Solid Earth Research Group

Members of this group work on all seven continents and under the ocean. Research interests span the evolution of orogenic belts and continents, circulation in the mantle, the formation of oceanic lithosphere, the development of rift systems, how landscapes form, the interaction of climate and tectonics, and even extra-terrestrial (Martian and lunar) projects, plus experiments utilizing man-made lava pours. Researchers are process-oriented and use field-based, analytical, and modeling approaches to understand how the Earth has evolved over time. Publications in top journals such as Nature, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Geology and Journal of Geophysical Research exemplify this excellence in research. This group is often favorably compared to tectonics groups in many larger and higher-ranked Earth Sciences departments, remarkable given the overall size of the group and the department.
Group Principal Investigators

Suzanne Baldwin
Thonis Family Professor: Thermochronology & Tectonics
Email: sbaldwin@syr.edu
Phone: 315.443.4920

Paul Fitzgerald
Professor: Thermochronology & Tectonics
Email: pgfitzge@syr.edu
Phone: 315.443.2619

Gregory Hoke
Jessie Page Heroy Professor and Department Chair: Earth Surface & Tectonics
Email: gdhoke@syr.edu
Phone: 315.443.1903

Jeffrey A Karson
Professor Emeritus: Tectonics & Magmatism of Rifts and Transform Faults
Email: jakarson@syr.edu

Robert Moucha
Associate Professor: Geodynamics
Email: rmoucha@syr.edu
Phone: 315.443.6239

Scott D. Samson
Professor: Radiogenic Isotope & Geochronology
Email: sdsamson@syr.edu
Phone: 315.443.3762

Christopher A. Scholz
Professor: Paleolimnology and Rift Basin Evolution
Email: cascholz@syr.edu
Phone: 315.443.4673

Jay Thomas
Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies: Petrology and Experimental Geochemistry
Email: jthom102@syr.edu
Phone: 315.443.4707