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VERSION:2.0
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X-WR-CALNAME:Earth Planetary Science Seminar - Professor Mathieu Lapotre "R
 econstructing Earth’s early subaerial environments via process-informed 
 comparative sedimentology".
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Pacific Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260714T134312Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_52135067011693
DTSTART:20260224T200000Z
DTEND:20260224T211500Z
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: Right after it cooled off in the Hadean\, Earth is th
 ought to have been mostly an ocean planet. The first substantial record of
  emerging land dates to the early Archean\, with the recognition of sedime
 ntary rocks laid down in subaerial environments. Deciphering that record i
 s paramount to our understanding of how plate tectonics and life came to b
 e. However\, it is minuscule and fragmentary: only 3% of Earth’s sedimen
 tary archive formed in the first 90% of Earth’s history. So how do we ev
 en begin to read that archive? In this presentation\, I will illustrate ho
 w understanding the mechanics of sedimentary processes through modern and 
 planetary analogs can help us fill some fundamental knowledge gaps. First\
 , I will demonstrate that meandering rivers—which have long been hypothe
 sized to have first evolved with the rise of land plants on Earth—have l
 ikely gone unnoticed in the pre-vegetation archive because their deposits 
 resemble those of sandy braided rivers. Second\, I will apply a lesson lea
 rned from exploring our planet’s neighbor—Mars—to windblown bedform 
 mechanics\, and leverage this new knowledge to estimate the density of Ear
 th’s atmosphere 2.64 Gy ago from observations of aeolian strata of the V
 ryburg Formation (Schmidtsdrift Subgroup) in South Africa. These two vigne
 ttes highlight how much sedimentary processes have evolved throughout Eart
 h’s history\, but they have always followed the laws of physics. Togethe
 r\, modern environments and other planets can be used as analog experiment
 s to better grasp the mechanics of sedimentary processes and decipher the 
 highly fragmentary archive of Earth’s early environments.\n\nBio: Dr. La
 pôtre is an Assistant Professor in Earth & Planetary Sciences at Stanford
 . His research focuses on the mechanics of sedimentary and geomorphic proc
 esses that shape planetary surfaces\, and aims to unravel what landforms a
 nd rocks tell us about past hydrology\, climate\, and habitability. He ear
 ned a BS in Geophysics\, MS in Environmental Science & Engineering\, and M
 S in Geophysical Engineering from the U. Strasbourg\, France\, and a MS in
  Planetary Science and PhD in Geology from Caltech. During his PhD\, he wa
 s part of the NASA Curiosity rover team. Before joining Stanford\, he was 
 a John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellow at Harvard. He was the 2021 re
 cipient of the American Geophysical Union Luna B. Leopold Early Career Awa
 rd.
LOCATION:
SUMMARY:Earth Planetary Science Seminar - Professor Mathieu Lapotre "Recons
 tructing Earth’s early subaerial environments via process-informed compa
 rative sedimentology".
URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.stanford.edu/event/earth-planetary-science-sem
 inar-professor-mathieu-lapotre-reconstructing-earths-early-subaerial-envir
 onments-via-process-informed-comparative-sedimentology
CATEGORIES:Class/Seminar
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