In this long-term project, we investigate major catastrophes in Earth’s history in the broadest sense, including meteorite impacts and episodes of major volcanic eruptions, and their biotic effects. This research integrates paleontology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, clay mineralogy and geochemistry in reconstructing past environmental change associated with or leading up to mass extinctions. A wide variety of climatic and oceanographic problems from the Phanerozoic are covered and global aspects of major environmental change (e.g., Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary mass extinction, Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum, global oceanic anoxic events, end-Devonian mass extinction) are especially considered. Other preferred topics include environmental geology, paleoclimatology, global change, phosphorus and carbon cycles, feedback loops, evolution of carbonate platforms, large-scale changes in carbonate facies, sequence stratigraphy, continental weathering systems, chemical weathering, soil formation, in Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary deposits.
