Elizabeth Pierce
My research applies geochronology and radiogenic isotopes in minerals and bulk sediments to constrain the subglacial geology of Antarctica and to apply this geological information to tagging paleo-iceberg discharges from the Antarctic Ice Sheet. My primary approach is to use the 40Ar/39Ar age of detrital hornblende grains. Hornblende is a relatively abundant, rock-forming mineral that records the last major tectono-thermal event in a region. It has been previously demonstrated that hornblende ages provide a robust division of Antarctica that conforms to the natural glacial divides around the continent. My work is a combination of more precise documentation of the geological history, and the application of the approach to the paleo-climate related changes in the Antarctic Ice sheet.
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