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
- Data
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 114
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
No abstract available.AuthorsRichard L. Reynolds, Marith C. Reheis, Todd K. Hinkley, Richard Tigges, G. Clow, Paul J. Lamothe, J. Yount, P. Chavez, D. Mackinnon, M. Velasco, S. Sides, D. Soltesz, N. Lancaster, M. Miller, R. Fulton, Jayne BelnapEolian sand transport pathways in the southwestern United States: Importance of the Colorado River and local sources
Geomorphologists have long recognized that eolian sand transport pathways extend over long distances in desert regions. Along such pathways, sediment transport by wind can surmount topographic obstacles and cross major drainages. Recent studies have suggested that three distinct eolian sand transport pathways exist (or once existed) in the Mojave and Sonoran Desert regions of the southwestern UnitAuthorsD.R. Muhs, R. L. Reynolds, J. Been, G. SkippSoil fertility in deserts: A review on the influence of biological soil crusts and the effect of soil surface disturbance on nutrient inputs and losses
Sources of desert soil fertility include parent material weathering, aeolian deposition, and on-site C and N biotic fixation. While parent materials provide many soil nutrients, aeolian deposition can provide up to 75% of plant-essential nutrients including N, P, K, Mg, Na, Mn, Cu, and Fe. Soil surface biota are often sticky, and help retain wind-deposited nutrients, as well as providing much of tAuthorsJayne Belnap, S. Phillips, M. Duniway, Richard L. ReynoldsPliocene to middle Pleistocene lakes in the western Great Basin: Ages and connections
No abstract available.AuthorsMarith C. Reheis, Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki, Richard L. Reynolds, C. A. Repenning, Martin D. MifflinMonitoring dust storms and mapping landscape vulnerability to wind erosion using satellite and ground-based digital images
Wind-induced dust emission in the southwestern United States is important regionally because of its impact on human health and safety and its influence on ecosystem dynamics. Factors that control dust emission include wind velocity, sediment availability, and surface conditions (e.g., vegetation type and degree of cover, surface crusts and armoring, and soil moisture - Gillette and Passi, 1988; GiAuthorsPat S. Chavez, David MacKinnon, Richard L. Reynolds, Miguel G. VelascoAeolian dust in Colorado Plateau soils: Nutrient inputs and recent change in source
Aeolian dust (windblown silt and clay) is an important component in arid-land ecosystems because it may contribute to soil formation and furnish essential nutrients. Few geologic surfaces, however, have been characterized with respect to dust-accumulation history and resultant nutrient enrichment. We have developed a combination of methods to identify the presence of aeolian dust in arid regions aAuthorsRichard L. Reynolds, Jayne Belnap, Paul Lamothe, Fred LuiszerAn inexpensive magnetic mineral separator for fine-grained sediment
No abstract available.AuthorsRichard L. Reynolds, Donald S. Sweetkind, Yarrow AxfordHolocene and recent sediment accumulation rates in southern Lake Michigan
Rates of sediment accumulation in Lake Michigan are a key component of its geologic history and provide important data related to societal concerns such as shoreline erosion and the fate of anthropogenic pollutants. Previous attempts to reconstruct Holocene rates of sediment accumulation in Lake Michigan, as well as in the other Laurentian Great Lakes, have been bedeviled by the effect of refractoAuthorsSteven M. Colman, J.W. King, Glenn A. Jones, R. L. Reynolds, Michael H. BothnerRecognition 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
Sedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks of the Oligocene Creede Formation fill the moat of the Creede caldera, which formed at about 26.9 Ma during the eruption of the Snowshoe Mountain Tuff. Paleomagnetic and rock magnetic studies of two cores (418 and 703 m long) that penetrated the lower half of the Creede Formation, in addition to paleomagnetic and isotopic dating studies of stratigraphically braAuthorsRichard L. Reynolds, Joseph G. Rosenbaum, Donald S. Sweetkind, Marvin A. Lanphere, Andrew P. Robert, Kenneth L. VerosubAnisotropy 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
At Owens Lake, California, paleomagnetic data document the Matuyama/Brunhes polarity boundary near the bottom of a 323-m core (OL-92) and display numerous directional fluctuations throughout the Brunhes chron. Many of the intervals of high directional dispersion were previously interpreted to record magnetic excursions. For the upper ~120 m, these interpretations were tested using the anisotropy oAuthorsJoseph Rosenbaum, Richard T. Reynolds, Joseph Smoot, Robert MeyerGreigite (Fe3S4) as an indicator of drought - The 1912-1994 sediment magnetic record from White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas, USA
Combined magnetic and geochemical studies were conducted on sediments from White Rock Lake, a reservoir in suburban Dallas (USA), to investigate how land use has affected sediment and water quality since the reservoir was filled in 1912. The chronology of a 167-cm-long core is constrained by the recognition of the pre-reservoir surface and by 137Cs results. In the reservoir sediments, magnetic susAuthorsR. L. Reynolds, J. G. Rosenbaum, P. Van Metre, M. Tuttle, E. Callender, A. GoldinChemical, mineralogical, and magnetic characterization of sized fly ash from a coal-fired power plant in Kentucky
No abstract available.AuthorsJames D. Cathcart, Richard L. Reynolds, Michael E. Brownfield, James C. HowerNon-USGS Publications**
Larson, E.E., Reynolds, R.L., and others, 1975, Major element petrochemistry of some extrusive rocks from the volcanically active Mariana Islands: Bulletin Volcanologique, v. 39, p. 361-377.Larson, E.E., Reynolds, R.L., and others, 1975, Paleomagnetism of Miocene volcanics of Guam and the curvature of the southern Mariana Island Arc: Geological Society America Bulletin, v. 86, p. 346‑350.Levi, S., Merrill, R.T., Larson, E.E., Reynolds, R.L., and others, 1975, Paleosecular variation of lavas from the Marianas in the Western Pacific Ocean: Journal Geomagnetism and Geoelectricity, v. 27, p. 57-66.Rowley, P.D., Williams, P.L., Schmidt, D.L., Reynolds, R.L., and others, 1975, Copper mineralization along the Lassiter Coast of the Antarctic Peninsula: Economic Geology, v. 70, p. 982‑992.**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