Dennis Newell
(he/him)
Geochemistry
Professor & Interim Department Head

Contact Information
Office Location: Geology 210Phone: 435.797.0479
Email: dennis.newell@usu.edu
Additional Information:
Research Interests
My research group specializes in field-oriented, aqueous and stable isotope geochemistry to interrogate the origins and history of geofluids in continents, fluid-flow in faults with connections to the earthquake cycle, and fluid-rock-biosphere interactions. We address basic and applied problems in continental tectonics, low-temperature geochemistry, and energy and environmental geosciences (e.g., geologic carbon sequestration, geothermal energy exploration). A common theme in our work is the integration of multiple geochemical and isotopic tools along with an interdisciplinary approach to interpret the composition, temperature, and provenance of modern and ancient fluids in the crust.
Publications | Abstracts
- Shervais, J.W, Glen, J., Newell, D.L, (2019). PLAY FAIRWAY ANALYSIS IN GEOTHERMAL EXPLORATION: CASE STUDY IN SNAKE RIVER PLAIN VOLCANIC PROVINCE: GSA Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, USA-2019. *
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Journal Articles
Academic Journal
- Newell, D.L, (2025). Xenolith hydrogen isotope evidence for lower crustal hydration during cycles of flat slab subduction. Geology, doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G53815.1
- Newell, D.L, (2025). Tropical Atlantic temperature and hydrologic change during the Paleocene‐Eocene Thermal Maximum.
- Newell, D.L, (2025). Metasomatism and melting of cordilleran lithosphere resulting from sediment relamination during shallow subduction. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 26:7
- Tennant, H., Neilson, B.T, Hill, D., Newell, D.L, Evans, J.P, Choi, S., McNamara, J., Ashmead, N., Xu, T., (2024). Karst Hydrologic Memory Supplements Streamflow during Dry Periods in Snow-Dominated, Mountainous Watersheds. Hydrological Processes, doi: 10.1002/hyp.70019
- Longyang, Q., Seohye, C., Tennant, H., Hill, D., Ashmead, N., Neilson, B.T, Newell, D.L, McNamara, J., Xu, T., (2024). An Attention‐Based Explainable Deep Learning Approach to Spatially Distributed Hydrologic Modeling of a Snow Dominated Mountainous Karst Watershed. Water Resources Research, 60:e2024WR037878, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR037878
- Newell, D.L, (2024). Magmatic conditions aiding synconvergent extension above the Peruvian flat slab. Geosphere
- Shervais, J.W, DeAngelo, J., Glen, J.M, Nielson, D.L, Garg, S., Dobson, P., Gasperikova, E., Sonnenthal, E., Liberty, L.M, Newell, D.L, others, , (2024). Geothermal play fairway analysis, part 1: Example from the Snake River Plain, Idaho. Geothermics, 117, 102865. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2023.102865
- DeAngelo, J., Shervais, J.W, Glen, J.M, Nielson, D., Garg, S., Dobson, P.F, Gasperikova, E., Sonnenthal, E., Liberty, L.M, Siler, D.L, Newell, D.L, (2024). Geothermal Play Fairway Analysis, Part 2: GIS methodology. Geothermics, 117, 102882. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2023.102882
- Lachmar, T.E, Neupane, G., Garg, S.K, Dobson, P.F, Smith, C.J, Newell, D.L, Shervais, J.W, Evans, J.P, Mink, L.L, (2023). Validation of Play Fairway Analysis of the geothermal potential of Camas Prairie, south-central Idaho, by an exploration well. Geothermal Energy, 11:1, 21. doi: 10.1186/s40517-023-00264-4
- Payne, D., Spietz, R.L, Newell, D.L, Dijkstra, P.J, Boyd, E.S, (2023). Influence of sulfide on diazotrophic growth of the methanogen Methanococcus maripaludis and its implications for the origin of nitrogenase. Communications Biology, 6:1
- Newell, D.L, Benowitz, J., Regan, S., (2023). Roadblocks and speed limits: mantle-to-surface volatile flux through the lithospheric-scale Denali fault, Alaska. Geology, 51, 576-580.
- Upin, H., Newell, D.L, Coleman, D., Boyd, E., (2023). Tectonic influences on the microbial diversity of Peru hot springs. Communications Earth & Environment, 4, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00787-5
- Hiett, C., Newell, D.L, Jessup, M.J, Upin, H., Scott, B., Grambling, T., Shaw, C.A, Hughes, C.A, (2022). Deep CO2 and N2 emissions from Peruvian hot springs: Stable isotopic constraints on volatile cycling in a flat-slab subduction zone. Chemical Geology, 595
- Grambling, T.A, Jessup, M.J, Newell, D.L, Methner, K., Mulch, A., Hughes, C.A, Shaw, C.A, (2022). Miocene to modern hydrothermal circulation and high topography during synconvergent extension in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Geology, 50:1, 106-110.
- Hiett, C.D, Newell, D.L, Jessup, M.J, (2021). 3He evidence for fluid transfer and continental hydration above a flat slab. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 556, 116722.
- Homewood, P., Mettraux, M., Vanden Berg, M.D, Foubert, A., Neumann, R., Newell, D.L, Atwood, G., (2021). Onshore groundwater spring carbonate mounds to lacustrine microbialites, the perplexing record of a transitional Great Salt Lake carbonate shoreline at Lakeside, Utah. The Depositional Record
- Gardiner, J., Capo, R., Newell, D.L, Stewart, B., Phan, T., Keating, E., Guthrie, G., Hakala, J., (2021). Tracking natural CO2 migration through a sandstone aquifer using Sr, U and C isotopes: Chimayó, New Mexico, USA. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 104, 103209.
- Provow, A.W, Newell, D.L, Dehler, C.M, Ault, A., Yonkee, A., Thomson, S.N, Mahan, K.H, (2021). Revised maximum depositional age for the Ediacaran Browns Hole Formation: Implications for Western Laurentia Neoproterozoic Stratigraphy. Lithosphere, 2021:1, doi: 10.2113/2021/1757114
- Taylor, M.P, Ault, A., Odlum, M.L, Newell, D.L, (2021). Shallow Rupture Propagation of Pleistocene Earthquakes Along the Hurricane Fault, UT, Revealed by Hematite (U-Th)/He Thermochronometry and Textures. Geophysical Research Letters, 48:17
- Houser, L., Ault, A.K, Newell, D.L, Evans, J.P, Shen, F., Van Devener, B., (2021). Nanoscale textural and geochemical evolution of silica fault mirrors in the Wasatch fault damage zone, Utah, USA. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 22:3, doi: 10.1029/2020GC009368
- Lachmar, T.E, Sorsby, S.J, Newell, D.L, (2021). Geochemical insights into groundwater movement in alpine karst, Bear River Range, Utah, USA. Hydrogeology Journal/Springer-Verlag, doi: 10.1007/s10040-020-02256-1
- Hughes, C.A, Jessup, M.J, Shaw, C.A, Newell, D.L, (2020). Evidence for strain rate variation and an elevated transient geothermal gradient during shear zone evolution in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Tectonophysics, 794, 228610.
- Koger, J.M, Newell, D.L, (2020). Spatiotemporal history of fault–fluid interaction in the Hurricane fault, western USA. Solid Earth, 11:6, 1969-1985.
- Scott, B., Newell, D.L, Jessup, M.J, Grambling, T.A, Shaw, C.A, (2020). Structural controls on crustal fluid circulation and hot spring geochemistry above a flat-slab subduction zone, Peru. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 21:7, 1-19. doi: 10.1029/2020GC008919
- Hughes, C., Jessup, M.J, Shaw, C., Newell, D.L, (2019). Deformation conditions during syn-convergent extension along the Cordillera Blanca shear zone (CBSZ), Peru. Geosphere, 15, 1342-1367. doi: 10.1130/GES02040.1
- Newell, D.L, Carey, W., Backhaus, S., Lichtner, P., (2018). Experimental Study of Gravitational Mixing of Supercritical CO2. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 71, 62-73.
- Reimus, P., Dean, C., Newell, D.L, (2018). Evaluation of a Cation-Exchanging Tracer to Interrogate Fracture Surface Area in Enhanced Geothermal Systems. Geothermics, 71, 12-23. doi: 10.1016/j.geothermics.2017.08.002
- Newell, D.L, Jensen, J., Frantz, C., Vanden Berg, M., (2017). Great Salt Lake (Utah) Microbialite δ13C, δ18O, and δ15N Record Fluctuations in Lake Biogeochemistry Since the Late Pleistocene. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 18:10, 3631-3645. doi: 10.1002/2017GC007078
- Newell, D.L, Jessup, M.J, Hilton, D.R, Shaw, C.A, Hughes, C.A, (2015). Mantle-derived helium in hot springs of the Cordillera Blanca, Peru: implications for mantle-to-crust fluid transfer in a flat slab subduction setting. Chemical Geology, 417, 200 - 209.
- Dean, C., Reimus, P., Leecaster, K., Oats, J., Rose, P., Newell, D.L, Petty, S., (2015). Laboratory experiments to characterize cation-exchanging tracer behavior for fracture surface area estimation at Newberry Crater, OR. Geothermics, 53, 213-224.
- Evans, J.P, Prante, M.R, Janecke, S.U, Ault, A., Newell, D.L, (2014). Hot faults: Iridescent slip surfaces with metallic luster document high-temperature ancient seismicity in the Wasatch fault zone, Utah, USA. Geology, 42:7, 623–626.
- Keating, E.H, Newell, D.L, Dempsey, D., Pawar, R., (2014). Insights into interconnections between the shallow and deep systems from a natural CO2 reservoir near Springerville, Arizona. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 25, 162-172.
- Herring, A., Andersson, L., Newell, D.L, Carey, J.W, Wildenschild, D., (2014). Pore-scale observations of supercritical CO2 drainage in Bentheimer sandstone by sychrotron x-ray imaging. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 25, 93-101.
- Newell, D.L, Larson, T., Perkins, G., Pugh, J., Stewart, B., Capo, R., Trautz, R., (2014). Tracing CO2 leakage into groundwater using carbon and strontium isotopes during a controlled CO2 release field test. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 29, 200-208.
- Keating, E.H, Newell, D.L, Viswanathan, H., Carey, J.W, Zyvoloski, G., Pawar, R., (2013). CO2/Brine Transport into Shallow Aquifers along Fault Zones. Environmental Science & Technology, 47:1, 290-297.
- Newell, D.L, Carey, J.W, (2013). Experimental Evaluation of Wellbore Integrity Along the Cement-rock Boundary. Environmental Science & Technology, 47:1, 276-282.
- Williams, A., Crossey, L.J, Karlstrom, K., Newell, D.L, Person, M., Woolsey, E., (2013). Hydrogeochemistry of the Middle Rio Grande aquifer system - fluid mixing and salinization of the Rio Grande due to fault inputs. Chemical Geology
- Trautz, R.C, Pugh, J.D, Varadharajan, C., Zheng, L., Bianchi, M., Nico, P.S, Spycher, N.F, Newell, D.L, Esposito, R.A, Wu, Y., Dafflon, B., Hubbard, S.S, Birkholzer, J.T, (2013). Effect of Dissolved CO2 on a Shallow Groundwater System: A Controlled Release Field Experiment. Environmental Science & Technology, 47:1, 298-305. doi: 10.1021/es301280t
- Langille, J.M, Jessup, M.J, Cottle, J.M, Newell, D.L, Seward, G., (2010). Kinematic evolution of the Ama Drime detachment: Insights into orogen-parallel extension and exhumation of the Ama Drime Massif, Tibet-Nepal. Journal of Structural Geology, 32:7, 900-919.
- Crossey, L.J, Karlstrom, K., Springer, A., Newell, D.L, Hilton, D., Fischer, T.P, (2009). Degassing of mantle-derived CO2 and 3He from springs in the southern Colorado Plateau region - flux rates, neotectonic connections, and implications for groundwater systems. GSA Bulletin, 21, 1034 - 1053.
- Cottle, J.M, Jessup, M.J, Newell, D.L, Horstwood, M., Noble, S., Parrish, R.R, Waters, D., Searle, M., (2009). Geochronology of granulitized eclogite from the Ama Drime Massif: Implications for the tectonic evolution of the South Tibetan Himalaya. Tectonics, 28, TC1002, doi:10.1029/2008TC002256a.
- Kirk, M.F, Crossey, L.J, Takacs-Vesbach, C., Newell, D.L, Bowman, R.S, (2009). Influence of upwelling saline groundwater on iron and manganese cycling in the Rio Grande floodplain aquifer. Applied Geochemistry, 24, 426-437.
- Newell, D.L, Jessup, M.J, Cottle, J.M, Hilton, D., Sharp, Z., Fischer, T., (2008). Aqueous and isotope geochemistry of mineral springs along the southern margin of the Tibetan plateau: Implications for fluid sources and regional degassing of CO2. Geochemisty, Geophysics, and Geosystems, 9, Q08014, doi:10.1029/2008GC002021.
- Jessup, M.J, Newell, D.L, Cottle, J.M, Berger, A.L, Spotila, J.A, (2008). Orogen-parallel extension and exhumation enhanced by denudation in the trans-Himalayan Arun River gorge, Ama Drime Massif, Tibet-Nepal. Geology, 36:7, 587-590.
- Jessup, M.J, Cottle, J.M, Searle, M., Law, R., Newell, D.L, Tracy, R., Waters, D., (2008). P-T-t-D paths of Everest Series schist, Nepal. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 26, 717-739.
- Newell, D.L, Kaszuba, J., Viswanathan, H., Pawar, R., Carpenter, T., (2008). Significance of carbonate buffers in natural waters reacting with supercritical CO2 - implications for Monitoring, Measuring and Verification (MMV) of geological carbon sequestration. Geophysical Research Letters, 35, L23403, doi: 10.1029/2008GL035615.
- Zentmyer, R., Myrow, P., Newell, D.L, (2008). Travertine deposits from along the South Tibetan Fault System near Nyalam, Tibet. Geological Magazine, 1-13.
- Cottle, J.M, Jessup, M.J, Newell, D.L, Searle, M., Law, R., Horstwood, M., (2007). Structural insights into the early stages of exhumation along an orogen-scale detachment: The South Tibetan Detachment System, Dzakaa Chu section. Journal of Structural Geology, 29, 1781-1797.
- Crossey, L., Fischer, T., Patchett, P., Karlstrom, K., Hilton, D., Huntoon, P., Newell, D.L, Reynolds, A., (2006). Dissected hydrologic system at the Grand Canyon: Interaction between deeply derived fluids and plateau aquifer waters in modern springs and travertine. Geology, 34:1, 25-28.
- Newell, D.L, Crossey, L., Karlstrom, K., Fischer, T., Hilton, D., (2005). Continental-scale links between the mantle and groundwater systems of the Western United States: Evidence from travertine springs and regional He isotope data. GSA Today, 15:12, 4-10.
- Levitt, D.G, Newell, D.L, Stone, W.J, Wykoff, D.S, (2005). Surface Water–Groundwater Connection at the Los Alamos Canyon Weir Site: Part 1. Monitoring Site Installation and Tracer Tests. Vadose Zone Journal, 4, 708-717.
- Newell, D.L, Koning, D., Karlstrom, K., Crossey, L., Dillon, M., (2004). Plio-Pleistocene incision history of the Rio Ojo Caliente, northern Espanola Basin, and overview of the Rio Grande system in northern New Mexico. New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook, 55th Field Conference, Geology of the Taos Region, 121-134.
- Kowalewski, M., Demko, T.M, Hasiotis, S.T, Newell, D.L, (1998). Quantitative Ichnology of Triassic Crayfish Burrows (Camborygma Eumekenomos): Ichnofossils as Linkages to Population Paleoecology. Ichnos, 6, 5-21.
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Technical Reports
AES Reports
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Other
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.