Geology major Bill Barnhart ('08) spent a month in Switzerland in the summer of 2007, working with Professor Jeffrey Rahl to investigate the tectonic evolution of the Swiss Alps. Their goal was to characterize the direction and intensity of rock deformation, combining both field and laboratory approaches.
As part of this work, Bill traveled to Yale University to perform Electron Backscatter Diffraction analysis, a cutting-edge tool that enabled Bill to quantitatively assess the history of rock deformation. Barnhart, now a graduate student at Cornell University, and Professor Rahl are continuing work on the project, presenting their preliminary results at the national American Geophysical Union conference in December 2008.
