Sedimentary Geology [website]

The Sedimentary Geology Group at Penn State uses the global stratal record to unravel earth history. Our strength and uniqueness spring from our methodology---coupling theory, often in the form of dynamical models, and observations in the field and subsurface to better understand how the earth system evolved. Recognizing that fundamental Earth science problems span complex components of the earth system, we emphasize interdisciplinary studies. Our researchers span the fields of sedimentology, stratigraphy, paleobiology, geochemistry, hydrology, tectonophysics, geomorphology, and paleoclimatology.

Hydrogeology [website]

The hydrogeology/environmental geology program dates from 1961 and enjoys a national reputation. It is undergoing a rejuvenation with the addition of two new faculty members in the coming year. Its graduates are among the nation's most outstanding hydroscientists, academics and consultants. Students may either select class work available in a number of departments to obtain breadth or elect to focus their studies to gain competence along narrower fields of study. Thesis and dissertation topics may emphasize field, laboratory or theoretical developments. Opportunities exist to develop hydroscience interests in a wide range of topics including fluid flow and solute transport processes, GIS, aqueous geochemistry, organic geochemistry, environmental geophysics, environmental geology, mining and energy, radioactive waste isolation, forest hydrology, soil physics and chemistry, and environmental engineering while maintaining strength in other more traditional aspects of hydrogeology, geology, geochemistry and geophysics. Demian Saffer will join the faculty in January 2005. His interests include the role of pore fluids within tectonically active ocean margins, along active faults and the study of methane and water production within High Plains coal deposits. Kamini Singha will join the department in fall 2005. Her research focuses on the integration of near-surface geophysical data with more standard hydrologic testing to help characterize local-scale hydrogeologic processes and calibrate hydrologic models.

Ice and Climate [website]

Ice and Climate Research addresses the effects of ice on sea level, the history of climate in ice cores, and interactions of ice with its surroundings.  Even small changes in glaciers and ice sheets can reatly affect sea level, so Penn State ice researchers are active in studies especially focused on changes in the West Antarctic ice sheet.  Ice cores contain incomparable histories of past climates including startling revelations about abrupt climate changes, and Penn Staters use the physical properties of the ice to interpret past climates and ice-flow processes. Glacially sculpted landscapes record the power of ice to modify the landscape and perturb iogeochemical cycles, another focus of Penn State research. 

Recent student projects have included geophysical surveys of ice-stream initiation in West Antarctica, measuring ice motion in Alaska, characterizing ice cores at the National Ice Core Laboratory in Denver and at remote Antarctic sites, and modeling of the future of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.  Faculty members Sridhar Anandakrishnan and Richard Alley are especially active in the Ice and Climate Group, together with esearchers Don Voigt, David Pollard, and Audrey Huerta.  Ties to many other disciplines broaden the field greatly.