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Modern climate challenges and the geological record

Today's changing climate poses challenges about the influence of human activity, such as greenhouse gas emissions and land use changes, the natural variability of Earth's climate, and complex feedback processes. Ice core and instrumental records show that over the last century, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations have risen to 390 parts per million volume (ppmv), about 40% above pre-In
Authors
Thomas M. Cronin

Mid-Piacensian mean annual sea surface temperature: an analysis for data-model comparisons

Numerical models of the global climate system are the primary tools used to understand and project climate disruptions in the form of future global warming. The Pliocene has been identified as the closest, albeit imperfect, analog to climate conditions expected for the end of this century, making an independent data set of Pliocene conditions necessary for ground truthing model results. Because mo
Authors
Harry J. Dowsett, Marci M. Robinson, Kevin M. Foley, Danielle K. Stoll

Deglaciation in the southeastern Laurentide Sector and the Hudson Valley – 15,000 Years of vegetational and climate history

In this field trip, we provide a review of the significant controversy concerning the timing of deglaciation in the Hudson and Wallkill Valleys. We outline the differences in methodology and chronology with a circular route throughout the Hudson and Wallkill valleys. We begin the trip at Lake Mohonk near New Paltz led by Kirsten Menking and Dorothy Peteet, then continue to the “black dirt” region
Authors
Dorothy M. Peteet, John Rayburn, Kirsten M. Menking, Guy Robinson, Byron D. Stone

The Shawangunk and Martinsburg Formations revisited; sedimentology, stratigraphy, mineralogy, geochemistry, structure and paleontology

In southeastern New York Middle Silurian Shawangunk Formation (Figure 1), containing gray conglomerate, sandstone and shale, lies unconformably above the Ordovician Martinsburg Formation, consisting of shales and graywackes. In southwestern New York, near the Port Jervis area, The Shawangunk Formation is overlain by the Bloomsburg Red Beds, the same stratigraphic sequence that occurs in Pennsylvan
Authors
H. R. Feldman, Jack B. Epstein, John A. Smoliga

Did intense volcanism trigger the first Late Ordovician icehouse?

Oxygen isotopes measured on Late Ordovician conodonts from Minnesota and Kentucky (United States) were studied to reconstruct the paleotemperature history during late Sandbian to Katian (Mohawkian–Cincinnatian) time. This time interval was characterized by intense volcanism, as shown by the prominent Deicke, Millbrig, and other K-bentonite beds. A prominent carbon isotope excursion (Guttenberg δ13
Authors
Werner Buggisch, Michael M. Joachimski, Oliver Lehnert, S. M. Bergstrom, John E. Repetski

New quantitative evidence of extreme warmth in the Pliocene Arctic

The most recent geologic interval characterized by warm temperatures similar to those projected for the end of this century occurred about 3.3 to 3.0 Ma, during the mid-Piacenzian Age of the Pliocene Epoch. Climate reconstructions of this warm period are integral to both understanding past warm climate equilibria and to predicting responses to today's transient climate. The Arctic Ocean is of part
Authors
Marci M. Robinson

PLIOMAX: Pliocene maximum sea level project

No abstract  available. 
Authors
M.E. Raymo, Paul Hearty, R. DeConto, M. O'Leary, Harry J. Dowsett, Marci M. Robinson, J.X. Mitrovica

Radiocarbon ages and age models for the past 30,000 years in Bear Lake, Utah and Idaho

Radiocarbon analyses of pollen, ostracodes, and total organic carbon (TOC) provide a reliable chronology for the sediments deposited in Bear Lake over the past 30,000 years. The differences in apparent age between TOC, pollen, and carbonate fractions are consistent and in accord with the origins of these fractions. Comparisons among different fractions indicate that pollen sample ages are the most
Authors
Steve M. Colman, Robert J. Rosenbauer, Darrell Kaufman, Walter E. Dean, John McGeehin

Interacción termal entre magmas graníticos laramídicos y rocas encajonantes mesoproterozoicas: Historia de enfriamiento de intrusivos de la sierrita blanca, NW Sonora

A semi-quantitative thermochronological study, combining U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology, has allowed assessment of the crystallization and cooling history of the Laramide Sierrita Blanca granite as well as the thermal effects resulting from the intrusion into the Mesoproterozoic host rocks (~1.1 Ga Murrieta granite). The U-Pb zircon age discrepancy between two samples of the Sierrita Blanca gran
Authors
Monica A. Enriquez-Castillo, Alexander Iriondo, Gabriel Chavez-Cabello, Michael J. Kunk

Geological evolution of the Neoproterozoic Bemarivo Belt, northern Madagascar

The broadly east-west trending, Late Neoproterozoic Bemarivo Belt in northern Madagascar has been re-surveyed at 1:100 000 scale as part of a large multi-disciplinary World Bank-sponsored project. The work included acquisition of 14 U-Pb zircon dates and whole-rock major and trace element geochemical data of representative rocks. The belt has previously been modelled as a juvenile Neoproterozoic a
Authors
Ronald J. Thomas, B. De Waele, D. I. Schofield, K. M. Goodenough, M. Horstwood, R. Tucker, W. Bauer, R. Annells, K. J. Howard, G. Walsh, M. Rabarimanana, J. M. Rafahatelo, A.V. Ralison, T. Randriamananjara

A simulation of historic hydrology and salinity in Everglades National Park: Coupling paleoecologic assemblage data with regression models

Restoration of Florida’s Everglades requires scientifically supportable hydrologic targets. This study establishes a restoration baseline by developing a method to simulate hydrologic and salinity conditions prior to anthropogenic changes. The method couples paleoecologic data on long-term historic ecosystem conditions with statistical models derived from observed meteorologic and hydrologic data
Authors
Frank E. Marshall, G. Lynn Wingard, Patrick A. Pitts

Comparison of clast frequency and size in the resurge deposits at the Chesapeake Bay impact structure (Eyreville A and Langley cores): Clues to the resurge process

Collapse and inward slumping of unconsolidated sedimentary strata expanded the Chesapeake Bay impact structure far beyond its central basement crater. During crater collapse, sediment-loaded water surged back to fill the crater. Here, we analyze clast frequency and granulometry of these resurge deposits in one core hole from the outermost part of the collapsed zone (i.e., Langley) as well as a cor
Authors
Jens Ormo, Erik Sturkell, J. Wright Horton,, David S. Powars, Lucy E. Edwards
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