Traffic levels in North America plummeted in March 2020 as governments implemented stay-at-home measures to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. A two-year, $400,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office will allow a Penn State-led research team to measure the rapid changes in greenhouse gas emissions that resulted from lower traffic levels and efforts to curb transmission of the virus.
Solid Earth processes are the primary controls on the evolution of the planetary atmosphere, ecosystems, and habitability. These geophysical processes influence the ocean-atmosphere system on a wide range of spatial and temporal scales: from < 1 yr for a large volcanic eruption, ~1 Myr for the eruption of a flood basalt, and 100s-1000s of Myr for changes in plate tectonics and geochemical exchange between Earth’s surface and interior. These interconnected processes are typically studied in isolation, but a holistic approach is very powerful as it utilizes all available physical and observational constraints. This principle has guided my research: understanding isolated solid-Earth subsystems in detail, with the overall goal of integrating them. My long-term research goal is to understand how the environment and ecosystems on Earth, and other planetary bodies, evolve through time. My research encompasses two primary topics : volcano science (Magmatic processes, Submarine volcanism) and planetary geophysics (Planet formation and geodynamics,Planetary science), along with cross-disciplinary work on volcano/tectonic-climate interactions (Climate interactions).
I use two complementary approaches: a) developing idealized models and b) analyzing large observational datasets. I specialize in using fluid dynamics and thermo-mechanical theory (and some analog experiments) from Earth-science, astrophysics, and engineering, as well as data-driven approaches (e.g., machine learning) to develop intermediate-complexity models that span a wide range of material properties and dynamics.
My primary research focus at present is investigating the evolution of magmatic systems - thermo-mechanical evolution, mush melt transport, and eruption dynamics of crustal magmatic systems (both modern volcanism and flood basalts). During his PhD, I worked on the Deccan Traps continental flood basalt (CFB) province to constrain their lava eruptive history at < 10,000 yr resolution using a combination of paleomagnetic, volcanological, and proxy records. In addition, I investigated, using thermochemical models, what are the unique feature of CFB magmatic system that allow basaltic eruptions of thousands of km3 of lava, unlike any modern day volcanism. These finding help constrain the crustal magmatic system of CFBs and may have important implications for relationship between volatile degassing from CFBs and mass extinctions. In addition to this, I have also worked on submarine volcanism, frictional rock mechanics, as well as coupled thermo-visco-elastic porous media flow and two-phase melt transport. I have also active projects on icy satellite geophysics & ocean-hydrothermal dynamics, geochemical evolution of planetary cores, planetesimal/asteroid formation, and protoplanetary disk evolution.
The Planetary Sedimentology Lab at Penn State works to understand how the sedimentary record reflects the evolution of ancient landscapes. We take a wide array of approaches towards answering this broad question, including field geology, 3D seismic interpretation of Earth’s subsurface, numerical modeling, and the investigation of modern sedimentary systems. We also value working beyond Earth, using remote sensing data of Mars and other planets and moons, as well as rover observations, to reconstruct the histories of different worlds across the solar system and to examine sedimentary processes and records formed within unique boundary conditions.
Cardenas, B.T., Lamb, M.P., and Grotzinger, J.P. Carving martian landscapes from ancient sedimentary basins. Accepted for publication in Nature Geoscience.
Cardenas, B.T., Grotzinger, J.P., Lamb, M.P., Lewis, K. Fedo, C., Dietrich, W., Bryk, A., Stein, N., Turner, M., and Caravaca, G. Barform deposits of the Carolyn Shoemaker formation, Gale crater, Mars. Accepted for publication in Journal of Sedimentary Research.
Cardenas, B.T., Mohrig, D., Goudge, T.A., Hughes, C.M., Levy, J.S., Swanson, T., Mason, J., and Zhao, F., 2020, The anatomy of exhumed river-channel belts: Bedform- and belt-scale kinematics of the Ruby Ranch Member, Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA. Sedimentology, v. 67, p. 3655-3682.
I am an interdisciplinary scientist with interests ranging from water resources planning to human-environment interactions more broadly, and I am specifically interested in the role of uncertainty in these domains. My toolkit includes many-objective evolutionary optimization, machine learning, visual analytics and high performance computing.
Current research questions I am working on include:
How is climate and other stressors affecting water supply and allocation?
My work in this area focuses on the advancement and application of exploratory approaches to resilience assessment for water resources systems. Through the use of modeling, sensitivity analysis and data analytics, my research explores large ensembles of plausible futures for a system to better understand how stressors affect water resources and their users.
How are human systems interacting with each other and with environmental systems across scales?
Water resources are tightly coupled with Earth systems, energy, food production, and human well-being. Dynamic interactions and feedbacks between these systems can compound shocks and jeopardize their resilience, with a failure in one propagating in another. My work develops analytical frameworks that allow as to untangle these relationships and inform the management of risks across systems and scales.
Previous fires may hold the key to predicting and reducing the severity of future wildfires in the western United States as fire activity continues to increase, according to researchers from Penn State and the U.S. Forest Service.
Andrew Smye, assistant professor of geosciences at Penn State, will use a $640,000 Faculty Early Career Development Program grant from the National Science Foundation to shed light on a geological mystery while advancing educational opportunities for underrepresented students.
My research utilizes physical experiments, modeling, field work, and remote sensing to better understand (1) the morphodynamics of fluvial, deltaic, and coastal systems; and (2) interactions between vegetation, hydrology, climate, and surface processes. Understanding these complex interactions is essential for predicting landscape change, especially in a changing climate, and requires investigation across a broad range of temporal and spatial scales using a mixture of observational and modeling techniques. The goal is to understand not only how landscapes evolve but also how the processes and process interactions that shape landscapes change under different conditions. Given the rapid warming in the Arctic, much of my work is focused on high latitude landscapes, but I'm interested in morphodynamics, ecogeomorphology, hydrologic connectivity, and coastal change at all latitudes.
Curriculum Vitae: https://tinyurl.com/2xt2dk8y
Kimberly Lau, assistant professor of geosciences and an associate in Penn State’s Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, received the Pre-tenure Excellence Award from the Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division of the Geological Society of America. The award recognizes Lau’s accomplishments in the fields of research, mentoring, service and leadership in the geobiology and geomicrobiology community.
