While biologists are trying to understand the demise of worldwide coral reefs, East Carolina geologist Dr. Dave Mallinson is examining the oldest coral reef formation in Florida Keys and what accounts for its thriving nature.
Kluchevskoi is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world, and sits above two tectonic plates in Russia. Seismologist Jonathan Lees believes the plates are torn, allowing the underlying Earth mantle to erode the plate’s edges. The tear may explain the presence of adakites, bits of hardened lava containing plate material, in the region’s volcanism.
Geologist John Rogers examined the ages of various parts of Pangea, the last supercontinent. He says Ur was the first continent, formed three billion years ago. Rogers and his colleagues are now examining how geological changes influence the way we live and vice versa.
Marine geologist Charles Paull discovered a community of organisms in the Gulf of Mexico that survives on chemical energy, not sunlight. The processes associated with the chemosynthetic food chain help explain deep-sea geological processes, and may lead to solutions to chemical pollution.