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Media Advisory

 


NSF PA/M 04-26 - August 18, 2004

Scientists to Probe Earth's Deep-Time Climate at Upcoming "GeoSystems" Workshop

GeoSystems
GeoSystems scientists are exploring the climate of "deep-time" millions of years ago in Earth's history.
Credit: Eric Anderson, University of Oklahoma
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Arlington, Va.— "GeoSystems: Probing Earth's Deep-Time Climate and Linked Systems" focuses on "deep-time" millions of years ago to better understand the complexities of Earth's atmosphere, water, ecosystems, and geology, using climate as the focus.

National Science Foundation (NSF) and university scientists will participate in a workshop highlighting recent "deep-time" discoveries. Their presentations will address the status, role and future of deep-time climate and linked studies, and the lessons we can learn from shining a light into Earth's deep-time dark ages.

Aspects of our modern climate are now returning to a state last known eons ago. Understanding the ranges, rates, and processes responsible for climate extremes in those ancient times is critical for developing knowledge of our planet's climate system, and for predictions of future climate scenarios.

Recent research on deep-time is changing previous conceptions by reconstructing parameters such as atmospheric composition, sea-surface temperature, rates and modes of ocean circulation, ocean state (oxygen levels, nutrient status, biological productivity), winds, seasonality, and temperatures from records dating from tens, hundreds, and thousands of millions of years in the past. These records, scientists say, are teaching us how Earth's past climate interacted with its ecosystems, geology and water in ways previously unimagined.


 

Who:

Margaret Leinen, Assistant Director for Geosciences, NSF
Walt Snyder, Division of Earth Sciences, NSF
Rich Lane, Division of Earth Sciences, NSF
Lynn Soreghan, University of Oklahoma
Christopher Maples, Desert Research Institute
Karl Flessa, University of Arizona
William Hay, GEOMAR-Kiel and UC-Boulder

What:

Workshop on "GeoSystems: Probing Earth's Deep-Time Climate and Linked Systems"

When:

Thursday, September 9, 2004 – Saturday, September 11, 2004

Where:

Marymount University-Ballston (Auditorium)
1000 N. Glebe Rd.
Arlington, VA 22230
(Metro Orange Line, Ballston Stop)

For a detailed workshop agenda and directions, please see: http://geosystems.ou.edu


For more information and to arrange for a pass to the workshop site, please call: Cheryl Dybas, NSF, (703) 292-7734, cdybas@nsf.gov

-NSF-

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