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About SPODDS

The Stanford Project on Deep-water Depositional Systems (SPODDS) is a research program in the Department of Geological Sciences in the School of Earth Sciences. We focus on the ancient and modern deep-water deposits around the world, providing opportunities for students, faculty, and participating companies to collaborate via guided research and exploration.  Our scientific community includes a wide-range of internationally-based affiliate companies and research institutions. In this era of ever dwindling natural resources, we seek greater understanding of deep-water deposits as reservoirs for energy products on the ancient sea floor and modern continental margins. A huge highlight of the program is the annual field trip to one of the world's classic deep-water basins.

 

News

Sep 14 2018

Congratulations to Dr. Zach Sickmann for successfully defending his PhD!

Zach's research was focused on understanding the tectonic and sedimentological controls on provenance signatures within modern and ancient sediments. The title of his dissertation is "Understanding provenance signatures in active margin settings: Modern central California and the Magallanes-...

Jan 22 2018

SPODDS welcomes Professors Erik Sperling and Matthew Malkowski!

SPODDS welcomes Prof. Erik Sperling and Prof. Matthew Malkowski to the program as part of our continued mission to scientifically explore the full spectrum of modern and ancient deep-water depositional systems across all scales and grain sizes.

Recent Publications

Malkowski, M.A., G.R. Sharman, S. Johnstone, M.J. Grove, D.L. Kimbrough, & S.A. Graham, in-review, Dilution and propagation of provenance trends in sand and mud: Geochemistry and detrital zircon geochronology of modern sediment from central California (U.S.A.), submitted to American Journal of Science.

Malkowski, M.A., Jobe, Z.R., Sharman, G.R., & Graham, S.A. (2018). Down-slope facies variability within deep-water channel systems: Insights from the Upper Cretaceous Cerro Toro Formation, southern Patagonia. Sedimentology. Article link

Rotzien, J.R., Browne, G.H., & King, P.R. (2018). Geochemical, petrographic, and uranium–lead geochronological evidence for multisourced polycyclic provenance of deepwater strata in a hybrid tectonic setting: The upper Miocene upper Mount Messenger Formation, Taranaki Basin, New Zealand. AAPG Bulletin. Article link

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