Mark Abbott

Associate Professor
Paleoclimatology

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

412-624-1408

mabbott1@pitt.edu

Degree

PhD in Geology (1995)
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Research Areas

  • Paleolimnology
  • Paleoclimatology
  • Isotope geochemistry
  • High resolution stratigraphy
  • Geoarcheology and forensic geochemistry

Courses Offered

  • GEOL 0860 Environmental Geology
Introduction to environmental geology for beginning majors and non-majors. Offered summer term.
  • GEOL 1020 Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
Principles of sedimentary processes and impact of these processes on the geologic record. For mid-level geology majors. Offered every fall term.
  • GEOL 1052 Paleoclimatology
Overview of methods used to reconstruct Earth's climate history and the cause of these changes. For mid-level geology majors. Offered alternate years.
  • GEOL 1060 Geomorphology
Examination of terrestrial landforms and the surficial processes that shape them. For mid-level geology majors. Offered alternate years.
  • GEOL 3930 Lakes and Environmental Change
Focus on the Earth's present and past climates, including lake and other records. Graduate level. Offered alternate years.

Representative Publications

Abbott, M.B. and Wolfe, A. (2003). Intensive Pre-Incan Metallurgy Recorded by Lake Sediments from the Bolivian Andes. Science 301, 1893-1895.

Bird, B.W., Abbott, M.B., *Kutchko, B. and Finney, B.P. (2009). A 2000-year Varve-Based Climate Record from the Central Brooks Range, Alaska. Journal of Paleolimnology 41, 25-41.

Besonen, M.R. Bradley, R.S., Mudelsee, M., Abbott, M.B. and Francus, P. (2008) A Thousand Year Record of Hurricanes from Boston, Massachusetts. Geophysical Research Letters 35. DOI:1029/2008GL033950.

Cooke, C.A., Abbott, M.B., Wolfe, A.P. and Kittleson, J.L. (2007). A Millennium of Metallurgy Recorded by Lake Sediments in Morococha, Peruvian Andes. Environmental Science and Technology 41, 3469-3474.

Polissar, P.J., Abbott, M.B., Wolfe, A.P., Bezada, M., Rull, V. and Bradley, R.S. (2006). Solar Modulation of Little Ice Age Climate in the Tropical Andes. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103, 8937-8942.

Stansell, N.D., Polissar, P.J. and Abbott, M.B. (2007). Last Glacial Maximum Equilibrium-Line Altitude and Paleo-Temperature Reconstructions for the Cordillera de Mérida, Venezuelan Andes. Quaternary Research 67, 115-127.

Additional Links

NOAA Paleoclimate Data

Climate Science

ICDP - International Continental Scientific Drilling Program

PAGES - Past Global Changes

Climate Data Library

Radiocarbon Calibration

Weather