From Crystals to Climate Change: On Steens Mountain (IMAGE)

Princeton University

From Crystals to Climate Change: On Steens Mountain

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. Jennifer Kasbohm, a graduate student in geosciences, stands on a layer of soft red ash on Steens Mountain in Oregon, where she found zircons that constrained the age of the oldest formation of the Columbia River Basalt Group.

Credit

Josh Murray, Princeton University

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