Aaron Putnam
I study how interactions among Earth’s surface, atmosphere, cryosphere, and oceans produce glacial cycles and abrupt climate change. I examine these interactions from the ‘ground up’ by targeting the geomorphological footprints of glaciers, ice-sheets, and closed-basin lakes. My approach involves surface mapping, geochronology (e.g., 10Be surface-exposure dating, 14C, U-series, and dendrochronology) and quantitative modeling. My goals are to develop insights into the fundamental operation of Earth’s climate system and to clarify how the climate responds to natural and human forcing factors.
Northern Hemisphere field sites include the Altai, Tien Shan, and Himalaya mountain chains of Asia; the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada of western North America; the Swiss Alps; the fjords of western Scandinavia; and the midwestern and northeastern United States (the southern and southeaster margins of the Laurentide Ice Sheet). Southern Hemisphere field sites include the Southern Alps of New Zealand and the southern Andes of South America.