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Charlie Roots - Carbon Isotopes, Precambrian Strata
Carbon isotope correlations of the Yukon’s Precambrian strata and the redox evolution of Neoproterozoic oceans
Charlie is working with Francis A. Macdonald (PhD student), David Johnston (post-doctoral student) and Trevor Petach (undergraduate student, all at Harvard University) to refine correlations of Neoproterozoic strata from Alaska, across the Yukon in the Ogilvie and Wernecke Mountains, to the Mackenzie Mountains in the Northwest Territories. They are using the carbon isotope signature of limestone and dolostone strata, which varies in a known manner globally between about 600 and 1000 million years ago. By study of this ancient rock record they will better understand this key interval in Earth history, and allow future geologists to focus upon critical intervals which may hold secrets for mineral deposition and climate change.