Author Archives: sandra yoo

Dating the Andes – a “mountain” of research

Have you ever been caught in the awkward position of guessing someone’s age? While there may be a number of you who think they’ve mastered the art of age approximation, we can assure you there are geologists out there who can put you to shame. While some people ballpark their mother-in-law’s age a decade below their real guess, geologists are much more skilled with their estimates, even when faced with dating a mountain back millions of years. In this blog post, we’ll be looking at the work led by UBC professor and researcher Dr. Joel Saylor, who dated the formation of mountain ranges in the Peruvian Andes (and these aren’t unfounded guesses, they’re measurements!).

Photo by Willian Justen de Vasconcellos on Unsplash

The research led by Dr. Saylor was primarily the work of his Ph.D. student Kurt Sundell, where together they trekked the stunning Andes mountains with the quest to find out more about its past. When asked about a personal highlight while researching in Peru, the response was a thoughtful pause followed by, “Wow… I mean there’s so many”. Along with the beautiful views that the Andes peaks provided, Dr. Saylor and his team had the opportunity to discover more about its elevation history.

A technique to look at the history of mountain formation

In order to date when and how quickly surface uplift (a dramatic increase in surface elevation) occurred in the Peruvian Central Andes, Dr. Saylor and his colleagues collected samples of hydrated volcanic glass and samples of stream water around the area. The volcanic glass preserved ancient water from millions of years ago, and the modern stream water provided the baseline for calibration. Amazingly, through a comparison of the isotopic components of these samples, the research team was able to find the elevation at which the volcanic glass had formed upon. 

Hydrogen Isotopes

To understand how water molecules are in any way indicative of a rock sample’s elevation, we need to first understand that water is made of hydrogen and oxygen. However, water is not always made up of the same types of hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The hydrogen in water can be different isotopes (AKA different versions, varying in the number of neutrons). Regular hydrogen has one proton and has a mass number of 1, whereas deuterium (the other version of hydrogen) contains one proton, one neutron, and has a mass number of 2. Most water contains hydrogen-1, with deuterium being the less common isotope. Hydrogen-1, or protium, and deuterium are known as light and heavy hydrogen, respectively. 

Hydrogen-1 and Deuterium. Image made by Monica Lee

We can measure the ratio of deuterium to hydrogen in water. When there is more deuterium than normal, the water is called heavy water. This is an important tool for geologists and climatologists because the presence of heavy water can tell us a lot about the elevation and climate of the area.

Dr. Saylor explained: “The fundamental reason for using deuterium instead of oxygen is that volcanic glass, which is our recorder for the past, doesn’t record oxygen… The volcanic glass incorporates into itself hydrogen but not oxygen.” 

When rain clouds move from the lower elevation coastline to higher elevation mountains, they precipitate heavy water to light water. That is, in areas of lower elevation, water that has greater deuterium to hydrogen ratio is rained out compared to the water at higher elevations. Then, this hydrogen is used in the formation of hydrated volcanic glass. So, by finding the ratios of heavy to light hydrogen in their dated volcanic glass samples, they were able to date the elevation of the Andes into a timeline of the mountain range’s formation. For an easier-to-follow account of how deuterium-hydrogen ratios indicate elevation, have a look at the video below of Dr. Saylor explaining the concept.

Having dated the volcanic glass and measured the deuterium-hydrogen ratios of the hydrogen in the volcanic glass, Dr. Saylor and his colleagues were able to determine when the elevation change occurred and the rate at which it occurred. Through a comparison of his timeline of the Andes formation with changing conditions in the region, the team was also able to analyze the mountain range’s impact on its surrounding area. Their findings revealed that the uplift contributed to the beginning of arid or dry conditions to the east of the Central Andes, providing further evidence alongside other studies, that the presence of mountain ranges impacts the region’s climate. 

Moving Forward

To sum it all up, the podcast below provides a basic summary of their research, as well as what we can take from it moving forward. Additionally, Dr. Saylor provides some insight into how paleoelevation work can cross over into other scientific disciplines. 

 

We’d like to extend a special thanks to Dr. Joel Saylor, for providing us with material for the blog, video, and podcast.

Written by: Tim Chan, Tae woo Kim, Monica Lee, Sylvester Li, and Sandra Yoo

Nov. 27. 2019

About Dr. Joel Saylor

Dr. Joel Saylor is an assistant professor at the UBC Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. Dr. Saylor was first introduced to the world of geology whilst taking a class with visiting professor Dr. Paul Taylor in the Himalayas. It was then that Dr. Saylor decided to leave the path of an engineer and become a geologist. During his Ph.D. research in Tibet, Dr. Saylor’s advisor pitched him the idea of studying the elevation history (also known as paleoaltimetry) of Tibet. Dr. Saylor has continued to study paleoaltimetry of locations around the world ever since. 

 

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Practicing mindfulness may lead to better exam scores

Photo by Simon Migaj on Unsplash

Photo by Simon Migaj on Unsplash

If you’re a student or a working professional whose work relies on accuracy, you may be the biggest beneficiary of this newly discovered life ‘hack’. According to a study published in September 2019, Michigan State University (MSU) researchers found that practicing meditation, or mindfulness (defined as “focusing on one’s feelings, thoughts, or sensations as they unfold in the mind”) may increase a person’s ability to recognize errors.

Jeff Lin and his MSU colleagues conducted the study with 200 participants to examine how meditation affected how people responded to errors. Using electroencephalography (EEG) to track brain activity during a test, researchers found that 20 minutes of meditation altered brain activity in a way that strengthened a neural signal linked to conscious error-recognition.

What happens when we meditate

In recent years, many studies have shown the numerous health benefits that meditation can offer. When we practice meditation, our brains produce more alpha waves, which have been correlated to lower depressive symptoms and increased creativity. Additionally, meditation can lower blood pressure, improve emotional awareness, and reduce overall stress and anxiety. Knowing this, it’s not too much of a surprise that we can still find even more benefits that come along with mindfulness. For a more comprehensive overview of meditation on the brain, check out the video by AsapSCIENCE below on the scientific power of meditation.

 

What these new findings mean moving forward

The full effects of meditation and the mechanics behind it are still very far from being completely understood, so this new evidence showing an enhanced ability in the brain to detect mistakes after a simple 20 minute meditation exercise has exciting implications for future research. Jason Moser from the MSU research team says, “it makes us feel more confident in what mindfulness meditation might really be capable of for performance and daily functioning.

Sandra Yoo

Nov. 11, 2019

Weekend catch-up sleep is not the cure we hoped it to be

 

Header image

Image by Free-Photos on Pixabay

Most of us have probably caught ourselves fantasizing about the best part of the weekend – sleeping in. After a hectic and crazed work week, our sleep-deprived states eagerly await the feeling of refreshment that comes along with those extra hours of shut-eye. However, recent evidence found by Depner and his colleagues in an early 2019 study shows that paying back our sleep debt on the weekends still come with a health cost.

The effects of sleep deprivation

On a basic level, we all know (and feel) that an insufficient amount of sleep leads to health complications. There have been numerous studies and data to support that people who fail to get enough sleep are at a higher risk of developing chronic diseases, along with a plethora of other health-related issues such as mood disorders and decreased immune function, all of which are documented in the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The following video by TechInsider, featuring professor of neuroscience and psychology Matthew Walker, goes more into depth about the effects of sleep deprivation on the brain and body.

Sleeping more on the weekends cost us

To combat these potential health risks, most people try to get more sleep on the weekends in order to boost up their daily sleep average, which is currently recommended to be between 7-9 hours for adults. Unfortunately for those of us who do, the paper published by Depner and his colleagues in Current Biology shows that “weekend recovery sleep” is not an effective strategy in combating sleep deprivation. In fact, the paper points out that these extra sleep hours may increase weight gain, promote excess caloric intake, and negatively impact how the body handles insulin.

On another note, a study published in Stress and Health in 2010 found that maintaining a consistent sleeping pattern proves to be beneficial for us, and that getting those extra hours on the weekend alone are not enough to combat sleep deprivation as they may disrupt our internal clocks, making it even harder for us to fall asleep and to wake up.

What we can do to combat sleep deprivation

Since getting extra sleep on the weekends is not our cure to sleep deprivation, the best we can do for now is to try and maintain consistent sleep schedules by distributing that extra sleep we would get on the weekends to weekday nights.

Sandra Yoo

Sept 29, 2019

Revised Oct. 21, 2019