Husker geophysicist Irina Filina has been chosen as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar and can journey to Iceland in summer time 2026 to gather information for her ongoing analysis into the proposed continent of Icelandia.
Filina, affiliate professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences, additionally proposed to supply an academic overseas expertise for undergraduate and graduate college students.
The invention of continental materials round Iceland began a global debate amongst scientists within the final decade: May Iceland actually be simply the tip of a bigger continent? Since, Filina has been actively engaged in analysis serving to to reply that query. Her Fulbright proposal contains accumulating subject observations by visiting a minimum of three websites to additional pc modeling of the Earth’s crusts within the North Atlantic Ocean.
“It was believed that the crust (round Iceland) was oceanic for many years, centuries, however in 2020 a paper proposed that the crust will not be truly oceanic, however continental,” Filina stated. “It broke the scientific neighborhood into the completely different camps, and individuals are debating about it. We all know there’s a portion of continental crust, however there’s debate about how huge it’s and what the boundaries are.”
The analysis — and scientific debate — challenges long-held concepts in regards to the complicated tectonic area that’s the North Atlantic and will change how scientists perceive the formation of latest continents and oceans.
“We’re witnessing world modifications proper now. In geology, we normally speak about a lot bigger time frames — thousands and thousands of years — however we’re seeing modifications, and we see that they will occur actually, actually quick.”
Affiliate professor in Earth and atmospheric sciences
Filina will accomplice with the Iceland Geological Survey crew and colleagues from the College of Iceland to review felsic lavas and different geological formations throughout Iceland. The info collected will likely be used within the ongoing geophysical modeling Filina and her crew are conducting to assist reply the Icelandia query.
“We can not simply drill via the crust and decide its nature — it is too deep for us to achieve,” Filina stated. “Nevertheless, we are able to mix and combine various kinds of information and discover a answer that acknowledges all of the observations that we’ve.”
The chance to spend three months in Iceland accumulating new information builds on the continuing analysis Filina is conducting underneath her 2023-2028 National Science Foundation Early Career Development Program award, which focuses on the tectonics of the North Atlantic, and her choice as a scientist on the International Ocean Discovery Program 396 in 2021.
“That expedition triggered my curiosity in regards to the tectonic story of the area,” she stated.
Filina is planning a three-week course in Iceland for Husker undergraduate and graduate college students, the place they are going to do coursework in geology and take subject journeys to study extra about Iceland’s geological formations, geothermal crops and efforts in carbon sequestration.
“I believe it’s going to present college students with a implausible alternative to go overseas to see attention-grabbing geological phenomena that will provoke some analysis instructions and, perhaps, some careers,” Filina stated.
The Fulbright award is significant to Filina personally and as a scientist, and the analysis might impression how the formation of the Earth is known, which is particularly vital now.
“We’re witnessing world modifications proper now,” Filina stated. “In geology, we normally speak about a lot bigger time frames — thousands and thousands of years — however we’re seeing modifications, and we see that they will occur actually, actually quick.
“So as to clarify or predict future modifications, we’ve to know how our planet works, and for that, we should perceive the previous. The previous is the important thing to the longer term. We wish to have the ability to reconstruct that space and perceive the tectonic evolution to the very best of our potential in an effort to predict what is going to occur.”
