Ethan L. Grossman
Acting Associate Executive Dean and Associate Dean for Research, College
of Geosciences
Mollie B. and Richard A. Williford Professor, Department of Geology
and Geophysics
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-3115
Offices: 210 Halbouty
Building, O&M 202JC
Phone: Office (979) 845-0637, Lab (979)
458-4486; Dean's Office (979) 845-3651
Fax: (979) 845-6162
Email: e-grossman@tamu.edu
- Graduate Student Assistantships
(see below)
-
Publications
with links to pdf reprints,
abstracts, figures, and appendices )
-
Curriculum Vitae
-
Stable Isotope Laboratory
(DeltaPlusXP, Gas Bench,
TC/EA, EA, MAT251, Kiel II)
-
Graduate Students and Research
-
Digital Gallery for Paleochemical Specimens
and Thin-sections (DiGPaST)
(includes photomicrographs
of brachiopod shell thin-sections in plane light and
cathodoluminescence)
- Oxygen Isotope Paleotemperature Equations:
an Overview
-
Contract analyses
- Carbonate samples
- Water δ18O and δD
- Water δ13C
- δ13C, δ15 N, %C, %N, C/N
of organic matter
AREAS OF SPECIALTY
Earth-System History
;
Stable isotope geochemistry
;
Biogeochemistry and geomicrobiology
of aquifer systems
;
Geoinfomatics
My current research emphasizes changes in climate, paleoceanography,
and paleochemistry in deep time (Pre-Quaternary) and
modern environments. Armed with automation for carbon
and oxygen isotopic analysis of carbonate fossils, we have
explored climate change in the Permo-Carboniferous and Tertiary,
and its relation to the carbon cycle and atmospheric CO
2 . Our oxygen and carbon isotopic results for Permo-Carboniferous
brachiopods have been coupled with climate and icesheet
modeling to constrain Late Paleozoic glaciation and its
relation to atmospheric CO2
levels. A new area of interest is the study
of paleocirculation in the epicontinental seas of North
America (see below). In addition to studying the icehouse-greenhouse-icehouse
transition in the late Paleozoic, we are characterizing seasonal
temperature change through the Tertiary using oxygen isotopic
and trace-metal analyses of serially-sampled mollusk shells).
Lastly, we are exploring modern hypoxia on the Texas coast using stable
isotopic analyses of waters, mollusks, and foraminifera.
NEWLY FUNDED PROJECTS
- Carboniferous chemostratigraphy: Do epicontinental
seas reflect global ocean conditions? (D. Thomas, E.
Grossman, B. Miller, T. Olszewski, T. Yancey). This
is a new NSF grant to explore changes in circulation of the
epicontinental seas associated with the closing of the Rheic
Ocean. This integrated Nd, Sr, C, and O isotope study will involve
study of sections in Nevada, the U.S. Midcontinent, the Illinois
Basin, the Appalachian Basin, and southwestern Mexico. A
graduate assistantship
is available for oxygen and carbon isotopic studies
of brachiopods and conodonts.
- The ‘Wilcox Study Group’ – a group project to
research the Paleocene-Eocene Wilcox Group strata in the outcrop
and shallow subsurface (Thomas Yancey, Vaughn Bryant, Ethan Grossman,
Anne Raymond, Yuefeng Sun, and others). Several
graduate assistantships are available
including one for stable isotope exploration of the Paleocene-Eocene
thermal maximum in Texas and one for palynology biostratigraphy
(Funded by Devon Energy Corporation)
- Stable isotopes of mollusk shells as proxies for river
discharge and hypoxia on the Texas shelf. Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board (Advanced Research Program). Josiah Strauss, Ethan. Grossman
.
OTHER PROJECTS
- Changes in seawater Sr/Ca, temperature, and seasonality
during the Neogene (Cenozoic cooling (with Kai Tao and Sindia
Sosdian, Yair Rosenthal, and Carrie Lear
)
- The isotopic record for global change and paleoclimate
in the Permian (with Jordan Noret and Tom Yancey
and Boris Chuvashov)
- Constraining Late Paleozoic climate, CO2 levels, and ice
sheet volumes: Integration of oxygen isotopes with climate
and ice sheet models (with Bill Hyde, Tom Yancey, Boris
Chuvashov, Dave Pollard, and Chris Scotese)
RECENT COURSES TAUGHT
-
CHEM 685 (3). Molecular View of the Environment
(lead by E. Simanek with S. North, S. Miller, E. Smith)
-
GEOL 101 (4). Principles of
Geology
-
GEOL 451 (3). Introduction
to Geochemistry
-
GEOL 648 (3). Stable Isotope
Geology
-
GEOL 658 (3) Earth Systems
through Deep Time (with A. Raymond, B. Miller, T.
Olszewski, D. Thomas, D. Wiltschko, and others
)
-
GEOL 689. Geochemical Characterization of
Natural Systems (lead by J. McGuire with R. Guillemette,
B. Herbert, R. Popp, E. Smith)
- GEOL 681 (1). Seminar (Recent topics: Advanced Stable Isotope
Methods)
-
GEOS 105 (3) Introduction to
Environmental Geoscience (with D. Collins, R. Stewart,
and V. Tchakerian)
RECENT
SPECIAL SESSIONS AND WORKSHOPS ORGANIZED
LINKS--GROSSMAN