STUDIES OPEN TO INCOMING GRADUATE STUDENTS

What a graduate student would gain by engaging in these investigations, keeping an eye open for post-graduation employment:

1. Field methods experience
2. Hands-on experience with laboratory practices of various isotope techniques, mass spectrometry and other geochemical equipment
3. Practical knowledge of applying time-series analyses and statistical packages relevant to the acquired data
4. Data interpretation and integration with databases
5. Developing writing skills of grants and manuscripts

 

PALEO-CLIMATE STUDIES

Frequency and Intensity of Pacific Cyclones Imprinted in Stalagmites During the past two Millennia
(The investigation will involve field study on the island of Niue, sampling, stable isotopes and detailed X-ray elemental mapping by electron-microprobe).

Nouvelle Techniques for Retrieval of Climate Data from Stalagmites
(The study will involve new approaches to measurements of the carbon and nitrogen isotopes in organic acids occluded in layered stalagmites and integration of data with carbon isotopes in the calcite-stalagmites)

ENSO Variability During the Last Deglaciation and Glacial/Interglacial Transitions from Stalagmites on the Island of Niue, South Pacific
(The investigation will involve field study on the island of Niue, cave mapping and stalagmite sampling, stable carbon and oxygen isotope analyses and time-series analysis of the data)

El-Niño Records During Interglacials MIS-1, MIS-5e, MIS-7, MIS-9 and MIS-11 from T. gigas on the flight of coral-reef terraces on Huon Peninsula, Papua-New Guinea
(The study will use the depository from one of the best dated Quaternary sequences, perform stable carbon and oxygen isotope analyses and evaluate the time-series data using Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT)

ISOTOPE HYDROLOGY STUDIES

Investigation of the Source/s and Fluxes of Nitrate (NO3) in Groundwaters, Lakes and Rivers of Alabama.
(The study will involve water sampling and measurements of nitrogen and oxygen isotopes in NO3 using our newly purchased TC/EA attachment to the mass spectrometer).

Study of the Source and Fluxes of Dissolved Phosphate (PO4) in Rivers and Coastal Waters
(Study involving water sampling from stations and oxygen isotope determinations in PO4 using the new TC/EA attachment to the mass spectrometer)

ABRUPT EVENTS IN EARTH HISTORY

A Assessment of the Paleocene/Eocene (P/E) Thermal Event from Marine and Terrestrial Sediments in the Gulf Coast
(Study will involve field work, detailed sampling, and carbon and oxygen isotope determinations of foraminifera and carbonate nodules in paleosols)

Department Info