QRC members lead and participate in a wide range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research projects from the study of past earth climates and glaciations to shifts in the geographic distributions and evolution of vegetation and faunal communities, to the evolution and dispersals of the genus Homo and the increasing scales of human modification of earth environments through the Holocene. QRC provides a venue for meeting and collaborating with scholars across Quaternary disciplines. We are also fortunate to be able to provide seed funding and small grants for member research projects. We are especially happy to support grad student and junior scholar research activities, much of which leads to larger, external funding from agencies like the National Science Foundation.
Freezing soils and patterned ground in the tropics
Abstract: Geophysical patterns form spontaneously in diverse settings and environments, in response to non-linear processes. Notable examples include sand dunes and ripples, beach cusps, stalactites, icicles, columnar joints, and patterned ground. These patterns not only attract the eye, but they also stimulate studies that often yield fundamental insights of broad interest [1]. Decades ago, we launched a study of a spectacular example of patterned ground, sorted stripes, near the summit of Mauna Kea (Hawaii) that is absolutely striking because of its geometry regularity (see accompanying photograph). This study is deeply rooted in QRC; Steve Porter catalyzed it, and it addresses periglacial patterned ground, the principal research interest of QRC’s founder, Lincoln Washburn [2].
This project will complete the work to date, solidify previous results and complement them with new data that will help 1) bring to fruition perhaps the most comprehensive study of periglacial hillslope activity and self-organization to date, and 2) improve understanding of patterned ground and the motion of surface soil and pebbles on alpine hillslopes.