Richard L Reynolds
I investigate how climatic variability, weather, and land uses affect surfaces and ecosystems of deserts, with emphasis on sediment eroded, transported, and deposited by wind, mostly as atmospheric dust.
My studies probe the geologic, biologic, and human controls on dust generation as well as the mineralogic and geochemical properties of dust that in turn affect climate, weather, ecosystem health, water resources (effects of dust on melting of snow and ice), ocean fertility, and the health of a large proportion of earth’s people. I have also conducted research on:
- Hawaiian coral-reef health in settings of coastal erosion
- Quaternary climate and responses of landscapes to climatic change and human activities
- Iron-sulfur diagenesis and its effects on lake-sediment paleoenvironmental records
- Magnetic and chemical records of airborne pollution and environmental change
- Paleomagnetism of Tertiary and Quaternary sedimentary and igneous rocks
- Sources of magnetic anomalies in the shallow crust
- Field geology, Antarctica (1970-1971; 1978-1979)
Professional Experience
Research Geologist, USGS (periodic supervisory positions) 1975-2012
Acting Program Manager, Global Change Program USGS 2002
Senior Scientist, USGS 2012-2013 Emeritus since 2013
Adjunct Research Professor, Univ. of Minnesota
Affiliate, Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research Univ. of Colorado
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Univ. of Colorado, 1975
M.S., Univ. of Colorado, 1970
A.B., Princeton University, 1968
Affiliations and Memberships*
Geological Society of America; Fellow
American Geophysical Union. Assoc. Editor, Jour. Geophysical Res. 1992-1995
Yellowstone-Bighorn Research Assoc.
American Quaternary Assoc.
International Medical Geology Assoc.
International Society for Aeolian Research (guest editor, 2013-14; Board of Directors, 2014-2016)
Honors and Awards
2012 Elected Senior Scientist, USGS
2012-2014 Distinguished Visiting Scholar, School of Geography and the Environment, Univ. of Oxford
2011 Astor Visiting Lecturer for the Humanities, Univ. of Oxford
2007 Co-recipient, Kirk Bryan Award; best publication in Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology, Geological Society of America
Meritorious Service Award, Dept. of the Interior (1995)
1995 Best Paper Award, Jour. Great Lakes Res.
1994 Elected Fellow, Geological Society of America
1993 Visiting Fellow, Institute for Rock Magnetism, Univ. Minnesota
1992 Best Paper Award, Geophysics
Science and Products
Dust emission and deposition in the southwestern United States - Integrated field, remote sensing, and modeling studies to evaluate response to climatic variability and land use
Eolian sand transport pathways in the southwestern United States: Importance of the Colorado River and local sources
Soil fertility in deserts: A review on the influence of biological soil crusts and the effect of soil surface disturbance on nutrient inputs and losses
Pliocene to middle Pleistocene lakes in the western Great Basin: Ages and connections
Monitoring dust storms and mapping landscape vulnerability to wind erosion using satellite and ground-based digital images
Aeolian dust in Colorado Plateau soils: Nutrient inputs and recent change in source
An inexpensive magnetic mineral separator for fine-grained sediment
Holocene and recent sediment accumulation rates in southern Lake Michigan
Recognition of primary and diagenetic magnetizations to determine the magnetic polarity record and timing of deposition of the moat-fill rocks of the Oligocene Creede Caldera, Colorado
Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility as a tool for recognizing core deformation: reevaluation of the paleomagnetic record of Pleistocene sediments from drill hole OL-92, Owens Lake, California
Greigite (Fe3S4) as an indicator of drought - The 1912-1994 sediment magnetic record from White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas, USA
Chemical, mineralogical, and magnetic characterization of sized fly ash from a coal-fired power plant in Kentucky
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Dust emission and deposition in the southwestern United States - Integrated field, remote sensing, and modeling studies to evaluate response to climatic variability and land use
Eolian sand transport pathways in the southwestern United States: Importance of the Colorado River and local sources
Soil fertility in deserts: A review on the influence of biological soil crusts and the effect of soil surface disturbance on nutrient inputs and losses
Pliocene to middle Pleistocene lakes in the western Great Basin: Ages and connections
Monitoring dust storms and mapping landscape vulnerability to wind erosion using satellite and ground-based digital images
Aeolian dust in Colorado Plateau soils: Nutrient inputs and recent change in source
An inexpensive magnetic mineral separator for fine-grained sediment
Holocene and recent sediment accumulation rates in southern Lake Michigan
Recognition of primary and diagenetic magnetizations to determine the magnetic polarity record and timing of deposition of the moat-fill rocks of the Oligocene Creede Caldera, Colorado
Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility as a tool for recognizing core deformation: reevaluation of the paleomagnetic record of Pleistocene sediments from drill hole OL-92, Owens Lake, California
Greigite (Fe3S4) as an indicator of drought - The 1912-1994 sediment magnetic record from White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas, USA
Chemical, mineralogical, and magnetic characterization of sized fly ash from a coal-fired power plant in Kentucky
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government