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
Iron sulfide minerals at Cement oil field, Oklahoma: Implications for magnetic detection of oil fields
Genesis of the tabular-type vanadium-uranium deposits of the Henry Basin, Utah
Magnetic forward models of Cement oil field, Oklahoma, based on rock magnetic, geochemical, and petrologic constraints
Source of anomalous magnetization in an area of hydrocarbon potential: Petrologic evidence from the Jurassic Preuss Sandstone, Wyoming-Idaho thrust belt
Synfolding magnetization in the Jurassic Preuss Sandstone, Wyoming- Idaho-Utah thrust belt
Paleomagnetic evidence for the timing of collapse and resurgence of the Lake City Caldera, San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Origin of the Mariano Lake uranium deposit, McKinley County, New Mexico
Iron-titanium oxide minerals and magnetic susceptibility anomalies in the Mariano Lake-Lake Valley cores-Constraints on conditions of uranium mineralization in the Morrison Formation, San Juan Basin, New Mexico
Paleomagnetic and petrologic evidence bearing on the age and origin of uranium deposits in the Permian Cutler Formation, Lisbon Valley, Utah
Suitability of nonwelded pyroclastic-flow deposits for studies of magnetic secular variation: A test based on deposits emplaced at Mount St. Helens, Washington, in 1980
Uranium mineralization in the Smith Lake district of the Grants uranium region, New Mexico.
Interaction of subsurface brines with oxygenated meteoric water, Ray Point Uranium District, South Texas, USA
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
Iron sulfide minerals at Cement oil field, Oklahoma: Implications for magnetic detection of oil fields
Genesis of the tabular-type vanadium-uranium deposits of the Henry Basin, Utah
Magnetic forward models of Cement oil field, Oklahoma, based on rock magnetic, geochemical, and petrologic constraints
Source of anomalous magnetization in an area of hydrocarbon potential: Petrologic evidence from the Jurassic Preuss Sandstone, Wyoming-Idaho thrust belt
Synfolding magnetization in the Jurassic Preuss Sandstone, Wyoming- Idaho-Utah thrust belt
Paleomagnetic evidence for the timing of collapse and resurgence of the Lake City Caldera, San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Origin of the Mariano Lake uranium deposit, McKinley County, New Mexico
Iron-titanium oxide minerals and magnetic susceptibility anomalies in the Mariano Lake-Lake Valley cores-Constraints on conditions of uranium mineralization in the Morrison Formation, San Juan Basin, New Mexico
Paleomagnetic and petrologic evidence bearing on the age and origin of uranium deposits in the Permian Cutler Formation, Lisbon Valley, Utah
Suitability of nonwelded pyroclastic-flow deposits for studies of magnetic secular variation: A test based on deposits emplaced at Mount St. Helens, Washington, in 1980
Uranium mineralization in the Smith Lake district of the Grants uranium region, New Mexico.
Interaction of subsurface brines with oxygenated meteoric water, Ray Point Uranium District, South Texas, USA
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