Subscribe by RSS

Geology Seminar Series - Dr. Maria I Velez, University of Regina - Sediment's Secrets

Wed., Sep. 7, 2022 4:00 p.m. - Wed., Sep. 7, 2022 4:00 p.m.

Location: College West, Room 237.3

Speaker: Dr. Maria I Velez, Professor (Geology) and Associate Dean (FGSR), University of Regina

Title: Sediment's Secrets

Date and Time: Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at 4:00 PM (Saskatchewan)

In-person: College West, Room 237.3

Zoom link: https://uregina-ca.zoom.us/j/95369475820?pwd=VU50YzFIOVFWUk5wOWYxZXlxM1pLQT09

Abstract:

Lakes are sentinels of change. Their sediments record the history of their surroundings through particles that form in their waters and from others originated and transported from farther away. Over time these particles pile up on lakes’ bottoms, day by day, and over millennia, creating a natural archive of layers analogous to the pages in a book. Thus, that we can think of lakes as the scribes of natural history and as the witness of environmental, climatic, and anthropogenic change. In this presentation I will dive into three stories written in the sediments of three different lakes, two in Colombia and one in Madagascar. These stories are based on fossil diatoms, the main tool I use to decode the secrets archived in these lakes. Different accounts of climate and environmental change dating back to 300,000 years, and encompassing the first human settlements, arise from these archives. As we unveil the secrets stored in lake sediments, looking back in time, we begin to appreciate and understand better the world we live in today, confirming what Charles Lyell taught us... that “the past is the key to the present”.