As concern about the timing, magnitude, and rate of future climate change increases, developing a comprehensive understanding of the relevant mechanisms governing climate variability has become crucial. The identification of several abrupt climate shifts in the paleoclimate record that are greater in magnitude than those experienced by modern society has served to highlight the potential risks associated with continued increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases. Identifying the forcings associated with these abrupt changes, using a combination of modern observations and process studies, paleoclimate proxy data, and model-based data synthesis and prediction, will serve to improve our ability to estimate future changes. Mechanisms and physically plausible models that can explain observed climate variability on all timescales are still inadequate, in part due to a lack of information on fundamental relationships among climate and environmental responses. Hypotheses that relate changes in climate forcings and associated responses are critical, particularly for the Southern Hemisphere where long high-resolution paleoclimate records and detailed glaciological observations are limited. The Department of Earth Sciences and Climate Change Institute have long been recognized as leaders in these areas, and have been involved in defining and refining several paradigms associated with global and abrupt climate change. Over the next decade, Department and Institute faculty will have integral and often leadership roles in several climate research initiatives ranging from deep ice core recovery and geologic sampling to satellite remote sensing.

The Environmental Geosciences at the University of Maine focus on near surface Earth processes that control water quality, water movement, and the chemical alteration of earth materials. Ecosystem management, water resource protection, and the supply of clean drinking water are all intertwined with near surface hydrologic and geochemical processes. These processes touch the lives of individuals in Maine whenever they drink a bottle of spring water or cast a fishing line into the many lakes and rivers in Maine, and have direct bearing on the health of ecosystems, ranging from the headwaters of streams to cities. Our studies interpret field data through computer and laboratory-based experiments. Projects within the Environmental Geosciences that faculty are pursuing include computer modeling to assess feedback between peatland hydrology and greenhouse gasses produced and sequestered by peatlands, evaluating the hydrology and geochemistry of fractured bedrock aquifers, conducting field and laboratory experiments to assess the weathering of rocks and their influence on soil and water chemistry, and modeling the dissolution of silicate minerals involved in important carbon dioxide sequestration reactions. There are several departments and research groups at the University of Maine that share our goal of improving our understanding of the environment. These groups, as well as state and federal agencies, provide many exciting opportunities for multidisciplinary interaction.

The solid Earth sciences have built on the plate tectonic theory since the 1960’s, and in that time a major funding structure has been established by federal agencies to investigate the inner workings of our planet and the evolution of its surface. The question of how stress is transferred in the lithosphere as a result of long-term processes such as plate motions, gravitational potential energy distribution, or lithosphere/asthenosphere interactions, is a central issue in solid Earth science, with direct implications for fundamental geological processes such as the development of mountains and sedimentary basins, inter- and intra- plate deformation, and the triggering of earthquakes. Equally important is the visco-elastic response of Earth to transient loads imposed by icecaps that come and go with changing climate. This is a topic of great significance that can bring together a more complete understanding of coupled responses to climate change and vertical motions of Earth’s surface. Our understanding of solid Earth evolution requires a better knowledge of the interactions among chemical and mechanical processes at various spatial and temporal scales. New observational techniques, including novel applications of cosmogenic nuclides, space geodesy and electron-beam technology are providing new, high quality data, and the next decade will witness the development of dynamic models able to integrate these data. Our department is a leader in many of these areas of study, with researchers specializing in the coupled physical and chemical processes that shape Earth’s surface and drive evolution of its lithosphere and cryosphere. Please go here for more information.

The response of shorelines and the people who inhabit them to rising sea level and associated coastal processes has been a major research focus of near shore Marine Geology for many years. With the recent explosion of human populations in coastal areas like barrier islands, deltas and landslide-prone bluffs, there is a growing need to develop quantitative measurements and models for how coastal environments have changed, are changing and will likely change as the level of the sea rises and storms frequently alter the shore. Sea-level change is driven by both glacial expansion and contraction as well as by land level changes associated with loading/unloading of ice on the land; processes that link marine geology to climate change and geodynamics. As the shoreline rises and falls, processes dominated by waves, wind and tides have swept over what is now the seafloor as well as terrestrial regions and lakes. We have pioneered in the development of indices to record sea-level change over the past 20,000 years from locations above and below the present shoreline. We have studied the record of past sea-level changes by mapping the seafloor as well as lake bottoms. We interact with State agencies like the Maine Geological Survey and Department of Marine Resources as well as federal agencies like the U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service. We have used our expertise to influence state and national policies on coastal hazards and construction.

An important aspect of our work is communicating our knowledge of Earth, its climate and environment to others. We do this in several ways. For example, every year we host an Earth Science Teacher Workshop in which up to 50 Maine State teachers participate in a variety of activities including seminars, demonstrations and field trips. Together with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, we have developed the IDEAS program for K12 teachers that melds climate modeling with the Laptops in Maine Initiative. We also get our students involved by having them develop on-line educational resources such as the modules in our Analog Modeling Facility. Finally, we communicate through the news media and personal contact with the public. If you are a news agency looking for leading authorities on matters pertaining to the Earth, if you are a teacher who wants to improve your understanding of Earth Sciences, or if you are a general member of the public who is intrigued by something that you heard or found, please do not hesitate to contact us!