Ellen Thomas – Page 2

(By Kayleigh Schweiker '22) As scientific study regarding the mass extinction of marine life during the Cretaceous era has progressed, theories including extraterrestrial impact and intense volcanism have surfaced. However, a recent study co-authored by Ellen Thomas, Harold T. Stearns Professor of Integrative Sciences, suggests that carbon impact—not volcanism—was key in driving the Cretaceous mass extinction. In a paper titled "Rapid ocean acidification and protracted Earth system recovery followed the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact," which was published in the Oct. 21 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Thomas and her colleagues discuss how increases in ocean…

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Throughout time, rising oceanic and atmospheric oxygen levels have been crucial to the habitability of environments at the surface of the Earth. "The Earth had no free oxygen gas in its atmosphere early on," said Ellen Thomas, the Harold T. Stearns Professor of Integrative Sciences. "The oxygen has been provided over time by photosynthesis of algae followed by storage of organic matter in rocks." Thomas, who also is research professor of earth and environmental sciences, examines the timing of oxygen formation in Earth's atmosphere and oceans over geological time in a study published in the May 2018 issue of Science.…

For the past 60 years, a massive megafauna mammal thrived in crates buried in Wesleyan's tunnels and attics. This month, the creature, known as a Glyptodon, has emerged in Exley Science Center for public viewing. Although the armored armadillo-like animal became extinct more than 10,000 years ago, Wesleyan acquired a fossil cast in the 1870s, where it became a showpiece at the university's Orange Judd Museum of Natural Sciences. In 1957, the museum closed and thousands of artifacts, including the Glyptodon, were haphazardly stuffed into crates and boxes and hauled to multiple locations throughout campus. "After the museum closed, everything was scattered all…

Ellen Thomas, University Professor in the College of Integrative Sciences and research professor of earth and environmental sciences, is a co-author of a paper titled "Very Large Release of Mostly Volcanic Carbon During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum," published in the weekly science journal Nature on Aug. 31. The study focused on Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, a surface warming event associated with ecological disruption that occurred about 56 million years ago, releasing a large amount of carbon. The researchers combined boron and carbon isotope data in an Earth system model and found that the source of carbon was much larger than previously thought. Most…

The availability of sufficient dissolved oxygen in seawater is critical for marine life, and places where oxygen falls below a critical concentration — or "dead zones" — are often associated with mass die-offs of fish, shrimp and other creatures. With future global warming, the oceans are on course to see progressively less dissolved oxygen available. Scientists currently use often not well-tested computer models to predict the expansion of dead zones, but a team of researchers from Wesleyan, University California Riverside and Syracuse University are hoping to use oceanic sediment samples to better predict where die-offs may occur next. Their study,…

For her outstanding efforts in pioneering studies in micropalaeontology and natural history, The Micropalaeontological Society (TMS) awarded Wesleyan's Ellen Thomas with the 2016 Brady Medal. The Brady Medal is TMS's most prestigious honor and is awarded to scientists who have had a major influence on micropalaeontology by means of a substantial body of research. Thomas was honored for "communicating to an extremely broad audience fascinating, impactful and often thought-provoking research" and "academic encouragement of students and peers over the years with [her] generosity of time in a very busy and successful career," noted TMS President F. John Gregory. Thomas, research professor…

Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, is the co-author of "Pteropoda (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Thecosomata) from the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum of the United States Atlantic Coastal Plain," published in Palaeontologia Electronica, Article 19 (3) in October 2016. The Paleocene Epoch lasted 65 to 54.8 million years ago and the Eocene Epoch lasted from 56 to 33.9 million years ago, and was a period of rapid global warming. The response of many organisms to the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) has been documented, but marine mollusks are not known from any deposits of that age. For the first time, Thomas and her…

Ellen Thomas, professor of earth and environmental sciences and University Professor in the College of Integrative Sciences, recently co-authored five papers in academic journals. Her first paper, “Jianshuiite in Oceanic Manganese Nodules” co-authored with Jeffery Post and Peter Heaney, appeared within American Mineralogist. Deviating from her usual research, Thomas focused on mineralogy and, in particular, the crystal structure of a rare mineral found in sediments during an ancient counterpart of future global warming. Thomas co-authored “Variability in Climate and Productivity during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum in the Western Tethys,” with Flavia Boscolo-Galazzo and Luca Giusberti, both of the University of Padova.…

Ellen Thomas, the University Professor in the College of Integrative Sciences, research professor of earth and environmental science, is the co-author of two recently published papers. They include: "Microfossil evidence for trophic changes during the Eocene–Oligocene transition in the South Atlantic (ODP Site 1263, Walvis Ridge)," published in Climate of the Past, Volume 11, pages 1249–1270 in September 2015 and "Changes in benthic ecosystems and ocean circulation in the Southeast Atlantic across Eocene Thermal Maximum 2," published in the journal Paleoceanography, Volume 30, pages 1059-1077 in August 2015. "Microfossil evidence" describes changes in organisms living in the oceans during a major change in the…

Ellen Thomas, the University Professor in the College of Integrative Sciences, received a grant in August from the National Science Foundation to support her research on “Evaluating Deep-Sea Ventilation and the Global Carbon Cycle during early Paleocene Hyperthemals.” The $105,000 award is part of a combined $619,000 grant shared with Yale University and the University of Texas at Arlington. Rapid, short-term global warming events in the Early Paleogene (~65-45 million years ago) were caused by massive greenhouse gas release into the ocean-atmosphere system. These warming events, called hyperthermals, had far-reaching effects on the evolution of life on Earth, ecosystems and…

Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, is the co-author of four recenty-published papers. They include: "Deep-sea benthic foraminiferal turnover during the early middle Eocene transition at Walvis Ridge (SE Atlantic)," published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Issue 417: pages 126-136, January 2015. The paper's co-author, Silvia Ortiz, was a PhD student at the University of Zaragoza, and spent several months at Wesleyan working with Thomas. (more…)

Thomas: Carbon Impact—Not Volcanism—Key in Driving the Cretaceous Mass Extinction

“Terrible Beast” Takes Residence in Exley Science Center

Thomas’s Science Paper Examines Earth’s Oxygen Levels over Geological Time

Giant Glyptodon Emerges in Exley Science Center

Volcanoes Caused Ecological Disruption Says Thomas in Nature Article

Thomas Awarded NSF Grant for Paleoceanographic Research

Thomas Honored by Micropalaeontology Society

Thomas’s Research on Marine Biota during a Period of Rapid Global Warming Published

Thomas Co-Authors 5 Papers in Academic Journals

Thomas’s Microfossil, Climate Change Research Published in 2 Journals

NSF Supports Thomas’s Study on the Impact of Rapid Carbon Emissions on Global Climate

Thomas Authors 4 Papers on Environmental Change