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Chamberlain's research expertise is in the broad area of isotope
geochemistry. His current research projects involve the use of isotopes
as tracers to investigate geochemical processes in the earth interior
and surface, climate change, and environmental problems. His research
combines both field and laboratory components. The Stable Isotope
Biogeochemistry Laboratory includes a laser-based light stable isotope
laboratory for oxygen isotope analysis and a fully automated continuous
flow system for carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen of minerals and
organic matter. Field locations include the Appalachians of New
England, the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, the Himalaya, the Southern
Alps of New Zealand, and the Sierra Nevada of California. Current
research projects are as follows: Climate and Topographic Evolution of Mountain Belts Understanding the topographic history of mountain belts is an important problem in Earth Sciences both because of establishing the relationship between climate change and mountain building process and because it provides fundamental information about tectonic processes. However, documenting topographic histories has been difficult because there are relatively few methods available that allow quantitative estimates of paleorelief. We have shown that oxygen and hydrogen isotopes can be used to study the topographic evolution of mountain belts. Our current research includes reconstructing the paleotopography of the Sierra Nevada of California, the Southern Alps of New Zealand, the Rocky Mountains, and the Himalaya. Chemical Weathering and the Carbon Cycle We are integrating numerical models with field studies in an effort to understand weathering processes in active orogens, in an effort to understand the relationship between chemical weathering and the long- and short-term carbon cycle. Our current research focusses on the Southern Alps of New Zealand. In this area we can examine how uplift, rainfall, and weathering are related. Climate Change We use stable isotope records from terrestrial setting to understand climate change. We are investigating how the western US climate responded to past levels of high carbon dioxide in an effort to understand how it might respond to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the future. Stable Isotope Paleoecology We use stable isotopes to investigate broad areas of paleoecology. Our works has focused on past diets of California Condors and how they have been influenced by humans; lead uptake in modern condors, bird migration as applied to Neotropical migrant birds; and a variety of other systems. Evolution of the Continental Crust and its relationship to Surface Processes We conducting geochronologic, stable isotopic, and petrologic studies in active mountain belts (Tibet and the Himalaya) in an effort to understand how large rivers shape the metamorphic architecture of the crust. Studies include how mountain building and river incision drives hydrothermal activity, metamorphism, and the generation of granites. Education Ph.D. 1985 Harvard University - Geology and Geophysics Department M.A. 1981 Dartmouth College - Earth Sciences Department B.S. 1979 Syracuse University-Earth Sciences Department Employment 2003-2007 Chairman, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University 2001-present Professor of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University 1994-2001 Professor of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College 1997 Short term Visitor, Smithsonian Institute 1997 Visiting Investigator, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Geophysical Laboratory 1992-1996 Chairman, Earth Sciences Department at Dartmouth Spring 1992 Visiting Professor, California Institute of Technology 1989-1994 Associate Professor, Dartmouth College 1987-1989 Assistant Professor , Dartmouth College 1985-1987 Postdoctoral fellowship, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Geophysical Laboratory Contact Information Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-2115 Phone: 650.725.6835 Fax: 650.725.0979  |
Recent Publications Davis, S.J., Mulch, A., Carroll, A., Horton, T.W. and Chamberlain, C.P. (in press) Paleogene Landscape Evolution of the central North American Cordillera: Developing topography and hydrology in the Laramide Foreland. GSA Bulletin  Mulch, A., and Chamberlain, C.P. (in press) Stable isotope paleoaltimetry in orogenic belts – The silicate record in surface and crustal geological archives. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry. Agosta, F., Mulch, A., Chamberlain, C.P., and Aydin, A. (in press) Geochemical traces of CO2-rich fluid flow along normal faults in central Italy. Geophysical Journal International. Hren, M.T., Hilley, G.E., and Chamberlain, C.P. (in press) The relationship between tectonic uplift and chemical weathering rates in the Washington Cascades: Field measurements and model predictions. American Journal of Science. Booth, A.L., Chamberlain, C.P., Kidd, W.F., and Zeitler, P.K. (in press) Constraints on the metamorphic evolution of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis from geochronologic and petrologic studies of Namche Barwa. Geological Society of America Bulletin. Porder, S., Vitousek, P.M., Chadwick, O.A., Chamberlain,
C.P., and Hilley, G.E. (2007) Uplift, erosion and phosphorous
limitation in terrestrial ecosystems. Ecosystems, v. 10. P. 158-170. .pdf Mulch, A., C. Teyssier, M. A. Cosca, and C. P. Chamberlain
(2007), Stable isotope paleoaltimetry of Eocene core complexes in the
North American Cordillera, Tectonics, 26, TC4001,
doi:10.1029/2006TC001995. .pdf Hren, M. T., Chamberlain, C.P., Hilley, G.E., and
Bookhagen, B. (2007) Major ion chemistry of the Yarlung
Tsangpo/Brahmaputra river: Chemical weathering, erosion and CO2
consumption in the southern Tibet and Eastern Syntaxis of the Himalaya.
Geochmica Cosmochimica Acta, v. 71, p. 2207-2035. .pdf
Newsome, S.D., Etnier, M.A., Kurle, C.M., Waldbauer, J.R., Chamberlain, C.P., and Koch, P.L. (2007) Historic decline in primary productivity in western Gulf of Alaska and eastern Bering Sea: isotopic analysis of northern fur seal teeth. Marine Ecology Progress Series, v. 332, p. 211-224. Church, M.E., Roberto, G., Risebrough, R.W., Sorenson, K., Chamberlain, C.P., Farry, S., Heinrich, W., Rideout, B.A., and Smith, D.R. (2006) Ammunition is the principal source of lead accumulated by California Condors re-introduced to the wild. Environmental Science and Technology, v. 40, p. 6143-6150. Sjostrom, D.J., Hren, M.T., Horton, T.W., Waldbauer, J.R., and Chamberlain, C.P. (2006) Stable isotopic evidence for a pre-late Miocene elevation gradient in the Great Plains - Rocky Mountains. In Willet, S.D., Hovius, N., Brandon, M.T., and Fisher, D., eds., Tectonics, climate and landscape evolution. Geological Society of America Special Paper 398, p. 309-319. Kent-Corson, M.L., Sherman, L.S., Mulch, A., and Chamberlain,
C.P. (2006) Cenozoic topographic and climatic response to changing
tectonic boundary conditions in western North America, Earth and
Planetary Science Letters, v. 252, p. 453-466. .pdf
Mulch, A., Graham, S.A., and Chamberlain, C.P. (2006)
Hydrogen isotopes in Eocene river gravels and paleoelevation of the
Sierra Nevada. Science, v. 313, p. 87-89. .pdf Mulch, A. and Chamberlain, C.P. (2006) The Rise and Growth of
Tibet. Nature, v. 439, p. 670-671. .pdf Hren, M.T., Lowe, D.R., Tice, M.M., Byerly, G., and Chamberlain, C.P. (2006) Stable isotopic and rare earth evidence for recent ironstone pods within the Archean Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta, v. 70, p. 1457-1470. Peters, S.C., Blum, J.D., Karagas, M.R., Chamberlain, C.P., and Sjostrom, D.J. (2006) Sources and exposure of the New Hampshire population to arsenic in public and private drinking water supplies. Chemical Geology, v. 228, p. 72-84. Horton, T.W., and Chamberlain, C.P. (2006) Stable
isotope evidence for Neogene paleotopography and paleoclimate of the
central Basin and Range. Geological Society of America Bulletin, v.
118, p. 475-490. .pdf |
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