Aaron Putnam
Ph.D. Student
Research Assistant
Address:
5790 Bryand Global Sciences Center
Room: 228
Tel: (207) 581 2166
Fax: (207) 581 2202
E-Mail: aaron.putnam@umit.maine.edu
Research Interests:
My main interest is to resolve the timing of glacial advances in the Southern Hemisphere from the last ice age to present time. I work in New Zealand Southern Alps, the antipode of the European Alps, to address the following questions: Was the last ice age global in extent, or were the climates of the polar hemispheres operating out of phase? Were the abrupt climate changes of the last deglaciation global in extent? Were Holocene climate shifts, such as the Medeival Warm Period/Little Ice Age oscillation as defined in the European record, global in timing and magnitude, or characteristic of regional changes? To understand better the history of the New Zealand glaciers, I use the Beryllium-10 surface-exposure dating technique to determine the ages of moraines deposited by previously more extensive glaciers. In addition, I am working to calibrate the Be-10 production rate by sampling New Zealand landslide deposits of Holocene and late glacial age for both overrun organic material that can be dated with radiocarbon, and surface boulders from which 10Be can be extracted. I work in collaboration with the cosmogenic isotope laboratory at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, as well as Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd. in New Zealand. My research is funded by the Gary C. Comer Science and Education Foundation, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
