SAS Researchers Study Erosion at El Yunque Rock

El Yunque rock stands at 3,412 feet and receives an average of three rain showers a day and more than 14 feet of rain annually. Because of Puerto Rico's warm tropical climate, the rock should be covered with vegetation and eroding rapidly. However, that isn't the case.

To understand how erosion has affected the rock and surrounding mountains, a research team from the University of Pennsylvania and the National Science Foundation-supported Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory, led by Jane Willenbring, Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Science; Frederick Scatena, Professor of Earth and Environmental Science; and Gilles Brocard, a postdoctoral resesarcher, sought to quantify the current rate of erosion and to employ a new approach to calculate how the rate has changed through time. This new technique involves counting the isotopes that are produced and accumulate in rocks when they are hit by cosmic rays.

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