The College of Arts and Sciences

Amy Morrissey

PhD Candidate Earth Sciences

Advisor: Chris Scholz

Research and Teaching Interests

I work on characterizing the sedimentation, faulting, and paleoclimate history of East Africa using high-resolution seismic reflection data and short sediment cores from Lake Turkana, the largest lake in the world in a desert.

Lake Turkana is a large, long-lived rift lake in the eastern branch of the East African Rift system in northern Kenya, and the sediment that accumulated on the lake floor records the climatic history and structure evolution of the region. Today the lake is situated in one of the harshest desert environments on the planet, but that has not always been the case. Changes in the migration path of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, which controls the amount of annual rainfall the area receives, over long timescales have caused major shifts in the climate regime surrounding Lake Turkana. Using seismic reflection data and geochemical indicators and physical properties of sediments (e.g. organic carbon, inorganic carbon, magnetic susceptibility, density, etc.), I am reconstructing the lake level history of Lake Turkana in the context of climate change in Africa and worldwide through the Late Quaternary. Additionally, I am using the TEX86 proxy as a paleotemperature indicator and δD of leaf waxes as a paleoprecipitation proxy to better quantify the past climate of Lake Turkana. 

Teaching

EAR 317: Sedimentary Processes and Systems Fall 2009

EAR 325: Introductory Paleobiology Spring 2010

EAR 317: Sedimentary Processes and Systems Fall 2010

EAR 106: Environmental Geology Spring 2011

EAR 105: Earth Science Spring 2012

EAR 317: Sedimentary Processes and Systems Fall 2012

Publications

Morrissey, A. J. and C. A. Scholz, 2012, Seismic stratigraphy and lake level change in a desert rift-lake: Observations from new high-resolution seismic reflection data and sediment cores from South Basin, Lake Turkana, East African Rift. Proceedings of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Meeting and Exhibition, April 22 – April 25, 2012, Long Beach, California: Carbonates in Rift Systems: Lacustrine to Marine I (Oral Presentation).

Morrissey, A. J. and C. A. Scholz, 2011, Late-Quaternary Stratigraphy and Paleolimnology of the South Basin of Lake Turkana, Kenya. Proceedings of National Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, October 9 – October 12, 2011, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Lacustrine Carbonates (Oral Presentation).

Morrissey, A. J. and C. A. Scholz, 2011, Late-Quaternary Stratigraphy and Paleolimnology of the South Basin of Lake Turkana, Kenya, from New Seismic Reflection Data and Sediment Cores. Syracuse University's Lacustrine and Rift Basin Research Sponsors Meeting Presentation, September, 2011, Houston, Texas (Oral Presentation).

Morrissey, A. J. and C. A. Scholz, 2011, Stratigraphic framework of the South Basin of Lake Turkana, Kenya from new seismic reflection data and sediment cores. 5th International Limnogeology Congress, August 31 – September 3, 2011, Konstanz, Germany: Central and East African Lakes: Climate Versus Tectonics (Posters).

Morrissey, A. J. and C. A. Scholz, 2010, Structural and stratigraphic framework of Lake Turkana, Kenya: An integration of basin-scale multichannel and high-resolution seismic reflection data. Proceedings of National Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, October 31 – November 3, 2010, Denver, Colorado: Limnogeology: Interdisciplinary Studies of Lakes and Paleolakes (Posters).

Morrissey, A. J. and C. A. Scholz, 2010, Structural and Stratigraphic Framework of Lake Turkana, Kenya: Integration of Legacy Multichannel and 2010 High-Resolution Seismic Reflection Data. Syracuse University's Lacustrine and Rift Basin Research Sponsors Meeting Presentation, September, 2010, Syracuse, New York (Oral Presentation).

Morrissey, A. J. and C. A. Scholz, 2009, Structural and Stratigraphic Framework of Lake Turkana, Kenya: Initial Integration of MCS and High-resolution Seismic Data. Syracuse University's Lacustrine and Rift Basin Research Sponsors Meeting Presentation, November, 2009, Houston, Texas (Oral Presentation).

Morrissey, A. J., 2008, Stable isotopic determination of aquatic food webs in karstic watersheds. Proceedings of North-Central Section Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, April 24-25, 2008, Evansville, Indiana: Undergraduate Research IV (Posters).