Posts Tagged John Tarduno

Evidence suggests a weak magnetic field millions of years ago may have fueled the proliferation of life.

The finding contradicts previous assumptions about the role of mobile plate tectonics in the development of life on Earth.

New paleomagnetic research suggests Earth’s solid inner core formed 550 million years ago and restored our planet’s magnetic field.

Rochester geophysicists’ latest findings contradict longstanding assumptions about whether Earth’s moon ever had a magnetic shield.

Researchers have used magnetism to determine, for the first time, when asteroids that are rich in water and amino acids first arrived in the inner solar system.

Professor John Tarduno has analyzed zircon crystals collected from sites in Australia—the oldest known terrestrial materials—to construct a timeline of Earth’s magnetic field, finding that the field was stronger than previously believed.

John Tarduno, the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor, professor of geophysics, and chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, has been named dean for research in Arts, Sciences & Engineering.

Volcanic hot spots such as the ones that created the Hawaiian Islands have long been considered stationary points, but new data analyses provide conclusive evidence that hot spots are not fixed but are moving.

Rochester researchers have gathered the first field data that show the Earth’s inner core is only about 565 million years old—relatively young compared to the age of our 4.5-billion-year-old planet.

Geology major Ben Crummins ’20, left, and physics major Frank Padgett III ’19 accompanied John Tarduno, professor and chair of earth and environmental sciences, to Labrador, Canada, this summer where the group conducted field work. The students sampled a rock known as anorthosite, which contains labradorite crystals. Labradorite crystals have the special property of refracting and reflecting light, which results in a unique iridescence.  (University of Rochester photo / John Tarduno)