Geology & Planetary Science
503 SRCC
4107 O'Hara Street
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260

412-624-6347

cejones@pitt.edu

Degree

PhD in Geology, 1992
Oxford University, UK
Research Page

Areas of Responsibility

• Advise students in Geology & Environmental Geology BS Programs
• Oversee student laboratory course offerings
• Manage Geology and Environmental Geology curricula
• Teach a wide range of undergraduate geology courses

Courses Offered

• GEOL 0040 Physical Geology
  Fundamentals of geology and techniques used to study Earth processes. For beginning majors. Offered occasionally
• GEOL 0060 History of the Earth
  Examination of Earth systems over long time scales, including climate change and the history of North America. Offered every spring.
• GEOL 0800 Geology
  Introduction to geology for beginning majors and non-majors. Offered every term (alternate with Professor Stewart).
• GEOL 0871 Intelligent Life in the Universe
  Origin of the universe, solar system, and Earth, and origin and evolution of life and intelligent life on Earth. For non-majors. Offered every fall.
• GEOL 1055 Environmental Science, Ethics, and Public Policy
  Examination of the interrelationships among environmental science, ethics, and policy. Offered every Spring (taught jointly with Dr. Ed McCord).
• GEOL 1201 Evolution and Extinction
  Causes and consequences of extinctions past, present, and future. Offered occasionally through College of General Studies.

Background

Dr. Jones received his PhD from Oxford University (as a Rhodes Scholar), and he carried out geological research at the University of Michigan and University of North Carolina before joining the University of Pittsburgh faculty as a lecturer. He is coauthor (with his father) of a widely-used geology laboratory manual: Jones, N.W. and Jones, C.E. Laboratory Manual for Physical Geology (McGraw Hill), now in its fifth edition.

Dr. Jones's research involves the geochemistry of sedimentary rocks and fossils as applied to problems in paleoceanography and global climate change. These projects include: (1) Inferring the timing of Andean uplift and changes in continental weathering using Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopes from Amazon Fan detrital sediments; (2) Using the seawater Sr-isotope curve to infer major short-term pulses of sea-floor hydrothermal activity in the Jurassic and Cretaceous; (3) Using Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopes in eolian sediments recovered from the North Pacific to work out the continental source area of these sediments; (4) Looking at the preservation of Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopes in microscopic fossil fish teeth in order to determine if these teeth can be used to develop paleo-seawater records of Nd and Pb isotopic variations; (5) Dating of ancient limestones using U-Pb isotope systematics; (6) Using belemnites and oysters to develop a Jurassic and Cretaceous seawater Sr-isotope curve.