High-pressure and high-temperature laboratory experiments on the physical properties of mantle minerals provide a window into the Earth’s interior chemistry and geodynamics. The measurement of material density, compressibility, and elasticity at high P-T conditions provides thermoelastic parameters necessary to model seismic velocities in the Earth’s mantle at regional and global...
The studies presented in this dissertation combine radiogenic and stable strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr and 88/86Sr, respectively), radiogenic and stable carbon isotope ratios (Δ14C and 13C, respectively), and bulk ion geochemistry to trace the sources and cycling of C in three glaciated environments (New Zealand, Iceland, and Greenland). A primary...
One seismologist’s noise is another seismologist’s signal. What was once disregarded is now routinely processed as dense arrays of broadband seismometers continuously record small amplitude Earth motions, presenting an immense wealth of data. This dissertation presents three projects where ambient seismic noise, generated by ocean wave interactions with the solid...
The search for life beyond Earth is one of the big questions in the modern science community, and a primary motivation behind a range of NASA's ground-based and space-bourne missions. In the near future, the James Webb Space Telescope, LUVOIR, and HabEx will characterize the atmospheres of nearby Earth-like exoplanets....
The Introduction and Appendix i-A outline briefly the history of Titan exploration since its discovery by Christiaan Huygens in 1675 through the recent International Mission of Cassini- Huygens. It discusses the roles of some of the ten most abundant elements in the Universe (H, He, C, N, O, Ne, Mg,...
This dissertation develops and applies coupled marine sulfur and strontium cycle modeling to the highly dynamic Early Cretaceous demonstrating the value of increased model constraint from linkage of biogeochemical cycles with shared forcing factors. A foundation for this work is first provided by review of relevant geochemical, sedimentological, and paleontological...