Ivano Aiello

Marine Geologist • Geological Oceanographer • Professor at San José State University • Moss Landing Marine Laboratories

Understanding the geological processes that shape the seafloor, coastlines, and Earth’s environmental history.

Investigating the processes that shape Earth across the interfaces between land, ocean, life, and society.

Current Featured Research

Environmental Impacts of the Moss Landing Battery Fire
In January 2025, the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage facility experienced a catastrophic fire at Moss Landing, California. My research investigates the environmental deposition, transport, persistence, and ecological implications of battery-derived metals released during this event.
The project combines field investigations, portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF), laboratory geochemistry, GIS, and long-term environmental monitoring to quantify contamination and improve understanding of large-scale battery fire impacts on coastal ecosystems.

[Research talk | 2026: WHATCH]


[Explore the Battery Fire Research]

Scientific Reports publication

Welcome

Welcome to my personal website.

This site serves as the primary archive of my research, publications, teaching, field investigations, and scientific outreach. My work integrates field geology, marine geophysics, sedimentology, geochemistry, and environmental science to investigate how Earth systems evolve through time and how geological processes influence modern coastal environments.

My research explores how geological processes shape marine environments across timescales ranging from individual environmental events to millions of years of Earth history.

The website is currently under development and will continue to expand with new research, publications, educational resources, and field documentation.

Research Areas

  • Marine Geology
  • Geological Oceanography
  • Coastal Processes and Sediment Dynamics
  • Silica Diagenesis
  • Environmental Geochemistry
  • Paleoceanography
  • Submarine Canyons
  • Wetland and Coastal Restoration

Featured Investigations

  • Moss Landing Battery Fire
  • Monterey Canyon Head Evolution
  • Guaymas Basin Silica Diagenesis
  • Elkhorn Slough
  • Monterey Formation
  • Jurassic Radiolarites

Recent Highlights

  • Scientific Reports paper on heavy metal deposition following the Moss Landing battery fire
  • Current research on Monterey Canyon evolution
  • Ongoing investigations of silica diagenesis in Guaymas Basin sediments

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