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CONSTANZE WEYHENMEYER |
ASSISTANT PROFESSORISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRYPALEOCLIMATOLOGY |
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Department of Earth Sciences Office: 219 Heroy Geology Laboratory Phone: 315.443.0281 |
I have recently moved from Berkeley, California, to Syracuse to join the Department of Earth Sciences as its newest faculty member–and yes, I have been warned about the winters! After two postdoctoral appointments, the first at the University of Berne in Switzerland, and the second at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, I am very excited to have started my first “real” job as an Assistant Professor and I look forward to the challenging mixture of teaching, supervision, and research!
When Pat Bickford (Professor Emeritus but by no means “retired”) introduced me to The College of Arts and Sciences, he introduced me as a stable isotope geochemist (as opposed to him being an “unstable” geochemist!?). So, that is what/who I am–a stable isotope geochemist. As the title implies, I use stable isotopes (mostly oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon) as my main “tools” to study various environmental processes, including climate change, water resources, and wetland hydrology/geochemistry.
A former colleague once described me as a “lab-rat,” which I strongly oppose because I also very much enjoy fieldwork! However, I do admit that I like the laboratory work and it is an integral part of most of my research projects. Our stable isotope laboratory is equipped with a Finnigan MAT 252 isotope ratio mass spectrometer including a Kiel device (for carbonates) and a water equilibration bench (for water samples). Over the next few months I will be upgrading and modifying the existing equipment so that we will be able to measure a wider range of stable isotopes in both inorganic and organic samples from various environments.
My main interest and current research focus is the reconstruction of global climate changes in the recent past (Quaternary). For these paleoclimate investigations, I have been able to study a wide variety of natural archives such as wetlands (Canada), ice-cores (Greenland and Antarctica), groundwater (Sultanate of Oman), sediments (Amazon and African Lakes) and stalagmites (Yemen and Saudi Arabia). Most of these research projects are currently ongoing and I will seek funding for additional paleoclimate projects, with an emphasis on stalagmite work. Our most recent stalagmite record from Socotra Island in Yemen has been included in an International Calibration curve called IntCal that allows us to convert radiocarbon (14C) years into “true” ages, which provides the basic chronology to all paleoclimate studies. In addition to studying the Earth’s climate history, I am involved in two groundwater projects, one in the Sultanate of Oman and the other in the Oregon Cascades. These studies explore groundwater exploitation and pollution, including problems of saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers.
Field Photos from the Sultanate of Oman
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There is always sun after a rain… Battinah Plain | A “real” desert, Wahiba Sands |
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| Colleague Steve Burns (U. Mass.) drills through a stalagmite for paleoclimate investigations | Falaj: Old-fashioned irrigation canals | Helpers and friends |
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| Look at all this water lost to the ocean! | Typical field setup for sampling groundwater wells | Curious kids wonder what I am doing |
Click on thumbnails for larger image.
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The stable isotope lab is equipped with a Finnigan MAT 252 mass spectrometer, which is a fully automated multi-purpose gas source isotope-ratio mass spectrometer used for analyzing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen isotopes. Attached to the MAT 252 are three peripherals: 1) manifold to measure isotopes in gas samples 2) Kiel II device for measuring oxygen and carbon isotopes in solids and 3) H/D/O device for measuring oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in water samples. |
2002-2004 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California
Postdoctoral Researcher
2000-2002 Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland
Postdoctoral Fellow and Manager of the Stable Isotope Laboratory
1996-2000 Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland
Degree: Ph.D. in Geology (Dr. phil. nat.)
1993-1996 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, USA
Degree: M.Sc. in Oceanography
1989-1992 Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Degree: M.Sc. in Aquatic Geochemistry, Watershed Ecosystems Program
1988-1989 Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Degree: B.Sc. in Geography/Hydrology
1985-1988 Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany
Degree: “Zwischenprüfung” [Preliminary Diploma] in Physical Geography/Hydrology and Physical Education
* Weyhenmeyer, C.E. , Waber, H.N., Burns, S.J., Kramers, J., and A. Matter (in press): Strontium isotopes ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) as tracers for groundwater movement and mixing in an alluvial aquifer of Northern Oman, Journal of Hydrology .
* Reimer , P.J., Baillie M.G.L., Bard , E., Bayliss A., Beck J.W., Blackwell P.G., Buck C.E., Burr G.S., Cutler K.B., Damon, P.E., Edwards R.L., Fairbanks R.G., Friedrich M., Guilderson T.P., Herring C., Hughen K.A., Kromer B., McCormac G., Manning S., Bronk Ramsey C., Reimer R.W., Remmele, S., Southon J.R., Stuiver M., Talamo S., Taylor F.W., van der Plicht J., Weyhenmeyer, C.E. (2004)
IntCal04 Terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0 – 26 ka cal BP, Radiocarbon, Vol 46, Nr. 3
* Weyhenmeyer, C.E. , Burns, S.J., Waber, H.N., Macumber, P.G. and A. Matter (2002): Isotope study of moisture sources, recharge areas and groundwater flow paths within the eastern Batinah coastal plain, Sultanate of Oman, Water Resources Research Vol. 38, No 10 .
* Weyhenmeyer, C.E. (2002): Groundwater evolution in an arid coastal region of the Sultanate of Oman based on geochemical and isotopic tracers, p. 1-38 In: Water-Rock Interaction edited by I. Stober and K. Bucher, Kluwer Academic Publisher, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
* Weyhenmeyer, C.E. , Burns, S.J., Waber, H.N., Aeschbach-Hertig, W., Kipfer, R., Loosli, H., and A. Matter (2000): Cool Glacial temperatures and changes in moisture source recorded in groundwaters, Science Vol. 287, p. 842-845.
* Weyhenmeyer, C.E. (1999): Methane emissions from beaver ponds: rates, patterns and transport mechanisms, Global Biogeochemical Cycles , Vol. 13, No. 4, p. 1097-1090.
* Sowers, T., Brook E., Blunier T., Fuchs A., Leuenberger M., Chappelaz J., Barnola J.M., Etheridge D., Wahlen M., Deck B., and C.E. Weyhenmeyer (1997): An interlaboratory comparison of techniques for extracting and analysing trapped gases in ice cores, Journal of Geophysical Research , Vol. 102, No. C12, p. 26,527-26,538.
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