Paul Olsen pointing to Late Middle Jurassic dinosaur tracks on a bedding plane in a coal mine, Manas River, Junggar Basin, China

Paul E. Olsen

Arthur D. Storke Memorial Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory · Columbia University · Palisades, NY

Examining Late Middle Jurassic dinosaur tracks in a coal mine, Manas River, Junggar Basin, China. Photo by Yanan Fang.
National Academy of Sciences Member, 2008
— publications & books listed
— abstracts
50 yr of field research
ORCID 0000-0002-5852-6326
Google Scholar citations & profile

About

I study the interactions between the Earth system and the evolution of life, largely using the continental record of the Triassic and Jurassic — the rift basins of eastern North America above all — to read how solar-system dynamics, climate, mass extinction, and the rise of dinosaurs are written into sedimentary rock.

Born in New York City (1953), I received a B.A. in Geology (1978) and a Ph.D. in Biology (1984) from Yale University. Following a Miller Research Fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, I came to Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, where I have been Storke Memorial Professor since 1995.

Research Interests

Solar-System Dynamics from the Geological Record

Using long lake-sediment records as a “Geological Orrery” to recover the chaotic history of planetary orbits.

Astrochronology

Orbitally paced cyclostratigraphy and high-resolution timescales for the Triassic–Jurassic.

Mass Extinctions

Paleobiology and causation of the end-Triassic extinction; CAMP volcanism, impacts, and biotic recovery.

Paleoclimate

Pangean climate gradients, polar ecosystems, and the climatic context of early dinosaur success.

Paleobiology & Ichnology

Dinosaur tracks and skeletal assemblages of early Mesozoic continental ecosystems.

Sedimentology & Rift Basins

Newark Supergroup lacustrine records, Lagerstätten, and basin evolution in eastern North America and beyond.

The Mesozoic of China

Junggar Basin coal-mine dinosaur tracks (Manas River, pictured above), taphonomy of the Lujiatun dinosaurs, and astrochronology of Chinese lacustrine basins, with Chinese collaborators.

Positions & Education

Honors & Awards

Publications

Recent

Classics

Olsen, P. E., Kent, D. V., et al. 2019. Mapping solar system chaos with the Geological Orrery. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116, 10664–10673. PDF incl. SI (24.4 MB) · DOI
Blackburn, T. J., Olsen, P. E., Bowring, S. A., et al. 2013. Zircon U-Pb geochronology links the end-Triassic extinction with the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. Science 340, 941–945. PDF incl. SI (2.7 MB) · DOI
Olsen, P. E., Kent, D. V., Sues, H.-D., et al. 2002. Ascent of dinosaurs linked to an iridium anomaly at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. Science 296, 1305–1307. PDF & supplement
Olsen, P. E., Smith, J. B., & McDonald, N. G. 1998. Type material of the type species of the classic theropod footprint genera Eubrontes, Anchisauripus, and Grallator (Early Jurassic, Hartford and Deerfield basins, Connecticut and Massachusetts, USA). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18(3), 586–601. PDF (19.6 MB)
Olsen, P. E. & McCune, A. R. 1991. Morphology of the Semionotus elegans species group from the Early Jurassic part of the Newark Supergroup of eastern North America, with comments on the family Semionotidae (Neopterygii). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 11(3), 269–292. PDF
Olsen, P. E., Schlische, R. W., Gore, P. J. W., et al. 1989. Field guide to the tectonics, stratigraphy, sedimentology, and paleontology of the Newark Supergroup, eastern North America. International Geological Congress, Guidebooks for Field Trips T351, 174 p. PDF (63.2 MB)
Olsen, P. E. 1986. A 40-million-year lake record of early Mesozoic orbital climatic forcing. Science 234, 842–848. PDF (4 MB)
Olsen, P. E. 1984. The skull and pectoral girdle of the parasemionotid fish Watsonulus eugnathoides from the Early Triassic Sakamena Group of Madagascar, with comments on the relationships of the holostean fishes. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 4, 481–499. PDF (1.8 MB) · high-res PDF (32.3 MB)
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Publications page (CV part 2) ORCID record Google Scholar

Teaching & Books

Dinosaurs and the History of Life — Columbia University undergraduate course: phylogenetics, the Mesozoic Earth system, and what the dinosaurian record reveals about evolution and extinction. A course book is in preparation.

Books

Courses taught

In the News

Articles, interviews, podcasts and books that feature this research.

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More from the CV

Ph.D. theses sponsored
Grants and contracts
Service to the scientific community, industry & public

Contact

Paul E. Olsen
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University
61 Route 9W, Palisades, NY 10964
polsen@ldeo.columbia.edu