epierce

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Elizabeth Pierce
No longer at LDEO: 
Yes
Senior Staff Associate
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Geochemistry
61 Route 9W - PO Box 1000
Palisades
NY
10964-8000
US
Fax: 
(845) 365-8155
epierce@ldeo.columbia.edu
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Fields of interest: 
Sediment provenance, paleoclimate

 

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.

 

Education
List of degrees from highest to lowest:
M.Phil. Earth and Environmental Sciences
Columbia University
09/2011
M.A. Earth and Environmental Sciences
Columbia University
02/2009
B.A. (Honors) Geosciences
Williams College
06/2007
Honors & Awards: 
Climate Center Grants, 2009 & 2011
NSF GK-12 Teaching Grant (LEEFS) 2010-2011
Sarah Langer Book Prize 2009
Antarctic Service Medal

Advisor List:

Sidney R. Hemming
Educational Activities: 
Women in Science at Columbia (WISC): Webmaster and Departmental Representative
Graduate Student Committee (GSC) Co-Chair
Learning through Ecology and Environmental Field Studies
Argon Geochronology for the Earth Sciences (AGES) Lab
TA Advanced General Geology
TA Field Excursion to Mono Lake, CA
TA Field Excursion to Death Valley, CA

Selected Publications:

Characterizing the sediment provenance of East Antarctica's weak underbelly: The Aurora and Wilkes sub-glacial basins, Pierce Pierce, E.L.; Williams T.; van de Flierdt, T.; Hemming, S.R.; Goldstein, S.L.; Brachfeld, S.A. Paleoceanography Volume: 26 Issue: PA4217 p.: 10.1029/2011PA002127 (2011)