Professor’s Research Really Rocks

By Leah Aulisio-Sharpe ’22, June 8, 2020

Chris Sinton receives an $83,000 grant to analyze volcanic rock from drowned Galapagos islands.

During a 2010 trip to the seafloor north of the Galapagos Islands, Sinton and a student were aboard a research vessel that gathered fragments of lava from submarine volcanic mountains.

(Photo submitted)

Ever since Chris Sinton, associate professor and chair of the department of environmental studies and sciences, began studying Galapagos seamounts — underwater mountains of volcanic origin — as a graduate student at Oregon State University, he’s wanted to learn more about the seafloor and marine ecosystems. After participating in a research cruise to an area just north of the Galapagos Islands in 2010, it’s become a focus of his research.

Now, thanks to an $83,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), not only is he going to get the chance to study rock from the area in-depth, several students are going to get an opportunity to help him.

In collaboration with Colgate University, Sinton will be analyzing volcanic rock recovered from seamounts east of the Galapagos Islands for age and geochemical composition. The hope is that the research will provide insight regarding marine ecosystems and interior earth studies in general.

“The project invests directly in undergraduate research experiences in which undergraduate students will learn all aspects of scientific inquiry.”

Chris Sinton, associate professor and chair, department of environmental studies and sciences

Volcanic ocean island archipelagos like the Galapagos are of interest to a wide variety of scientific disciplines” said Sinton. “Placed far from the influence of continents, their flora and fauna followed unique evolutionary pathways and their tall volcanoes rising from the seafloor create extraordinary marine ecosystems. For people studying the interior of the earth, their lavas contain geochemical clues about long-term movements of the inaccessible mantle.”

During his 2010 research trip, Sinton also worked to map a previously undiscovered drowned Galapagos Island.

(Photo submitted)

Although the timeline for the research has been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, Sinton is working on getting the rock samples chosen and is having his students do background research and reading. Once he’s able to work with students on campus and travel, they have plans to publish a peer-reviewed paper on the findings — with the students as co-authors.

“The project invests directly in undergraduate research experiences in which undergraduate students will learn all aspects of scientific inquiry,” said Sinton. “They’ll develop skills such as conducting a search for background information, focusing research questions, learning new analytical techniques, learning about data quality control and managing datasets. It’s a very rewarding experience to be a part of.”