11 Future Voices in Geoscience- Undergraduate Research Posters

This session is for two-year college and four-year college and university students presenting research posters in any subdiscipline of geosciences. Posters and presentations will be judged for awards.

Monday, 18 May 2026
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Alvarado D/E

Alteration of Quartz Luminescence and Soil Properties due to Wildfire Exposure

Paper number: 11-11
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 8:00 AM

Authors

Abstract

Green Canyon, located in Logan, Utah, experienced a small wildfire on August 17th, 2025, that quickly burned approximately 5 acres within the first few hours and was shortly put out. This fire provided a perfect opportunity to research the effect of fire exposure on the luminescence sensitivity of quartz sand within the burned soils. Past research shows that the soil burn severity, recorded as the impact on vegetation, increased the luminescence sensitivity (brightness response of grains to radiation doses in the lab) in quartz grains within the perimeter of a high-severity fire in Northern Arizona. Due to the Green Canyon Fire’s short-lived and small nature, we can compare our results to determine whether the alteration of luminescence sensitivity is the same among different ecotones, climates, and fire types. To achieve this, luminescence sensitivities were measured from samples taken from beneath burned grass, sagebrush, and juniper, as well as nonburned locations. These samples were processed at the USU Luminescence Lab to determine the luminescence sensitivity. Samples collected beneath juniper trees had the highest luminescence sensitivity (646.3 +/- 959.9 counts/Gy), sagebrush samples had the next highest (225.2 +/- 294.3 counts/Gy), and finally, grass samples (63.9 +/- 89.5 counts/Gy) and nonburned samples (107.9 +/- 163.3 counts/Gy) had comparable sensitivities. Overall, as burn intensity increases, the luminescence sensitivity increases as well. This provides evidence for the idea that the altered sensitivity of quartz grains within soils could be used as a “fingerprint” of past wildfire exposure.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 4

doi: 10.1130/abs/2026RM-410716

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