Glacial Climate from Clumped Isotope Thermometry
About the talk:
The emergence of new proxies enables us to address fundamental questions about Earth’s climate evolution. We can apply novel methods to help visualize the past, and compare observations with theoretical predictions from computer models to probe how atmospheric and oceanic dynamics respond to changing climate forcing. I will discuss applications of a new geothermometer to study the climate of the last ice age. This geothermometer is based on the abundance of 13C-18O bonds in carbonates, termed “clumped isotope” thermometry. Specifically, we will look at new results from studies that examine how terrestrial hydrology in the Western United States and central China have evolved over the past ~20,000 years.
Biography:
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Aradhna Tripati grew up in Los Angeles and when she was in college, took a general education course on Environmental Geology that ignited her passion for environmental science and geoscience. She researches and teaches about climate change; the history and dynamics of changing Earth systems including climate, ice sheets, oceans, the water cycle, carbon dioxide levels; tool development; and clumped isotope geochemistry. She is now Associate Professor in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES), the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, the American Indian Studies Center, the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP), and the California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI), as her work is highly interdisciplinary. She also has created the first diversity center with an environmental focus at any university: the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science. At a time when “green” science, social justice, and higher education are questioned by some, the center provides a path forward. |
