Benjamin Gill
Associate Professor of Sedimentary Geochemistry
2043B Derring Hall
Ben Gill is a geochemist and sedimentary geologist that specializes in reconstructing the present and past chemical cycles on our planet. Much of this work is focused on intervals in the Earth’s past that contain major climatic and environmental changes, as well as, major mass extinction events. His research combines classic sedimentologic and stratigraphic studies with geochemical and numerical modeling techniques.
Education
Ph.D., Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, 2009
B.S., Geological Sciences, University Missouri, 2004
Homepage:
Broadly, my research concerns reconstructing past environments and ocean chemistry and their relation to the evolution of life on Earth. In particular, I utilize different geochemical and numerical modeling techniques to help constrain the past cycles of biologically important elements (carbon, sulfur, iron and molybdenum). At the core of my research is the integration of geochemical data with the sedimentary and paleontological record.
Graduate Students
- Matt LeRoy (PhD)
- Selva Marroquín (PhD)
Undergraduate Students
- Jordan Pritchard
- Dalton Anderson
High School Students
- Lizzie Dunsmore
Full publication lists available on the Lab Group Website; Google Scholar; ResearchID; ResearchGate; and ORCID
bold = lab group member; * = denotes student author
2018
- Caruthers, A.H., Smith, P.L., Gröcke, D.R., Gill, B.C., Them, T.R.*, Trabucho Alexandre, J.P., 2018. Pliensbachian–Toarcian (Early Jurassic) Ammonoids from the Luning Embayment, West-Central Nevada, U.S.A. Bulletins of American Paleontology v. 393 p. 84.
- Lu W., Ridgwell A., Thomas E., Hardisty D. S., Luo G., Algeo T. J., Saltzman M. R., Gill B. C., Shen Y., Ling H.-F., Edwards C. T., Whalen M. T., Zhou X., Gutchess K. M., Jin L., Rickaby R. E. M., Jenkyns H. C., Lyons T. W., Lenton T. M., Kump L. R. and Lu Z. (2018) Late inception of a resiliently oxygenated upper ocean. Science.
- Them T. R. II*, Gill B. C., Caruthers A. H., Gerhardt A. M.*, Gröcke D. R., Lyons T. W., Marroquín S. M.*, Nielsen S. G., Trabucho Alexandre J. P. and Owens J. D. (2018) Thallium isotopes reveal protracted anoxia during the Toarcian (Early Jurassic) associated with volcanism, carbon burial, and mass extinction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
- Isson T.T., Love G.D., Dupont C.L., Reinhard C.T., Zumberge A. J., Asael D., Gueguen B., McCrow J., Gill B.C., Owens J., Rainbird R.H., Rooney A.D., Zhao M.-Y., Stueeken E.E., Konhauser K.O., John S.G., Lyons T.W., Planavsky N.J. (2018) Tracking the rise of eukaryotes to ecological dominance with zinc isotopes. Geobiology
- Schwarzenbach, E.M., Gill, B.C., Johnston, D.T., 2018. Unraveling multiple phases of sulfur cycling during the alteration of ancient ultramafic oceanic lithosphere. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta v. 223 p. 279–299
2017
- Bykova, N., Gill, B.C., Grazhdankin, D., Rogov, V., Xiao, S. 2017. A geochemical study of the Ediacaran discoidal fossil Aspidella preserved in limestones: Implications for its taphonomy and paleoecology. Geobiology v. 5 p. 572-587
- Dahl, T.W., Connelly, J.N., Kouchinsky, A., Gill, B.C., Månsson, S.F., Bizzarro, M., 2017. Reorganisation of Earth's biogeochemical cycles briefly oxygenated the oceans 520 Myr ago. Geochemical Perspective Letters v. 3 p. 210–220
- Hardisty, D.S., Lu, Z., Bekker, A., Diamond, C.W., Gill, B.C., Jiang, G., Kah, L.C., Knoll, A.H., Loyd, S.J., Osburn, M.R., Planavsky, N.J., Wang, C., Zhou, X., Lyons, T.W., 2017. Perspectives on Proterozoic surface ocean redox from iodine contents in ancient and recent carbonate. Earth and Planetary Science Letters v. 463 p. 159-170.
- Dickson, A., Gill, B.C., Ruhl, M., Jenkyns, H.C., Porcelli, D., Idiz, E., Lyons, T.W., van den Boorn, S.H.J.M., 2017. Molybdenum-isotope chemostratigraphy and paleoceanography of the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (Early Jurassic). Paleoceanography DOI:10.1002/2016PA003048
- Ma, B., Cao, Y., Eriksson, K.A., Jia, Y., Gill, B.C., 2017. Depositional and diagenetic controls on deeply-buried Eocene sublacustrine fan reservoirs in the Dongying Depression, Bohai Bay Basin, China. Marine and Petroleum Geology v. 82 p. 297-317.
- Martindale, R.C., Them, T.R.*, Gill, B.C., Marroquín, S.M.*, Knoll, A.H., 2017. A new Early Jurassic (ca. 183 Ma) fossil Lagerstätte from Ya Ha Tinda, Alberta, Canada. Geology v. 45 p. 255-258.
- Reinhard, C.T., Planavsky, N.J., Gill, B.C., Ozaki, K., Robbins, L.J., Lyons, T.W., Fischer, W.W., Wang, C., Cole, D.B., Konhauser, K.O., 2017. Evolution of the global phosphorus cycle. Nature v. 541 p. 386-389.
- Them, T.R. II*, Gill., B.C., Selby, D., Gröcke, D., Friedman, R.M., Owens, J.D., 2017. Evidence for rapid weathering response to climatic warming during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event. Scientific Reports v. 7: 5003.
- Them, T.R. II*, Gill., B.C., Caruthers, A., Gröcke, D., Tulsky, E., Martindale, R., Poulton, T., Smith, P., 2017. High-resolution carbon isotope records of the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (Early Jurassic) from North America and implications for the global drivers of the Toarcian carbon cycle. Earth and Planetary Science Letters v. 459 p. 118-126.
- Wang, Z., Wang, J., Kouketsu, Y., Bodnar, R.J., Gill., B.C., Xiao, S., 2017. Raman geothermometry of carbonaceous material in the basal Ediacaran Doushantuo cap dolostone: the thermal history of extremely negative δ13C signatures in the aftermath of the terminal Cryogenian snowball Earth glaciation. Precambrian Research v. 298 p. 174-186.
- Shuhai, X., Bykova, N., Kovalick, A., Gill., B.C., 2017. Stable carbon isotopes of sedimentary kerogens and carbonaceous macrofossils from the Ediacaran Miaohe Member in South China: Implications for stratigraphic correlation and sources of sedimentary organic carbon. Precambrian Research v. 302 p. 171-179.
2016
- Gerhardt, A.M.*, Gill, B.C., 2016. Elucidating the relationship between the later Cambrian end-Marjuman extinctions and SPICE Event. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology v. 461 p. 362-373.
- Ma, B., Eriksson, K.A., Cao, Y., Jia, Y., Wang, Y., Gill, B.C., 2016. Fluid flow and related diagenetic processes in a rift basin: Evidence from the fourth member of the Eocene Shahejie Formation interval, Dongying depression, Bohai Bay Basin, China. AAPG Bulletin v. 100 p. 1633-1662.
- Robbins, L.J., Lalonde, S.V., Planavsky, N.J., Partin, C.A., Reinhard, C.T., Kendall, B., Scott, C., Hardisty, D.S., Gill, B.C., Alessi, D.S., Dupont, C.L., Saito, M.A., Crowe, S.A., Poulton, S.W., Bekker, A., Lyons, T.W., Konhauser, K.O., 2016. Trace elements at the intersection of marine biological and geochemical evolution. Earth-Science Reviews v. 163, p. 323-348.
- Schwarzenbach, E.M., Gill, B.C., Gazel, E., Madrigal, P, 2016. Sulfur and carbon geochemistry of the Santa Elena peridotites: Comparing oceanic and continental processes during peridotite alteration. Lithos v. 252 p. 92-108.
- Wang, X., Planavsky, N.J., Reinhard, C.T., Zou, H., Ague, J.J., Wu, Y., Gill, B.C., Schwarzenbach, E.M., Peucker-Ehrenbrink, B., 2016. Chromium isotope fractionation during subduction-related metamorphism, black shale weathering, and hydrothermal alteration. Chemical Geology v. 423 p. 19–33.
- Young, S.A., Gill, B.C., Edwards, C.T., Saltzman, M.R., Leslie, S.A., 2016. Middle–Late Ordovician (Darriwilian–Sandbian) decoupling of global sulfur and carbon cycles: Isotopic evidence from eastern and southern Laurentia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology v. 458 p. 118-132.
2015
- Rohrssen, M., Gill, B.C., Love, G.D., 2015. Scarcity of the C30 sterane biomarker, 24-n-propylcholestane, in Lower Paleozoic marine paleoenvironments. Organic Geochemistry v. 80 p. 1-7.
- Sperling, E.A., Wolock, C.J., Morgan, A.S, Gill, B.C., Kunzmann, M., Halverson, G.P., Macdonald, F.A., Knoll, A.H., Johnston, D.T., 2015. Statistical analysis of iron geochemical data suggests limited Late Proterozoic oxygenation. Nature v. 523 p. 451-454.
- GEOS 1014: Earth and Life Through Time
- GEOS 4634: Aqueous Environmental Geochemistry
- GEOS 5634G: Advanced Environmental Geochemistry
- GEOS 5214: Carbonate Sedimentology
- GEOS 6204: Biogeochemical Cycles
- 2015, Kavli Fellow