John Milliman

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John D. Milliman (born 5 May 1938) is a retired [1] American Emeritus Professor of marine geology. He is a professor emeritus in the department of physical sciences and in the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at the College of William & Mary.

Contents

Education

Milliman earned Bachelor of Science from the University of Rochester, a Master of Science from the University of Washington, Seattle, and a PhD from the University of Miami. [1]

Research

In 1968, Milliman and K.O. Emery published an article in Science suggesting that the Holocene transgression began 14,000 years ago and was over by 7,000 years ago. [2] In 2003 he and Jonathan A. Warrick found that rivers of Southern California, such as Santa Clara River and Transverse Ranges discharge a huge amount of sediment especially during El Niño–Southern Oscillation. [3] In 2005 Milliman studied seven rivers in Taiwan after typhoon Herb swept through the region. [4] [5] . He and his colleagues also studied the following river and shelf systems: Yangtze [6] , Yellow [7] , Fly, etc.

Milliman was named one of Virginia's "outstanding scientists" by Governor Bob McDonnell in 2012. [8]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

Holocene The current geological epoch, covering the last 11,700 years

The Holocene is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years before present, after the last glacial period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene together form the Quaternary period. The Holocene has been identified with the current warm period, known as MIS 1. It is considered by some to be an interglacial period within the Pleistocene Epoch, called the Flandrian interglacial.

Andaman Sea Marginal sea of the eastern Indian Ocean

The Andaman Sea is a marginal sea of northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated from the Bay of Bengal to its west by the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands. Its southernmost end is defined by Breueh Island, an island just north of Sumatra, and communicates with the Malacca Strait.

The Younger Dryas was a return to glacial conditions after the Late Glacial Interstadial, which temporarily reversed the gradual climatic warming after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) started receding around 20,000 BP. It is named after an indicator genus, the alpine-tundra wildflower Dryas octopetala, as its leaves are occasionally abundant in late glacial, often minerogenic-rich sediments, such as the lake sediments of Scandinavia.

Estuary Partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with river stream flow, and with a free connection to the sea

An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.

Taiwan Strait Strait between mainland China and Taiwan

The Taiwan Strait, also known as the Formosa Strait, is a 180-kilometer (110 mi)-wide strait separating Taiwan and mainland China. The strait is currently part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is 130 km (81 mi) wide.

River delta Silt deposition landform at the mouth of a river

A river delta is a landform created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river as the flow leaves its mouth and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or another river that cannot carry away the supplied sediment. The size and shape of a delta is controlled by the balance between watershed processes that supply sediment, and receiving basin processes that redistribute, sequester, and export that sediment. The size, geometry, and location of the receiving basin also plays an important role in delta evolution. River deltas are important in human civilization, as they are major agricultural production centers and population centers. They can provide coastline defense and can impact drinking water supply. They are also ecologically important, with different species' assemblages depending on their landscape position.

Raised beach A beach or wave-cut platform raised above the shoreline by a relative fall in the sea level

A raised beach, coastal terrace, or perched coastline is a relatively flat, horizontal or gently inclined surface of marine origin, mostly an old abrasion platform which has been lifted out of the sphere of wave activity. Thus, it lies above or under the current sea level, depending on the time of its formation. It is bounded by a steeper ascending slope on the landward side and a steeper descending slope on the seaward side. Due to its generally flat shape it is often used for anthropogenic structures such as settlements and infrastructure.

Mobile River

The Mobile River is located in southern Alabama in the United States. Formed out of the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers, the approximately 45-mile-long (72 km) river drains an area of 44,000 square miles (110,000 km2) of Alabama, with a watershed extending into Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. Its drainage basin is the fourth-largest of primary stream drainage basins entirely in the United States. The river has historically provided the principal navigational access for Alabama. Since construction of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, it also provides an alternative route into the Ohio River watershed.

Black Sea deluge hypothesis Hypothetical flood scenario

The Black Sea deluge is the best known of three hypothetical flood scenarios proposed for the Late Quaternary history of the Black Sea. It is one of the two of these flood scenarios which propose a rapid, even catastrophic, rise in sea level of the Black Sea during the Late Quaternary.

Turbidity current An underwater current of usually rapidly moving, sediment-laden water moving down a slope

A turbidity current is most typically an underwater current of usually rapidly moving, sediment-laden water moving down a slope; although current research (2018) indicates that water-saturated sediment may be the primary actor in the process. Turbidity currents can also occur in other fluids besides water.

Tidal marsh Marsh subject to tidal change in water

A tidal marsh is a marsh found along rivers, coasts and estuaries which floods and drains by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean. Tidal marshes experience many overlapping persistent cycles, including diurnal and semi-diurnal tides, day-night temperature fluctuations, spring-neap tides, seasonal vegetation growth and decay, upland runoff, decadal climate variations, and centennial to millennial trends in sea level and climate. Tidal marshes are formed in areas that are sheltered from waves, in upper slops of intertidal, and where water is fresh or saline.They are also impacted by transient disturbances such as hurricanes, floods, storms, and upland fires

Marine pollution Pollution which finds its way into the oceans

Marine pollution occurs when harmful effects result from the entry into the ocean of chemicals, particles, industrial, agricultural and residential waste, noise, or the spread of invasive organisms. Eighty percent of marine pollution comes from land. Air pollution is also a contributing factor by carrying off iron, carbonic acid, nitrogen, silicon, sulfur, pesticides or dust particles into the ocean. Land and air pollution have proven to be harmful to marine life and its habitats.

Antarctic bottom water A cold, dense, water mass originating in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica

The Antarctic bottom water (AABW) is a type of water mass in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica with temperatures ranging from −0.8 to 2 °C (35 °F), salinities from 34.6 to 34.7 psu. Being the densest water mass of the oceans, AABW is found to occupy the depth range below 4000 m of all ocean basins that have a connection to the Southern Ocean at that level.

4.2 kiloyear event

The 4.2-kiloyear BP aridification event was one of the most severe climatic events of the Holocene epoch. It defines the beginning of the current Meghalayan age in the Holocene epoch.

Submarine landslide Landslides that transport sediment across the continental shelf and into the deep ocean

Submarine landslides are marine landslides that transport sediment across the continental shelf and into the deep ocean. A submarine landslide is initiated when the downwards driving stress exceeds the resisting stress of the seafloor slope material causing movements along one or more concave to planar rupture surfaces. Submarine landslides take place in a variety of different settings including planes as low as 1° and can cause significant damage to both life and property. Recent advances have been made in understanding the nature and processes of submarine landslides through the use of sidescan sonar and other seafloor mapping technology.

Professor Henry "Harry" Elderfield, was Professor of Ocean Chemistry and Palaeochemistry at the Godwin Laboratory in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He made his name in ocean chemistry and palaeochemistry, using trace metals and isotopes in biogenic carbonate as palaeochemical tracers, and studying the chemistry of modern and ancient oceans - especially those of the glacial epoch and the Cenozoic.

Hemipelagic sediment, or hemipelagite, is a type of marine sediment that consists of clay and silt-sized grains that are terrigenous and some biogenic material derived from the landmass nearest the deposits or from organisms living in the water. Hemipelagic sediments are deposited on continental shelves and continental rises, and differ from pelagic sediment compositionally. Pelagic sediment is composed of primarily biogenic material from organisms living in the water column or on the seafloor and contains little to no terrigenous material. Terrigenous material includes minerals from the lithosphere like feldspar or quartz. Volcanism on land, wind blown sediments as well as particulates discharged from rivers can contribute to Hemipelagic deposits. These deposits can be used to qualify climatic changes and identify changes in sediment provenances.

Tsunami deposit Sedimentary unit deposited by a tsunami

A tsunami deposit is a sedimentary unit deposited as the result of a tsunami. Such deposits may be left onshore during the inundation phase or offshore during the 'backwash' phase. Such deposits are being used to identify past tsunami events and thereby better constrain estimates of both earthquake and tsunami hazard. There remain considerable problems, however, in distinguishing between deposits caused by tsunamis and those caused by storms or other sedimentary processes.

Meltwater pulse 1B (MWP1b) is the name used by Quaternary geologists, paleoclimatologists, and oceanographers for a period of either rapid or just accelerated post-glacial sea level rise that some hypothesize to have occurred between 11,500 and 11,200 years ago at the beginning of the Holocene and after the end of the Younger Dryas. Meltwater pulse 1B is also known as catastrophic rise event 2 (CRE2) in the Caribbean Sea.

Paleotempestology The study of past tropical cyclone activity using geological proxies and historical documents

Paleotempestology is the study of past tropical cyclone activity by means of geological proxies as well as historical documentary records. The term was coined by American meteorologist Kerry Emanuel.

References

  1. 1 2 "John Milliman" . Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  2. John D. Milliman; K. O. Emery (1968). "Sea Levels during the Past 35,000 Years". Science . AAAS. 162 (3858): 1121–1123. doi:10.1126/science.162.3858.1121. PMID   17746818. S2CID   41474857.
  3. Jonathan A. Warrick and John D. Milliman (2003). "Hyperpycnal sediment discharge from semiarid southern California rivers: Implications for coastal sediment budgetsz". Geology . 31 (9): 781–784. doi:10.1130/G19671.1.
  4. John Milliman and Shuh‐Ji Kao (September 2005). "Hyperpycnal Discharge of Fluvial Sediment to the Ocean: Impact of Super‐Typhoon Herb (1996) on Taiwanese Rivers". The Journal of Geology . The University of Chicago Press/JSTOR. 113 (5): 503–516. doi:10.1086/431906. JSTOR   431906. S2CID   225043073.
  5. JP Liu, CS Liu, KH Xu, JD Milliman, JK Chiu, SJ Kao, SW Lin (2008). "Flux and fate of small mountainous rivers derived sediments into the Taiwan Strait". Marine Geology . 256 (1–4): 65–76. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2008.09.007.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. JP Liu, KH Xu, AC Li, JD Milliman, DM Velozzi, SB Xiao, ZS Yang (2007). "Flux and fate of Yangtze River sediment delivered to the East China Sea". Geomorphology . 85 (3–4): 208–224. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.03.023.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. J Paul Liu, John D Milliman, Shu Gao, Peng Cheng (2004). "Holocene development of the Yellow River's subaqueous delta, North Yellow Sea". Marine Geology . 209 (1–4): 45–67. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2004.06.009.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. David Malmquist (January 18, 2012). "W&M professor honored as outstanding scientist". College of William & Mary . Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  9. Owens, Philip N. (2012). "Research resource review: River Discharge to the Coastal Ocean: A Global Synthesis". Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment. 36 (3): 449–450. doi:10.1177/0309133312436888. ISSN   0309-1333. S2CID   131415420.
  10. Paola, Chris (2011). "Review of River Discharge to the Coastal Ocean: A Global Synthesis, by J.D. Milliman and K.L. Farnsworth". Oceanography. 24 (4): 143–144. doi: 10.5670/oceanog.2011.108 .