- Microbial habitability of the Hadean Earth The postulated Late Heavy Bombardment of asteroids and comets to the inner solar system had a profound effect on the thermal, climatic and biological evolution of the early Earth, Mars and Venus. To explore this further, we constructed a detailed thermal model of the Earth as a whole during the bombardment epoch ca. 3.95 billion years ago. The results of our analysis shows that under no circumstances was global sterilization reached during the bombardment. This obviously bodes well for the survival of a "deep, hot biosphere" from the most ancient times. Life's origin on Earth could well have occured as far back as 4.4 billion years ago, and this biosphere would have survived and subsequent thermal assualts from impacts.
- Pre-3.75 billion-year-old sedimentary rocks in northern Quebec
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, geologists discovered the pre-3.7 billion-year-old Akilia association and Isua supracrustal
belt rocks in West Greenland. These discoveries forever changed our views of the establishment of the habitable Earth, but the outcrops were
nevertheless confined to parts of Greenland and coastal Labrador. In 2001, Canadian geologists discovered rocks as old as 3.8
billion years in northern Quebec. We have recently provided detailed documentation of the geology of a small part of this "new" old
terrane termed the "Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt" or "NSB". Ongoing work by our group seeks to shed additional light the ages and origins of
these rocks ( see our recent work on the metamorphic histories of the NSB rocks).
It may now be possible to test global models for chemical change in the earliest Archean (see also our work with N. Dauphas on Fe-isotopes in the NSB rocks).
- Widespread supracrustal rocks in southern West Greenland We explore the oldest geological records that provide hints about the nature of the surface environment of Earth in the first billion years. Every year more and more pre-3.6 billion year old rocks of sedimentary origin are discovered. This means that our understanding of this pivotal time period will surely continue to grow.
- Geology, age & origin of the oldest known sediments All rocks older than ~3.5 Ga have been severely metamorphosed. The oldest rocks of probable marine sedimentary origin that we know of are on Akilia (island) in West Greenland. We and our collaborators have explored these in great detail.
- Multiple sulfur isotope analysis of Paleoproterozoic sulfur How did the surface redox state of the Earth change in the Paleoproterozoic in response to changes in oxygen concentration in the atmosphere that in turn drove changes in metabolic styles of life?
- Hadean zircons and the thermal history of crust on the earliest Earth Our research has shown that the oldest terrestrial zircons preserve domains that record thermal events to the crust which pre-date the actual rock record on Earth and may be related to impact effects.
- Geochemistry of the oldest terrestrial zircons Combined REE modeling, Ti-in-zircon thermometry, Oxygen isotopes and other analyses of Hadean zircons show that they are overwhelmingly the products of normal igneous melts.
- Australian National University, Research School of Earth Sciences
- Center for Applied Geoscience, University of Tuebingen
- Centre de Recherches Petrographiques et Geochimiques
- UCLA Ion Microprobe Facility
- Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, RPI
- Laboratoire de Sciences de la Terre, Ecole normale superieure de Lyon
- ETH Institute of Isotope Geochemistry and Mineral Resources
- Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago
- Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute
- Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Courses Offered:
GEOL 1020: Introduction to Geology 1 (offered Summer session 2007)
GEOL 1020: Introduction to Geology 2 (next offered Spring 2010)
ASTR/GEOL 3300: Extraterrestrial Life (last offered Fall 2008)
GEOL 4500: Critical Thinking in Earth Sciences: Origin of Life (some years)
GEOL 4700/5700: Archean and Proterozoic Geology (some years)
GEOL 5700: Cosmochemistry (next offered Fall 2010)
GEOL 5700-006: Planetary Field Geology (co-taught with Prof. B. Hynek, Fall 2009)
GEOL 5700: Geobiology (co-taught with Prof. A. Templeton, Spring 2010)
ASTR/GEOL 5835: Planetary Seminar - Planets and water (Spring 2010)
Contact Information:
Associate Professor of Geology
Early Earth and Planetary Systems Geology Group
University of Colorado at Boulder
Benson Earth Sciences
2200 Colorado Avenue
Boulder, Co. 80309
office: 303-492-5014
lab: 303-735-5021
fax: (303) 492-2606
RESEARCH NEWS: We have recently completed the first stage of field work (mapping and sampling) of key outcrops of the ca. 4.02 Ga Acasta Gneiss Complex, Northwest Territories (Canada). Results of our research on these exceptionally ancient rocks are forthcoming.
We have recently completed the first stage of field work (mapping and sampling) of key outcrops of the ca. 4.02 Ga Acasta Gneiss Complex, Northwest Territories (Canada). Results of our research on these exceptionally ancient rocks are forthcoming.
Recent Themes and Links to Related Published Work (2006-2009):
Links to some of our collaborators:
- Principal Investigator:
Stephen J. Mojzsis (email) - Postdoctoral Scholars:
- Ph.D. Students:
- B.Sc. students:
- Analisa Maier (email)
- Our Distinguished Alumni:
- Dominic Papineau (Geophysical Lab, Carnegie) (dpapineau "AT" ciw "DOT" edu)
- Dustin Trail (Earth & Environmental Sciences, RPI) (traild "AT" rpi "DOT" edu)
- Jon Adam M.Ed. graduate in Science Education (high school teacher)
- Laurie Carmack B.A. graduate in Anthropology (M.Ed. student at University of Oregon)
- Heather Sickels B.Sc. graduate in Biology and Geology
- Kelsi Singer B.Sc. graduate (honors) in Astrophysics (now a Ph.D. student with Bill McKinnon at Washington University, St. Louis)
- Nick Strohecker B.Sc. graduate in Accounting, Minor in Geology (now a successful Las Vegas hotelier)
- Dustin Trail B.Sc. graduate in Computer Science and Applied Math (now a Ph.D. student with Bruce Watson at RPI)
- John Braswell B.Sc. student in Geological Sciences at University of Michigan (2009 UNAVCO Summer Intern)
University of Colorado at Boulder
Graduate Program in Planetary Sciences
Department of Geological Sciences
The Center for Astrobiology
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Geophysics Program
- American Mineralogist
- Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
- Chemical Geology
- Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology
- Earth and Planetary Science Letters
- Geochemical Journal
- Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
- Geology
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Nature
- Precambrian Research
- Science Magazine
Societies:
- American Geophysical Union
- Geological Society of America
- Meteoritical Society
- Mineralogical Society of America