Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory scientists have been at the forefront of groundbreaking research in the Earth sciences. 75 yearsraising awareness of humanity’s increasing impact on the natural world and, in turn, the natural world’s impact on humanity.
Founded in 1949 as the Lamont Geological Observatory, Lamont has consistently served as an international leader in scientific research. Whether charting the ocean floor, measuring ocean carbon, recording global earthquakes, tracking the retreat of glaciers, or counting and deciphering tree rings for clues to Earth’s climate history, Lamont researchers He continues his search for a deeper understanding of the Earth.
Below are just a few of the historic discoveries made at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory over the past 75 years.
In the late 1940s, pioneering scientist Marie Tharp began collaborating with fellow geologist Bruce Heesen, and in 1957 they published the first map of the Atlantic floor. Tharp and Heesen would go on to create the first map of the entire world’s ocean floor in 1957. 1977; this monumental achievement gave credence to the then revolutionary theory of plate tectonics. During this period, Lamont also acquired its first oceanographic research vessel, the Vema, in 1953. Research carried out on the Vema, which extracted sediment cores from the ocean floor and used new geophysical techniques to image the subseafloor, helped confirm the theory of plate tectonics. It had been proposed by a cadre of Lamont scientists. Lynn SykesJohn Oliver, Brian Isaacs, walter pitman.
In 1956, Lamont’s first director, Maurice Ewing, and researcher William Dong published an influential study.ice age theorypublished in the journal Science, suggested that ice ages are caused by natural cycles of freezing and thawing in the Arctic Ocean. Although understanding of the phenomenon has changed over the years, this paper marked the beginning of Lamont’s history of large-scale climate change research.
In 1975, Wallace Brecker, one of the founders of climate science as we know it today, published a paper that is credited with the first peer-reviewed use of the term. global warming.
In 1986, mark cain and steve zebiak—Who will later contribute to its establishment? International Institute for Climate and Society—Publishes the first ocean-atmosphere model to predict the behavior of El Niño. The model allowed researchers to predict El Niño’s impact on precipitation and temperature patterns around the world.
In 1987, Brecker popularized the concept of a global ocean “conveyor belt,” a system of large-scale ocean currents driven by differences in water temperature and salinity. Professor Brecker linked this to global climate regulation, highlighting how disruptions such as freshwater inflows from melting ice can cause sudden climate change. Brecker’s research builds on the foundational work of Arnold Gordon, who demonstrated how changes in temperature and salinity between water layers cause water exchange between the world’s oceans and influence climate patterns over vast distances. Built on.
In 1988, paleoclimatologist and marine geologist Maureen Raymo, along with colleagues William F. Ruddiman and Philip N. Fröhlich, proposed that: Enhanced erosion and weathering of rock, uplift of the Himalayas And the Andes Mountains caused a decrease in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The result was the global cooling observed over the past 40 million years, which eventually led to repeated ice ages. This idea is known as Uplift/weathering hypothesis.
In 1995, Edward Cook, head of Lamont’s, Tree ring laboratorydemonstrated how tree rings dating back 1,000 years may be linked to this century’s warming climate. Tree Ring Lab’s dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) has been critical in developing “drought atlases” for North and South America, the Mediterranean, Europe, and Asia, and is widely used in the scientific community.
In 2002, Lamont University scientist Taro Takahashi and his colleagues created the first global map showing how much carbon dioxide is exchanged between the atmosphere and ocean. This map plays an important role in regulating the climate.
In 2008, Peter Kelemen and Jürg Matter published a paper on using rocks deep in the Oman mantle to store carbon dioxide. They showed how natural chemical reactions can successfully ‘freeze’ the emissions of underground mineral deposits and sequester man-made carbon dioxide.
In a 2017 paper, The emergence of harsh heat and humidity that humans cannot tolerateco-author Radley Horton And his colleagues predicted that by the second half of this century, regions would begin to experience a literally killer combination of heat and humidity that exceeds the limits of human endurance. This paper, published in 2020, found that such a situation is already emerging much earlier than expected. They are found in large areas of Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, and North America.
Currently, Lamont is home to 500 scientists, students, and staff, including approximately 200 doctoral-level researchers and graduate students. Lamont’s research ship R/V Marcus G. Lanceswhich traverses the globe collecting important data about submarine faults and new types of faults. “Slow” earthquake.
Lamont’s education and outreach professionals provide hands-on learning to the community in local schools and academies. hudson river field stationincluding ongoing events such as Hudson River Day. science saturdayand community science chance.
And every fall, Lamont challenges the public to: open house Learn more about scientists and discoveries, and attend interactive (and sometimes explosive) exhibits, tours, and lectures. Many of Lamont’s historic collections will be open to the public, including Lamont’s world-famous collections. core repositoryIt contains more than 40 miles of sediment cores taken from more than 20,000 locations in the world’s oceans. The next open house will be October 19th.
To commemorate this year’s milestone anniversary, Lamont’s important contributions from the past, present and future will be highlighted over the coming months. Stay tuned for more State of the Planet coverage. Step back through Lamont’s interactive timeline. here.
