Marjorie S Schulz
Marjorie Schulz (Jorie) is a research physical scientist currently in the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center. Since joining the USGS in 1987, Jorie has worked in several USGS programs; Marine Geology, the National Research Program of Water Resources, and now GMEGSC.
Biography
Jorie does multidisciplinary work built on a foundation in geology. She now describes herself as a biogeochemist with a bit of soil science. Her work has included research on manganese deposits on the ocean floor, mineral weathering, soil development, and geochemistry. Jorie is currently studying the interaction of organic matter (carbon) with soil minerals to understand the processes that stabilize soil carbon.
Professional Experience:
- 2018 - present, Research Physical Scientist, GMEG, USGS Menlo Park, CA
- 1991 - 2018, Research Hydrologist, WMA NRP, USGS, Menlo Park, CA
- 1987 - 1991, Geologist, GD Marine Geology, USGS Menlo Park, CA
Education:
- M.S., Earth Science (Sedimentology), University of Missouri-Columbia, 1990
- B.A., Geology, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, 1979
Affiliations:
- American Geophysical Union
- Geological Society of America
- Association for Women Geoscientists
- Soil Science Society of America
Science and Products
Biogeochemistry of the Critical Zone: Origin and Fate of Organic Matter
Changing temperature, precipitation, and land use intensification has resulted in global soil degradation. The accompanying loss of soil organic matter (SOM) decreases important soil health services. Soil organic matter is a major global pool of carbon; if SOM can be increased, soils can mitigate elevated atmospheric CO2. However, there are major knowledge gaps in SOM persistence....
Geochemistry and microbiology of groundwater and solids from extraction and monitoring wells and their relation to well efficiency at a Federally operated confined disposal facility, East Chicago, Indiana
In cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District, the U.S. Geological Survey investigated the processes affecting water quality, geochemistry, and microbiology in representative extraction and monitoring wells at a confined disposal facility (CDF) in East Chicago, Indiana. The CDF is a 140-acre Federally-managed facility that...
Bayless, E. Randall; Cole, Travis R.; Lampe, David C.; Travis, Rebecca E.; Schulz, Marjorie S.; Buszka, Paul M.
Landscapes from the waves—Marine terraces of California
Many coastlines around the world have stair-step landforms, known as marine terraces. Marine terraces make up a large part of coastal California’s landscape—from San Diego to Crescent City. Find out how these landscapes form, why marine terraces are of interest to scientists, and where you can explore these landscapes.
Schulz, Marjorie S.; Lawrence, Corey; Muhs, Daniel R.; Prentice, Carol S.; Flanagan, Sam
Lithological influences on contemporary and long-term regolith weathering at the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory
Lithologic differences give rise to the differential weatherability of the Earth’s surface and globally variable silicate weathering fluxes, which provide an important negative feedback on climate over geologic timescales. To isolate the influence of lithology on weathering rates and mechanisms, we compare two nearby catchments in the Luquillo...
Buss, Heather L.; Lara, Maria Chapela; Moore, Oliver; Kurtz, Andrew C.; Schulz, Marjorie S.; White, Arthur F. Long-term flow-through column experiments and their relevance to natural granitoid weathering rates
Four pairs of fresh and partly-weathered granitoids, obtained from well-characterized watersheds—Merced River, CA, USA; Panola, GA, USA; Loch Vale, CO, USA, and Rio Icacos, Puerto Rico—were reacted in columns under ambient laboratory conditions for 13.8 yrs, the longest running experimental weathering study to date. Low total column mass losses (...
White, Arthur F.; Schulz, Marjorie S.; Lawrence, Corey R.; Vivit, Davison V.; Stonestrom, David A. Structured heterogeneity in a marine terrace chronosequence: Upland mottling
Soil mottles generally are interpreted as a product of reducing conditions during periods of water saturation. The upland soils of the Santa Cruz, CA, marine terrace chronosequence display an evolving sequence of reticulate mottling from the youngest soil (65 ka) without mottles to the oldest soil (225 ka) with well-developed mottles. The mottles...
Schulz, Marjorie S.; Stonestrom, David A.; Lawrence, Corey R.; Bullen, Thomas D.; Fitzpatrick, John; Kyker-Snowman, Emily; Manning, Jane; Mnich, Meagan Long-term controls of soil organic carbon with depth and time: a case study from the Cowlitz River Chronosequence, WA USA
Over timescales of soil development (millennia), the capacity of soils to stabilize soil organic carbon (SOC) is linked to soil development through changes in soil mineralogy and other soil properties. In this study, an extensive dataset of soil profile chemistry and mineralogy is compiled from the Cowlitz River Chronosequence (CRC), WA USA. The...
Lawrence, Corey R.; Harden, Jennifer W.; Xu, Xiaomei; Schulz, Marjorie S.; Trumbore, Susan E. Probing the deep critical zone beneath the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico
Recent work has suggested that weathering processes occurring in the subsurface produce the majority of silicate weathering products discharged to the world's oceans, thereby exerting a primary control on global temperature via the well-known positive feedback between silicate weathering and CO2. In addition, chemical and physical weathering...
Buss, Heather L.; Brantley, Susan L.; Scatena, Fred; Bazilevskaya, Katya; Blum, Alex E.; Schulz, Marjorie S.; Jiménez, Rafael; White, Arthur F.; Rother, G.; Cole, D. The impact of biotic/abiotic interfaces in mineral nutrient cycling: A study of soils of the Santa Cruz chronosequence, California
Biotic/abiotic interactions between soil mineral nutrients and annual grassland vegetation are characterized for five soils in a marine terrace chronosequence near Santa Cruz, California. A Mediterranean climate, with wet winters and dry summers, controls the annual cycle of plant growth and litter decomposition, resulting in net above-ground...
White, Art F.; Schulz, Marjorie S.; Vivit, Davison V.; Bullen, Tomas D.; Fitzpatrick, John A.
Seamounts and ferromanganese crusts within and near the U.S. EEZ off California - Data for RV Farnella cruise F7-87-SC
The purpose of this report is to present and briefly describe ship-board and laboratory data for a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research cruise aboard the RV Farnella that took place December 3-21, 1987 (cruise F7-87-SC). The purpose of the cruise was to survey seamounts and ferromanganese crusts within and near the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (...
Hein, James R.; Reid, Jane A.; Conrad, Tracey A.; Dunham, Rachel E.; Clague, David A.; Schulz, Marjorie S.; Davis, Alice S. Biologic origin of iron nodules in a marine terrace chronosequence, Santa Cruz, California
The distribution, chemistry, and morphology of Fe nodules were studied in a marine terrace soil chronosequence northwest of Santa Cruz, California. The Fe nodules are found at depths <1 m on all terraces. The nodules consisted of soil mineral grains cemented by Fe oxides. The nodules varied in size from 0.5 to 25 mm in diameter. Nodules did not...
Schulz, M.S.; Vivit, D.; Schulz, C.; Fitzpatrick, J.; White, A. Chemical weathering of a marine terrace chronosequence, Santa Cruz, California. Part II: Solute profiles, gradients and the comparisons of contemporary and long-term weathering rates
The spatial and temporal changes in hydrology and pore water elemental and 87Sr/86Sr compositions are used to determine contemporary weathering rates in a 65- to 226-kyr-old soil chronosequence formed from granitic sediments deposited on marine terraces along coastal California. Soil moisture, tension and saturation exhibit large seasonal...
White, A.F.; Schulz, M.S.; Stonestrom, David A.; Vivit, D.V.; Fitzpatrick, J.; Bullen, T.D.; Maher, K.; Blum, A.E. Chemical weathering of a marine terrace chronosequence, Santa Cruz, California I: Interpreting rates and controls based on soil concentration-depth profiles
The spatial and temporal changes in element and mineral concentrations in regolith profiles in a chronosequence developed on marine terraces along coastal California are interpreted in terms of chemical weathering rates and processes. In regoliths up to 15 m deep and 226 kyrs old, quartz-normalized mass transfer coefficients indicate non-...
White, A.F.; Schulz, M.S.; Vivit, D.V.; Blum, A.E.; Stonestrom, David A.; Anderson, S.P.