Geology & Geophysics
The Department of Geology and Geophysics (G&G) conducts research into a wide variety of topics aimed at furthering our understanding of the dynamic processes of the Earth/Ocean/Atmosphere system. Our research spans across land and oceans as we seek to understand connections between the continents and oceans, ice-sheet dynamics and the formation and evolution of the Earth as a whole. We study the structure and evolution of the oceanic crust from its formation at mid-ocean ridges to consumption at subduction zones, coupled with the dynamics of the mantle that drives seafloor spreading. We study a wide range of fluid-mediated processes, including those occurring at hydrothermal vents, at shelf-edge seeps and in subduction zone settings. Included in these processes are links to seismicity, fluxes of chemicals to the ocean and mantle, microbial activity and the subseafloor biosphere. We study the role of oceans both in relation to past climate change and as a driver of present day climate dynamics, and use natural archives like from sediments, corals, and tree rings to understand past climate. We study a wide range of coastal processes including the impacts of climate change and storms on coastal regions.
The Department today consists of about 30 Ph.D. level Scientific Staff and another 16 Technical Staff (many of whom hold Ph.D. degrees). In addition there are about 25 graduate students pursuing their Ph.D. through the WHOI/MIT Joint Program and roughly 8 Postdoctoral Scholars, Fellows and Investigators.
The Scientific and Technical staff carry out research that involves sea-going deployments of instruments built in house; laboratory studies using high precision analytical facilities; and theoretical and computational studies of ocean and climate processes and geodynamics. Examples of the facilities within the department include the National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility (NOSAMS) and the Northeast National Ion Microprobe Facility (NENIMF). We now run the national Ocean Bottom Seismograph Instrument Center (OBSIC).
Rob Evans
Department Chair
Geology & Geophysics Department
Meet the Chair
Academics
- Programs
- Student Research
- Through the Porthole
A newsletter by MIT-WHOI Joint Program Graduate Students