Geology

Welcome to the Department of Geology at the University of Cincinnati, a nationally ranked department with high-caliber faculty and a strong research reputation.

Geology is an interdisciplinary science that emphasizes the study of major Earth systems and how they are connected. We teach and conduct research in a variety of areas in the geosciences including:

  • Paleontology — Paleobiology, evolutionary paleoecology. Our paleontology program is ranked 6th in the nation!
  • Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology — Glacial geology, Quaternary geochronology, fluvial and slope processes, desert geomorphology, tectonic geomorphology. Take a look at our Quaternary and Anthropocene Research Group.
  • Sedimentology and Stratigraphy — Sequence stratigraphy, geology of shales, geochemical records of Earth history.
  • Tectonics — Mountain building, volcanism.
  • Environmental Geology — Groundwater studies, landslide and seismic hazard mitigation.
  • Biogeochemistry and Global Change — Carbon cycling, isotope geochemistry, impacts of climate change.

Our faculty and graduate students publish their work in leading journals and books and over the past two years have published over 100 research papers. The faculty and students at all levels present their research at national and international conferences. We also provide our students with opportunities to gain field and laboratory experience. The department has many research projects that have a strong field-based component and funding is available to students to support field work. Many research projects involve travel to locations such as the Himalaya, South America, Bahamas, Iceland, Alaska, and California. Cincinnati and the surrounding tri-state region also serve as an excellent field area for invertebrate paleontology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, hydrogeology, geomorphology, and geochemistry.

While much of the research in the department involves field work, the faculty also conducts a great deal of cutting-edge laboratory research. The department houses the following research laboratories:

  • Organic Geochemistry Laboratory: Dr. Aaron Diefendorf's laboratory houses an Agilent 7890A gas chromatograph (GC), Agilent 5975C quadrupole mass spectrometer (MS), and flame ionization detector (FID) for the identification and quantification of organic compounds. The GC is equipped with autosampler, multimode injector, and cool on-column injector. The GC/MS also has NIST08 and Wiley Spectral libraries. The laboratory houses a Dionex ASE 350, Turbovap, Organomation N2 evaporator, large muffle furnace, drying oven, centrifuge, flammable material refrigerator and freezer, sonicator bath, pH meter, Mettler-Toledo XS analytical balance, and other smaller equipment for sample extraction and preparation.
  • Biogeochemistry Laboratory: Dr. Amy Townsend-Small's laboratory houses a Shimadzu TOC Analyzer for Dissolved inorganic and organic carbon analyses, Shimadzu GC-2014 greenhouse gas analyzer for carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide (with FID and ECD detectors), CE Elantech Flash 2000 carbon and nitrogen analyzer, microbalance, Retsch ball mill/grinder, deionized and reverse osmosis water purifiers.
  • Quaternary Core Laboratory: The Quaternary Core Laboratory, directed by Dr. Tom Lowell, has complete facilities for the acquisition and analysis of sediment cores. The core laboratory contains traditional coring equipment (Livingston), a percussion system, and a portable hydraulicassisted corer. Coring systems can be deployed in bogs with custom made tripods or deployed in lakes with a canoe catamaran system or with the Geology Department's 12ft Zodiac and 25hp motor as a support craft or Achilles LEXI-96 inflatable raft. The lab is also equipped with a 10Khz StratBoxTM seismic reflection unit which records water depth and sediment structure. Laboratory facilities include a dedicated core analysis room, the components of which include a core photographic stand, Bartington Magnetic Susceptibility meter, assorted drying ovens, large muffle furnace, grain size can be processed with a Beakman-Coutler LS-230 for sizes 0.4-2000 microns and a carousel attachment allows batch processing. Fossil remains are identified with a Leica S8APO binocular microscope and stored in refrigerated facilities. Cores can be logged with a Corelab Spectral Gamma Core Logger. This automated feed can log the radiation from U, Th, and K. The system is driven by a dedicated computer and housed in its own room with abundant table space.
  • X-Ray Diffraction and Fluorescence Laboratory: The Department of Geology has a Seimens D-500 x-ray diffractometer and a 3070 wavelength dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Major elements and the trace elements Ba, Cr, Co, Cu, Mo, Nb, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sr, U, Th, V, Y, Zn, and Zr to concentrations in the ppm range are routinely measured. The Department houses a Spex 35-ton X-Press to produce pressed pellets for analysis of major element and a laboratory with chemical supplies, glassware, analytical balance, and all consumables to produce lithium metaborate squashed glass beads for analysis of trace elements.
  • Luminescence Dating Laboratory: Full sample preparation facilities for luminescence dating are available in this laboratory operated by Dr. Lewis Owen. These include: sieving equipment; heavy liquid separation facilities; and acid treatment equipment. A Riso Automated TL/IRSL/Blue OSL Dating System DA-15C/D will be used to make the OSL measurements. We will use mainly single aliquot regenerative methods for the age calculation (cf. Murray and Wintle, 2000; Spencer and Owen, 2004). A Daybreak alpha counter is also available and will be used to help determine the concentrations of radioisotopes in sediment to help calculate dose rates. The laboratory also has an Ortex MicroNOMAD portable spectroscopy system with Nal detectors and an InSpector 1000 high-performance digital hand-held spectrometer for field dose rate determination.
  • Cosmogenic Dating Preparation Laboratories: The University of Cincinnati has facilities to prepare sediment and rock samples for Be-10 and Al-26 cosmogenic surface exposure dating. The department has a rock crushing laboratory, heavy liquid separation laboratory, and a chemistry laboratory with ultrasonic baths, hot rollers for leaching sediment and rock, columns for cation and anion exchange, HF and perchloric acid hoods for acid work, and hoods for target loading.

As a department, our instructional mission is vast. The goal of our graduate program is to produce well-rounded graduate students who not only take part in advanced research, but also gain extensive field, laboratory, and teaching experience. Upon completion of the program, graduate students are prepared to continue on to doctoral or post-doctoral programs, pursue faculty positions, or obtain professional positions in industry and with the government. At the undergraduate level our students are introduced to the breadth of geology and are provided with the opportunity to focus on the key areas of expertise. Undergraduates leave the program prepared to pursue graduate work or to enter the professional geology field.