INSTAAR: Gifford Miller

Fellow of INSTAAR; Professor of Geological Sciences, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder.

PhD, University of Colorado, 1975.

gmiller@spot.colorado.edu
(303) 492-8437, 492-5075, 492-6962

INSTAAR Directorate Members

Specialty: Quaternary stratigraphy, geochronology, and paleoclimatology.

Research Interests: My primary scholarly interests focus on gaining an improved understanding of how the physical earth system operates. Toward this end, I am specifically interested in using the Quaternary as a means to reconstruct the coupled ocean/atmospheric/ice climate system. By reconstructing past environmental changes it is possible to get a better understanding of the rates and magnitude of natural climate variability, and the various feedback mechanisms in the global climate system. I am also interested in the role of humans in the modification of landscapes and ecosystem on Quaternary timescales.

Present Research: Quaternary stratigraphy and dating methods; amino acid geochronology, and cosmogenic exposure dating; Glacial history of the Arctic, focusing on glacial chronology and ice-sheet dynamics using direct field evidence, and quantitative estimates of the timing and magnitude of warm times in the Arctic. I also have a research interest in monsoons on Quaternary time scales, and the causes of megafauna extinctions.

Selected Publications:

Miller, G.H., Magee, J.W. and Jull, A.J.T., 1997: Low-latitude glacial cooling in the Southern Hemisphere from amino acid racemization in emu eggshells. Nature, v. 385: 241-244.
Miller, G.H., Magee, J.W., Johnson, B.J., Fogel, M., Spooner, N.A., McCulloch, M.T., Ayliffe, L.K., 1999: Pleistocene extinction of Genyornis newtoni: human impact on Australian megafauna. Science, .283: 205-208.
Briner, J.P., Miller, G.H., Davis. P.T., Bierman, P.R. and Caffee, M., 2003: Last Glacial Maximum ice sheet dynamics in Arctic Canada inferred from young erratics perched on ancient tors. Quaternary Science Reviews 22: 437-444.
Magee, J.W., Miller, G.H., Spooner, N.A., and Questiaux, D., 2004: A continuous 150,000 yr monsoon record from Lake Eyre, Australia: Insolation forcing implications and unexpected Holocene failure: Geology, v. 32, p. 885–888.
Wooller, M.J., Francis, D., Fogel, M.L., Miller, G.H., Walker, I.R., and Wolfe, A.P., 2004: Quantitative paleotemperature estimates from δ18O of chironomid head capsules preserved in arctic lake sediments. J. Paleolimnology 31: 267-274.
Miller, G.H., Mangan, J., Pollard, D., Thompson, S.L., Felzer, B.S., and Magee, J.W., 2005: Sensitivity of the Australian Monsoon to insolation and vegetation: Implications for human impact on continental moisture balance. Geology 33: 65-68.
Miller, G. H., Wolfe, A.P., Briner, J.P., Sauer, P.E., Nesje, A., 2005: Holocene glaciation and climate evolution of Baffin Island, Arctic Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24: 1703-1721.
Miller, G. H., Fogel, M. L., Magee, J. W., Gagan, M. K., Clarke, S., and Johnson, B. J., 2005: Ecosystem Collapse in Pleistocene Australia and a Human Role in Megafaunal Extinction. Science 309, 287-290.
Otto-Bliesner, B.L., Marshall, S.J., Overpeck, J.T., Miller, G.H., Hu, A. and CAPE Last Interglacial Project Members, 2006. Simulating Arctic Climate Warmth and Icefield Retreat in the Last Interglaciation. Science 311: 1751-1753.
CAPE Last Interglacial Project Members, 2006. Last Interglacial Arctic warmth confirms polar amplification of climate change. Quaternary Science Reviews 25: 1383-1400
Miller, G.H., Briner, J.B., Lifton, N.A., and Finkel, R.C., 2006. Limited ice-sheet erosion and complex exposure histories derived from in situ cosmogenic 10Be, 26Al, and 14C on Baffin Island, Arctic Canada. Quaternary Geochronology 1: 74-85
Geirsdottir, A., Miller, G.H., and Andrews, J.T. 2007. Glaciation, erosion, and landscape evolution of Iceland. J. Geodynamics 43:170-186.

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