Wyoming Local Section

The Wyoming Section of the American

Chemical Society

Presents

Geochemical fingerprints reveal how mountains crumble and how climate stays habitable for life

By

Cliff Riebe

Associate Professor

Geology & Geophysics

University of Wyoming

DATE: Tuesday, November 29, 2016

TIME: 4:00 pm

LOCATION: University of Wyoming Classroom Building, Room 118

DINNER: Altitude Chophouse and Brewery 320 S 2nd St, Laramie, WY 82070

Abstract:

The uplift, erosion, and weathering of mountain ranges can modulate Earth's climate over both short and geologic timescales. Uplift forms topographic barriers to atmospheric circulation and thus can influence climate over human lifetimes, while erosion and weathering influence ocean and thus atmospheric chemistry over millions of years. Geologists can now explore these linkages in remarkable detail using geochemical tools that have emerged over the last several decades. For example, isotopes contained in handful of sand collected from a river can reveal how mountains crumble under the forces of erosion and how the flux of eroded material to the oceans influences atmospheric chemistry and thus global climate. I will discuss several of the techniques that have led to these advances, with exciting case studies from the literature and my own work for illustration of how geochemical fingerprint can be used to solve cutting edge problems in the geosciences.

Please RSVP dinner to bleonar5@uwyo.edu by Monday November 28, 2016