Sarah Kogler
By Sarah Kogler
Geological Sciences graduate student
My project examines the influence that modern climate has on paleoclimate estimates with depth.
Coring to 150 cm in a soupy portion of Site 1.jpg
Paleosols (soils formed long ago) are used widely in paleoenvironmental reconstructions. I expected that, with time, exposed paleosols would reflect environmental characteristics at the time of exposure rather than at the time of formation.
Kelsey McGuire excavating at Site 3.
Sarah Koger Excavating at Site 5.
Along with my undergraduate field assistants, Alex Hartman and Kelsey McGuire, I spent the first portion of the summer scrambling on local roadcuts sampling paleosols. In addition to excavating a lot of sediment, we saw a lot of wildlife, and talked to law enforcement on several occasions.
Alex found a box turtle.
Once samples were collected, the major oxide geochemistry was analyzed and molecular weathering ratios, paleotemperature, and paleoprecipitation were calculated. These data will be used to determine whether geochemistry changes with depth into an outcrop, which can be used to develop best practices for near-surface sampling in paleosol research.
Site 2 from the road.
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