Tyler Meng

Research: I am interested in combining in situ and remote data sets to answer interdisciplinary planetary geoscience questions. My current research project focuses on debris-covered glaciers and rock glaciers on Earth and Mars, with aims of understanding past/present/future climates and the processes controlling subsurface ice preservation over a broad range of parameters. I am analyzing ground-penetrating radar and airborne photogrammetry data over alpine rock glaciers on Earth and comparing these results to observations from the CTX, HiRISE, and SHARAD instruments on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. My goal is to understand how processes on terrestrial rock glaciers and debris-covered glaciers can inform us about the formation and evolution of similar features on Mars, while also providing valuable information about water storage and response to changing climate.

Field Experience: Before joining the TAPIR lab, I spent portions of 2016 and 2017 working on the magnetotelluric field campaign for the EarthScope project. I helped to install electromagnetic equipment on both the east and west coasts of the US; this data was used to characterize the conductivity structure of the continental crust as a complement to EarthScope's seismic network. Since joining the TAPIR lab, I have participated in five campaigns to four different rock glaciers in Colorado, Wyoming, and Alaska. The central geophysical method for the rock glacier research has been ground-penetrating radar (GPR), but we have also experimented with drone photogrammetry, transient electromagnetics, and active/passive seismic. We also maintain automated weather stations at two field sites. Additionally, I assisted on a field campaign in summer 2020 which targeted lava tubes in Arizona and New Mexico. On top of fieldwork related to research, I have also completed several field-based courses, including geophysics field camp in Colorado, snow measurement field school in Utah, GPS mapping in Texas, and planetary geology field studies in Arizona.