Notes from the Field

Published Monday, April 8th, 2024

Contributing Authors: Lauren Neitzke Adamo, Jim Wright, James Bourke, Ken Miller, Sean Kinney, Roy Schlische

As soon as the shaking subsided on Friday, April 5 from a rare Magnitude 4.8 Earthquake in New Jersey, geologists in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS) at Rutgers University-New Brunswick immediately went to work to deconstruct what happened.

They consulted each other and checked the national Earthquake Hazards program run by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which actively monitors and reports on earthquakes worldwide, for the initial location and magnitude of this earthquake.

Reports indicate that there was moderate to light shaking observed during the event and people may have seen or felt objects inside houses or outside shake or fall down (USGS shake map image on the left). While the overall economic loss is very minimal, reports of damage to some historic structures such as Taylor’s Mill in Readington Township, NJ near the epicenter of the earthquake are emerging. Prior to last week, the strongest earthquake with an epicenter recorded in New Jersey occurred on August 23, 1938 at 5:04 am. This earthquake originated southeast of Trenton, and it was felt by residents as far north as Jersey City and as far south as northern Delaware. Similar to the April 2024 earthquake, damage was largely confined to dishes and glassware being broken when shaking knocked them from shelves.

The USGS rated the earthquake as a 4.8 magnitude on the Richter Scale, and mapped the epicenter near Whitehouse Station, NJ at a depth of 4.7 km. The Ramapo Border Fault system runs through this region and regularly experiences earthquakes, but they are generally much smaller than the one that occurred on April 5th. (i.e. magnitude 3 or less). The strength of the crust on the East Coast allows the energy released from an earthquake to travel much farther distances, and is the reason the shaking was felt over a wider area than similar sized, and much more frequent, earthquakes on the West coast. USGS data show reports of shaking from this event as far south as Baltimore, Maryland, and as far north as Springfield, Massachusetts.

Image below shows seismograph data from the 4.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred on April 5th, 2024.  The P-wave is when the earthquake is first detected on a seismometer, but no shaking is felt yet.  The S-wave records when the shaking, that lasted approximately 10 seconds, started and was recorded.

History of the Ramapo Border Fault System

Most earthquakes occur along plate boundaries. New Jersey is located on the passive edge of the continent, meaning there is no active or current plate tectonic boundary within the state. However, this was not always the case. The Ramapo fault system was first developed ~440 million years ago by collisions during a Himalayan-scale mountain-building event that formed the Taconic Mountains. This was part of the assembly of the supercontinent Pangea. These faults were later reactivated, or started moving again, during the breakup of Pangea from 230 to 198 million years ago, which produced a large series of rift basins that stretched along the modern Eastern North American Margin from the Canadian Maritime provinces to the southeastern United States. Large lakes formed in these basins, including the Newark Rift Basin here in New Jersey, depositing the sediments and rocks found beneath the Rutgers-New Brunswick and Newark campuses. Relevant to Friday’s earthquake is that movement on this ancient fault system still occurs.

The Ramapo Border Fault system extends from southern New York through New Jersey into Pennsylvania for about 300 km (185 miles). The earthquake apparently occurred on the Flemington Fault which is part of the Ramapo Border Fault System. The movement that still occurs on faults in this system are produced by intraplate stresses, which poses the largest earthquake threat to the immediate region; however, the magnitudes of these earthquakes are smaller than those on the west coast which occur along plate boundaries. This appears to be the largest earthquake on the fault since 1938 near Trenton.

Just Another Normal Day for Plate Tectonics

Although exciting and novel to east coast residents, the tectonic events on Friday, April 5th represent just another day of plate tectonics. According to the USGS, 67 earthquakes of magnitude 2 to 6.8 were observed worldwide on April 5th, 22 of which occurred in the United States. The New Jersey earthquake was the largest event recorded in the United States that day, followed in size by an earthquake in Belden, CA. Worldwide, the USGS recorded 5 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3 and 4, and 25 earthquakes with magnitudes between 4 and 5 with the largest occurring in southern Mexico and Taiwan. All these earthquakes occurred along active tectonic plate boundaries, making the event in New Jersey even more interesting in that it was the only significant one to occur away from an active plate tectonic boundary.

New Seismometers Advance Study of the Fault System

Since the main event, multiple aftershocks have been recorded with magnitudes between 2.0 and 3.8. The largest of which occurred at 5:59 pm on Friday, April 5th with a magnitude of 4.0. Since the initial event, over 40 earthquakes above 1.0 magnitude have been reported from the USGS in New Jersey. Scientists cannot accurately predict when and how many aftershocks may occur after an earthquake but they place the likelihood of further aftershocks of a magnitude 3 earthquake occurring 38%, magnitude 4 as 9%, and a magnitude 5 as <1%. Residents can expect aftershocks to continue occurring at low magnitudes, likely unfelt by the public, for a time that may range from weeks to months.

James Bourke (image on left), a postdoctoral research fellow and seismologist in EPS, recently retrieved an unused seismometer and had it sitting in his office. At home when the earthquake hit Friday morning, he immediately traveled back to the department on Busch Campus and activated the seismometer in hopes of recording aftershocks and has monitored seismic activity since late Friday afternoon. Bourke confirms that the device was recording during several aftershocks with magnitudes between 1 and 3 over the weekend. Bourke plans to permanently install the seismometer on the Busch Campus to record seismic activity over the next few months. The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences will create a live stream link, so users and the public can view the seismic activity recorded on campus in real-time.

Scientists have long known that earthquakes can occur along this fault system, but it has not received much attention as it does not impose an immediate short-term or long-term threat to residents or infrastructure. The seismic events of April 5th have brought new attention to the area and national and local scientists are actively working to deploy a series of seismometers around New Jersey to continue monitoring for aftershocks from the April 5th earthquake. This data will also map the complexities of the Ramapo fault system and help geologists better understand the potential for future earthquakes in the area.

Sean Kinney and David Tibbits, Rutgers University Researcher and Graduate Student, respectively, traveled to the area near the epicenter to search for fractures, slip surfaces, and other signs of earthquake movement when the magnitude 3.8 aftershock hit (image on right). Kinney and Tibbits report that they heard what sounded like a loud gunshot before they felt the ground shake again and immediately realized they were experiencing an aftershock near the site of the original epicenter. Their ongoing work is focused on estimating the timing of the rock deformation associated with the break up Pangea both within the Newark Rift Basin and elsewhere on the Eastern North American Margin in collaboration with researchers at Columbia and Westchester Universities and Middlebury College. All of which new research and data from this and future earthquakes in New Jersey can help reveal new findings and understandings.

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Rutgers Earth and Planetary Sciences Faculty Speak About the Earthquake to the News

Check out what Rutgers faculty and researchers had to say about the Earthquake to the public and news reporters.

Graduate Student Roberto Masis speaks to Univision in Spanish.

Professor Ken Miller interviewed and quoted in Forbes, the Daily Mail, Scientific American, Times Now, and MSN.

Professor Greg Mountain interviewed and quoted in Wired.

Teaching Professor, Lauren Neitzke Adamo interviewed on News12 and NJ 101.5.

Several Rutgers professors and students provide insights in a USA TODAY - northjersey.com interview.

This article was originally written by Mira Rojanasakul and published by the New York Times (3/6/2024). To access the original article, click here.

New Data Details the Risk of Sea-Level Rise for U.S. Coastal Cities

A new study of sinking and rising land along American coasts offers a more specific understanding of potential flooding in 32 coastal cities.

A new study of sea-level rise using detailed data on changes to land elevation found that current scientific models may not accurately capture vulnerabilities in 32 coastal cities in the United States.

The analysis, published Wednesday in Nature, uses satellite imagery to detect sinking and rising land to help paint a more precise picture of exposure to flooding both today and in the future.

Nearly 40 percent of Americans live along the coasts, where subsidence, or sinking land, can add significantly to the threat of sea-level rise. While the Gulf Coast experiences many of the most severe cases of subsidence — parts of Galveston, Texas, and Grand Isle, La., are slumping into the ocean faster than global average sea levels are rising — the trend can be found all along the United States shoreline.

Many widely used sea-level projections factor in subsidence by looking at long-term trends derived from data collected by tide gauges, even though the sites may be miles away from population centers. “They often just represent measurements at a single location of how the ground is moving,” and not the overall spatial dynamics of the entire city, said Leonard Ohenhen, a Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Tech and the paper’s lead author.

The work of Mr. Ohenhen, Manoochehr Shirzai, Chandrakanta Ojha and colleagues reveals how land along the coast is sinking into the ocean, compounding the danger from global sea-level rise. The new study expands their analysis of elevation changes along the Atlantic Coast to the Gulf and West, and uses these maps to explore potential flooding within major coastal cities in greater detail.

“This will add to the accuracy on the time scale of decades, because it offers much higher spatial resolution,” said Bob Kopp, a climate scientist at Rutgers University, who helped review the new paper for Nature.

The research assumes, however, that the trends observed over the relatively short satellite record, from 2007 to 2020, can be extrapolated at a constant rate into the future. This may bear out in areas sinking because of natural causes. But human activities, like extracting groundwater or oil and gas are a key factor in subsidence in many places.

“Groundwater withdrawal is a major reason why Atlantic City is sinking faster than New York City,” said Dr. Kopp. “Can you assume they continue at their current rate for 30 years? Maybe. Can you assume that they can for 100 years? I probably wouldn’t.”

This article was originally written by Mira Rojanasakul and Marco Hernandez, and published by the New York Times (2/13/2024). To access the article, click here.

The East Coast is Sinking

New satellite-based research reveals how land along the coast is slumping into the ocean, compounding the danger from global sea level rise.

A major culprit: overpumping of groundwater.

The most vulnerable areas of Boston have been sinking up to 3.8 centimeters per decade, which adds up to nearly 10 centimeters by 2050, based on the analysis of satellite data from 2007 to 2020. Parts of New York City and Long Island are sinking over 3 centimeters per decade. Atlantic City is sinking up to 4 centimeters per decade. Nearby groundwater pumping has caused soils to compact. Several hotspots in Maryland are sinking over 10 centimeters per decade, while other areas are rising. Adjacent land moving at different rates can put infrastructure at risk. Hampton Roads, Va., which is sinking over 2 centimeters per decade, is pumping treated wastewater underground to try to slow the pace. Charleston, S.C., which is affected by groundwater pumping, is sinking up to 5.7 centimeters per decade. Northeast Florida has experienced some rising, up to about 1 centimeter per decade, as erosion of porous rocks has lightened the area’s weight. Parts of Miami are sinking up to 1.5 centimeters a decade, adding to flood hazards from frequent tropical storms. 

The new research from Virginia Tech and the U.S. Geological Survey used satellite data to show the mounting threats to coastal communities. Nearly 40 percent of Americans live along coasts, where aging buildings, roads and rails face structural damage from floods.

“You have a hazard that is becoming worse every day with sea level rise,” said lead author Leonard Ohenhen, Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Tech.

The global average sea level has been rising around 3.3 millimeters per year since the early 1990s, according to satellite readings from NASA. And based on longer records from tide gauges, we know that rate is accelerating, said Kenneth Miller, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Rutgers University. Local subsidence, or sinking land, makes the threat of sea level rise worse in some places than others.

Researchers say a dominant cause for subsidence is groundwater depletion. A layer cake of overlapping aquifers extends from New Jersey to Florida along the coast, providing a reliable source of water for drinking, irrigation and industrial uses. Though the region gets regular rainfall, deeper aquifers below clay or bedrock can take hundreds or thousands of years to recharge once water is pumped out. Surface aquifers can be prone to pollution and saltwater intrusion.

Once water is removed, soils can compress and collapse, causing the land surface to sink. Cities built on drained marshland or fill are especially vulnerable to compaction.

Other forces can also influence vertical land movement: Sediments can build up at river deltas and naturally compress under their own weight. And as the weight of enormous glaciers that once extended down to New Jersey lifted after the last ice age, a seesaw effect is causing bedrock across the mid-Atlantic and South to sink by about 1 millimeter per year.

Boston should be on the rising end of that seesaw, but many areas of the city were built on soft soil prone to compaction.

Parts of Boston were built on marshland, reclaimed from the sea for buildings, docks and other structures. This [below] is where the coastline was in the 17th century. The areas added to the original coastline have greater subsidence. 

To stabilize early buildings in Boston, wood pilings were driven into water-logged earth where groundwater preserved the structures. Depletion of those aquifers has exposed the wood to air in some cases, causing foundations to rot. Some homeowners have had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair the pilings to keep their homes from collapsing.

A few millimeters of sinking a year can seem gradual, but the effects can be extreme: storm surges can suddenly wash away the soil from beneath the roads, or floodwaters can fill basements and cut off emergency routes. Each inch the land slumps towards the water table can make floods significantly, catastrophically worse.

“That’s the thing about sea level [rise]. It’s slow and it’s insidious and continuous,” said Dr. Miller, at Rutgers University. That is, until the next big storm hits. “We’ve been fortunate in the past 11 years since [Hurricane] Sandy that we’ve not seen an event like that. We obviously are very likely to see similar events in the next ten years or so.”

Patches of land that sink or rise more quickly than adjacent areas can also do outsize damage, cracking foundations and destabilizing structures over time. The authors of the study found these distortion hotspots near Cape Canaveral, the suburbs and exurbs of Boston, and across Delaware and Maryland on the Delmarva Peninsula.

An assessment from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2021 found that more than 40 percent of the nation’s roads are in poor or mediocre condition. The assessment of bridges, airports and water infrastructure is similar. The Army Corps of Engineers, which maintains the country’s aging levees and is involved in the planning and construction of new coastal protections, says that the mounting disasters in recent years have led directly to a greater number of resilience projects.

“We definitely have seen an increase in the number of incidents related to subsidence as it relates to flooding in the last decade plus,” said Sandy Hertz, director of the Office of Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation at the Maryland Department of Transportation. The state expects to see an additional 2.5 feet of relative sea level rise by 2100, according to a study published last year.

Maryland will receive $107 million, out of a total $7.3 billion allocated to states, to improve the climate resilience of its transportation systems through the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. Coastal communities will also receive $2.6 billion over five years from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to prepare and respond to climate hazards.

An effort among multiple federal agencies to coordinate on these regional climate risks has grown in recent years. This detailed survey of Atlantic Coast land motion was part of a broader U.S.G.S. study on a suite of coastal hazards. It adds to a vast trove of new data for decision-making around coastal risk, including where people live and rely on critical infrastructure, and where the water is now versus where it may be in 10, 20, 50 years or beyond.

“Water does not obey geographic boundaries, and neither does land subsidence,” said Ms. Hertz. “We really need to take a shared approach to resiliency to protect not just the emergency evacuation routes, but the significant infrastructure and destinations that we have across the East Coast.”

A correction was made on Feb. 14, 2024: An earlier version of this article misstated the rate of subsidence in Miami. Parts of the city are sinking up to 1.5 centimeters a decade, not 1.5 centimeters a year.

A correction was made on Feb. 23, 2024: A map with an earlier version of this article placed Fort Myers, Fla., in the wrong location. The city sits south of Gasparilla Sound-Charlotte Harbor, not to the north.

Member of geology team for Artemis III mission says she can’t wait to start

NASA has selected Juliane Gross, a NASA Early Career Fellow and a Rutgers professor, to be a member of the geology team supporting the Artemis III mission, the first crewed lunar landing mission in more than 50 years.

Gross, an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences, discussed her excitement in participating in a mission as a member of the geology team that will land the first woman on the Moon and explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.

NASA has announced that the geology team for Artemis III will develop the surface science plan for the mission. What is a surface science plan?

The geology team is representing the lunar science community in the Artemis III mission and will be incorporated into the NASA Artemis Internal Science Team. As one big team, we will plan the areas to be explored within the South Polar region of the Moon, map out the paths the astronauts will take on the surface and determine the science activities they will carry out.

There are many mysteries still to be solved about the Moon. "These are exciting times," Assistant Professor Juliane Gross says.

We want to maximize the knowledge gathered so we can grow our understanding of our Moon, the Earth-Moon system and the evolution of planetary bodies through space and time. We can’t wait to get started.

Why is NASA focused on geology in this mission?

Geology is the field that connects many sciences. The geology of the Moon is intimately tied to the formation of Earth and its history. That’s important because much of the geological history of Earth has been destroyed – our planet is incredibly active and recycles itself repeatedly through forces such as weather and plate tectonics.

The Moon, in contrast, is frozen in time. Its rocks are like history books. Moon rocks have preserved evidence of so much: the origin of Earth; the early geological evolution of terrestrial planets; our solar system’s climate history and changes in planetary positions. As geologists, we need to learn how to read these history “rock books.” We will collect some of the Moon’s oldest rocks with Artemis III to understand fundamental processes and learn, for future explorations, where to find critical resources.  

How will your research background help and what answers do you hope to find by engaging in this endeavor?  

I’m a petrologist/mineralogist – a person whose specialty is to “read the rocks” and extract their stories. My research focuses on investigating how planetary bodies, such as the Moon, formed and evolved.

How does it feel to be part of NASA's next Moon mission? "We can't wait to get started," geologist Juliane Gross says.

Because I study the chemistry and mineralogy of lunar samples, I’m helping to ensure the astronauts return with the best samples to learn from. There are many mysteries to be solved: how the Moon formed; how impacts on the Moon affected it and Earth; what produced water/ice on the Moon; and how long the Moon has been volcanically active. These are exciting times.

In addition, due to my experience as the Deputy Apollo Sample Curator at NASA’s Johnson Space Center from 2019 to 2022 –  when we examined one of the last unopened Apollo-era lunar samples – I understand curation protocols. This has to do with the proper collection and examination of samples. We want future generations of lunar scientists to be able to extract information from what is collected on the Artemis III mission 50 years from now.

Why is the Artemis III mission important for everyone, not just geologists?

Artemis III will mark humanity’s first return to the lunar surface in more than 50 years. NASA will send the first woman and the first person of color to explore the region near the lunar South Pole, a region where humans haven’t been before.

By going back to the Moon, we will be able to retrieve samples to expand knowledge, learn how to operate and work on another planet independently. We will gain experience in conducting short interplanetary trips. This will provide invaluable preparation for venturing to places like Mars.

The Artemis missions are important not just for geologists like me, but for artists, engineers, space explorers and teachers and many others. We will need all sorts of people and professions to make this mission successful. Artemis will spark new technologies needed for future space exploration, much the way that previous space missions benefited everyone on Earth with innovations they produced. In that sense Artemis III will be incredibly inspirational on all sorts of levels. Part of me still can't believe that I will get to be part of that.

By Zoe Reich (’24, SEBS, HC) | December 18, 2023 | Original article published on the Rutgers Honors College Website

In the Spring of 2023, I visited Costa Rica during spring break through an Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar embedded study abroad trip. Embedded study abroad trips allow students to add a week-long trip during a semester break or semester end. The option for a week-long study abroad was perfect for me. This Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar, which fulfills a requirement for the Honors College, was called Communicating Science in Costa Rica and was taught by Dr. Lauren Neitzke Adamo. The course encompassed weekly three-hour seminars on science communication and field trips to the Zimmerli Museum, the Science Explorer Bus, and the Rutgers Geology Museum, which Dr. Adamo also directs. 

Dr. Adamo noted that teaching an Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar allowed her to blend her expertise in geology and rocks with all of her favorite topics through a scientific, cultural, educational, and inclusive lens. She added, "The trip to Costa Rica brought us face to face with some amazing geology and landscapes. It was wonderful to watch the students make connections between the geology and the culture, biology, agriculture, ecology, and more within Costa Rica."

All of our classes prepared us for our trip. While there, we visited volcanoes, hiked by waterfalls, and drove up incredibly steep roads. During the evenings, we stayed in hotels and hostels. Some even had live music! The daily meals included arroz con frijoles and rice with beans; my classmates loved that meal. We split into groups during the trip to explore the different science communication topics we each wanted to write about. Anya Gowda, Philip Melnichuk, and I wrote about ecotourism. Other groups explored food, agriculture, and biodiversity. 

Going to Costa Rica allowed me to learn more about the field of biology and consider the scientific material I want to study. This experience changed my trajectory, pushing me towards environmental microbiology, which I will forever be grateful for. Science communication and the content we learned in class will be intertwined in whatever scientific roles I take on in the future. Anya said, 

“My class trip to Costa Rica not only helped me see the beauty of the geology of different landscapes but also the beauty in different cultures! Being so immersed in such a biodiverse environment is truly enlightening.” 

And Philip said, 

”This embedded study abroad trip was one of my most memorable Rutgers experiences. My passions for natural science, medical science, and science communication met in a perfect interdisciplinary course where I learned about new ways to communicate science and medicine, and I even built my first website to teach circadian rhythms through art.” 

You can read below our social media post on ecotourism, as well as posts by our other classmates, which were posted on Instagram and X @rutgersclimateandenergy while we were in Costa Rica.

Diving into Costa Rican Volcanoes: Ecotourism 

By Zoe, Anya, & Philip 

Ecotourism integrates nature, conservation, and tourism. This bridges tourists with exploring new environments. To be a good ecotourist, traveling with intentionality is critical. Before our trip, Zoe researched indigenous groups in Costa Rica to recognize the land's origins and who currently lives there. Beyond being aware of the people living in the land, we were conscious consumers. For example, Anya and Zoe searched for local artisan stores to support locally-owned businesses. Anya ended up purchasing some lovely handmade lava earrings. After we toured the Starbucks Coffee Farm, Philip researched the way Starbucks works within Costa Rica to get a bigger picture than the one portrayed by the tour. We visited many places during the trip, from national parks to local towns. When we visited the mud springs on the second to last day, we had yet another opportunity to observe the integration of a tourist attraction with the natural environment—a river. Here, we saw how the river was used as a cooling-off location with the manmade hot springs. Throughout our time in Costa Rica, engaging with and educating ourselves about the natural environment strengthened us as eco-tourists. 

Ready to Dish About Costa Rican Cuisine 

By Chris, Yanelli, & Navya 

Exploring the cuisine of Costa Rica was an incredible experience. The country’s strong agricultural industry makes many Costa Rican dishes with locally sourced ingredients bursting with flavor and nutrients. Moreover, we found that serving sizes are usually equivalent to serving sizes, a pattern we do not see reflected in the United States. For example, in Costa Rica, dishes that feature meat or fish have a reasonable serving size of the protein accompanied by nutritious staple foods like rice and beans on the side. We found that far fewer dishes were fried or drenched in oil and salt in the manner that most side dishes—such as French fries—usually are in the United States. One of the benefits of enjoying such freshly prepared, nutrient-balanced meals is that they are so satisfying that they eliminate the need to snack throughout the day. We often found ourselves eating less at meal times and not having the usual urge to snack on temporarily gratifying, sugar-packed junk food. Thus, we felt more energized, less lethargic, and overall better. By indulging in only the necessary meals, we received the nourishment we needed while avoiding excessive consumption of processed foods. Overall, it is no surprise that we felt better about the food we were eating while exploring the culinary delights of Costa Rica. With its vibrant and diverse cuisine, Costa Rica is a fantastic destination for any foodie to experience something unique, fresh, and healthy. 

Costa Rica Farm to Table 

By Akanksha, Adina, Adrija, Analiese, Shreya 

Everywhere you looked in Costa Rica, you could see local fruit stands and farms. Every inch of the volcanically enriched soil was used, keeping the hillsides rife with coffee plants, tropical fruit, and cattle. Back in New Brunswick, you look to your right, you see a building, you look to your left you see a building, and you look ahead, and you see a … building. Accessing fresh local food is very difficult without a car. In fact, New Brunswick is considered a food desert due to the scarcity of sources of high-quality, fresh food. Relying on convenience food can have long-term health detriments, and in the short run, it leads to people feeling sluggish. Even with all of Rutgers’ efforts to provide healthy meals, we could definitely feel the difference between our normal diets and the effects of eating fresh food daily as we hiked the volcanoes, feeling energized by the local plantains, beans, and rice. In addition to the many initiatives in the city, we should consider converting our resource-intensive turf lawns to gardens that grow native fruits and vegetables and can much better support the ecosystem and surrounding communities. 

Biodiversity in Costa Rica 

By Donald, Matt, Yiraldo, Ishaan 

Despite being a relatively small country, especially compared to the US, Costa Rica has a substantial amount of diversity in its ecosystems. Some parts experience immense amounts of rainfall, while others are rather dry, being in rain shadows. Rain shadows are created when coastal winds carrying heavy clouds of water vapor blow towards mountains, which then force the clouds to begin moving upward. As they climb higher, the clouds begin to cool and condense into heavy rain as they move towards the peak of the mountain range. But once they cross and begin descending down the other side of the peak, they have already released most of their water vapor, leaving very little rain for the lower regions of the country such as the Costa regions. Within Costa Rica, places like San Jose and Arenal are on the sides of the mountains with rainforests, and they are rich in biodiversity. The plant life is a deep shade of green and tall trees are densely packed over the mud. Likewise, the animals are incredibly diverse, ranging from toucans to monkeys to vibrant tree frogs. Comparatively, areas in the rain shadows, such as Liberia, have limited biodiversity. The plants are mostly brown, with low shrubbery and grassland dominating the landscape. Lizards, snakes, insects, and other animals accustomed to dryer weather are the norm. Overall, Costa Rica is a beautiful country filled with a vast amount of diverse and complex biodiversity depending on the region you lay your eyes on. We are beyond thankful for the privilege and opportunity to observe and study such a beautiful part of our world in person.

 Learn more about this Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar and check out more student posts by clicking HERE.

By Kitta MacPherson

This article was originally posted on Rutgers Today. To view the original article, click here.

Extent of future warming will dictate impacts, according to research involving a Rutgers scientist

The rapid sea level rise and resulting retreat of coastal habitat seen at the end of the last Ice Age could repeat itself if global average temperatures rise beyond certain levels, according to an analysis by an international team of scientists from more than a dozen institutions, including Rutgers.

In a study published in Nature, scientists reported how ancient coastal habitats adapted as the last glacial period ended more than 10,000 years ago and projected how they are likely to change with this century’s predicted sea level rise. They conducted their analysis by examining the ocean sediments of ancient shorelines from a time when oceans rose rapidly, mainly because of melting ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere. This examination allowed them to infer how ancient coastal habitats changed and formed the basis of improved predictions about the present.

“Every ton of carbon dioxide humankind emits turns up the global thermostat, which in turn increases the pace of global sea level rise,” said Robert Kopp, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and an author of the study. “The faster the oceans rise, the greater the threat to tidal marshes, mangroves and coral reefs around the world. For example, in our analysis, most tidal marshes are likely to be able to keep up with sea level rise under 1.5 degrees Celsius [2.7 degrees Fahrenheit] of warming, but two-thirds are unlikely to be able to keep up with 2 degrees Celsius [3.6 degrees Fahrenheit] of warming."

The temperature ranges mentioned in the study are significant because they relate directly to the Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change adopted in 2015, said Kopp, who is also the director of the Megalopolitan Coastal Transformation Hub and co-director of the University Office of Climate Action. The goal of the Paris treaty is to substantially reduce carbon emissions worldwide to limit the global temperature increase in this century to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels while pursuing efforts to limit the increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The study predicted higher global temperatures will provoke sea level rises that will lead to instability and profound changes to coastal ecosystems, including tidal marshes, mangrove forests, coral reefs and coral islands.

Tidal marshes – low-lying areas flooded and drained by tidal salt water – protect many of the world’s coastlines. They sequester pollutants, absorb carbon dioxide and protect nearby communities from storm surge and flooding. They are common along the Atlantic shores of North America. Large expanses of tidal marshes line New Jersey’s coast.

“This new paper provides evidence from geological history that, without mitigation and under current projections, tidal marshes will not have the capacity to adjust,” said Judith Weis, a Professor Emerita of Biological Sciences at Rutgers–Newark who isn’t an author of the study but is an expert on tidal marshes. “For many tidal marshes in New Jersey, this is not a prediction but a description of the present situation, in which sea level is rising faster than the marshes can increase their elevation. This makes it even more vital to reduce climate change as rapidly as possible.”

Tidal marshes and mangrove forests adapt to rising seas by accumulating sediment and moving slowly inland.

“Mangroves and tidal marshes act as a buffer between the ocean and the land – they absorb the impact of wave action, prevent erosion and are crucial for biodiversity of fisheries and coastal plants,” said Neil Saintilan, the paper’s lead author and a professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. “When the plants become water-logged due to higher sea levels, they start to flounder.”

Under worst-case scenarios, these coastal habitats, buffeted by rising sea levels, will shrink and, in some cases, wash away, as they have in the distant past, according to the study.

Congratulations to all of our 2023 Undergraduate Student Award recipients! The department of Earth and Planetary Science is celebrating its many talented students. We are super proud of all of their accomplishments, and are excited to announce this year’s award winners.

Students Bryce Troncone, Micheal di Maio, and Journey Berry have been awarded the Vinton Gwinn scholarship for their outstanding research. Bryce’s research focuses on exoplanets. Micheal’s research studying the isotope geochemistry of magnetite deposits in the New Jersey highlands has provided great insight into the development of the deposits’ formations. Journey’s research on glacial lakes in Alaska has proven her constant hard work as she continues to discover her passions in geological science.

Lakshman Prabhakar has been awarded the George Rowe Award for his independent research project under Dr. Ben Black. Lakshman’s impressive work investigates the petrology of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province basalts, developing novel independent constraints on  pre-eruptive water concentrations in the magmas. His research could carry important implications for the magma storage and eruption in this region.

 The George Cook Award was presented to Julianna Cannato to recognize her consistent work with the RUGeo club. This club studies drone footage of various geological sites, putting together comprehensive images of rock formations and deposits for geological analyses. Julianna has formed a community within the geology department by organizing many events for students and faculty to attend. We want to commemorate her willingness to help others across the department.

Mike Pinnella has been awarded the EPS Chairs Award for his willingness to go above and beyond. Mike is always the first to volunteer in any departmental events. We all know we can depend on Mike whenever we need a helping hand, which is why Departmental Chair Dr. Jim Wright has presented him with this award.

Jason Kawalec has been honored for completing his senior honors thesis focusing on creating 3D models and high-res digital maps of volcanic features in Costa Rica under Dr. Adamo. Jason earned the Henry Rutgers Scholar award for his thesis, as well as the Paul Robeson award for completing thesis.

Multiple students have also been honored with field camp scholarships to contribute to their field research in the upcoming months. The George O’Scott Scholarship has been presented to Caitlin La Duca. This scholarship will go towards Caitlin’s upcoming field camp experience at the State Field Camp in Montana. Bryan Lee has been awarded the Larry and Norma Gordon Award to go towards his research experience at Salem State Field Camp in Montana. The William and Grace Sparks Undergraduate Field/Travel Award has been presented to Julianna Cannato, who will be attending the Salem State Field Camp in Montana. Robert Witkowski and Peter Bellocq have been awarded the Steven K. Fox Award, and they will also both be attending the Salem State Field Camp in Montana.

Originally published by Rutgers Today on August 29, 2023.

Written by Kitta MacPherson

A portion of Amazonian lowland rainforest – areas critical to absorbing carbon dioxide and buffering climate change – may morph over time into dry, grassy savannas, according to a Rutgers-led study.

The report, published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, described a new understanding of how alternating flooding in the wet season and drought in the dry season, called double-stress, can limit forest establishment and favor short-lived grass species.

“Because predictions of future climate indicate a drier climate for the tropics, knowing where and how today’s forests will become savannas will help us predict how the carbon cycle may change, exacerbating warming,” said Caio Mattos, a lead author who conducted the research as a doctoral student in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. “We showed that several areas of the Amazonian rainforest, which were previously thought to be protected, will be at risk of undergoing a change towards a savanna-like state.”

The Amazon region helps stabilize the global climate, storing about 123 billion tons of carbon above and below ground, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Losing trees to a process the study described as “savannization” means the Amazon’s ability to store carbon could be impacted.

The findings help explain why forests and savannas can coexist side by side under the same climate today, with forests occupying stably flooded areas, such as the vast swamp forests in interior Amazonia, or stably droughted, such as the forests on well-drained upland.

This implies that, under a future climate that is projected to be drier, some of the permanently flooded lowland Amazon will start to “feel” a dry period, subjecting the forests to double-stress or savanna conditions in the heart of the Amazonia.

“This study demonstrates the power of hydrology in explaining the structure and function of vegetation ecosystems,” said Ying Fan Reinfelder, a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and a co-author of the study. “We argue that global change research can benefit from a sharpened focus on hydrological change.”

These findings, Reinfelder said, contrast with the conclusions of most studies on the future of the Amazon, which have concluded that this forest-savanna conversion is likely to be confined to one area of the Amazon – its drier southern portion.

A forest is defined as an area of land dominated by trees and characterized by its thick canopy. A savanna is a mixed woodland-grassland system with trees sufficiently spaced to allow sunlight to promote grass growth.

Oceans and forests represent the two largest natural carbon “sinks,” or absorbers, on earth. Trees pull carbon out of the air during photosynthesis. Savannas, while vital sources of biodiversity, store far less carbon per acre.

Scientists have known for decades that the edges of the Amazon are threatened by deforestation brought about by population pressures and climate change. The study revealed insight into a mechanism that is likely to affect the interior Amazon.

“We found that flooding is key,” said Mattos, now a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University. “In some parts of the landscape, groundwater fluctuates between being too shallow – drowning tree roots – and too deep – depriving roots of water. This double stress is only tolerated by savanna plant species. Forests only thrive when situated in stable upland, which is never flooded, or in stable lowland, where it is always flooded.”

To reach their findings, the scientists looked to the science of hydrology, the study of the properties of the earth’s water on land. To simulate the Amazon region’s water cycles in the present, they employed a complex computer model, essentially a series of equations representing various hydrological conditions – including river heights, soil moisture levels and evaporation rates. Next, they ran the computer model using climate projections for 2090-2100 using data provided by scientists from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the Hadley Center Model) to map the areas that may be changed from permanent flooding to double stress.

A comparison between present representations and future simulations of hydrological stress showed effects on several ecologically critical areas. Floodplain forests in interior areas of the Amazon region, such as within the state of Amazonas and along the Madeira and Upper Negro rivers – regarded as some of the most biologically rich floodplain forests in the world – likely will be affected. Large areas of peatlands in Peru, another area that efficiently absorbs carbon, may also be altered, leading to decomposition and consequent release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, accelerating warming.

Other researchers on the study included Marina Hirota and Bernardo Flores of the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil, Rafael Oliveira of the University of Campinas in Brazil, Gonzalo Miguez-Macho of the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela in Spain and Yadu Pokhrel of Michigan State University.

Written by Dr. Juliane Gross

The Apollo Program returned 381 kg of samples from the lunar surface which have provided fundamental insights into the origin and history of the Earth-Moon system and our solar system. During Apollo, some samples were collected or preserved in unique containers or environments and have remained unexamined until recently. From 2019-2022 Rutgers EPS professor Dr. Juliane Gross was on loan to the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, TX. Here she opened two of the last unopened samples: the Apollo 17 double drive tube 73001 and 73002. In this work she was part of Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) Program that was designed to function as a sample return mission. Dr. Gross led the opening, processing, basic characterization, and preliminary examination of these unique samples. The resulting sample catalog (link here) is a critical document that is utilized by scientists across the world to select and request the best samples to conduct their individual scientific studies.

The work Dr. Gross carried out will help prepare future explorers for lunar missions such as the upcoming Artemis mission returning to the Moon within the next five years and beyond. Her work under the ANGSA Program links the first generation of lunar explorers (Apollo) with future explorers of the Moon (Artemis). As a next generation lunar explorer, Alissa Madera (PhD student at Rutgers EPS) came to visit Dr. Gross in 2022, where she used the instruments available at JSC to conduct sample analyses on a young basaltic lunar meteorite for her PhD (advisor: Dr. Juliane Gross). Unlike Apollo samples that come from a small and geologically unique region of the Moon, lunar meteorites represent a random sampling of the lunar surface, and thus, are critical for our understanding of lunar evolution through space and time. However, the launch location of most meteorites remains unknown, making it difficult to fully interpret their geologic history and the geology of the region of the Moon from which they originated. Alissa’s work will utilize remote sensing observations in combination with meteoritical geochemical data to provide potential source location(s) for meteorites. Furthermore, understanding the potential provenance and possible relationships between young basaltic meteorites from the Moon will provide insights into the timing, duration, and location of late-stage lunar volcanism, and provide insights into the thermal history of the Moon. In addition to carrying out her research, Alissa was also able to assist in daily curation tasks while at NASA JSC, such as pulling samples from the pristine lunar sample vault for sample allocations, assist in filming in the lunar lab, and visiting mission control during the Artemis 1 fly-by of the Moon that was annotated by Dr. Gross during a live interview. We had a blast! Here is to the Moon and beyond!" 

One of EPS's Ph.D. students, Fatematus Nishi, and faculty members, Prof. Bob Kopp, featured in the Rutgers Today article as members of the EPS Department actively contribute to solving real-world climate issues. 

By

Kitta MacPherson

Training program created in wake of Superstorm Sandy brings graduate students from varied disciplines together to solve real-world climate problems

As a child, Dan Blanco watched low-income neighborhoods in his native Chicago flood during storms while the more affluent enclaves did not. Now, he is pursuing a doctoral degree in atmospheric sciences at Rutgers so he can further explore – and find ways to diminish – the often inequitable ravages of climate change.

Fatematuz Zohora Nishi, who grew up in a disaster-prone coastal area in Bangladesh, is also at Rutgers because of her concerns about changing climate. She is earning a doctoral degree in earth and planetary sciences so she can better understand sea level rise and inform endangered communities with her research.

Josephine O’Grady, a first-year graduate student at Rutgers, has set her sights on earning a degree in the master of public policy program at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. A native of Bay Head in Ocean County, O’Grady studied marine life in nearby Barnegat Bay from the time she was a girl and wants her professional work to intersect with the many community environmental organizations she grew up with.

Blanco, Nishi and O’Grady are part of a cadre of Rutgers graduate students in a special initiative at Rutgers that is one of the first in the nation. They are among the newest participants in the Coastal Climate Risk and Resilience (C2R2) graduate certificate program, where top students from a variety of scientific, engineering, public policy and urban planning backgrounds are trained and work together and then placed into partnerships with local municipalities confronting real-time issues brought about by climate change.

“If we want to have a real-world impact on finding solutions to climate change, we are going to need people who can talk both to other researchers and also talk to the people who are actually having the problems,” said Robert Kopp, a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. Kopp, who also serves as director of the Megalopolitan Coastal Transformation Hub, a new 13-institution, National Science Foundation-funded partnership led by Rutgers, founded C2R2 with several Rutgers colleagues following the impact of Superstorm Sandy. “Our goal is to produce next-generation researchers whose science is deeply guided by those conversations, and also to produce the critically important leaders who foster those conversations and help link climate research to real-world climate action. Many of our students want to do science that is useful in the near-term, not just the long-term.”

Doctoral students Fatematuz Zohora Nishi and Dan Blanco discuss their coastal climate resilience models built during a recent class led by Lisa Auermuller (right). [Lucia Mostello/Rutgers University]

Started with support from the National Science Foundation and hosted at the  Rutgers Institute of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS), the C2R2 certificate program is a collaboration between EOAS, the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences, the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, the Rutgers School of Engineering and the Rutgers School of Graduate Studies.

“The professionals who will solve the climate problems of tomorrow are our students,” said Jeanne Herb, another founder of the program and associate director of the Environmental Analysis and Communications Group at the Bloustein School. “Through C2R2, our students acquire the knowledge and practical skills needed to become leading researchers and practitioners tackling the critical challenges of coastal resilience.”

Herb said the program is deliberately designed to force students to take on unfamiliar subjects, including a course on science communications, and become familiar with novel environments. During a two-week boot camp, students and professors travel to coastal communities in six different New Jersey counties, conducting scientific fieldwork and meeting with community officials.

Students in the program have served several coastal communities in New Jersey, preparing detailed analyses addressing climate challenges for Atlantic Highlands, Keansburg  and Perth Amboy.

The plan drafted for Perth Amboy involved elements of oceanography, biology, landscape architecture, urban planning and public policy that would address the natural hazards and climate change effects threatening the city. Students recommended taking a “green infrastructure” approach such as retrofitting existing buildings to be more resilient and sustainable.

"The professionals who will solve the climate problems of tomorrow are our students."

Jeanne Herb

Rutgers Environmental Analysis and Communications Group

Lisa Auermuller, the assistant manager for the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station’s Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve in Tuckerton who teaches a course on climate risk and resilience, said she would like students to look at resilience as more than just the ability to bounce back from adversity. She wants students to come up with ideas that will leave citizens and their communities in a stronger position than before.

Rutgers professor Robert Kopp (at upper left) leads his students in the C2R2 program on a visit with police and municipal leaders at Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island.  [Lucia Mostello/Rutgers University]

“In this program, I also want them to consider multiple perspectives,” Auermuller said. “What does it mean to communicate science? What does it mean to work with a municipality or with stakeholders? And how can our work benefit more than just our own learning but really be put into use in the community?”

During a recent class, more than a dozen students peppered a virtual visitor, Angela Andersen, the sustainability coordinator for Long Beach Township on Long Beach Island with questions about her experiences post-Sandy as well as present efforts to protect shorelines from erosion.

Ben Goldberg, a student in Auermuller’s class who is in his second year of a master’s program in city and regional planning at the Bloustein School, said he plans to help cities implement resilient designs.

His journey in the years after college – where he worked as an organic farmer, managed a farmers market, formally studied agroecology and worked as a cook in sustainably minded restaurant kitchens – led him to be in the right place and program, he said.

“Climate change is the defining issue of my generation,” said the Washington, D.C. native as he looked soberly around the classroom at his peers. “I believe there are changes coming that people are not ready for. This program gives me inspiration that I will be able to help.”

Other founding faculty of C2R2 include Clint Andrews, a professor and associate dean for research at the Bloustein School; Carrie Ferraro, who originally served as administrative director for the program and is now assistant professor of professional practice in the Math & Science Learning Center at the School of Arts and Sciences; Jie Gong, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in the School of Engineering; and Rebecca Jordan, now a professor in the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University.

Rutgers led the pursuit of climate solutions after Superstorm Sandy. Visit "In Sandy's Wake" to learn how.