Current Student Research:

2016-2017

1) Luna Wasson is using ICP-MS and XRF analysis to identify changes in long-term dust flux to Taylor Lake in the Uinta Mountains, Utah

Past Student Research:

2015-2016

1) Drew Gorin studied the stable isotope record in a speleothem from the Weybridge Cave.

2) Ryan McElroy will used geochemical evidence to reconstruct the history of post-glacial dust deposition in Bald Lake, Uinta Mountains, Utah.

3) Sam O’Keefe used geochemical evidence to reconstruct the history of post-glacial dust deposition in Marshall Lake, Uinta Mountains, Utah.

2014-2015

Riley Ebel studied the properties and origin of extremely fine (submicron) material in alpine soils and lakes of the Uinta Mountains.

2013-2014

1) Emily Attwood investigated the properties and origin of sediment observed at the surface of melting snowbanks in the Uinta Mountains, Utah.

2) Katie Schide studied alpine pedogenesis on the Monroe Flats in the Presidential Range of New Hampshire.

3) Zach Perzan researched the age and origin of clastic sediment infilling the lowest accessible levels of the Weybridge Cave, Vermont

2012-2013

Annika Silverman reconstructed the past 25,000 years of environmental change in the Ruby Mountains from the sedimentary record in Soldier Lake

2011-2012

I was on sabbatical during the 2011-12 academic year and did not advise student theses.

2010-2011

1) Tom Crocker, Alena Giesche, and Luke Rahlson reconstructed Holocene history of cirque glaciers in Glacier National Park, Montana using sediment cores we collected during the summer of 2010. Tom worked on the Siyeh Glacier and Cracker Lake. Alena worked on the Harrison Glacier and Harrison Lake. Luke worked on Cosley Lake and glaciers in the headwaters of the Mokowanis River system.

2009-2010

1) Matt Bigl reconstructed Holocene environmental change from a series of sediment cores we retrieved in July 2009 from Overland Lake in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada.

2008-2009:

1) Spencer Paddock studied a pair of sediment cores retrieved from Upper Kintla Lake in Glacier National Park. The cores spanned the past 1000 years and provided information about past fluctuations of the Agassiz Glacier, which has retreated rapidly since AD 1860.

2) Brett Woelber conducted grain size and carbon:nitrogen analysis on the long core Chris Rodgers and I retrieved from the Nulhegan Basin in 2006. His results indicated a period of rapidly varying hydroclimate in the early Holocene.

3) Simi Hamilton studied changes in grain size distribution, mineralogy, and biogenic silica content during the interval ~5000-4000 BP in multiple lake sediment cores from the Uinta Mountains. Many of these cores feature a pronounced low in LOI centered around 4200 BP, and Simi showed that other sedimentary properties varied at the same time, although not always in consistent ways.

2007-2008:

1) Logan Duran studied the distribution of rock glaciers in the Uinta Mountains, of Utah. His results suggest that rock glaciers in the Uinta Mountains are preferentially located above the minimum elevation threshold on slopes with aspects ranging from east to south. The abundance of south-facing rock glaciers was surprising, and underscores the importance of snow avalanching in the formation of these features.

2) Andrew Peters study the geochemistry and mineralogy of the sediment core retrieved in 2005 from Marshall Lake in the Uinta Mountains. Marshall Lake is hydrologically closed most years, suggesting that it should be sensitive to changes in moisture balance, and the LOI record from the lake reveals episodes of extreme variability in the past. Andrew’s results demonstrated changes in Marshall Lake sediment that were likely due to variations in the provenance and amount of eolian dust arriving at the lake.

3) Tim Cavanaugh tested the utility of color spectrophotometry (CSP) in the analysis of lake sediment using cores from the Uinta Mountains, Nevada, and Glacier Park. His results suggest that in some cases CSP can be used as a proxy for organic matter or carbonate content, however new models need to be constructed for each individual core.

2006-2007:

1) Lee Corbett completed a multi-proxy climate reconstruction for the southeastern Uinta Mountains based on sediment cores from two subalpine lakes. She determined %LOI, C:N, bSiO₂, and grain size distribution in an attempt to identify the influence of changing monsoon dynamics in this area during the Holocene. Her results reveal that runoff into the two lakes was highest in the early Holocene, consistent with an enhanced monsoon at this time.

2) Chris Rodgers conducted high-resolution loss-on-ignition analyses of two sediment cores collected from lakes in northeastern Vermont in an attempt to determine the range of Holocene climate variability in this region. His results indicate that that climate of the late Holocene has been remarkably constant compared with that of previous millennia. His records also demonstrate strong centennial-scale cyclicity, as well as a 1500-yr cycle that may be similar to what has been reported from the North Atlantic.

2005-2006:

I was on sabbatical during the 2005-2006 academic year and did not advise any thesis students.

2004-2005:

1) Gianina Farrugia studied alpine pedogenesis on the West Chin of Mt. Mansfield, Vermont’s highest mountain. Her project was aimed at determining the nature of the parent material for these soils. Results were presented at the Northeastern Section Meeting of the GSA in March 2005, at the spring meeting of the Vermont Geological Society, and at the Lake Champlain Research Consortium meeting.

2003-2004:

1) Will Roush studied historic changes in alpine treeline in Glacier National Park through comparison of paired photographs. His fieldwork during July and August 2002 was funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation to the Middlebury College Environmental Studies Program. After graduation, Will received a Watson Fellowship to continue his studies of recent glacier and treeline fluctuations through rephotography in the Canadian Rockies, New Zealand, and Norway.

2) Colin Rodgers investigated a short sediment core we retrieved from Water Lily Lake in the Uinta Mountains with the help of Katrina Moser from the University of Western Ontario. His work included quantification of sediment properties including organic matter content, grain size distribution, and clay mineralogy in an effort to better understand the sedimentary environment in this pristine lake over the past few centuries.

3) I participated on the thesis committee for Ben Laabs, who successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in December. Ben used cosmogenic surface exposure dating to better constrain the timing of the Last Glacial Maximum in the Uinta Mountains. Ben also applied used numerical modeling to determine the range of paleoclimate conditions responsible for the LGM in the Uintas.

2002-2003:

1) Jeremy Shakun mapped the southern half of the Lake Fork Mtn. quadrangle for the USGS EDMAP program, and is attempting to reconstruct the valley glaciers of the southern Uinta Mountains for their extents during the Last Glacial Maximum. His work demonstrated that glaciers on the south slope of the Uinta Mountains were influenced by a paleo-precipitation gradient related to pluvial Lake Bonneville, just like the glaciers on the north side of the range. Jeremy’s work was related to ongoing geomorphic mapping in the area, conducted by the Ashley National Forest, and future mapping of the Kings Peak quadrangle planned by the Utah Geological Survey.

2) Daniela Salaverry applied GIS-based photogrammetry of LANDSAT imagery to quantify the magnitude of glacier recession in the Tanggula Shan of western China over the past three decades. Her project is related to the collaborative project in the Tanggula Shan involving, me, Pat Colgan, and Zhou Shangzhe.

2001-2002:

1) Holly Carlson studied mineral tracers in surficial sediments in Vermont in an attempt to determine ice-flow directions. Her results contribute to an old debate regarding whether or not Laurentide ice entered Vermont from the northeast.

2) Fred Coriell reconstructed paleofloods over the past few decades in the Middlebury River Gorge using tree-scars as flood stage indicators. Because the Middlebury River is ungaged, his work provided information on flood magnitudes through this confined bedrock channel.

3) Anna Cotton studied the sedimentology and stratigraphy of a large alluvial fan south of Hancock, along the Main Branch of the White River. She determined the main sedimentary processes responsible for formation of this fan and, through comparison with other fans in the vicinity, determined the factors that allowed this fan to grow so large.

4) Jamie Laidlaw studied one of the lacustrine cores I retrieved from a subalpine lake in northeastern Utah. The core contains abundant charcoal, and his work quantifying the charcoal abundance produced a record of relative fire frequency over the past 5500 years in this area. Aspects of this work were presented at the GSA annual meeting last October (link to abstract).

Return to Jeff Munroe’s homepage.

Last updated by J. Munroe 2/13/17