The Brown Daily Herald spoke to weather experts, including Professor Amanda Lynch and graduate student Maria Luìsa Rocha, to understand the distinction between the two winter weather events. “In short, all blizzards are snowstorms, but not all snowstorms meet the criteria to be classified as blizzards,” Maria noted.

A new study led by DEEPS Assistant Professor Emily H. G. Cooperdock and DEEPS 2024 REU alumn Ailani Bonilla investigates how nitrogen is stored in ultramafic (mantle) rocks from subduction zones. Their study tested whether serpentine, talc, or chlorite store most of the nitrogen in fluid-altered mantle rocks rocks, as has been proposed by previous researchers based on their sheet-like crystal structures. They found that while these minerals contain some nitrogen, they do not host the majority of it, indicating that a substantial portion resides in other minerals or sites within the rocks. This finding has important implications for models of nitrogen mobility and storage during subduction, metamorphism, and fluid-rock interactions.

A historic 37.9 inches of snow fell in Providence this week, breaking the record as the snowstorm is the largest recorded in state history. DEEPS Associate Professor Jung-Eun Lee shared insight into what causes blizzards, and what factors contributed to this historic weather event.