Dalton’s studies down to Earth

Colleen Dalton, assistant professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Brown University, recently received a CAREER Award, the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious honor for early-career faculty. The grant will help Dalton to study the properties of the Earth’s interior using seismic waves.

What influenced your decision to study the Earth, environmental and planetary sciences?

I was drawn to this field as a student because it allowed me to apply quantitative approaches (which I greatly enjoy!) to fascinating questions. There are fundamental questions about the Earth that remain unanswered today, including: Why does our planet have plate tectonics and what properties define a tectonic plate?

What can we learn from measuring seismic waves?

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Seismic waves are vibrations that travel through rocks. The speed and amplitude of the seismic waves depend on the properties of the rocks through which the waves travel. Therefore, by measuring and studying seismic waves we can learn about the rocks inside the Earth: What are they made of? What temperature are they? Are they partially molten or completely solid?

What does your research on seismic waves entail? What is the goal of this research?

The U.S. hosts vastly diverse geology at the surface that reflects the many episodes of continental collision and breakup that it has experienced over billions of years. Understanding the connection between the Earth’s interior and surface is essential for addressing questions about how continents are created and destroyed. I measure the speed and energy loss of seismic waves that travel beneath the U.S. in order to image the properties of the rocks in the crust and mantle. 

What is the main lesson you want to instill in your students?

I hope my students learn the importance of asking questions. Questioning assumptions and learning to be constructively critical of their own and others’ results are a valuable way that the field moves forward. •

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