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Entries in "Icy satellites"Graduate Study in Earth and Planetary ScienceThe Department of Geological Sciences at Case Western Reserve University is currently accepting applications from students interested in pursuing graduate studies leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in the earth, environmental, and planetary sciences. The Department offers flexible, research-intensive programs for graduate students. Applications are accepted on a continuing basis, though students requesting financial support are strongly encouraged to apply by February 1, 2008. Online applications are available through the School of Graduate Studies. There are several opportunities for students interested in pursuing research in planetary science, particularly in the areas of planetary geology and geophysics, high-pressure and temperature geochemistry, and meteorites working with a group of faculty that includes myself, Prof. Harvey, and Prof. Van Orman. At present I am collaborating with students to (1) understand the nature of Mars' crust and lithosphere and tectonic activity and (2) the mechanisms responsible for driving Ganymede's magnetic field. (3) I am also looking for graduate students interested in working with me on analyzing data from the MESSENGER Mission to Mercury to understand both the internal and tectonic evolution of that planet Additional opportunities within these may be available depending upon interest. We are also in the process of focusing new study on large lunar impact basins. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss opportunities for graduate study in planetary science and/or geophysics with interested students (my contact info is available on my webpage). Opportunities for Graduate Study in Planetary Geology and GeophysicsThe Department of Geological Sciences at Case Western Reserve University is currently accepting applications from students interested in pursuing graduate studies leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in the earth, environmental, and planetary sciences. The Department offers flexible, research-intensive programs for graduate students. Applications are accepted on a continuing basis, though students requesting financial support are strongly encouraged to apply by February 1, 2007. Online applications are available through the School of Graduate Studies. There are several opportunities for students interested in pursuing research in planetary science, particularly in the areas of planetary geology and geophysics, high-pressure and temperature geochemistry, and meteorites working with a group of faculty that includes myself, Prof. Harvey, and Prof. Van Orman. At present I am collaborating with students to (1) understand the nature of Mars' crust and lithosphere and tectonic activity and (2) the mechanisms responsible for driving Ganymede's magnetic field. Additional opportunities within these may be available depending upon interest. We are also in the process of focusing new study on large lunar impact basins and the coupled internal and tectonic evolution of Mercury. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss opportunities for graduate study in planetary science and/or geophysics with interested students (my contact info is available on my webpage). Sulfur's impact on core evolution and magnetic field generation on GanymedeRecently, we have been working to understand whether Ganymede may have a relatively exotic way of driving convection in a fluid portion of a metallic core that would in-turn generate its magnetic field. In the Earth, convection in the outer core is driven by some combination of thermally-generated buoyancy as the core cools and compositional buoyancy from the release of some light element at the inner core outer core boundary and then rising to shallower levels. The latter is energetically efficient because it isn't subject to the inefficiency of a heat engine. On Ganymede the same process may also hold, however the phase diagram of a potential core alloy (Fe-FeS) is different at the low pressures in Ganymede's core compared to the much higher ones deep in the Earth. This difference allows for the possibility that solid iron might precipitate shallow in the core and fall through the core and potentially driving the magnetic field. It is also possible that if the core is very sulfur rich solid FeS might float up from deep in the core and also drive core convection. Working Jonathan Aurnou (UCLA) and Andrew Dombard (APL) we have outlined the potential consequences of these relatively unique modes of core evolution in a recently published paper: Continue reading "Sulfur's impact on core evolution and magnetic field generation on Ganymede" | ||||
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