Information for possible research collaborators

Bruce Railsback, Department of Geology, University of Georgia

     In research projects using stalagmites as records of paleoclimate, my unique contribution is using the petrography of stalagmites to constrain and enrich interpretations of paleoclimate.  Specifically, I look at variation in spelean minerals, detrital non-carbonate materials, crystal forms and fabrics, and layer relationships as evidence regarding environmental change.  I further hopefully contribute by integrating those observations with isotopic and growth-rate data. 
     The most recent and best example of this sort of work is a forthcoming paper on a stalagmite from northern Spain, of which I will happily send a preprint to potential collaborators.  Earlier examples include Railsback et al. (1994) and, with regard to detrital material and color, Webster et al. (2007).  Examples of the sorts of things at which I look are included in the now-slightly-dated Atlas of Speleothem Microfabrics. 
     I would be happy to consider collaborating with researchers who use stalagmites as records of paleoclimate and who want to incorporate petrographic evidence in their work.  Please feel free to contact me at rlsbk@gly.uga.edu

Railsback, L. Bruce, Brook, George A., Chen, Jian, Kalin, Robert, and Fleisher, Christopher J., 1994, Environmental controls on the petrology of a Late Holocene speleothem from Botswana with annual layers of aragonite and calcite: Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. A64, p. 147-155.

James W. Webster, George A. Brook, L. Bruce Railsback, Hai Cheng, R. Lawrence Edwards, Clark Alexander, and Philip P. Reeder, 2007, Stalagmite evidence from Belize indicating significant droughts at the time of Preclassic Abandonment, the Maya Hiatus, and the Classic Maya Collapse: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 250, p. 1-17.

Railsback, L. Bruce, Fuyuan Liang, Juan Ramón Vidal Romaní, Aurora Grandal d'Anglade, Marcos Vaqueiro Rodríguez, Luisa Santos Fidalgo, Daniel Fernández Mosquera, Hai Cheng, and R. Lawrence Edwards, A stalagmite record of Holocene long-term climate change and shorter-term environmental shifts from the Serra do Courel of northwestern Spain: in revision for Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.

Last updated 15 February 2011.