Graduate Student

Sindia Sosdian

Paleoclimatology, Paleoceanography, Geochemistry
Phone: 732-932-6555 x257
Room 211B

E-mail: sosdian@imcs.rutgers.edu


 

Personal Details

Research Interests

Sr/Ca ratios in marine gastropods as a paleothermometer

The overarching goal of this project is to use Sr/Ca and the oxygen isotopic composition of gastropod shells to reconstruct seasonal and secular changes in tropical sea surface temperatures (SST) during the Paleogene. My role was to construct a Sr/Ca-temperature calibration from live gastropod shells and assess the influence of other factors (e.g., salinity, species-effect and growth rates) on this calibration. The modern calibration will be applied to a fossil record to decipher past changes in mean annual SST. The results to date (Sosdian et al., 2006 in press) - suggest that Sr/Ca ratios in gastropod shells correlate with seasonal temperature variability in their growing habitat (Gulf of Mexico) and are consistent with the gastropods' δ18O record.

Mg/Ca ratios of Benthic foraminifera as a proxy for bottom water temperature

I am applying this method to construct a high resolution deep sea temperature record from Late Pliocene to present in the sub-polar North Atlantic to evaluate the cause of the mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT). The MPT has been hypothesized to be caused by a global cooling, possibly associated with a long-term decrease in greenhouse gases, allowing the growth of larger ice sheets. However, direct evidence for a global cooling across the MPT has not yet been demonstrated. I hope to use this deep sea temperature to evaluate the extent of cooling across the transition.

Personal Interests:

I enjoy surfing when I have some free time, traveling to tropical locations, running in beautiful parks, playing with my cats and guinea pigs, taking pictures, listening to music, watching good movies, and reading interesting books. I especially enjoy partaking in seagoing research cruises.

Education and Qualifications

2002 - B.Sc. cum laude in Chemistry, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ
See CV

Publications:

Gentry, D.K., S.Sosdian, E.L. Grossman, Y. Rosenthal, D.Hicks, and C.H. Lear (in prep), Stable Isotope and Sr/Ca Profiles from the Marine Gastropod Conus ermineus: Testing a Multi-proxy Approach for Inferring Paleotemperature and Paleosalinity.

Sosdian, S., D.K. Gentry, C.H. Lear, E.L. Grossman, D. Hicks, and Y. Rosenthal (2006), Strontium to calcium ratios in the marine gastropod Conus ermineus: Growth rate effects and temperature calibration, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 7,Q11023, doi:10.1029/2005GC001233 PDF

Andreasen, D., S.Sosdian, S. Perron-Cashman, C.H.Lear, T. Degaridel, P.Field, and Y. Rosenthal (2006), Fidelity of radial-viewed ICP-OES and magnetic-sector ICP-MS measurement of Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios in marine biogenic carbonates: Are they trustworthy together? Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 7, Q10P18, doi:10.1029/2005GC001124. PDF

CRUISE EXPERIENCE

May 2004, 10 days, R/V Knorr, PI: Yair Rosenthal, saturation effects on benthic foraminiferal Mg/Ca-temperature relationship.

June 2004, 25 days, R/V Knorr, Co-PI: Yair Rosenthal and Lloyd Keigwin, Holocene changes in the Gulf Stream and western Sargasso Sea.

March 2005, 30 days, R/V Revelle, PI: Liz Sikes, ocean ventilation changes in the Southwest Pacific.