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UTIG Special Seminar: John Aiken, University of Oslo
Start:June 20, 2025 at 11:00 am
End:
June 20, 2025 at 12:00 pm
Location:
UTIG Conference Room PRC 196/ROC 2.201
Contact:
Freja Cini, freja.cini@utexas.edu
View Event
Speaker: John Aiken, Researcher, NJORD Centre for Studies of the Physics of the Earth, University of Oslo
Host: Thorsten Becker
Title: SerpRateAI: Adventures in Data Mining the Oman Ophiolite
Abstract: Ophiolites are oceanic and near surface mantle rocks that have been thrust onto the continents. Some ophiolites like peridotite alter in low-temperature conditions in the presence of water absorbing and mineralizing CO2, emitting byproducts such as elemental hydrogen and methane. This process, known as carbonation and serpentinization, is one of the many alteration chains that can be used for CO2 sequestration and also has been linked to biogenesis, and crustal changes in mid-ocean ridges and subduction zones. To study how these rocks change the Oman Drilling Project created the Multi-borehole Observatory (MBO). The hope was by observing this area we can understand how it could be better utilized for scientific understanding and societal problems such as climate change. The MBO has produced tens of terabytes of multi-modal data including time series observations such as pore pressure changes, temperature, and seismic observations, core photos and x-ray tomography, and a large amount of other logging data. This talk will be about my adventure over the last few years in data mining these data. It will include successes and failures, my thought processes as to how I went about mining these data, and what the future of data mining the subsurface could look like. Across this talk, I will show evidence from various investigations that the MBO observes that the near subsurface is in an evolving state of change that is, perhaps, being driven by the climate.
DeFord Lecture | Nadja DrabonOctober, 16 2025Time: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PMLocation: Boyd Auditorium (JGB 2.324) Hadean zircon from South Africa: New Insights into Early Surface Environments by Dr. Nadja Drabon, assistant professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences at Harvard University |
UTIG Seminar Series: Lizz Utlee, NASA GoddardOctober, 17 2025Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMLocation: PRC 196/ROC 1.603 Speaker: Lizz Ultee, Associate Research Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Host: Ginny Catania Title: Greenland ice sheet variability and its implications for sea-level projections Abstract: In Greenland, ice flows from a central ice sheet out to the ocean through more than 200 outlet glaciers. The balance of ice flow through those outlet glaciers is a fundamental control on the ice sheet’s contribution to global mean sea level rise. Satellite remote sensing shows that outlet glaciers respond to changes in the atmosphere and ocean at different time scales. While short-term variability is generally not accounted for in ice sheet models, model experiments show that including it affects sea-level projections at longer term. In this talk, I will show how we identify responses across time scales in the satellite data and what we can gain from in situ data. I will highlight preliminary findings from my group’s 2025 field campaign on Sermeq Kujalleq, Greenland’s fastest-flowing outlet glacier. (Yes, there will be gratuitous photos of really cool ice.). Finally, I will summarize how we can incorporate these insights into future sea-level projections. |
Bureau of Economic Geology Seminar SeriesOctober, 17 2025Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PMLocation: TBD TBD - Topic, Title and Presenter updated once available |
DeFord Lecture | Jeff SchraggeOctober, 23 2025Time: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PMLocation: Boyd Auditorium (JGB 2.324) Observations from the Seafloor: Low-frequency Ambient Wavefield Seismology on Large Ocean-Bottom Nodal Arrays by Jeffrey Shragge, professor in the Geophysics Department at the Colorado School of Mines Abstract: Estimating accurate Earth models for 3-D seismic imaging and full waveform inversion (FWI) remains challenging due to limited low frequencies (i.e., below 2.0 Hz) typically available from active-source air gun arrays. Ambient wavefield energy acquired on large, continuously recording nodal arrays, though, presents a potential alternative energy source for subsurface investigation. By exploiting principles of seismic interferometry in deep-water marine settings, low-frequency virtual shot gathers (VSGs) from 1.0 Hz to as low as 0.05 Hz can be generated with surface-wave events that exhibit clear sensitivity to large-scale model features including salt bodies. The estimated VSG data also exhibit surface-wave scattering events consistent with the locations and depths of shallow salt pinnacles observed in active-source velocity model reconstructions. These observations suggest an alternative pathway forward for estimating long- (and potentially shorter-)wavelength elastic models required for accurate 3-D FWI and seismic imaging analyses. |
UTIG Seminar Series: Michael Young, The University of Texas At AustinOctober, 24 2025Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMLocation: PRC 196/ROC 1.603 Title: Comparing Life-Cycle Environmental Impacts and Costs of Electricity Generation Systems Host: Demian Saffer Abstract: What are the all-in costs, environmental and economic, of expanding and running an electrical grid for Texas, and how might these costs change over the next 30 years? Can we quantify trade-offs among society’s goals of providing reliable and affordable energy, mitigating climate change, and ensuring affordability for consumers? We achieve these goals through comparative life-cycle assessments (LCA) of different generation systems that include 18 different environmental pathways, including greenhouse gases (CO2eq) and local emissions (particulate matter, SOX, NOX); land and water use and pollution, biodiversity and ecosystem impacts, and others. These LCA analyses consider extraction of natural resources (gas, minerals, etc.), manufacturing of generation equipment, power plant operations, and end-of-life options (e.g., landfilling or recycling of equipment). We show how environmental impacts manifest along global supply chains for materials (e.g., lithium, cobalt, etc.) that support energy development at different times during the 30-year lifespan of the facilities. And, we connect every operating facility, using different generation mixes, to a nodal-scale, grid dispatch model that allows us to track grid reliability (goal #1), improvements in environmental performance (goal #2) and differences in consumer cost of electricity (goal #3). The results show the complicated nature of impacts along the global supply chain of materials needed for energy development and while electricity is generated, and they point to areas where impacts can be mitigated through innovation and action. |
Bureau of Economic Geology Seminar SeriesOctober, 24 2025Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PMLocation: BEG Bldg 130, VR Room 1.116C Landslides, critical zone, geomorphic decay of volcanic islands presented In Person by Dr. Justin Higa Department of Earth Sciences University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa |
DeFord Lecture | Shi Joyce SimOctober, 30 2025Time: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PMLocation: Boyd Auditorium (JGB 2.324) |
UTIG Seminar Series: Shujuan Mao, UT AustinOctober, 31 2025Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMLocation: PRC 196/ROC 1.603 Speaker: Shujuan Mao, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Texas at Austin Host: Zhe Jia Research Theme: Climate & MGGST; Shallow fluid systems including groundwater, geothermal energy exploitation, carbon capture and storage, and volcanic unrest |
Bureau of Economic Geology Seminar SeriesOctober, 31 2025Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PMLocation: BEG Bldg 130, VR Room 1.116C Remote sensing, water resources presented In Person by Dr. Bridget Scanlon Research Professor, BEG |
Gateway to Graduate Studies in Sciences (G2S2)November, 06 2025Time: 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM |
DeFord Lecture | Don FisherNovember, 06 2025Time: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PMLocation: Boyd Auditorium (JGB 2.324) |
UTIG Seminar Series: Sophie Nowicki, University of BuffaloNovember, 07 2025Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PMLocation: PRC 196/ROC 1.603 NOTE: This seminar is hosted jointly with the Bureau of Economic Geology and will be held at 3pm. The seminar will be followed by a reception in the first floor UTIG lobby at 4pm. Speaker: Sophie Nowicki, Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University at Buffalo Host: Ginny Catania Research Theme: Polar & Climate; Ice sheet modeling in global climate models |
Bureau of Economic Geology Seminar Series - Joint Session with UTIGNovember, 07 2025Time: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PMLocation: ROC Polar & Climate; Ice sheet modeling in global climate models presented by Dr. Sophie Nowicki University of Buffalo BEG and UTIG Joint Seminar - reception to follow. |
UTIG Seminar Series: Meredith Kelly, Dartmouth CollegeNovember, 14 2025Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMLocation: PRC 196/ROC 1.603 Speaker: Meredith Kelly, Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College Host: Nathan Bangs Research Theme: Climate & Polar; Role of the tropics in past climate changes |
Bureau of Economic Geology Seminar SeriesNovember, 14 2025Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PMLocation: BEG VR Room 1.116C Approaches to writing manuscripts and a short overview of ranking of publications presented In Person by Dr. Robert Loucks, Dr. Bill Ambrose, Dr. Peter Eichhubl |