Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory
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Sidney R. Hemming

Professor
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Geochemistry
413 Comer
61 Route 9W - PO Box 1000
Palisades
NY
10964-8000
US
Phone: 
(845) 365-8417
Fax: 
(845) 365-8155
sidney@ldeo.columbia.edu
View Website
Fields of interest: 
geochronology, sedimentary geochemistry, paleoclimate, continental crust evolution

I consider my field to be Historical Geology.  Using the record from sediments and sedimentary rocks, I seek to document aspects of Earth's history.  Understanding the provenance and processes recorded in the geochemistry of sediments and sedimentary rocks lies at the heart of my research interests.  I have strong interest in tectonics and continental crust evolution questions on the longer time scale. I have an active program of applying radiogenic isotopes for tracing the sources of sediments with the goal of understanding Quaternary climate changes and associated changes in winds, currents and glaciers. Provenance studies of ice rafted detritus are key to working out the dynamic relationships among paleo-climate and paleo-ocean circulation and their interactions with the large ice sheets that covered the northern continents during the ice ages.  Geochronology is essential to my research and I am actively participating in projects to improve our ability to obtain reliable age estimates on events in Earth's history.

  • Ar Geochronology Lab
Education
List of degrees from highest to lowest:
Ph.D.
SUNY Stony Brook
1994
Master of Science
Tulane
1986
Bachelor of Science
Midwestern
1983
Lamont Projects: 
Educational Activities: 
V2200y - EES: Solid Earth System
V1900 - Spring Break Field Trip to the Eastern Sierra
W4090 - Introduction to Geochronology and Thermochronology
W3010 - Field Geology
Lamont/DEES Student List: 
Elizabeth Pierce
Kaori Tsukui
Guleed Ali
Marissa Tremblay, Barnard College Senior
Featured in the Following Videos: 
Selected Publications: 
Characterizing the sediment provenance of East Antarctica's weak underbelly: The Aurora and Wilkes sub-glacial basins, Pierce, E.L., Williams, T., van de Flierdt, T., Hemming, S.R., Goldstein, S.L., Brachfeld, S.A. , Paleoceanography, (In Press), 10.1029/2011PA002153

Evidence for iceberg armadas from East Antarctica in the Southern Ocean during the late Miocene and early Pliocene, Williams, T; van de Flierdt, T; Hemming, SR; Chung, E; Roy, M; Goldstein, SL , Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 290, p.351-361, (2010)

Contrasting compositions of Saharan dust in the eastern Atlantic Ocean during the last deglaciation and African Humid Period, Cole, J. M.; Goldstein, S. L.; deMenocal, P. B.; Hemming, S. R.; Grousset, F. E. , Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 278, Issue 3-4, p.257-266, (2009), doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2008.12.011

Use of strontium isotopes in detrital sediments to constrain the glacial position of the Agulhas Retroflection, Franzese, A. M.; Hemming, S. R.; Goldstein, S. L. , Paleoceanography, Volume 24, (2009), 10.1029/2008PA001706

Spectral analysis of the lower Eocene Wilkins Peak Member, Green River Formation, Wyoming: Support for Milankovitch cyclicity, Machlus, M. L.; Olsen, P. E.; Christie-Blick, N.; Hemming, S. R. , Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Apr 15, Volume 268, Issue 1-2, p.64-75, (2008), DOI 10.1016/j.epsl.2007.12.024

Modeling the marine nd isotope variability with an offline ocean general circulation model, Jones, K. M.; Khatiwala, S.; Goldstein, S. L.; Hemming, S. R.; van de Flierdt, T. , Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta, Jul, Volume 72, Issue 12, p.A439-A439, (2008)

Ar-40/Ar-39 ages of hornblende grains and bulk Sm/Nd isotopes of circum-Antarctic glacio-marine sediments: Implications for sediment provenance in the Southern Ocean, Roy, M.; van de Flierdt, T. V.; Hemming, S. R.; Goldstein, S. L. , Chemical Geology, Oct 15, Volume 244, Issue 3-4, p.507-519, (2007), DOI 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2007.07.017

Heinrich events: Massive late pleistocene detritus layers of the North Atlantic and their global climate imprint, Hemming, S. R. , Reviews of Geophysics, Mar 18, Volume 42, Issue 1, p.-, (2004), Doi 10.1029/2003rg000128

Radiogenic isotopes as tracers of sediment provenance and flux: Paleoceanography of the South Atlantic, Franzese, A. M.; Hemming, S. R.; Goldstein, S. L.; Anderson, R. F.; Broecker, W. S. , Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta, Sep, Volume 67, Issue 18, p.A102-A102, (2003)

Ar-40/Ar-39 ages and Ar-40* concentrations of fine-grained sediment fractions from North Atlantic Heinrich layers, Hemming, S. R.; Hall, C. M.; Biscaye, P. E.; Higgins, S. M.; Bond, G. C.; McManus, J. F.; Barber, D. C.; Andrews, J. T.; Broecker, W. S. , Chemical Geology, Feb 15, Volume 182, Issue 2-4, p.583-603, (2002), Pii S0009-2541(01)00342-4

Laschamp excursion at Mono Lake?, Kent, D. V.; Hemming, S. R.; Turrin, B. D. , Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Apr 15, Volume 197, Issue 3-4, p.151-164, (2002), Pii S0012-821x(02)00474-0

Paleoclimate - Climate swings come into focus, Broecker, W. S.; Hemming, S. , Science, Dec 14, Volume 294, Issue 5550, p.2308-2309, (2001)