---
title: Geologists Explore Tasmania’s Hidden Gems
date: 2025-03-10T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/geologists-explore-tasmanias-hidden-gems"
section: Articles
---
# Geologists Explore Tasmania’s Hidden Gems

*March 10, 2025* — by [Emily C. Nunez](/author/emily-c-nunez)


> Through Mud and Mines, Students and Faculty Uncovered Garnets’ Rich Geological Stories

*Tasmania2 1920x1080 — From left, geology Assistant Professor Megan Newcombe, master's student Kathryn Bickerstaff '23 and Ph.D. student Kathleen Stepien sort through rocks at Tasmania's Mornington Core Storage Facility.*

The scent of eucalyptus and tea trees carried on a breeze, and the bizarre charm of long-snouted marsupials were a few of the natural wonders two faculty members and two graduate students from the University of Maryland’s [Department of Geology](https://www.geol.umd.edu) experienced on a recent research trip to Tasmania. But their real focus was a different—and literal—kind of gem.

For a little over a week in January, the four scientists traipsed through mud to collect garnets from woods, mines and coastlines on the island south of the Australian mainland affectionately called “Tassie.” Garnets are a multicolored mineral widely used in jewelry and industry, but to geologists, they’re treasured time capsules containing secrets of Earth’s past.

“Rocks are in the Earth’s crust for a long time, and garnet grows over a long period,” said geology Professor Sarah Penniston-Dorland, one of the trip’s organizers. “It doesn’t just crystallize in a short time, so it’s a useful recorder of the history that rocks have experienced.”

As part of [ongoing research funded by the National Science Foundation](https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2320100&HistoricalAwards=false), Penniston-Dorland and co-organizer and geology Assistant Professor Megan Newcombe analyze the water content in garnets to explore a phenomenon called fluid flow during metamorphism, a process that occurs when rocks are transformed under heat and pressure.

By studying how water moved through rock during metamorphosis, geologists can better understand and predict natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanoes, as well as improve their ability to locate precious metals and other valuable substances underground.

The group headed to Tasmania after receiving an intriguing garnet sample.

“We read about this particular locality in Tasmania (that produced the sample),” Penniston-Dorland said, “and it looked like there was more complexity—and different generations—of garnets growing at different times and with different events of fluid flow.”

After landing in Tasmania’s capital city of Hobart, the group linked up with its host, geologist Ralph Bottrill of the Tasmanian State Geological Survey, and immediately got to work. On the first day, the group battled rain and big, biting flies in pursuit of garnet samples.


*group walks down path in mountains — The UMD geologists hike through Cradle Mountain National Park in Tasmania.*




**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Geological, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/geology), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences)