Dr. Howard Mooers, Professor Emeritus
Robert L. Heller Professor of Geology (Emeritus)
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Minnesota Duluth
Email: hmooers [at] d.umn.edu
Phone: 218-726-7239
About My
Research
My students and I focus our research in the broad areas of glacial geology, hydrogeology, air quality, and genesis of ore deposits. Much of my ongoing work focuses on reconstruction of large-scale flow patterns of the Laurentide Ice Sheet using dispersal of erratics and landform suites, particularly drumlins, eskers, and transverse ribbed moraine (Rogen moraine). Hydrogeology has always been of particular interest to me, particularly groundwater recharge at the regional scale. More recently, my research has focused on the reconstruction of air quality in central England during the Industrial Revolution. Weathering of lead-lettered marble gravestone provides an excellent record acid deposition. By measuring surface recession of marble gravestones in cemeteries across the Midlands of England, we can reconstruct the spatial and temporal history of acid deposition and air quality.
Another interest of mine in the genesis of ore deposits, and with the help of my colleagues Phil Larson (Hibbing Taconite Company) and George Hudak (Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI), University of Minnesota Duluth) we have explored the genesis of Neoarchean, Algoma-type iron formation in the Vermilion District. Our work in the Vermilion District of northern Minnesota also involves the genesis of peperite, rock formed essentially in situ by disintegration of magma intruding and mingling with unconsolidated or poorly consolidated, typically wet sediments.
Recent
Publications
Mooers,
H.D. (Accepted for Publication,
4/2025), Lead Lettered Marble Gravestones as a Record of Air Quality and the
Efficacy of Urban Vegetation in Mitigating Air Pollution. Association of
Gravestone Studies Quarterly.
Mooers, H.D., Moen, R.,
Pastor, J. (in revision). Mastodons and the Late Glacial vegetation of eastern
North America. Quaternary Research.
Budde, N.R., Mooers, H.D.,
Cowdery, T.K., and Wattrus, N.J., (2022), Long-Term Hydrologic
Sustainability of Calcareous Fens along the Glacial Lake Agassiz Beach Ridges,
northwestern Minnesota, USA. Wetlands, 42.4, 1-17, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-022-01544-8.
Pfannkuch, H-O., Mooers, H.D., Siegel, D.I., Quinn, J.J.,
Rosenberry, D.O., and Alexander, Scott C., (2021)
“Jacob’s Zoo”: How Using Jacob’s Method for Aquifer Testing Leads to More
Intuitive Understanding of Aquifer Characteristics. Hydrogeology Journal, 29(6), 2001-2015., https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-021-02363-7.
Mooers, H.D., Larson, P.C.,
Berthold, A.J., Kotrapu, K.M.,
Meyer, M.S., Kryzer, R. (Submitted) Cyclic evolution of the basal boundary
condition of the Laurentide Ice Sheet inferred from sediments and landforms. Quaternary Science Reviews.
Mooers, H.D.; Burley, P.D.
(2020). Revisiting the Megalithic
Yard. University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy.
Mooers, H.D., Jones, K.A., and
van Scoy, M.S. (2020) Duct Tape
Occlusion Therapy in the Treatment of Plantar Warts. University of
Minnesota Digital Conservancy.
Mooers, H.D. and Massman, W.J., (2017). Gravestone
decay and the determination of deciduous bulk canopy resistance to acid
deposition. Science of the Total
Environment, 578, pp. 551-556.
Mooers, H.D., Carlson, M.J., Harrison, R.M., Inkpen, R.J. and Loeffler, S., (2017). Correlation
of gravestone decay and air quality 1960–2010, Atmospheric Environment, 152, pp.156-171.
Inkpen, R., Mooers, H.D. and Carlson, M.J., (2016). Using
rates of gravestone decay to reconstruct atmospheric sulphur
dioxide levels. Area, 49(2), pp.174-184.,
Mooers, H.D., Cota-Guertin,
A.R., Regal, R.R., Sames, T.R., Dekan, A.J., and Henlels,
L.M., (2016). A
120-year Record of the spatial and temporal distribution of acid deposition,
West Midlands, England, United Kingdom, Atmospheric
Environment (127), February 2016, 139–154.
Mooers, H.D., Wiethoff, W.S., and Evich, A., (2016). Monitoring
the Continuing Spectral Evolution of Nova Delphini 2013 (V339
Del) with Low Resolution Spectroscopy, Journal
of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, v. 44, no.
Mooers, H.D. and Wiethoff, W.S., (2014). 125-Day
Spectral Record of the Bright Nova 2013 Delphini (V339
Del), Journal of the American
Association of Variable Star Observers. Vol. 42, 161-165,.
Larson, P.C.,
Knaeble, A., Mooers, H.D., and
Marlow, L.M., (2014). The St. Louis Sublobe and
Glacial Lake Upham, Fieldtrip
guidebook for the 60th annual meeting of the Institute on lake Superior geology.
Mooers, H.D. and Bandli, B., (2013). Lutefisk: Secrets of the taste,
texture, and aroma revealed by scanning electron microscopy, Journal of Irreproducible Results, v. 52,
no. 2.
Recent
Graduate Theses
Arends, Heather E.
(2024). Glacial
History of the Late Wisconsinan Des Moines Lobe in Minnesota: Geomorphic,
Lithologic and Stratigraphic Evidence for Two Advances. MS Thesis,
University of Minnesota Duluth.
Wood, Christa
(2023). Characterization
of preserved remnants of the Pre-Pleistocene Saprolite on the Canadian Shield:
Examples from Northeastern Minnesota. MS Thesis, University of Minnesota
Duluth.
Burley, Paul
(2023). Geomorphological
and Archaeoastronomical Analysis of a Neolithic Landscape, Cranborne Chase,
Southern Britain. PhD Thesis, University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
Upton, Margaret
(2023). Alteration Geochemistry and 3D Modeling of the Back Forty Volcanogenic
Massive Sulfide (VMS) Deposit, Stephenson, Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA. MS
Thesis, University of Minnesota Duluth.
Hinkemeyer,
Audray (2023). Characterizing provenance of the Late Wisconsinan Rainy
Lobe Using Fine-fraction Geochemistry and Detrital Zircon Geochronology. MS
Thesis, University of Minnesota Duluth.
Tovar Rodriguez,
David F. (2020). A
Possible Late Pleistocene Impact Crater in Central North America and its
Relation to the Younger Dryas Stadial. MS Thesis, University of Minnesota
Duluth.
Mattko, Matthew (2020). Ore Liberation and
Characterization Using Electric Pulse Disaggregation and Other Novel Techniques.
MS Thesis, University of Minnesota Duluth.
Budde, Nicholas
(2020). Hydrology of
Calcareous Fens within the Lake Agassiz Beach Ridge Complex, Northwestern MN.
MS Thesis, University of Minnesota Duluth.
Drazan, Jacqueline
L. (2019). A Genetic Model of
Pillowed Dike and Peperite Formation Interpreted From
Pleistocene and Archean Volcanogenic Sequences. MS Thesis, University of
Minnesota Duluth.
Shull, Carolyn
(2019). A tunnel speleothem based
stable-isotope record of Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation forcing of
precipitation in the Midlands, United Kingdom, MS Thesis, University of
Minnesota Duluth.
Kotrapu, Kristi, M.
(2018). Estimating the Sliding
Velocity of the Rainy Lobe Using Intermediate Clast Size in Lodgement Tills.
MS Thesis, University of Minnesota Duluth.
Carlson, Michael
(2017). A method for correlation
of gravestone weathering and air quality (SO2), West Midlands, UK,
MS Thesis, University of Minnesota Duluth.
Burley, Paul D.
(2016). Myth as True History:
Medicine Wheels and Landmarks as Boundary Markers of the Lakota World, MS
Thesis, University of Minnesota Duluth.
Broderius, Lisa
(2015). The
Mid-Holocene record of lake level fluctuations and episodic eolian activity,
Lake Winnibigoshish, North Central Minnesota, MS Thesis, University of
Minnesota Duluth.
Thompson, Adam
(2015). A Hydrothermal Model for
Metasomatism of Neoarchean Algoma-Type Banded Iron Formation to Massive
Hematite Ore at the Soudan Mine, NE Minnesota., MS Thesis, University of
Minnesota Duluth.
Berthold, Angela
(2015). Surface boulder
concentrations of the Late Wisconsinan Rainy lobe, Minnesota, USA, MS
Thesis, University of Minnesota Duluth.
Cota-Guertin, Avery
(2012). Statistical analysis of
the spatial and temporal distribution of acid deposition in the West Midlands,
England, United Kingdom. MS Thesis,
University of Minnesota Duluth.
Recent
Undergraduate Research Projects
Development of a
hydrogeomorphic Classification for Calcareous Fens in Minnesota, Callie
Postier.
Assessment of the
frequency and intensity of saltating sand on Skeiđarársandur,
Iceland. Izzy Smith.
Identification of
Karst Features in the Portsdown Chalk Fm. from Aerial Photography, Dorset, UK.
Morena Hammer.
Trends in lilac
bloom dates across England, 1880-2015: Climate,
elevation, and environmental effects. Nathan Koski.
Slope morphology of
Icelandic fuglaţúfur, Iceland, Brittany Hoover.
Dimensional
structure and origin of Rögen Moraine NE Minnesota, Robert Kryzer.
A Mathematical
Framework for Biological Evolution based on Entropy, Haitao Shang.
Age and morphology
of Neoglacial moraines, Skaftafellsjokull, Iceland,
Cara Leitheiser.
Flow Patterns of
the Laurentide Ice Sheet and Dispersal of Erratics, Grace Johnson.
Tombstone Corrosion
and the Peppered Moth: Impacts of Acid Rain in England's Black Country, Amanda
Putz.
Industrial
Revolution, acid rain, and the increase in carbonate weathering rates near
Birmingham, England:
Part 1, Point-source emissions and proximal weathering rates,
Amanda Putz.
Industrial
Revolution, acid rain, and the increase in carbonate weathering rates near
Birmingham, England:
Part 2, Prevailing winds and baseline weathering rates, Jaclyn
Berger.
Glacial landforms
and recent retreat of Lewis Glacier, South Sister Mountain, Oregon, David
Demmer.
Evaluation of the
effect of culverts on stream channel morphology, Superior National Forest, Josh
Dark.
Processes and rates
of comminution in the basal debris layer of ice sheets, Undergraduate Research
Opportunities Program, University of Minnesota, Keri Hager.
Spatial and
temporal variation in evapotranspiration from boreal ecosystem wetlands,
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, University of Minnesota, Danial
Allison.
Direct measurement
of evapotranspiration from boreal ecosystem wetlands using a portable ET
chamber, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, University of Minnesota,
Ryan Peterson.
On the timing of
sand dune formation in Minnesota, independent research
project, Eric Liestman.
Estimation of the
spatial distribution of recharge over complex glacial sedimentary settings,
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, University of Minnesota, P.M.
Schulte.