Geoffrey Gilleaudeau, Assistant Professor, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, is working to link plate tectonics, weathering, and ocean oxygenation across the two most important geobiological events in Earth history--the big bang of eukaryotic evolution and the Cambrian Explosion of animals.
To do this, he will investigate strata spanning both of these critical intervals in Siberia using a combined sedimentological, paleontological, and geochemical approach, including pairing of the novel lithium and uranium isotope systems as tracers of global weathering intensity and ocean redox, respectively.
Gilleaudeau anticipates that this study could link deep-Earth tectonic processes with surface chemistry and geobiology, thus providing new insights into the coupled evolution of life and environment in Earth history.
Gilleaudeau received $361,062 from the National Science Foundation for this work. Funding began in August 2020 and will end in late July 2023.
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