Quaternary Geology and Surface Processes

EES-1 has an active basic and applied research program in Quaternary geology and surface processes. Our personnel have expertise in hillslope and fluvial processes, geochronology, neotectonics, stratigraphy, soils, environmental geology, and volcanic hazards. Our geographic setting, on a deeply dissected early Pleistocene ignimbrite sheet adjacent to a major Neogene volcanic field (photo), on the active edge of the Rio Grande rift, and adjacent to one of the Southwest’s major rivers (the Rio Grande), provides us an outstanding natural laboratory to develop and test new tools and concepts. Our institutional missions, including the safe long-term disposal of nuclear waste and cleaning up the legacy of 50 years of weapons development, continually provide us with new challenges that require creative, technically-defensible, and cost-effective applications of Quaternary geology and geomorphology.

Our strongest focus for work at present is in northern New Mexico in the vicinity of Los Alamos, where a broad range of topics is being tackled, including:

  • the fluvial transport of contaminants derived from 50 years of weapons research, including radionuclides such as Pu, Cs, Am, Sr, and U, metals such as Be, Pb, Cr, and Ba, and a variety of high explosive compounds (photo)
  • Quaternary volcanic and sedimentary stratigraphy, part of the development of a basic hydrogeologic framework for evaluating groundwater systems (photo),
  • the paleoseismic history of the Pajarito fault system, as pertains to ground shaking and surface rupture hazards (photo)
  • mass wasting processes (rockfalls, landslides, rock avalanches, toppling failures), particularly as pertains to the stability of existing or potential new waste disposal facilities on steep-sided mesas (photo)
  • soil development and soil geochemistry, as pertains to evaluating long-term surface processes, ages of geomorphic units, and the nature and fate of contaminants (photo)
  • young volcanism in the Jemez volcanic field (photo), and related volcanic hazards

Our personnel possess additional field experience in Quaternary geology and surface processes in a range of settings throughout the west, including more arid areas in southern Nevada, southern California, and Arizona, the more humid coastal mountains of California, Oregon, and Washington, and the Rocky Mountains of Montana. In all projects we strive to integrate a strong understanding of surface processes with detailed evaluations of geomorphic history, and bring these approaches to bear on problems of importance to society.

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