NEWS SPOTLIGHT

Enjoy the symphonies of nature this Earth day at the University of British Columbia Vogue Theater. Indigenous elders, researchers, and musicians have come together to produce the Heavy Metal Suite concert, playing April 22 at 6PM at the Vogue Theater. 

The Heavy Metal Suite includes eight new works composed by musicians from around the world. Each composer wrote a piece inspired by an element being harvested from their home country to support green energy transitions. Highlighted elements include lithium from Australia for electric carb batteries, water from Canada for hydroelectric power, and copper from Chile to support growing renewable energy infrastructure. 

The concert is produced by the UBC Future Metals Initiative, an interdisciplinary cluster that is connecting leaders across Indigenous communities, Earth Sciences, policy, and engineering to promote equitable development of heavy metal harvesting necessary for emerging green technologies. The group hopes engaging the public through music will spark critical conversations surrounding heavy metals we depend on every day, but often spend little time thinking about. The concert will be released alongside a free ebook, Heavy Metal: Earth’s Minerals and the Future of Sustainable Societies. The ebook, edited by Philippe Tortell, the head of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at UBC, is a compilation of essays by experts across disciplines examining different aspects of the mining industry. 

Click here to read more about the concert and ebook from co-contributors, Philippe Tortell and Tahltan Nation elder, Allen Edzerza.

This week UBC has announced the winners of 2023’s Faculty Research Awards, which recognizes research excellence and scholarly achievement of faculty across disciplines. The Department of Earth Oceans and Atmospheric Science is excited to share that Associate Professor Joel Saylor has won the UBC Killam Research Fellowship for established career scientists. Congratulations, Joel Saylor!

This winter graduate and undergraduate students in the Advanced Field Methods course (EOSC 448 and EOSC 546) traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, to study the outcrops around Frenchman Mountain, Red Rock Canyon, Buffington Pockets, and Valley of Fire State Park. 

At Frenchman Mountain the students observed the oldest sedimentary rocks in southern Nevada, which were initially deposited during the Cambrian, around 500 million years ago, following the breakup of the supercontinent of Rodinia. The deposited rocks were primarily limestones and dolomites that form on shallow seabeds due to the sedimentation of calcium carbonate sea shells. During the Mesozoic (~200 million years ago) the region transitioned from a marine to a terrestrial environment, and rock deposition was primarily clastic, i.e. rocks formed from fragments of other rocks. 

At Red Rocks Canyon, Buffington Pockets, and Valley of Fire State Park, the students observed the results of the Sevier Orogeny in which the deposited rocks were tectonically squeezed together during this Cretaceous (~100 million years ago) mountain building event. The area was stretched in the Miocene (~17 million years ago) as the plate tectonics of the area changed once again and the San Andreas Fault formed to the west. The result of this complex geological history is dramatic folded and deformed layers as well as deposition of new sedimentary rocks as the mountain building also created new sedimentary basins. 

Although the limited desert vegetation of the area means the outcrop and its features are easily visible, there are still unknowns in the story of the Sevier Orogeny. Using their field observations, literature references, and understanding of geological processes gained through EOSC 546, students will debate 1) whether the Sevier Orogeny formed during a distinct event in space and time, or it evolved over time alongside other deformation events, 2) if the geology of the basin surrounding the Sevier Orogeny is typical of a foreland basin. These questions are critical to our understanding of the processes involved in creating these formations and features like them.  

The public is welcome at the upcoming debate, taking place March 9 from 9:30 am to noon at Earth Science Building room 5108. There will be a chance for audience members to ask questions after several rounds of rebuttal. The audience will also get to vote for the arguments they find most compelling. 

Click here to read more about the EOSC 546 field experience.

Xutong Guan and Joel Saylor

Sixteen undergraduate and graduate students from EOSC 448 and EOSC 546 - Advanced Field Methods participated in an unforgettable field investigation. Travelling to the US from February 16 to 25, they read the history of that is written in the rocks around Las Vegas. They paged through geologic time starting with the Great Unconformity, which showcases the “missing pages” from the story of the Earth and separates 1.7-billion-year-old Vishnu Schist from 540-million-year-old Tapeats Sandstone. Younger, Paleozoic limestones contain marine fossils and indicate how the arid Mojave desert was a broad sea with a variety of creatures. Younger still, widespread Mesozoic mudstones and sandstones—including the Aztec Formation—tell of a transition from low-energy rivers and coasts to a 350,000 km² eolian sand sea.

The students used geological mapping in Red Rock Canyon and Buffington Pockets to reorder the geological pages, which had been shuffled by multiple faults. Measuring stratigraphic sections in the Valley of Fire State Park trained them to carefully read and interpret the sedimentary record, yielding insight into the tectonic setting in which the strata were deposited and how they relate to deformation associated with the Sevier Orogeny.

The students hiked in many breathtaking trails, and camped in picturesque red rock valleys and by fantastic Joshua trees. Together they explored the geology, cooked and ate by a flickering campfire, and slept under the bright moon and twinkling stars.

The field trip was co-led by Joel Saylor and Brett Gilley. A special thanks goes out to BHP for fully and generously subsidizing this field experience for UBC students.

Tightly folded Jurassic Aztec Formation in the footwall of the Keystone Thrust at Red Rocks Canyon. Photo by J.E. Saylor.

Chert-filled burrows in the Permian Toroweap Formation at Frenchman Mountain. Photo by J.E. Saylor.

Intense deformation in the Cambrian Bonanza King Formation at Buffington Pockets. Photo by J.E. Saylor.

Remote camping in calico-colored Jurassic Aztec Formation below distant cliffs of grey Cambrian Bonanza King Formation at Buffington Pockets. Photo by J.E. Saylor. 

Fiery sunset illuminates a ridgetop tent at Buffington Pockets. Photo by J.E. Saylor. 

UBC Internal Search

The Faculty of Science at the University of British Columbia is seeking applications for the position of Head of the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences. The Department is committed to excellence in earth, ocean and atmospheric research and education, and plays a key role in a range of interdisciplinary programs and initiatives at UBC and beyond. Further information about the department can be found at here.

We seek a dynamic individual with an excellent international profile for scholarly activities, a strong commitment to educational programs at both the undergraduate and graduate level, and a compelling research vision for the future of the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at UBC. The candidate should have demonstrated leadership abilities, including management, organizational, communication, and consensus-building skills. The successful candidate will be responsible for the overall academic and non-academic leadership of the Department and will be a strong advocate for the Department within the University and in the national and international arenas.

The position is for a five-year term and will be available beginning July 1, 2024. The successful candidate must hold a tenured professorial position at the University of British Columbia, with strong preference being given to a faculty member currently at the rank of Professor. The University of British Columbia hires on the basis of merit and is committed to employment equity. All qualified persons are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. We especially welcome applications from members of visible minority groups, women, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities, and others with the skills and knowledge to engage productively with diverse communities.

The deadline for applications is March 12, 2024; applications will be processed as soon as they are received. Applications, consisting of a cover letter, curriculum vitae (including publications record) and the names and addresses (including e-mail addresses) of at least two references, should be sent to:

Dr. Mark MacLachlan
Dean pro tem, Faculty of Science
University of British Columbia
E-mail: searches@science.ubc.ca

Posted: 

February 16, 2024

Deadline: 

March 12, 2024

Dr. Roland Stull is a professor of Atmospheric Sciences in the UBC department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences. During his 26 years at UBC, his focus has been on numerical weather prediction - using large computers to forecast the weather. His research team of about 15 scientists and students study renewable energy meteorology (wind, hydro, & solar power), weather disasters (forest fires, windstorms, floods), transportation weather (highway, railroad, bus, shipping), and special projects. He is a commercial pilot, and has held a multi-engine flight-instructor certificate for many decades. In his spare time, he enjoys biking.