A quick summer update from the Sedimentary Systems Research group.

We say farewell to Patrick Boyle who finished his master’s degree in May and is soon starting a career as an applied geoscientist in Houston, Texas. Pat and I are still working together this summer, along with some collaborators, to prepare a manuscript based on his thesis for submission to a journal by the end of the summer. At the same time, we welcome new master’s student, Sarah Jancuska, who will join the department next month. Sarah will be doing her research as part of the Chile Slope Systems project. So, one student out, but another student in — we remain at steady state!

Ph.D candidate Neal Auchter is away this summer doing an internship in Houston, Texas. Ph.D candidate Cody Mason spent a few intense weeks at the PRIME Lab at Purdue University last month preparing his samples for cosmogenic radionuclide (10Be and 26Al) analysis. If all goes according to plan, we should have some initial results this fall.

I’ve been spending my time working on multiple manuscripts, including a review paper to be submitted to Earth-Science Reviews next month on the topic of signal propagation in sedimentary systems across a wide range of timescales. I’m also working on some new/updated exercises for my Sed-Strat course as well as some content for a Basin Analysis course I’ll be co-teaching this fall.

I’m co-chairing a session (along with David Van Rooij from Ghent University) at the 2014 AGU Fall Meeting titled The Paleoceanographic Value of Contourite Archives. If you work on the sedimentary dynamics of contourites and/or use them to reconstruct paleoceanographic conditions, please consider submitting to the session. Abstract deadline is August 6th.