Jean Lynch-Stieglitz

Last updated
Jean Lynch-Stieglitz
Alma materColumbia University
Scientific career
InstitutionsGeorgia Institute of Technology
Thesis Controls on the isotopic composition of oceanic carbon and applications to paleoceanographic reconstruction  (1995)

Jean Lynch-Stieglitz is a paleoceanographer known for her research on reconstructing changes in ocean circulation over the last 100,000 years.

Contents

Education and career

An interest in the natural world, combined with the logic of science and math, attracted Lynch-Stieglitz to science and after a summer at the Duke University Marine Laboratory she decided on a career in physical oceanography. [1] In 1986, she earned B.S. degrees in physics and geology from Duke University [2] and for two years she worked as an oceanographer at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. From 1988 until 1989 she worked at the Maryland Science Center and as a programmer at Johns Hopkins University before moving to Columbia University where she earned an M.A. (1991) and Ph.D. (1995) in geological sciences. [3] After two years as a postdoctoral scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in 1996 she returned to New York where she joined the faculty of the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory. In 2004, Lynch-Stieglitz moved to the Georgia Institute of Technology where she was promoted to professor in 2010. [3]

From 2012 to 2015, Lynch-Stieglitz was the Editor of Earth and Planetary Science Letters. [4]

In 2015 Lynch-Stieglitz was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science "for bringing physical oceanography approaches to the study of transient circulation changes during ice ages, providing a window into the ocean’s interaction with today’s climate change." [5]

Research

Lynch-Stieglitz's research links the ocean and climate over the past 100,000 years. She has used carbon isotopes in benthic foraminifera to reconstruct air-sea exchange in carbon isotopes, [6] changes in the movement of deep water masses, [7] and Antarctic Intermediate Water in the transitions between glacial and interglacial periods. [8] In the Atlantic Ocean, she has examined movement of the Gulf Stream during the Last Glacial Maximum [9] and linked changes in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and to rapid changes in climate. [10] [11] [12] Her research also extends to regions where ice alters the exchange of carbon dioxide between atmosphere and ocean in glacial periods, [13] and work in the Pacific Ocean where she has examined sea surface temperatures from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present. [14]

Selected publications

Awards and honors

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Younger Dryas</span> Time period c. 12,900–11,700 years ago with Northern Hemisphere glacial cooling and SH warming

The Younger Dryas (YD) was a period in Earth's geologic history that occurred circa 12,900 to 11,700 years Before Present (BP). It is primarily known for the sudden or "abrupt" cooling in the Northern Hemisphere, when the North Atlantic Ocean cooled and annual air temperatures decreased by ~3 °C (5.4 °F) over North America, 2–6 °C (3.6–10.8 °F) in Europe and up to 10 °C (18 °F) in Greenland, in a few decades. Cooling in Greenland was particularly rapid, taking place over just 3 years or less. At the same time, the Southern Hemisphere experienced warming. This period ended as rapidly as it began, with dramatic warming over ~50 years, which transitioned the Earth from the glacial Pleistocene epoch into the current Holocene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ocean current</span> Directional mass flow of oceanic water

An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of seawater generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth contours, shoreline configurations, and interactions with other currents influence a current's direction and strength. Ocean currents move both horizontally, on scales that can span entire oceans, as well as vertically, with vertical currents playing an important role in the movement of nutrients and gases, such as carbon dioxide, between the surface and the deep ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thermohaline circulation</span> Part of large-scale ocean circulation

Thermohaline circulation (THC) is a part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes. The adjective thermohaline derives from thermo- referring to temperature and -haline referring to salt content, factors which together determine the density of sea water. Wind-driven surface currents travel polewards from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, cooling en route, and eventually sinking at high latitudes. This dense water then flows into the ocean basins. While the bulk of it upwells in the Southern Ocean, the oldest waters upwell in the North Pacific. Extensive mixing therefore takes place between the ocean basins, reducing differences between them and making the Earth's oceans a global system. The water in these circuits transport both energy and mass around the globe. As such, the state of the circulation has a large impact on the climate of the Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Last Glacial Maximum</span> Circa 24,000–16,000 BCE; most recent era when ice sheets were at their greatest extent

The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Europe, and Asia and profoundly affected Earth's climate by causing a major expansion of deserts, along with a large drop in sea levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Atlantic Gyre</span> Major circular system of ocean currents

The North Atlantic Gyre of the Atlantic Ocean is one of five great oceanic gyres. It is a circular ocean current, with offshoot eddies and sub-gyres, across the North Atlantic from the Intertropical Convergence Zone to the part south of Iceland, and from the east coasts of North America to the west coasts of Europe and Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abrupt climate change</span> Form of climate change

An abrupt climate change occurs when the climate system is forced to transition at a rate that is determined by the climate system energy-balance. The transition rate is more rapid than the rate of change of the external forcing, though it may include sudden forcing events such as meteorite impacts. Abrupt climate change therefore is a variation beyond the variability of a climate. Past events include the end of the Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse, Younger Dryas, Dansgaard–Oeschger events, Heinrich events and possibly also the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. The term is also used within the context of climate change to describe sudden climate change that is detectable over the time-scale of a human lifetime. Such a sudden climate change can be the result of feedback loops within the climate system or tipping points in the climate system.

Paleoceanography is the study of the history of the oceans in the geologic past with regard to circulation, chemistry, biology, geology and patterns of sedimentation and biological productivity. Paleoceanographic studies using environment models and different proxies enable the scientific community to assess the role of the oceanic processes in the global climate by the re-construction of past climate at various intervals. Paleoceanographic research is also intimately tied to paleoclimatology.

The environmental isotopes are a subset of isotopes, both stable and radioactive, which are the object of isotope geochemistry. They are primarily used as tracers to see how things move around within the ocean-atmosphere system, within terrestrial biomes, within the Earth's surface, and between these broad domains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic meridional overturning circulation</span> System of surface and deep currents in the Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is the main ocean current system in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a component of Earth's ocean circulation system and plays an important role in the climate system. The AMOC includes Atlantic currents at the surface and at great depths that are driven by changes in weather, temperature and salinity. Those currents comprise half of the global thermohaline circulation that includes the flow of major ocean currents, the other half being the Southern Ocean overturning circulation.

Paleosalinity is the salinity of the global ocean or of an ocean basin at a point in geological history.

Harry Leonard Bryden, FRS is an American physical oceanographer, professor at University of Southampton, and staff at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. He is best known for his work in ocean circulation and in the role of the ocean in the Earth's climate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oceanic carbon cycle</span> Ocean/atmosphere carbon exchange process

The oceanic carbon cycle is composed of processes that exchange carbon between various pools within the ocean as well as between the atmosphere, Earth interior, and the seafloor. The carbon cycle is a result of many interacting forces across multiple time and space scales that circulates carbon around the planet, ensuring that carbon is available globally. The Oceanic carbon cycle is a central process to the global carbon cycle and contains both inorganic carbon and organic carbon. Part of the marine carbon cycle transforms carbon between non-living and living matter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon Valley</span> American climate scientist

Shannon Gabrielle Valley is an American climate scientist and policy advisor. She is based at Georgia Tech, where she studies the climate history of planet Earth. She worked as a liaison between the White House and NASA Headquarters for the Obama administration. In 2020 Valley was appointed to Joe Biden's NASA transition team.

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is a large system of ocean currents, like a conveyor belt. It is driven by differences in temperature and salt content and it is an important component of the climate system. However, the AMOC is not a static feature of global circulation. It is sensitive to changes in temperature, salinity and atmospheric forcings. Climate reconstructions from δ18O proxies from Greenland reveal an abrupt transition in global temperature about every 1470 years. These changes may be due to changes in ocean circulation, which suggests that there are two equilibria possible in the AMOC. Stommel made a two-box model in 1961 which showed two different states of the AMOC are possible on a single hemisphere. Stommel’s result with an ocean box model has initiated studies using three dimensional ocean circulation models, confirming the existence of multiple equilibria in the AMOC.

Bette Otto-Bliesner is an earth scientist known for her modeling of Earth's past climate and its changes over different geological eras.

Ana Ravelo is a paleoceanographer known for her research on tropical oceans. She is a professor at the University of California Santa Cruz and was elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2012.

Sidney Hemming is an analytical geochemist known for her work documenting Earth's history through analysis of sediments and sedimentary rocks. She is a professor of earth and environmental sciences at Columbia University.

Delia Wanda Oppo is an American scientist who works on paleoceanography where she focuses on past variations in water circulation and the subsequent impact on Earth's climate system. She was elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2014.

Zanna Chase is an ocean-going professor of chemical oceanography and paleoceanography at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Science, University of Tasmania, Australia. She has undertaken over 20 voyages on research vessels, and her areas of expertise are Antarctic paleoclimate, marine carbon cycle, radionuclides in the ocean, sediment geochemistry, paleoceanography, and marine biogeochemistry. In 2013 she was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Ocean overturning circulation</span> Southern half of the global ocean current system

Southern Ocean overturning circulation is the southern half of a global thermohaline circulation, which connects different water basins across the global ocean. Its better-known northern counterpart is the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). This circulation operates when certain currents send warm, oxygenated, nutrient-poor water into the deep ocean (downwelling), while the cold, oxygen-limited, nutrient-rich water travels upwards at specific points. Thermohaline circulation transports not only massive volumes of warm and cold water across the planet, but also dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic carbon and other nutrients such as iron. Thus, both halves of the circulation have a great effect on Earth's energy budget and oceanic carbon cycle, and so play an essential role in the Earth's climate system.

References

  1. ↑ Delaney, Peggy; Abrantes, Fatima; Alexander, Vera; Alldredge, Alice L.; Almogi-Labin, Ahuva; Alonso, Belén; Anand, Pallavi; Ates, Sibel Bargu; Bauch, Dorothea; Bell, Robin E.; Benitez-Nelson, Claudia (2005). "Autobiographical Sketches of Women in Oceanography". Oceanography. 18 (1): 65–246. ISSN   1042-8275. JSTOR   43925658.
  2. ↑ "Jean Lynch-Stieglitz". jls.eas.gatech.edu. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Lynch-Stieglitz CV" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-07-25. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  4. ↑ "Elsevier Enhanced Reader". reader.elsevier.com. 337–338: 1. 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Six Faculty Named 2015 AAAS Fellows". news.gatech.edu. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  6. ↑ Lynch-Stieglitz, Jean; Stocker, Thomas F.; Broecker, Wallace S.; Fairbanks, Richard G. (1995). "The influence of air-sea exchange on the isotopic composition of oceanic carbon: Observations and modeling". Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 9 (4): 653–665. Bibcode:1995GBioC...9..653L. doi:10.1029/95GB02574. ISSN   1944-9224. S2CID   129194624.
  7. ↑ Lynch-Stieglitz, Jean; Fairbanks, Richard G. (May 1994). "A conservative tracer for glacial ocean circulation from carbon isotope and palaeo-nutrient measurements in benthic foraminifera". Nature. 369 (6478): 308–310. Bibcode:1994Natur.369..308L. doi:10.1038/369308a0. ISSN   1476-4687. S2CID   4238180.
  8. ↑ Lynch-Stieglitz, Jean; Fairbanks, Richard G.; Charles, Christopher D. (1994). "Glacial-interglacial history of Antarctic Intermediate Water: Relative strengths of Antarctic versus Indian Ocean sources". Paleoceanography. 9 (1): 7–29. Bibcode:1994PalOc...9....7L. doi:10.1029/93PA02446. ISSN   1944-9186.
  9. ↑ Lund, David C.; Lynch-Stieglitz, Jean; Curry, William B. (November 2006). "Gulf Stream density structure and transport during the past millennium". Nature. 444 (7119): 601–604. Bibcode:2006Natur.444..601L. doi:10.1038/nature05277. ISSN   1476-4687. PMID   17136090. S2CID   4431695.
  10. ↑ Lynch-Stieglitz, Jean (2017-01-03). "The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and Abrupt Climate Change". Annual Review of Marine Science. 9 (1): 83–104. Bibcode:2017ARMS....9...83L. doi:10.1146/annurev-marine-010816-060415. ISSN   1941-1405. PMID   27814029.
  11. ↑ Liu, Z.; Otto-Bliesner, B. L.; He, F.; Brady, E. C.; Tomas, R.; Clark, P. U.; Carlson, A. E.; Lynch-Stieglitz, J.; Curry, W.; Brook, E.; Erickson, D. (2009-07-17). "Transient Simulation of Last Deglaciation with a New Mechanism for Bolling-Allerod Warming". Science. 325 (5938): 310–314. Bibcode:2009Sci...325..310L. doi:10.1126/science.1171041. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   19608916. S2CID   16383717.
  12. ↑ Lynch-Stieglitz, J.; Adkins, J. F.; Curry, W. B.; Dokken, T.; Hall, I. R.; Herguera, J. C.; Hirschi, J. J.-M.; Ivanova, E. V.; Kissel, C.; Marchal, O.; Marchitto, T. M.; McCave, I. N.; McManus, J. F.; Mulitza, S.; Ninnemann, U.; Peeters, F.; Yu, E.-F.; Zahn, R. (6 April 2007). "Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation During the Last Glacial Maximum". Science. 316 (5821): 66–69. Bibcode:2007Sci...316...66L. doi:10.1126/science.1137127. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   17412948. S2CID   44803349.
  13. ↑ Purcell, Conor (2017-06-19). "Thin ice: Vanishing ice only exacerbates a bad, climate change-fueled situation". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  14. ↑ Koutavas, A. (12 July 2002). "El Nino-Like Pattern in Ice Age Tropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature". Science. 297 (5579): 226–230. Bibcode:2002Sci...297..226K. doi:10.1126/science.1072376. PMID   12114619. S2CID   32854413.
  15. ↑ "Jean Lynch-Stieglitz". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  16. ↑ "Historic Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science". www.aaas.org. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  17. ↑ "Cesare Emiliani Lecture | AGU". www.agu.org. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  18. ↑ "2019 Class of AGU Fellows Announced". Eos. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
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