Dr Mary Elliot
Lecturer in Paleoclimatology, Paleoenvironments 

Address

School of GeoSciences                                        Tel: 44 (0) 131 650 8514
West Mains Road                                                Fax: 44 (0) 131 668 3184
Edinburgh  EH9 3JW                                         email:  Mary.Elliot@glg.ed.ac.uk
United Kingdom



Research Interests
Curriculum Vitae
Publications


Research Interests

My research principally focuses on the study of paleoceanography and paleoclimatology with a special emphasis on understanding the origin and mechanisms of abrupt climate change. I estimate past environmental and climatic changes by measuring the geochemical composition of carbonate fossils. I have studied two types of climate archives 1) microfossils deposited in deep-sea sediments and 2) marine bivalves.

1) Ocean sediment records of past climates
Sediment records of the North Atlantic Ocean have revealed the existence of an unstable climate during the last glacial period (~ 60,000 to 10,000 years ago). I combined the use of rock fragment analysis, micropaleontological and geochemical tools to reconstruct past ocean circulation and continental ice sheet behaviour in relation to the evolution of Northern Hemisphere climate during the past 60 000 years.


2) Marine bivalves
I am currently investigating the use of fossil marine molluscs as a tool to reconstruct past climatic evolution. My approach has been to analyse the geochemical variations of annually secreted layers of carbonate to reconstruct past environmental changes of coastal waters. I followed a multi-proxy approach combining measurements of stable isotopes and the abundance of trace elements to differentiate the role of environmental constrains (water temperature and salinity) and physiology (growth rates, ontogenetic evolution) on the geochemistry of the shells carbonates.

Top

Curriculum Vitae


Positions and Experience

2002 - present     Lecturer, The University of Edinburgh
2001 - 2002        Post-doctoral fellow, Research School of Earth Sciences, Canberra, Australia
1999 - 2001        NOAA Postdoctoral Fellow, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, US
1995 -1999         Ph.D. Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, Gif / Yvette France.


Education

1994-95             Diplôme d’Étude Approfondie ~ Master’s degree, Earth Sciences, Orsay University; France.
1992-95             Magistère in Earth Sciences, École Normale Supérieure, Paris; France.
1990-92             Diplôme d’Étude Universitaire Générale in Earth Sciences, Dijon University; France.



Top

Publications

Elliot, M., P.B. deMenocal, B.K. Linsley, & S.S. Howe, Environmental controls on the seasonal isotopic records of Mercenaria mercenaria and potential application to paleo-environmental studies. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 4, 1056, doi:10.1029/2002GC000425 Download.

Elliot M., L Labeyrie & J.C. Duplessy. Changes in North Atlantic Deep -Water formation associated with the Dansgaard-Oeschger temperature oscillations (10-60ka). Quat. Sci. Rev., 21, 1153-1165, 2002.
Download

Elliot M., L Labeyrie, T. Dokken & S. Manthé. Coherent patterns of ice rafted debris deposits in the Nordic regions during the last glacial (10-60 ka). Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 194, 151-163. 2001.
Download

Cortijo E., M. Elliot, L. Labeyrie, N. Tisnerat & E. Balbon. Rapid climatic variability of the North Atlantic Ocean and global climate: a focus on the IMAGES program. Quat. Sci. Rev., 19, 227-241, 2000.
Download

Cortijo, E., E. Balbon, M. Elliot, L. Labeyrie & JL Turon. Glacial and interglacial hydrological changes in the North Atlantic Ocean. Reconstructing Ocean History: a Window into the Future, edited by F. Abrantes & A. Mix, Plenum Publishing, 83-101, 1999.

Bond G., W. Showers, M. Elliot, M. Evans, R. Lotti & S. Johnson. Tracing the North Atlantic’s ~ 1.5kyr Climate Cycle to 80,000 Years B.P.- Relation to Heinrich Events, Dansgaard /Oeschger Cycles, and the Little Ice Age. "Mechanisms of millennial-scale climate change", edited by P.U. Clark, R.S. Webb & L.D. Keigwin, AGU Geophysical Monograph 112, 35-58, 1999.

Labeyrie L. & M. Elliot. Abrupt climatic changes – causes and consequences: an introduction. Reconstructing Ocean History: a Window into the Future, edited by F. Abrantes & A. Mix, Plenum Publishing, 73-81, 1999.

Labeyrie L., H. Leclaire, C. Waelbroeck, E. Cortijo, J.C. Duplessy, L. Vidal, M. Elliot, B. Lecoat & G. Aufret. Temporal variability of the Surface and Deep Waters of the N-W Atlantic Ocean at Orbital & Millennial Scales. "Mechanisms of millennial-scale climate change", edited by P.U. Clark, R.S. Webb & L.D. Keigwin, AGU Geophysical Monograph 112, 77-98, 1999.

Elliot M., L. Labeyrie, G. Bond, E. Cortijo, JL. Turon, N. Tisnerat & JC. Duplessy. Millennial-scale iceberg discharges in the Irminger Basin during the last glacial period: Relationship with the Heinrich events and environmental settings, Paleoceanography, 13, 433-446, 1998.
Download

Cortijo E., L. Labeyrie, L. Vidal, M. Vautravers, M. Chapman, J.C. Duplessy, M. Elliot, M. Arnold, J.L. Turon & G. Auffret. Changes in sea surface hydrology associated with Heinrich event 4 in the North Atlantic Ocean between 40° and 60°N, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 146, 29-45, 1997.
Download

Top