In a study appearing in Biogeosciences, the researchers designed an experiment at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory in which they mixed crushed shells, or shell hash, into sand where baby Pacific littleneck clams burrowed and grew. They then monitored the clams’ growth and the water’s chemistry over a 90-day period.
A record-breaking El Niño winter and the potential loss or weakening of federal disaster management services are among the factors that could determine whether Californians face catastrophic floods this winter and beyond.
Scientists report fossil evidence of the first fully marine amphibian in a study from the University of California, Davis; Peking University; and the Geological Museum of Guizhou. The amphibian is an armored, giant salamander-sized, bottom-dwelling ocean creature that the researchers named Gerrothorax maritimus.
Dawn Sumner — a UC Davis geologist, planetary scientist and astrobiologist — is among the 53 scientists newly elected as fellows of the American Geophysical Union, or AGU, for outstanding achievements and contributions to earth and space science.
In a new study, a research team used advanced geochemical dating and analysis techniques to reveal that some asteroids and meteorites, such as Ryugu and Ivuna, originate from celestial bodies that formed less than 2 million years after the beginning of the solar system. This coincides with a period when the solar system was forming its first generation of planetesimals, the building blocks of planets.
At the August Davis Science Café, Michael Oskin led a conversation titled “Earthquakes in California: What Might the Next ‘Big One’ Be Like?” Through field observations, high-resolution topography and various geochronological techniques, Oskin is studying the relatively recent geological record to better understand the tectonic processes and crustal deformations surrounding earthquakes.
In this video, UC Davis observational seismologist Amanda Thomas discusses the causes of the Venezuela doublet, why earthquake science matters and how Thomas’ research is helping us learn more about the tectonic shifts beneath our feet.
Melting and breaking icebergs in the far-off, northeastern region of the Pacific Ocean can weaken a massive current system in the Atlantic Ocean, according to a University of California, Davis study published in Nature Communications.
Goabaone Jaqueline Ramatlapeng vividly remembers when she would go without water from domestic pipes for days. For the last eight years, those experiences have driven her desire to help Botswana preserve its water resources as the country's first female hydrogeochemist.
The American Geosciences Institute, or AGI, recently announced that paleontologist Sandra J. Carlson, a Professor Emerita in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis, has been named the 2026 recipient of the William B. Heroy Jr. Award for Distinguished Service to AGI. This award is given in recognition of exceptional and beneficial long-term service to the AGI.
