In The News: Department of Geoscience

Push to create East Las Vegas National MonumentNearly four million people a year visit Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area on the westside of the Vegas Valley. Now there is a push to permanently protect more than 30,000 acres of land on the eastside of Las Vegas.

Summer monsoons in the Southwest are difficult to forecast with total accuracy, but the future of the temperamental rainstorms under climate change is an even bigger mystery.
Scientists are studying mineral deposits in the caves of the Grand Canyon to understand the impacts of climate change.
They chose an ancient calcium projection, called stalagmite, from the floor of an undisturbed Grand Canyon cave and studied its geochemistry. The research team was led by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and included the University of New Mexico.
The Grand Canyon, known for its majestic valleys and millennia-old rock layers, has now unveiled another marvel — its extensive cave systems that could potentially unlock secrets about climate change.
Team explores relationship between warming temperatures and intensifying summer monsoon rains on groundwater
Findings may improve understanding of the potential impact of future climate change on summer monsoon rains.

A study published in Nature Geoscience this week shows we may be in for more dramatic monsoon seasons here in Southern Nevada and across North America.
A research team led by UNLV paleoclimatologist and professor Matthew Lachniet retrieved an ancient stalagmite from the floor of an undisturbed Grand Canyon cave.
Study of a stalagmite in a Grand Canyon cave reveals early Holocene climate in the southwestern United States
The Grand Canyon's valleys and millions of years of rock layers spanning Earth's history have earned it a designation as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. But, according to a new UNLV study, its marvels extend to vast cave systems that lie beneath the surface, which just might hold clues to better understand the future of climate change—by studying nature's past.
As Arizona ends one of its driest monsoons on record, many may wonder how climate change is affecting the source of one-third to one-half of the state’s rainfall.