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Tectonics and Structural Geology
Environmental Geochemistry and Geochemistry
Research Facilities and Equipment
PhD program requirements
MS program requirements BS/MS program
Application and Admissions
Financial support Career Placement
University Graduate bulletin: Degree
requirements Graduate
course listing
Over its 28 year history, the strategy of faculty of the
Department of Geological Sciences was to focus in particular areas
of active interest in the science, and excel in those areas. As a
Program forming part of the larger Department
of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences since 1996, we now focus
in two general areas:
Environmental Geochemistry/Geochemistry, and Tectonics/Structural Geology.
The new focus in Environmental Geochemistry is currently centered on research in the interdisciplinary fields of global warming and climate change, ground and surface water hydrology, sedimentary processes and biological tracer studies. A state-of-the-art stable isotope mass spectrometer and supporting equipment, obtained by Dr. B.K. Linsley with major funding ($500K) from NSF and the University at Albany, is in full operation and forms the analytical cornerstone of the research initiative. A recent renovation of the geochemical laboratory, and of the Mohawk Tower Observatory, have significantly improved the facilities available for environmental geochemistry and climatological research. This research is responsive to the societal need to understand the processes that shape our environmental and economic well-being, and will prepare students at all levels for careers in industry, research, and academic study. We think that the new direction and laboratory facility is serving as an important step in a move toward more integrated Earth science (Earth System Science) at Albany, which is unique among SUNY campuses because of its projected focus, integration of the earth sciences with the merger of the former Departments of Geological Sciences and Atmospheric Sciences, and local resources, particularly the Atmospheric Science Research Center, the National Weather Service, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the US Geological Survey Water Resources Division.
The program continues to have a close relationship with the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, formalized through cross-registration policies for graduate students, cross-faculty collaborations on doctoral examinations, cooperative uses of equipment, and a joint research seminar series. The NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University at Albany) to study the origin of life (New York Center for the Study of the Origin of Life) provides research opportunities, including research assistantships, under the supervision of Dr. John Delano.
Faculty
All faculty presently have research projects funded by the
National Science Foundation, NASA, or EPA, publish regularly in
leading scientific journals, and are well known internationally in
the geosciences.
Current research topics include:
Geochemical investigations of moon rocks and terrestrial
sedimentary rocks, and geochemical studies bearing on the origin
of life (Dr. John Delano);
Tectonic and geochemical processes in the formation of oceanic
crust, particularly ancient oceanic crust now exposed in Oregon,
and Italy (Dr. Gregory Harper);
Processes creating the mountains formed during continental
collisions in the Himalayas/Tibet, and the Appalachians (Dr. William Kidd);
Climate change inferred from the use of isotopes in deep-sea
sediments and living corals (Dr. Brad Linsley);
The fate and transport of mercury and other heavy metals in the
surface environment (Dr. John Arnason);
Global climate evolution of the Earth, and forecasting future
anthropogenic climate change (Dr. Andrei Lapenis);
Deformation of minerals and rocks (Dr. Winthrop
Means).
Tectonics/Structural Geology
Greg Harper concentrates on tectonic, structural, and petrologic studies of processes at divergent plate boundaries. Most research has focused on ancient ocean crust (ophiolites) in California, Oregon, and northern Italy, but he has also participated in the Ocean Drilling Program, Leg 148. Problems being addressed include the recognition and kinematics of oceanic faults, fault controlled subseafloor hydrothermal circulation and mineralization, and magmatic vs. amagmatic cycles. Related problems include the timing of serpentinization and recognition of the paleo-Moho in ophiolites. The research is strongly field-based.
Bill Kidd works on the tectonics and structures of continental collision, specifically the Tibetan Plateau and Himalaya, using surface geological observations and (in collaboration) isotopic age and thermochronological studies. This research has been in areas in the southern and central parts of the Tibetan Plateau (INDEPTH project); and in the Himalayan syntaxial bends (Nanga Parbat project overview [Nanga Parbat project - structure and tectonics]); currently work is in progress in the Namche Barwa project. Structural and tectonic research into some aspects of older collisional orogens, especially the Taconic belt of the northern Appalachians, is also an active interest. The research is also strongly field-based.
Win Means retired in July 1998 and is no longer accepting graduate students. He remains active in research [retaining a lab/office in the Department] focussing on the nature and interpretation of the microstructure of rocks. This is a subject of growing interest, but it remains a subject in which our grasp of fundamentals is still embryonic. It is therefore a field ripe for further advances, particularly in understanding microstructure that results from a combination of new mineral growth and deformation. The approach to these problems used here involves the simulation of microstructure in crystalline but non-geological materials, one of several possible fruitful ways to investigate this area of research. [Analog rock microstructure quicktime movies]
Environmental Geochemistry/Geochemistry
John Delano is working
on several diverse projects. He is a Principal Investigator and
Associate Director of the new NASA Specialized Center of Research
and Training (NSCORT) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the
University at Albany for studies of the origin of life (New
York Center for the Study of the Origin of Life). His
research in this project investigates the impact history of
Earth/Moon system, and the oxidation state of Earth's early
atmosphere. Apollo lunar samples (e.g. volcanic glasses) are
currently being analyzed for major- and trace-elements to place
additional constraints on the nature of basaltic volcanism on the
Moon, as well as on the Moon's origin 4.56 billion years ago.
Melt inclusions well-preserved in phenocryst phases from silicic
eruptions and preserved in altered volcanic ash layers
[bentonites] of Late Ordovician, and Devonian age are being
geochemically analyzed by X-ray fluorescence and electron
microprobe. These data provide high-resolution stratigraphic
information and furnish new constraints on the arc volcanism
associated with the Taconic and Acadian Orogenies. Analytical
techniques honed by these studies are being applied to Quaternary
ashes to investigate the link between large eruptions and climate
change. In a separate project, the petrology and geochemistry of
Cambro-Ordovician clastic sedimentary rocks are being studied to
follow the transition from passive to active continental margin
sedimentation.
Brad Linsley
does research creating stable isotopic and geochemical time-series
from corals and sediment cores for paleoclimatic and environmental
reconstruction at resolutions that range from sub-seasonal to
millennia. This high temporal resolution is only preserved in
certain environments and is essential for understanding the modes
of climatic variability in the past. A better understanding of
past climatic variability will help assess the potential
anthropogenic component of global climate. Current research
projects include:
(1) Developing multi-century length coral-based reconstructions of
the El Niņo Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Interdecadal Pacific
Oscillation (IPO) in the South Pacific.
(2) Using marine sediments to examine centennial to
millennial-scale variations in the East Asian Monsoon and
Indonesian Throughflow.
(3) Pilot project using the deep-sea coral Acanella to examine
upper-intermediate water variations in Hawaii.
(4) Developing decadal-resolution sediment-based records of past
hydrologic changes in Walker Lake (Nevada) spanning the last 1300
years.
Andrei Lapenis is interested in the global climate evolution of the Earth, and using this knowledge to forecast future anthropogenic climate change. Most of his research has focused on developing the "Paleocalibration Technique" to estimate global climate sensitivity. Presently, most Global Climate Models (GCMs) used to make such forecasts are calibrated only within the narrow range of climate forming parameters (atmospheric CO2, aerosol, surface albedo) in the instrumental record of climate change. Hence, creation of reliable paleocalibration fields will help to test GCMs under conditions very different from the present and, eventually, to improve forecasts of anthropogenic climate change. Another topic of Dr. Lapenis' study is the Historic Russian Soil Collection. This unique collection is being used to derive information on soil carbon dynamics in different ecosystems as well as estimate atmospheric contamination of East European Soils during the last 100 years.
John Arnason and his
students apply field, analytical, and theoretical methods to
various problems related to the geochemical cycling of mercury and
other heavy metals in the surface environment. Current projects
include:
1) a collaborative study with Andrei Lapenis and George Robinson
(Biology) on the hydrology, water quality, and ecology of the Patroon
Creek watershed, Albany County.
2) studies of the distribution and solid phase speciation of
mercury and other heavy metals in contaminated stream and
reservoir sediments of Patroon Creek.
3) a pilot study to estimate wet and dry deposition velocities of
atmospheric mercury from soil mercury profiles adjacent to a
mercury recycling facility.
4) a pilot study to measure arsenic and chromium
in soils adjacent to children's play structures made of
CCA-treated wood.
Research facilities and Equipment
PhD program requirements
Students are required to take Tectonics [GEO 517], General Geochemistry [GEO 512], and four other courses from the Geology graduate course offerings; they must also take Seminar in Geology [GEO 500] each semester. A written qualifying exam [day-long] must be passed in one of the fields of specialization offered in the Department [Tectonics; Structural Geology; Geochemistry; Environmental Geochemistry]. A "research tool" requirement must be satisfied; this may involve demonstrating reading knowledge of a foreign language, or facility with computer programming, or instrumentation skills. An oral qualifying exam proposing a research topic and its scope must be passed. A satisfactory dissertation on this research must be submitted and successfully defended. A total of 60 credits must be completed overall. [More details] [Graduate Bulletin text] [PhD dissertation format requirements]
Students are required to take Tectonics [GEO 517], General Geochemistry [GEO 512], and two other courses from the Geology graduate course offerings; they must also take Seminar in Geology [GEO 500] each semester. A satisfactory thesis must be submitted and successfully defended at an oral examination. Students must demonstrate ability to read one foreign language with adequate proficiency, or to demonstrate facility with computer programming. A total of 30 credits must be completed overall. [More details] [Graduate Bulletin text]
Qualified Albany undergraduates may enroll for a combined B.S./M.S. program which generally saves approximately 1 year toward the completion of the M.S. This results because 12 credits [three 400-level courses] of the undergraduate program are taken at the graduate rather than the undergraduate level, and the credits earned are applied towards both the undergraduate and the graduate requirements. [See the MS program above for graduate requirements]
Because the Geological Sciences Program is small and focussed, we advise potential applicants to communicate with one or more of our faculty before completing a formal application. We provide state-of-the-art opportunities for students with well-defined interests in our areas of focus, but a good "fit" between a student and the Program needs to be established early in the application process.
for more information - we were in 1999 happy to answer your questions or to send you an application.
Professor W.S.F. Kidd (Graduate Program Director),
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Earth Science 351,
University at Albany,
Albany, New York 12222
(518) 442-4466
Admissions
Doctor of Philosophy
You must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a specialization in one of the physical sciences or engineering. Although the program is designed primarily for students who have majored in geology at the undergraduate level, there may be instances in which a science student with other than a major in geology may be admitted to the doctoral program provided that the deficiencies in undergraduate geology are made up during the first year of graduate study. Test scores of the Graduate Record Examinations are required.
Master of Science
You must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a specialization in one of the physical sciences, mathematics, or engineering. Although the program is designed primarily for students who majored in geology at the undergraduate level, there may be cases where science majors are admitted provided they make up deficiencies during the first year of graduate study.
[General Graduate Application information] [Graduate Bulletin Admission and Graduate Requirements]
Financial support is available to graduate students on a competitive basis. The main source of support is through teaching assistantships which carry a stipend starting for incoming students in geology at approximately $9,400 for the academic year, plus a tuition scholarship for up to 20 credits per academic year. Grant-supported research assistantships are also available which carry a comparable stipend and may be accompanied by a tuition scholarship. You can supplement these during the summer through research and teaching appointments.
The University offers a number of three-year Presidential Fellowships in the amount of about $15,000 per year plus a tuition scholarship. You are encouraged to apply for other fellowships, such as the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships.
Some support for student-initiated research is available both through the Department and the SUNYA Benevolent Foundation. You are encouraged to apply for research funding from external sources (e.g., Geological Society of America, Sigma Xi).
Our graduates have had excellent job placement records. Over 40 percent have taken jobs as University faculty or research staff. Among the institutions at which they work are Duke University, Syracuse University, University of Houston, University of Chicago, Monash University, Australian National University and the University of Texas at Austin. Others have taken and retained jobs with major and intermediate-size oil companies, including Shell, Texaco, Marathon, and Occidental. About 40 percent of our master's students have gone on to further study.
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Last revision: 2003/02/28 [minor edits 2026-01-08; archive.org links substituted]