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Thomas M. Marchitto Jr.
Associate Professor |
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B.S. Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, 1994
Ph.D. Marine Geology and Geophysics, MIT-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program, 1999
Improved knowledge of the modes and mechanisms of past climate variability is crucial for understanding our current and future climate. I am mainly interested in paleoceanography, specifically large-scale changes in ocean circulation and biogeochemistry that occur over orbital, millennial, and shorter timescales. Most of my work has focused on the last full glacial-interglacial cycle, spanning roughly the past 150,000 years. Major variations in ocean circulation, from abyssal depths to the surface, are believed to have strongly influenced climate via the transport of heat. The oceans also exert control over atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, an important "greenhouse" gas. Such changes are reflected in the physical and chemical properties of seawater, including temperature, salinity, carbonate system parameters, and the concentrations of various nutrients. I mainly use trace and minor elements in the calcitic shells of protozoa called foraminifera as recorders of these properties. By analyzing and dating sediment cores that contain foraminifera, we can reconstruct ocean chemistry and inferred circulation patterns during the past.
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Over the 11-year period ending in 2005, the University of Colorado was the world's top-ranked university in Geoscience publications and citations.
For citations across all academic disciplines, CU Boulder was ranked 8th among US universities, over the 5-year period ending in 2009.
