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Miriam Jones, Ph.D.

I use a range of proxies (plant macrofossils, pollen, charcoal, stable isotopes) to interpret climate and landscape change over centennial to millennial timescales. Current topics include responses to abrupt permafrost thaw, sea-level rise, sea-ice retreat, and centennial-scale land-use change. 

Education and Certifications

  • Columbia University, PhD,  2008

  • Columbia University, MPhil, 2006

  • Columbia University, M. A.,  2005 

  • Barnard College, A.B., 2002, Magna Cum Laude

     

Science and Products

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Great Dismal Swamp Project image

Wetlands in the Quaternary

Wetlands accumulate organic-rich sediment or peat stratigraphically, making them great archives of past environmental change. Wetlands also act as hydrologic buffers on the landscape and are important to global biogeochemical cycling. This project uses wetland archives from a range of environments to better understand how vegetation, hydrology, and hydroclimate has changed on decadal to multi...
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Ecosystems, Climate Research and Development Program
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Wetlands in the Quaternary

Wetlands accumulate organic-rich sediment or peat stratigraphically, making them great archives of past environmental change. Wetlands also act as hydrologic buffers on the landscape and are important to global biogeochemical cycling. This project uses wetland archives from a range of environments to better understand how vegetation, hydrology, and hydroclimate has changed on decadal to multi...
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A solitary tree trunk stands amongst the devastation of the 2011 fire in Great Dismal Swamp, VA.

Wetlands in the Quaternary Project

Wetlands accumulate organic-rich sediment or peat stratigraphically, making them great archives of past environmental change. Wetlands also act as hydrologic buffers on the landscape and are important to global biogeochemical cycling. This project uses wetland archives from a range of environments to better understand how vegetation, hydrology, and hydroclimate has changed on decadal to multi...
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Ecosystems, Land Change Science Program, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
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Wetlands in the Quaternary Project

Wetlands accumulate organic-rich sediment or peat stratigraphically, making them great archives of past environmental change. Wetlands also act as hydrologic buffers on the landscape and are important to global biogeochemical cycling. This project uses wetland archives from a range of environments to better understand how vegetation, hydrology, and hydroclimate has changed on decadal to multi...
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Charcoal data from four sites in Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge - August 2022

Charcoal counts and radiocarbon dates from four sediment cores collected in Great Dismal Swamp in 2017 and 2018 were incorporated into a synthesis of charcoal records from northern hemisphere peatlands (Sims et al., in review). Macroscopic charcoal was counted in three size classes: 125-250 micrometers, and 250-500 micrometers, and >500 micrometers. Uncalibrated radiocarbon dates were obtained and
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Radiocarbon dates, charcoal, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) data from Great Dismal Swamp Sites GDS-519 and GDS-520

Sediment cores were collected in Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in November, 2017 to advance understanding of climate- and land-management driven changes in vegetation, hydrology, and fire regimes. Radiocarbon dates were obtained from samples in two cores (GDS-519-3-21-2017 and GDS-520-3-21-2017) to generate age models for the cores. Bulk sediment samples, charcoal, plant macrofossils
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Carbon budget assessment of tidal freshwater forested wetland and oligohaline marsh ecosystems along the Waccamaw and Savannah rivers, U.S.A. (2005-2016)

Data to support carbon (C) budget assessment of tidal freshwater forested wetland and oligohaline marsh ecosystems along the Waccamaw and Savannah rivers, U.S.A. This work represents the first estimates of C standing stocks, C mass balance, soil C burial, and lateral C export to aquatic environments in tidal freshwater forested wetlands undergoing transition to oligohaline marsh.
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Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
The shore along the edges of an island playa in Florida
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Picture of trees within and along the edges of Lake Drummond.
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Photograph of the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia
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A solitary tree trunk stands amongst the devastation of the 2011 fire in Great Dismal Swamp, VA.
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A field of peatland surrounded by spruce and other understory plants in Alaska. Mountains can be seen in the background.
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Image: Collapse-scar bogs formed following permafrost thaw
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Filter Total Items: 39

Permafrost and climate change: Carbon cycle feedbacks from the warming Arctic

Rapid Arctic environmental change affects the entire Earth system as thawing permafrost ecosystems release greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Understanding how much permafrost carbon will be released, over what time frame, and what the relative emissions of carbon dioxide and methane will be is key for understanding the impact on global climate. In addition, the response of vegetation in a warmin
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Hydrologic controls on peat permafrost and carbon processes: New insights from past and future modeling

Soil carbon (C) in permafrost peatlands is vulnerable to decomposition with thaw under a warming climate. The amount and form of C loss likely depends on the site hydrology following permafrost thaw, but antecedent conditions during peat accumulation are also likely important. We test the role of differing hydrologic conditions on rates of peat accumulation, permafrost formation, and response to w
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Influence of permafrost type and site history on losses of permafrost carbon after thaw

We quantified permafrost peat plateau and post-thaw carbon (C) stocks across a chronosequence in Interior Alaska to evaluate the amount of C lost with thaw. Macrofossil reconstructions revealed three stratigraphic layers of peat: (1) a base layer of fen/marsh peat, (2) peat from a forested peat plateau (with permafrost) and, (3) collapse-scar bog peat (at sites where permafrost thaw has occurred).
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Climate Research and Development Program, Volcano Hazards, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, National Innovation Center, Volcano Science Center

Permafrost thaw in northern peatlands: Rapid changes in ecosystem and landscape functions

Peatlands within the northern permafrost region cover approximately 2 million km2 and are characterized by organic soils that can be several meters thick, and a fine-scale mosaic of permafrost and non-permafrost landforms interspersed by shallow ponds and lakes. Ongoing permafrost thaw is transforming these peatlands, causing abrupt changes to their morphology, hydrology, ecology, and biogeochemis
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Climate Research and Development Program, Land Change Science Program, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Predicted vulnerability of carbon in permafrost peatlands With future climate change and permafrost thaw in western Canada

Climate warming in high-latitude regions is thawing carbon-rich permafrost soils, which can release carbon to the atmosphere and enhance climate warming. Using a coupled model of long-term peatland dynamics (Holocene Peat Model, HPM-Arctic), we quantify the potential loss of carbon with future climate warming for six sites with differing climates and permafrost histories in Northwestern Canada. We
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Climate Research and Development Program, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Carbon fluxes and microbial activities from boreal peatlands experiencing permafrost thaw

Permafrost thaw in northern ecosystems may cause large quantities of carbon (C) to move from soil to atmospheric pools. Because soil microbial communities play a critical role in regulating C fluxes from soils, we examined microbial activity and greenhouse gas production soon after permafrost thaw and ground collapse (into collapse-scar bogs), relative to the permafrost plateau or older thaw featu
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Volcano Hazards, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Volcano Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

USGS permafrost research determines the risks of permafrost thaw to biologic and hydrologic resources

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with university, Federal, Tribal, and independent partners, conducts fundamental research on the distribution, vulnerability, and importance of permafrost in arctic and boreal ecosystems. Scientists, land managers, and policy makers use USGS data to help make decisions for development, wildlife habitat, and other needs. Native villages and cities
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Natural Hazards, Water Resources, Earth Resources Observation and Science Center, Climate Research and Development Program, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Land Change Science Program, Volcano Hazards, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Volcano Science Center

Spatiotemporal patterns of northern lake formation since the last glacial maximum

The northern mid- to high-latitudes have the highest total number and area of lakes on Earth. Lake origins in these regions are diverse, but to a large extent coupled to glacial, permafrost, and peatland histories. The synthesis of 1207 northern lake initiation records presented here provides an analog for rapid landscape-level change in response to climate warming, and its subsequent attenuation
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Subsea permafrost carbon stocks and climate change sensitivity estimated by expert assessment

The continental shelves of the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas contain large stocks of organic matter (OM) and methane (CH4), representing a potential ecosystem feedback to climate change not included in international climate agreements. We performed a structured expert assessment with 25 permafrost researchers to combine quantitative estimates of the stocks and sensitivity of organic carbon in
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Climate Research and Development Program, Land Change Science Program, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Expert assessment of future vulnerability of the global peatland carbon sink

The carbon balance of peatlands is predicted to shift from a sink to a source this century. However, peatland ecosystems are still omitted from the main Earth system models that are used for future climate change projections, and they are not considered in integrated assessment models that are used in impact and mitigation studies. By using evidence synthesized from the literature and an expert el
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Climate Research and Development Program, Land Change Science Program, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

High sensitivity of Bering Sea winter sea ice to winter insolation and carbon dioxide over the last 5,500 years

Anomalously low winter sea ice extent and early retreat in CE 2018 and 2019 challenge previous notions that winter sea ice in the Bering Sea has been stable over the instrumental record, although long-term records remain limited. Here, we use a record of peat cellulose oxygen isotopes from St. Matthew Island along with isotope-enabled general circulation model (IsoGSM) simulations to generate a 55
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Climate Research and Development Program, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Large stocks of peatland carbon and nitrogen are vulnerable to permafrost thaw

Over many millennia, northern peatlands have accumulated large amounts of carbon and nitrogen, thus cooling the global climate. Over shorter timescales, peatland disturbances can trigger losses of peat and release of greenhouses gases. Despite their importance to the global climate, peatlands remain poorly mapped, and the vulnerability of permafrost peatlands to warming is uncertain. This study co
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Climate Research and Development Program, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
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Using Peat Oxygen Isotopes to Elucidate Patterns of Sea Ice Extent over the Last 5,500 Years in the Bering Sea, Alaska

This article is part of the Fall 2020 issue of the Earth Science Matters Newsletter.

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Climate-cooling Arctic lakes soak up greenhouse gases

This article is part of the Spring 2015 issue of the Earth Science Matters Newsletter. 

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