A Lehigh geology professor and two students spent a month this summer studying the Altai Mountains in western Mongolia and returned to Bethlehem profoundly changed.

How high – and massive – do mountains need to grow and how long does it take before their elevation impacts global climate patterns? 

“The Altai impacts how the rest of the climate system circulates” well beyond central and east Asia, said Frank Pazzaglia, professor of geology in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and leader of the Lehigh research team.

Charting the Altai’s birth, uplift and the rate at which the mountains grow will ultimately lead researchers to the climate impact question, he said.

A 10-member team with participants from Lehigh, Colorado State University, the University of California Irvine and Mongolia dug into this question in the arid Mongolian desert. The Altai, an ancient mountain range, is at the convergence point of four countries: China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia.

Pazzaglia said the U.S. and Mongolia were the only countries involved in funding, support and logistics of the field work. 

Joining Pazzaglia were doctoral student Nora Vaughan of Pittsburgh and Aurora Bertoldo, an undergraduate senior from Belvidere, New Jersey. 

They lived and worked in bone-dry arid desert conditions where summertime temperatures easily logged 90°F and nights dipped into the 60° mark, Pazzaglia said.

Vaughan saw the impact of flexible thinking played out in the field, which opened her to embrace a willingness to reconsider geologic problems in fresh new ways. 

“Frank was willing to think about the geologic problem in a different context – and that helped me refresh what I am doing. It was cool to see him have that attitude in the field,” she said.

Transformational trip

It’s easy to take mountains, rivers or valleys for granted without considering their larger impact to the environments around – and beyond them.

The team lived and slept in tents. They cooked and shared meals; researched and studied the impact of the Altai with funding from the National Science Foundation.

Eating dinner, collecting data and realizing “epiphanies in real time” gave a window into one another’s thoughts and creative processes. Set against the backdrop of a foreign country – and its people – Vaughan said the experience shifted her work approach.

“Being in the landscape and witnessing it, and the people and culture that had grown up to fit into this larger landscape [was powerful.] I’m glad Mongolia is one of those places for me,” she said.

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Undergraduate EES major Rory Bertoldo uses a water-cooled electric drill to obtain a 1 inch diameter rock core for paleomagnetic analysis from the Altan-teli Formation, Zereg Basin, Mongolia.

How do mountains grow

It may seem odd to consider mountains as living features – but mountains have a definitive lifespan.

“Mountains are born. They grow – and because they grow – they become targets of erosion. They grow old, and erosion slowly erases them from the surface of the earth. But, they can also be like a cat with nine lives,” Pazzaglia explained.

When mountains achieve old age they can be rejuvenated by processes deep in the Earth and start to grow again. They are persistent and robust,” he said.

Earthquakes and volcanoes are symptoms of the deep Earth processes that renew mountain growth. Vaughan is using the magnetic signal encoded in sedimentary rocks to understand the timing of rock uplift. 

The age model is being crafted using paleo-and rock-magnetic data and along with geochemical data and a weather-climate model, they collectively will help predict how the landscape will evolve.

“We’ll know when in history – probably millions of years ago – the Altai grew up to be big and tall, so what we’re getting is a birthday of sorts or their teenage growth spurt,” she explained.

Having grown up in Pennsylvania Vaughan is used to verdant foliage and the dense, forest-like trails of the Appalachian Mountain Range and its sub ranges – the Allegheny and Pocono mountains. What she knew as a Pennsylvanian was in stark contrast to the Mongolian landscape.

“We barely saw trees in Mongolia….Looking at these massive mountains there was a different type of topography. It was the opposite of everything I’ve studied and know in my life,” she said.

Vaughan was attuned to the landscape. She suffered daily nosebleeds from the dry air and said the trip transformed her perspective and worldview. 

“It’s cool to think about how the landscape we see today is only one version of how it is – and [in the future] what it’s going to be. I like thinking of time and how we’re only here for a little bit of that,” she said.

Enriching experience

Bertoldo had never been to Asia. 

As a senior majoring in anthropology and earth and environmental sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences the Mongolia trip opened a trove of experiences: Academic, social, cultural and personal.

“This trip was pivotal as I had gone to college unsure of what I wanted to do. After taking part in research on a professional level – along with experts in their fields – it consolidated my intention to pursue geology on a masters or doctoral level,” Bertoldo explained.

Her senior thesis will focus on data from a lake deposit (sediment formed by a lake and deposited in a specific area) and the topic was an opportunistic outgrowth of the group’s broader field observations in Mongolia.

Bertoldo learned about tectonic processes – or how major land masses come into being. She said meeting and working with others from around the U.S. and colleagues in Mongolia was an important part of her field experience. 

She said geology is a great way to learn about culture and history – and the summer immersive brought these pieces together in a unique way.

“Before this trip I don’t think I’d have thought about going to Mongolia. Experiencing the culture, language and history was really enriching – it opened doors in unexpected ways,” she said.