Jeffrey J. Gillis-Davis*
Faculty
Assistant Researcher
University of Hawai`i at Manoa
Hawai`i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology
1680 East-West Road, POST 602
Honolulu, HI 96822
tel. 808-956-5738
fax. 808-956-6322
gillis@higp.hawaii.edu
Research Interests
The geology of Mercury and the Moon, volcanology, crustal composition,
remote sensing and using experimental petrology along with space
weathering experiments to improve results from remotely sensed data.
Current
Projects
Mercury:
I am a participating scientist on NASA's Mercury Surface
Space ENvironment GEochemistry and Ranging or MESSENGER mission. I use
multispectral imagery from Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Wide-Angle Camera (WAC) to investigate the diversity of rock types that
comprise Mercury's surface and the high-resolution imagery from
the MDIS Narrow-Angle Camera (NAC) to search for landforms that are
characteristic of volcanism. Of particular interest are pit
craters, which could be possible indicators of shallow igneous activity
on Mercury. This work is helping to reveal the geologic details
of the innermost planet.
The Moon:
I use
a combination of sample analysis, remote sensing, and photogeology to
address problems in lunar science. My most recent work includes
studying the origin and geologic evolution of volcanism on the Moon. To
this end I examine and classify basalt deposits (maria) by multiple
criteria, some of which include age, geologic setting, morphology,
distribution, thickness, volume, spectral characteristics, and
composition. I am particularly interested in understanding causes of
the global dichotomy in distribution and composition between mare
basalts on the far side versus those on the near side of the
Moon. As a participating scientist on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
(LRO) I will use data from the Mini-RF to
investigate pyroclastic deposits as resource (e.g. volatile material
and habitat shielding) and science (e.g., may contain mantle xenoliths)
potential. Mini-RF radar data will also be used to improve the
correlation between ultraviolet-visible spectral parameters and TiO2
content in the maria.
List of
Publications
PDF Copies of
Recent Abstracts
My
HIGP Personnal Web Page
Hawaii Institute of
Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP)
School of Ocean &
Earth Science and Technology (SOEST)
University
of Hawaii at Manoa
*The scientist formerly known as Jeffrey J. Gillis
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