Understanding our planets and their history
Our students and geoscientists study the properties of minerals, rocks, soils, sediments and water, using multiple lenses -- stratigraphy, paleobiology, geochemistry, and planetary sciences. Their work informs our understanding of natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and floods. It helps us meet natural resource challenges through environmental and geological engineering, mapping and land use planning, surface and groundwater management, and the exploration and sustainable extraction of energy and minerals. It also helps us answer fundamental questions about the origin, history, and habitability of planets.
Degree Programs
Meet some of our community members
Woman on the moon
A holistic approach
Taking wing at Stanford
Earth to Jess
Astronaut and Geological Sciences alumna Jessica Watkins discussed her experiences from the International Space Station, including seeing her former field sites from space. “Being able to see that from this perspective felt pretty full circle.
Earth and Planetary Sciences Events
EPS Seminar: Dr. Cori Myers - Revisiting the mechanisms and thresholds of mass extinctions
Class/Seminar-Building 320, Geology CornerEPS Seminar: Dr. Doug Jerolmack - How things fall apart
Class/Seminar-Building 320, Geology Corner
Learn more about our research groups
Earth and Planetary Sciences News
We think we know how mountains form. Plate tectonics causes rock to be pushed up at fault boundaries. Except that model is hard to prove, and a new study suggests it might actually be a lot more complicated. Video is based on the work done by Dr. Nikki M. Seymour, during her time as a EPS postdoc.
A new technique for measuring past topography shows the Himalayas were more than halfway to their summit before a continental collision made them the highest range in the world. “The controversy rests mainly in what existed before the Himalayas were there,” explains Page Chamberlain, professor of Earth and planetary sciences and of Earth system science at the Doerr School of Sustainability, and senior author of the study.
Researchers have analyzed the shifting patterns of entire dune fields on Earth and Mars, as seen from orbit, and found they are a direct signature of recent environmental change. This new tool can be applied anywhere with dunes, such as Mars, Titan, and Venus.
