artemis mission, and exploring Mars and beyond.

RoKafe

Faculty Meeting

DeFord Lecture | Amy East

Measuring and attributing geomorphic and sedimentary responses to modern climate change: Challenges and opportunities by Dr. Amy East, U.S. Geological Survey

Abstract: Modern climate change is affecting virtually all terrestrial and nearshore settings to some extent today. This presentation will focus on some of the challenges of measuring climate-driven physical landscape responses to modern global warming, and identify opportunities to better characterize and quantify the extent and nuances of climate-change effects on geomorphic systems. Better understanding sedimentary and geomorphic responses to ongoing warming and hydrologic changes in myriad environmental settings will prepare societies to manage the risks to human health and safety, infrastructure, water–food–energy security, economics, and ecosystems that follow from climate-driven physical landscape change.

DeFord Lecture Series
Since the 1940’s, the DeFord (Technical Sessions) lecture series, initially the official venue for disseminating DGS graduate student research, is a forum for lectures by distinguished visitors and members of our community. This is made possible through a series of endowments.

Faculty Retreat

UTIG Seminar Series: Christopher Gerekos, UTIG

Hot Science - Cool Talks "Climate Change: Science to Solutions"

Understanding how climate change will stress our human systems can lead to better decisions and better outcomes for people. Using computer representations that can capture the entire Earth system, geoscientist Geeta Persad conducts research that sheds more light on our climate future and solutions at hand.

Cool Activities: 5:30 – 6:40 p.m.

Talk with Q&A: 7:00 -8:15 p.m.

Hot Science – Cool Talks provides a front-row seat to world-class research. For additional information, please visit www.hotsciencecooltalks.org.

Planetary Habitability Seminar: Ben Teolis, SRI

Speaker: Ben Teolis, Planetary Scientist, Southwest Research Institute

Host: Brandon Jones

Title: Gas Jets and Exospheric Dynamics at Active Icy Worlds

Abstract: The origin of Enceladus’s water vapor / ice plumes found by the Cassini spacecraft, beginning with transport, boiling, and acceleration of mixed phase fluid through the icy crust leading to ‘nozzle’-like gas jets, is a fundamental yet still relatively under-explored aspect of the physics of this active potentially habitable world. Problems including erosion and cavitation of uneven subsurface channels, dissolved CO2 and H2 bubbling out of solution and trapping in gas pockets within the fissures, and adsorption/sublimation of gas species to/from the fissure walls, are just a few considerations impacting future spacecraft exploration of the composition, structure and dynamics of the ejected jets. Beyond Enceladus, the Cassini spacecraft’s findings of exospheres with extreme seasonal dynamics and uneven structure, and of un-expectedly intense charging and field aligned electric currents at Saturn’s other large moons, have contributed to a transformative period in fundamental understanding of planetary systems. These discoveries have helped set the stage for the next stage of solar system exploration targeted at the highly seasonal Uranian system with its large moons, as well as the Galilean satellites including the potentially habitable moon Europa with its possible water vapor plumes. In this talk, I will discuss current understanding of the origins and inner workings of the plumes, exospheres and plasma interactions of Enceladus and other active worlds, and outstanding questions and possible next steps.

RoKafe