From Crystals to Climate Change: Finding Ash Beds (IMAGE)

Princeton University

From Crystals to Climate Change: Finding Ash Beds

Caption

Princeton geologists Jennifer Kasbohm and Blair Schoene used tiny zircon crystals found in volcanic ash to rewrite the timeline for the eruptions of the Columbia River flood basalts, a series of massive lava flows that coincided with an ancient global warming period 16 million years ago. Here, undergraduate Josh Murray ('18) stands at the base of a cliff that shows a layer of grey volcanic ash, found between two basalt flows, which yielded zircons that constrained the age of the Wanapum Basalt.

Credit

Jennifer Kasbohm, Princeton University Department of Geosciences

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