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 Geophysics & Planetary Geosciences: People
Ralph Milliken's Picture
Address:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
M/S 183-301
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109
Phone:
818.354.2446
Fax:
818.393.4445
Email:
Curriculum Vitae:

Ralph Milliken

Education
  • B. S. (Geology) Indiana University (2001)
  • M. S. (Geology) Brown University (2003)
  • Ph. D. (Geology) Brown University (2006)
Research Interests
  • Characterizing the mineralogy, chemistry, and geology of planetary surfaces by integrating satellite data, ground-based observations, and laboratory data.
  • Identifying hydrated phases on planetary surfaces and determining their role in the formation, evolution, and alteration of solar system objects.
  • Using reflectance and emission spectroscopy as a quantitative technique for remote identification of surface mineralogy; studying the effects of grain size, texture, weathering products, and amorphous phases on spectral mixing models.
  • Studying hydration-dehydration reactions of minerals under non-terrestrial conditions, including clay minerals, sulfates, zeolites, and amorphous phases.
  • Field observations of terrestrial sedimentary environments as structural and mineralogical analogs for depositional environments on Mars.
  • Studying the formation of ice-rich deposits, surface alteration via ice-rock interactions, the current H2O cycle, and climate change on Mars.
Projects

MRO - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Icon MRO - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) launched in 2005 and is on a search for evidence that water persisted on the surface of Mars for a long period of time.

Professional Experience
  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech (2006-present)
    • Research Scientist (207-Present)
    • Post-Doctoral Scholar (2006-2007)
  • Brown University (2001-2006)
    • Graduate Student Research Assistant
  • Indiana University (1999-2001)
    • Undergraduate Research/Laboratory Assistant (1999-2001)
    • Undergraduate Research (1999-2000)
    • Editorial Assistant (1998-2000)
Selected Awards
  • Juokowsky Foundation Outstanding Dissertation Award nominee - Brown Univ. (2006)
  • Best Student Presentation, runner-up - Clay Minerals Society 40th Annual Meeting (2003)
  • Clay Minerals Society travel - Clay Minerals Society (2003)
  • Best Oral Presentation - Student Research Day at Indiana University (2001)
  • Faculty Scholarship Award - Dept. Geological Sciences at Indiana University (2001)
  • Junior Student Award - Dept. Geological Sciences at Indiana University (1999)
Selected Publications
  1. Milliken, R. E. and D. Bish (2009), Zeolite phase transitions during dehydration: AnFTIR and XRD study.
  2. Milliken, R. E. , N. Mangold, J. Grotzinger, and N. Tosca (2009), Clay and evaporite sequences in closed basins on Mars.
  3. Milliken, R. E. , J. Grotzinger, J. Grant, and S. Murchie (2009), Sedimentary sources and sinks on Mars: Ladon, Eberswalde, and Holden Crater. Submitted / In Review
  4. Milliken, R. E., W. Fisher, and J. Hurowitz (2008), Missing salts on early Mars, Science, submitted.
  5. Milliken, R. E. and A. Rivkin (2008), Evidence for a brucite-carbonate alteration assemblage on Ceres, Nature, submitted.
  6. Weitz, C. M., R.E. Milliken , J. Grant, A. McEwen, R. Williams, J. Bishop, and B. Thomson (2008), Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter observations of light-toned layered deposits and associated fluvial landforms on the plains adjacent to Valles Marineris, Icarus, in review.
  7. Hurowitz, J. A., M. Wyatt, G. Taylor, S. McLennan, and R.E. Milliken (2008), A global perspective on Martian chemical weathering, Geology, in review.
  8. Hubbard, B., J. Kargel, and R.E. Milliken (2008), Recnt polythermal glaciation on Mars, Nature Geoscience, in review. Selected Journal Publications
  9. Milliken, R. E. , G. Swayze, R. Arvidson, J. Bishop, R. Clark, B. Ehlmann, R. Green, J. Grotzinger, R. Morris, S. Murchie, J. Mustard, and C. Weitz (2008), Opaline silica in young deposits on Mars, Geology, 36(11), 847-850.
  10. Weitz, C. M., R.E. Milliken , J. Grant, A. McEwen, R. Williams, and J. Bishop (2008), Lighttoned strata and inverted channels adjacent to Juventae and Ganges Chasmata, Mars, Geophysical Research Letters, 35, doi:10.1029/2008GL035317.
  11. Bishop, J. L., E. Noe Dobrea, N. McKeown, M. Parente, B. Ehlmann, J. R. Michalski, R.E. Milliken , F. Poulet, G. Swayze, J. Mustard, S. L. Murchie, and J.-P. Bibring (2008), Phyllosilicate diversity and past aqueous activity revealed at Mawrth Vallis, Mars, Science, 321, 830-833.
  12. Mustard, J. F., S. L. Murchie, S. M. Pelkey, B. L. Ehlmann, R.E. Milliken , J. A. Grant, J.-P. Bibring, F. Poulet, J. Bishop, L. Roach, F. Seelos, D. Humm, and the CRISM Science Team (2008), Hydrated silicate minerals on Mars observed by the CRISM instrument on MRO, Nature, 454, 305-309.
  13. Grant, J. A., R. P. Irwin, III, J. P. Grotzinger, R.E. Milliken , L. L. Tornabene, A. S. McEwen, C. M. Weitz, S. W. Squyres, T. D. Glotch, and B. J. Thomson (2008), HiRISE imaging of impact megabreccia and sub-meter aqueous strata in Holden Crater, Mars, Geology, 36(3), 195-198.
  14. Milliken, R. E. , J. F. Mustard, F. Poulet, D. Jouglet, J.-P. Bibring, B. Gondet, Y. Langevin, and the OMEGA team (2007), Hydration state of the Martian surface as seen by Mars Express OMEGA II: H2O content of the surface, J. Geophysical Research, 112(E8), doi: 10.1029/2006JE002853.
  15. Jouglet, D., F. Poulet, R.E. Milliken , J. F. Mustard, J.-P. Bibring, Y. Langevin, B. Gondet, and the OMEGA team (2007), Hydration state of the Martian surface as seen by Mars Express OMEGA I: Analysis of the 3 µm hydration feature, J. Geophysical Research, 112(E8), doi: 10.1029/2006JE002846.
  16. Pelkey, S. M., J. F. Mustard, S. Murchie, R. T. Clancy, M. Wolff, M. Smith, R.E. Milliken , J.-P. Bibring, A. Gendrin, F. Poulet, Y. Langevin, B. Gondet (2007), CRISM multispectral summary products: Parameterizing mineral diversity on Mars from reflectance spectra, J. Geophysical Research, 112(E8), doi: 10.1029/2006JE002831.
  17. Milliken, R. E. and J. F. Mustard (2007), Estimating the water content of hydrated minerals using reflectance spectroscopy I: Effects of darkening agents and low-albedo materials, Icarus, 189, 550-573
  18. Milliken, R. E. and J. F. Mustard (2007), Estimating the water content of hydrated minerals using reflectance spectroscopy II: Effects of particle size, Icarus, 189, 574-588.
  19. Milliken, R. E. , and J. F. Mustard (2005), Quantifying absolute water content of minerals using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy, J. Geophysical Research, 110(E12), doi: 10.1029/2005JE002534.
  20. Head, J. W., J. F. Mustard, M. A. Kreslavsky, R.E. Milliken , and D. R. Marchant (2003), Recent ice ages on Mars, Nature, 426, 797-802.
  21. Milliken, R. E. , J. F. Mustard, and D. L. Goldsby (2003), Viscous flow features on the surface of Mars: Observations from high-resolution Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images, J. Geophysical Research, 108(E6), doi: 10.1029/2002JE002005.

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