Speaker: Professor Sidney R. Hemming from Lamont-Doherty, Columbia University 

Title: "Probing Antarctica’s glacial history with geo- and thermo-chronology"

Abstract: Antarctica’s geologic history yields a patchwork of “ages” that can be used as tracers of sediments eroded from these sources. Characterization of these sedimentary products has demonstrated the promise of this approach, and has emphasized the need to apply multiple tools to “see through” lithological biases. Applications of these tracers to sedimentary sequences tapped by International Ocean Discovery Program and its predecessors has revealed dynamic behavior of the ice sheet in the past. Additionally, geochronology of on-land and off-shore sedimentary deposits informs our understanding of past ice sheet history. I will highlight some examples of using geo- and thermochronology to better understand Antarctica’s glacial history in the Cenozoic. [Background reading]