Earth and Planetary Sciences

Department Chair: Raymond E. Arvidson

Home Page: http://epsc.wustl.edu/ Location: Earth & Planetary Sciences Bldg. Telephone: (314) 935-5610

The Earth and planetary sciences are among the most exciting and rapidly changing scientific enterprises. We live in a culture that is strongly dependent on natural resources and advanced technology; at the same time we seek a sustainable environment. You will find that the diverse disciplines included in Earth and planetary sciences combine the excitement of planetary exploration, the reward of utilization, and the knowledge needed for wise management of our natural resources. You can expand your horizons by taking learning beyond the classroom through field trips, hands-on research, and fieldwork. Study the Mississippi and Missouri River systems and the New Madrid fault, visit the volcanoes of Hawaii, the dunes of the Mojave Desert, the lead mines of the Ozark Mountains, or the caverns of Missouri.

Earth and planetary sciences explores an exciting, multidisciplinary study of the structure, composition, and evolution of the Earth and other planets. Areas of study available range from the Earth's solid iron inner core to the crust, oceans, atmosphere, and even interstellar space. In the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, you will participate in an integrated program of instruction and research that explains Earth as a planet and makes direct use of knowledge gained by exploring the solar system. You will join faculty and students involved in both fundamental research in the earth sciences and equivalent studies of the Moon, Mars, Venus, satellites of the outer planets, and cosmic dust.

News Stories & Tip Sheets:

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Cloudy with a chance of pebble showers Simulation suggests rocky exoplanet has bizarre atmosphere Sept. 29, 2009 -- Download Intrigued by the discovery last February of Corot-7b, a rocky exoplanet, Washington University in St. Louis scientists set out to investigate its atmosphere the only way so-far possible: mathematically and by simulation. Tidally locked with its star and orbiting very close to it, the planet is hot enough to melt rock on its star-facing side. Its atmosphere consists of the components of silicate rocks in gaseous form and, the simulation suggests, periodically rains pebbles or grains of sand onto the molten surface below.

'Holy grail for icy volcanism' Saturnian moon shows evidence of ammonia July 24, 2009 -- NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute Saturn's moon Enceladus, seen by the Cassini spacecraft. Data collected during two close flybys of Saturn's moon Enceladus by NASA's Cassini spacecraft add more fuel to the fire about the Saturnian ice world containing sub-surface liquid water, according to a report in the July 23 issue of the journal Nature that is co-authored by a planetary researcher from Washington University in St. Louis.

'Absolutely irreplaceable' Apollo 11 moon rocks still crucial 40 years later, say WUSTL researchers July 17, 2009 -- Photo by Randy Korotev Moon rocks from the Apollo 11 mission. Download A lunar geochemist at Washington University in St. Louis says that there are still many answers to be gleaned from the moon rocks collected by the Apollo 11 astronauts on their historic moonwalk 40 years ago July 20. And he credits another WUSTL professor for the fact that the astronauts even collected the moon rocks in the first place. "Bringing samples back from the moon wasn't the point of the mission," says Randy Korotev, a research professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences. "It was really about politics. It took scientists like Bob Walker to bring these samples back — to show the value of them for research."

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Faculty Experts:

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Robert Criss Professor of Earth & Planetary Science Criss Criss specializes in hydrogeology, the geology of water and systems of water. Much of his work has an environmental slant. He investigates the transport of aqueous fluids in environments such as rivers, cool potable groundwater systems essential to civilization, and deeper, hotter hydrothermal systems. ... Expertise: Geology, hydrogeology, floods, river systems, dams Direct contact: (314) 935-7441 / criss@wustl.edu

Ramanath Cowsik Professor of Physics in Arts and Sciences Cowsik Ramanath Cowsik's research interests are in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology and non-accelerator particle physics. His scientific contributions include establishing the highest observatory in the world in Hanle, Ladakh, in the Himalayas at an altitude of 15,000 ft. for astronomy in ... Expertise: astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, non-accelerator particle physics, high-energy astrophysics, dark matter, neutrinos, … Direct contact: (314) 935-4493 / cowsik@wuphys.wustl.edu

Charles M. Hohenberg Professor of Physics in Arts & Sciences Hohenberg's area of specialization focuses on noble gases, and he has established a laboratory at Washington University for that purpose. He developed a new type of mass spectrometer that defines the state of the art noble gas mass spectrometry. Combining nearly perfect ion optics with the ultimate ... Expertise: noble gases, mass spectrometer, meteorites, noble gas mass spectrometry Direct contact: (314) 935-6266 / cmh@wuphys.wustl.edu

Victor Wickerhauser Professor of Mathematics in Arts & Sciences Victor Wickerhauser, Ph.D., professor of mathematics, is an expert in wavelet analysis, a sophisticated kind of harmonic analysis that is integral in analyzing and compressing data — video, sound or photographic, for instance — for a wide range of applications. Expertise: wavelet analysis, harmonic analysis, compressed data, audio data, video data, fingerprinting analysis Direct contact: (314) 935-6771 / victor@wustl.edu

Ernst K. Zinner Research Professor of Physics in Arts and Sciences The research interests of Ernst Zinner are centered on the study of primitive meteorites and interplanetary dust, particularly their record of the nucleosynthesis of elements in stars and the formation of the solar system. The most important information is contained in presolar grains that condensed ... Expertise: astrophysics, space physics, high-energy physics, interplanetary environments, primitive meteorites, nuclear particle tracks, interplanetary dust, … Direct contact: (314) 935-6240 / ekz@wustl.edu

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Related News Clips:

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Show More Clips

For Mars Rover, Really Remote Roadside Assistance The Wall Street Journal July 17, 2009 -- On Mars, NASA's robot rover Spirit is spinning its wheels on the soft shoulder of planetary exploration, up to its axles in silt millions of miles away from tense engineers who are struggling to extricate it by remote control. Includes comments by WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson, who is the project deputy principal investigator.

U.S. Astronauts Might Hitch Rides on Chinese Spacecraft Space.com April 17, 2009 -- The U.S. and China are exploring new ways to bridge U.S. moon exploration plans with China. Includes comments from WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson.

What lies in store for the Mars rovers? MSNBC.com and 1 others March 31, 2009 -- Their 90-day warranty expired awhile ago, but NASA's twin Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity are still trundling along the Martian surface en route to their next destinations more than five years after landing on the red planet. But just how long they can keep going is anyone's guess. WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson comments.

Earth's Crust Melts Easier Than Previously Thought ScienceDaily.com and 1 others March 24, 2009 -- A study just published in Nature has found that the Earth's crust melts easier than previously thought. This finding provides insight into how magmas are formed and will lead to better models of continental collision and the formation of mountain belts. The NSF study was co-authored by WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Anne Hofmeister.

Southern Mo. targeted for uranium drilling Associated Press and 70 others Feb. 3, 2009 -- According to one geologist, southeast Missouri could hold one of the biggest deposits of undiscovered uranium in the U.S. Includes comments by WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Bob Criss.