As human activities continue to alter Earth’s climate, it becomes increasingly important to look to the past to better understand the future. I am a geochemist and a paleoceanographer, studying large-scale changes in ocean circulation and biogeochemistry that occur over timescales ranging from a few years to millions of years. Major variations in ocean circulation, from the surface to abyssal depths, have influenced climate via the transport and storage of heat. The oceans also exert control over atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas. Such changes are reflected in the physical and chemical properties of seawater, including temperature, salinity, carbonate chemistry, radiocarbon age, and the concentrations of various nutrients. I use the chemistry of marine calcifiers, mainly foraminifera, as recorders of these properties. I am also active in acid mine drainage research, including the aquatic behavior of rare earth elements.
keywords
paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, past abrupt climate change, ocean circulation, ocean biogeochemistry, marine carbon cycle, trace and minor elements in biogenic calcium carbonates, biomineralization, aquatic geochemistry, acid mine drainage
