MSU professor of geological sciences Grahame Larson and team, drilling for ice on the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska.
Photo courtesy of Grahame Larson
As one of the nation’s top research universities, MSU prides itself on making breakthrough discoveries and finding practical solutions that improve people’s lives, from the cancer-fighting drugs cisplatin and carboplatin to key ingredients in Tamiflu. By expanding research funding and providing more opportunities for graduate and undergraduate student involvement, the possibilities for research are endless—and so is our vision.
Geological sciences professor Grahame Larson, recording meterological data from the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska.
Photo courtesy of Grahame Larson.
Scientists at MSU unravel some of the earth’s most fascinating mysteries.
A research trip to Alaskan and Icelandic glaciers, including Alaska’s Matanuska Glacier, led to the discovery that glaciers grow not just from snow accumulating on their surfaces but, also from beneath by the freezing of meltwater which can affect the rate at which they can erode.
Work done at MSU helped introduce laws of erosion for glaciers, making it easier to understand how they sculpt and erode the earth’s landscape.
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MSU Department of Geological Sciences
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