M. Sc. Geosciences (in progress)
KENDRA CLARK
Areas of Interest
Micropaleontology, Biostratigraphy,Paleoecology, Paleoclimatology
Current Research
LATE CAMPANIAN-MAASTRICHTIAN PLANKTIC FORAMINIFERAL BIOSTRATIGRAPHY, TAXONOMY, AND ISOTOPE PALEOECOLOGY OF ODP SITES 1209 AND 1210, LEG 198
Abstract:
Currently, knowledge of the Cretaceous climate history is based on a limited number of oxygen isotope data points from few sites and this is especially the case for the tropical Pacific Ocean. Data obtained from well preserved and diverse assemblages of late Campanian and Maastrichtian age planktic foraminifera from ODP Sites 1209 and 1210 along a 1500-m depth transect of Shatsky Rise in the North Pacific provides a high-resolution study of planktonic foraminifera needed to better understand Cretaceous climate history. Results are compared with other detailed studies from the South Atlantic (Abramovich and Keller, 2003) and the North Atlantic-Blake Nose (Tur and Huber, 2001) in order to compare assemblage composition and biostratigraphic ranges between ocean basins, and constrain paleobiogeographic provinces of latest Cretaceous time. The first detailed documentation of planktic foraminiferal species’ life histories based on stable isotope analyses will be presented. These data are invaluable for estimating ancient sea surface temperatures and reconstructing nature of the upper water column, including thermal stratification and productivity. New information and SEM images created for the taxonomic dictionary will be uploaded to the Mesozoic Planktonic Foraminifera Online Taxonomic Dictionary, a NEPTUNE database, hosted by CHRONOS.
Contact Info:
Micropaleontology Lab - Room 252
Morrill Sciences Center
Department of Geosciences
University of Massachusetts - Amherst
611 N. Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA 01003
phone: (413) 545-2593 (Micropaleo Lab)
department fax: (413) 545-1200
email: kclark@geo.umass.edu
“Geologic time is the intellectual theme that connects a wide variety of research endeavors in geoscience – missing is the corresponding cyberinfrastructure that allows the resources of all these endeavors to be pooled. CHRONOS’s (Greek: time) purpose is to transform Earth history research by seamlessly integrating geoscience databases and tools (www.chronos.org).”
CHRONOS
Part of my Masters project has involved working with the CHRONOS project. Specifically, I have identified “high-quality” species occurrences of nannofossils, foraminiferas, diatoms and radiolarians from DSDP and post-leg 135 ODP volumes for upload to the NEPTUNE database. In addition, I have most recently uploaded information to another CHRONOS hosted database, the Mesozoic Planktonic Foraminifera Online Taxonomic Dictionary. Complete information (General, Time/Space, Morphology/Paleobiology, and Size) and 23 high-quality images were entered for 11 species belonging to 3 genera (Gansserina, Hastigerinoides and Ticinella). In addition, a total of 90 high-quality images for an additional 41 species belonging to 11 genera were uploaded to the database.
PHOTOS:
Volcanology Field Trip - Hawaii - May 2004
Kilauea Lava Flow Mauna Loa “Death March”
Just me grabbing some liquid hot magma A 3-day hike to the summit of Mauna Loa and back.
