James C. zachos

 
 
Background Education: B.S. 1981 State University of New York, Oneonta M.S. 1983 University of South Carolina Ph.D. 1988, University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography Post-Doctoral Fellow 1988-1990 University of Michigan  Contact Email: jzachos@pmc.ucsc.edu Phone: 831-459-4644 Fax: 831-459-3074  Other Information Publications Research Projects Research Group Collaborators Lecture Schedule Teaching  Research News/Misc. Eocene Carbon Sequestration Paleocene-Eocene Therm. Max. (PETM) News Photos/Figures AGU Webcast EGU Webcast  Research/Teaching Links Courses Earth & Planetary Sciences Stable Isotope Lab BIOPE CIFAR UCSC  Misc. Hobbies/Activitiesmailto:jzachos@pmc.ucsc.edu?subject=contacthttp://www.es.ucsc.edu/%7Ejzachos/Publications.htmlhttp://www.es.ucsc.edu/%7Ejzachos/projects.htmlhttp://www.es.ucsc.edu/%7Ejzachos/lab/UCSC%20EPS.htmlhttp://www.es.ucsc.edu/%7Ejzachos/lab/Research.htmlhttp://www.es.ucsc.edu/%7Ejzachos/Presentationlog.htmlhttp://www.es.ucsc.edu/%7Ejzachos/course.htmlhttp://es.ucsc.edu/~jzachos/Hyper/Hyperthermals.htmlhttp://es.ucsc.edu/~jzachos/Hyper/Hyperthermals.htmlhttp://es.ucsc.edu/~jzachos/http://es.ucsc.edu/~jzachos/http://es.ucsc.edu/%7Esilab/biocomplex/researchnews_pubs.htmhttp://www.es.ucsc.edu/~jzachos/PETM.htmlhttp://www.agu.org/webcast/fm06/http://www.cntv.at/EGU2011/index.php?modid=18&a=show&pid=143http://ic.ucsc.edu/~jzachos/eart120/Spring%202007.htmlhttp://www.es.ucsc.edu/index.htmlhttp://www.es.ucsc.edu/%7Esilab/http://es.ucsc.edu/%7Esilab/biocomplex/index.htmhttp://www.ciar.ca/web/home.nsf/pages/earthsystemhttp://www.ucsc.edu/oncampus/http://www.es.ucsc.edu/%7Ejzachos/hobbies2.htmlhttp://es.ucsc.edu/~jzachos/shapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10shapeimage_2_link_11shapeimage_2_link_12shapeimage_2_link_13shapeimage_2_link_14shapeimage_2_link_15shapeimage_2_link_16shapeimage_2_link_17shapeimage_2_link_18shapeimage_2_link_19shapeimage_2_link_20shapeimage_2_link_21
 

Research


PALEOCEANOGRAPHY, PALEOCLIMATOLOGY, MARINE STRATIGRAPHY

Jim Zachos's research interests encompass a wide variety of problems related to the biological, chemical, and climatic evolution of late Cretaceous and Cenozoic oceans. He is a paleoceanographer who measures the chemical compositions of fossils to reconstruct past changes in marine temperatures, ocean circulation, continental ice-volume, marine productivity, and carbon cycling. His research is oriented toward identifying the mechanisms responsible for driving long and short-term changes in global climate.

Zachos and his students are currently participating in several projects directed towards understanding the nature of rapid and extreme climate transitions in earth history. These projects involve the application of stable isotopes and trace metal ratios to reconstruct past climates and ocean chemistry for several episodes of extreme climates including the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (~55 mya), the middle and early Eocene Climatic Optimums (~48 & 52 mya respectively), as well as the subsequent long term cooling trends. Zachos and his students are also measuring the isotope and trace metal ratios of marine microfossils to establish the approximate timing and extent of continental glaciations during the Oligocene and Miocene, from 15 to 35 million years ago. They are also working on the important problem of ocean acidification (acid oceans), in earths past.

Zachos is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, and a member of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIAR), Earth System Evolution Program.