Achievement

Laura Levy, IGERT trainee in earth sciences, published her research, initiated during the 2009 IGERT field seminar, in the Quarternary Science Reviews. She also presented her research at meeting of the Geological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union. Using cosmogenic isotopes (Be10), Levy determined the ages of the ørkendalen moraines, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, as 6,800 years. Her results have important implications for constraining the extent of the southwestern margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Holocene. Understanding fluctuations in the ice sheet margin is useful for determining the response of the Greenland Ice Sheet to climate conditions both warmer and colder than at present and for developing accurate ice sheet models. Levy has demonstrated the field techniques required for this type of surface age dating research to IGERT trainees during Greenland Field Seminar, and she will return to Greenland in August 2013 to continue her research.