Gilbert N. Hanson

Distinguished Service Professor
Office: ESS 310
E-mail Address: gilbert.hanson"at"sunysb.edu

B.A., University of Minnesota, 1958
Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1964
Research Associate, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 1965-66
Faculty member at Stony Brook since 1966
Fellow of:
American Geophysical Union, Geochemical Society, Geological Society of America, and Geological Society of India

For a complete curriculum vitae click here

Current Projects

Studies of Environmental and Geologic Systems on Long Island

Prof. Hanson is a member of the Long Island Groundwater Research Institute and is pursuing studies with members of the institute on soil geochemistry, plant geochemistry and groundwater geochemistry. He is also involved in studies of the geology of Long Island. The following are MS and Ph.D. thesis research on Long Island. He was selected as Man of the Year in Science in December 2005 by The Village Times Herald, The Port Times Record, and The Times of Middle Country

Geng Xin did a Strontium Isotope Study of the Peconic River Watershed, Long Island, New York for his MS thesis
Sonya Boguslavsky determined the cation exchange capacity organic distribution coefficients and mineralogic composition of sediments in the unsaturated zone of Long Island for her MS thesis
Patti Bleifuss undertook a study of the sources of nitrate in the Northport area of Long Island for her MS thesis
Stacy Ann Lawrence used dendrochronology and the geochemistry of tree rings on Long Island to evaluate the effect of acid rain on Long Island's soils and trees for her MS thesis
Jian Zhong used Ar-Ar ages of single grains of muscovite and biotite to determine the provenance of loess on Long Island for her MS thesis
Vesna Kundic studied the age and provenance of loess on Long Island for her MS thesis
Jennie Munster used geochemistry to evaluate the source of nitrate in groundwater in Suffolk County, New York for her MS thesis
She has also evaluated the sources of perchlorate in groundwater in Suffolk County for her Ph.D. dissertation
Linda Liu has modeled Mg, Ca, K, and Na during interaction of a sewage plume with Long Island sediments for her MS thesis
Xuan (Sunny) Xu studied the Chemical signature of a sewage plume from a cesspool, Long Island, New York for her MS thesis
Soma Das (Sen) studied the Origin and evolution of Dry Valleys south of Ronkonkoma Moraine for her MS thesis
Lisha Zhou is evaluating the use of NEXRAD radar data for determining the annual precipitation patterns on Long Island for her MS thesis
Caitlin Young is evaluating the extent of denitrification in Suffolk County Groundwater for her MS thesis

Long Island Geologists

Prof. Hanson is the coordinator for the Long Island Geologists meetings. These include the Conference on the Geology of Long Island and Metropolitan New York usually on the third Saturday in April, and usually field trips during the summer and fall.

Earth Science Research Project

Prof. Hanson is promoting research at the secondary school level through the Earth Science Research Project. The major goal of this project is to enhance the research experience in secondary level Earth Science courses. GEO 589 Research for Earth Science Teachers is offered by Prof. Hanson during the Summer Sessions. This course is intended to provide Earth Science teachers or students in the MAT in Earth Sciences program an opportunity to obtain research experience.

Recent Publications

Becker M.L., Cole J.M., Rasbury E.T., Pedone, V.A., Montañez, I.P., and Hanson G.N. Cyclic variations of uranium concentrations and oxygen isotopes in tufa from the middle Miocene Barstow Formation, Mojave Desert, California, Geology 29, 139-142 (2001)

Becker ML, Rasbury ET, Meyers WJ, Hanson GN, U-Pb calcite age of the Late Permian Castile Formation, Delaware Basin: a constraint on the age of the Permian-Triassic boundary (?), Earth and Planetary Sci Letters, 203, 681-689 (2002)

Lu FH, Meyers WJ, Hanson GN, Trace elements and environmental significance of Messinian gypsum deposits, the Nijar Basin, southeastern Spain, Chemical Geology, 192, 149-161 (2002)

Cole JM, Nienstedt J, Spataro G, Rasbury ET, Lanzirotti A, Celestian AJ, Nilsson M, Hanson GN, Phosphor imaging as a tool for in situ mapping of ppm levels of uranium and thorium in rocks and minerals, Chemical Geology 193, 127-136 (2003).

Becker ML, Rasbury ET, Meyers WJ, Hanson GN, "U-Pb calcite age of the Late Permian Castile Formation, Delaware Basin: a constraint on the age of the Permian-Triassic boundary(?)": Reply to a comment by Ian Metcalfe, Earth and Planetary Sci Letters, 217, 269-271-689 (2004)

Cole, J.M., Rasbury, E.T., Montañez, I.P., Pedone, V.A., Lanzirotti, A., and Hanson, G.N. Petrographic and trace element analysis of uranium-rich tufa calcite, middle Miocene Barstow Formation, California, USA. Sedimentology 51(3): 433-453 (2004)

Rasbury ET, Ward WB, Hemming NG, Li H, Dickson JAD, Hanson GN, Major RP, Concurrent U-Pb age and seawater Sr-87/Sr-86 value of a marine cement, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 221, 355-371 (2004)

Bock B, Hurowitz JA, McLennan SM, Hanson GN, Scale and timing of rare earth element redistribution in the Taconian foreland of New England, Sedimentology 51, 885-897 (2004)

Honisch B, Hemming NG, Grottoli AG, Amat A, Hanson GN, Buma J, Assessing scleractinian corals as recorders for paleo-pH: Empirical calibration and vital effects, Geochim. Cosmochim Acta 68, 3675-3685 (2004)

Cole, J.M., Rasbury, E.T., Hanson, G.N., Montañez, I.P., Pedone, Using U-Pb ages of Miocene tufa for correlation in a terrestrial succession, Barstow Formation, California, GSA Bull. 117, 276-287 (2005)

Munster, J., Hanson, G.N., Petrovic, A.M., Bokuniewicz, H., Evaluating nitrate leaching between diverse turfgrass sites, Northeastern Geol. and Env. Sciences, 28, 368-377 (2006)

Gil pointing to loess above till
on the Stony Brook Campus