Please join us on Friday, September 25, for our weekly speaker seminar!
Seminar Pre- Reception: 3:00 PM in JHA 1214
Seminar: 3:30 PM in JHA 1216
Speaker: Dr. David Goodwin,
Hosted by: Dr. Ethan Hyland
Seminar Title: Paleoproxy Development in a Novel Paradigm: Designing Sampling Strategies to Maximize the Utility of Clumped Isotopes
Abstract:
Biogeochemical variations archived in mollusk shell carbonate have emerged as important archives of past environmental conditions. These archives also provide critical links between marine and terrestrial paleoclimate reconstructions. The utility of these data is predicated on the assumption that variations accurately reflect environmental conditions, and that sampling strategies provide meaningful data. Several recent studies, however, have questioned the former and highlighted the importance of the latter, raising several important questions: How often do we get the right answer? How do we assess uncertainty? How do we design sampling strategies the maximize the robustness of environmental reconstructions? In this presentation, I use a high-resolution, two-dimensional, numerical model of carbonate precipitation in bivalve mollusks to address these questions. Model outputs are compared with empirical data to highlight the importance of biologically informed sampling strategies. Finally, specific recommendations for sampling for Clumped isotopes are presented.