The study of the Quaternary Period has a long and illustrious history at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, beginning with T.C. Chamberlin and R.D. Salisbury a century ago. The UW-Madison now has one of the largest, most diverse groups of Quaternary researchers in North America. Interdisciplinary research is a particular strength in the Quaternary program at UW-Madison. Students can pursue an M.S. or Ph.D. in Quaternary studies in one or more of the graduate departments on campus. In addition to course work required for disciplinary or joint degree or degrees, students take appropriate course work in a related minor discipline.
The following is a brief description of areas of interest. Following that is a list of faculty and links to their web sites where available. Finally, a list of cooperating departments also has links to department web pages.
ARCHAEOLOGY, GEOARCHAEOLOGY Concern with the interrelationships between human adaptation and environmental conditions during the Quaternary constitutes a long-standing tradition of courses and research in archaeology at the UW-Madison. Field research addressing this theme continues in many parts of the world, including investigations of: subsistence and settlement in the Upper Mississippi Valley; geoarchaeology and Paleoindian chronologies on the Great Plains and across eastern North America; settlement, and the emergence of complex societies in the Americas; hunter-gatherer adaptations from the Mesolithic to Neolithic and agricultural origins in Northern Europe; human origins, ethnoarchaeology, and site formation processes in East Africa; and the origin and collapse of Harappan civilization and ethnoarchaeology in Pakistan. Topical research includes: archaeological chemistry; paleodiet studies; GIS in archaeology; ceramic petrography; archaeology applications of pedology and soil chemistry; and faunal analysis and taphonomy.
CLIMATE CHANGE & PALEOCLIMATES Much of the Quaternary-oriented climatological research at UW-Madison concerns the diagnosing and modeling of past and present climates on continent-wide and world-wide scales. This work includes using paleoenvironmental indicators, such as pollen and diatoms, to reconstruct climate changes over the past 18,000 years and the use of general-circulation and other climate models to simulate the behavior of past climates in the late Quaternary and the late Cenozoic. Additional research involves reconstructing the climatological history of the Great Lakes region over the past several centuries. Faculty in most of the other areas of Quaternary studies on campus participate in research that deals with climate change and paleoclimates.
GLACIOLOGY Glaciological research at UW-Madison is aimed at determining the physical characteristics of glaciers and ice sheets in order to understand their past behavior and predict future activity; the West Antarctic ice sheet, especially its fast-moving ice streams; and paleoglaciology of Pleistocene ice sheets.
GEOMORPHOLOGY Course offerings and research in geomorphology consist of process geomorphology and landscape evolution. Topical areas include fluvial, glacial, soils, and coastal geomorphology. Current faculty research includes: Quaternary landscape evolution of unglaciated southwestern Wisconsin, focusing on fluvial, pedologic, and slope processes; glacial history and processes elsewhere in Wisconsin; Holocene history and shore-line erosion of the Great Lakes; modern glacier processes in Alaska and the extension of that work in Wisconsin, New England, and Scandinavia and South America; cosmogenic dating of moraines and other surfaces; Great Plains late Cenozoic history of eolian sedimentation, and soil formation.
MARINE GEOLOGY & PALEOCEANOGRAPHY This component of the Quaternary Studies Program focuses on ocean/climate change as recorded in deep-sea sediments, with particular emphasis on marine microbiotic responses to glacial/interglacial oscillations in thermohaline circulation. We employ marine microfossils (foraminifera) to generate both biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic frameworks for studying the Quaternary evolution of the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and cryosphere. Our campus is presently home to one of the world's largest collections of piston cores from the Arctic Ocean basin, a region recently targeted for future study by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. We are also currently engaged in a collaborative research effort with the USGS to better understand the Quaternary depositional history of the Blake Ridge in the North Atlantic, and to evaluate the possible role of sedimentary methane hydrate dissociation in the genesis of seafloor topography.
PALEOECOLOGY Paleoecology at UW-Madison includes the study of plant pollen and spores and other microfossils such as diatoms and other algae, insect fragments, and carbonized wood for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Paleoecologists attempt to deduce the interactions of past organisms with each other as well as with their environment and such work is carried out in many different locations on campus. Paleoecological studies conducted at UW-Madison span the gamut of settings from terrestrial to limnological to marine, over an area that extends from the Arctic to the Equator, and include paleontology, biogeography, botany, limnology, zoology, and ecology.
QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHY Quaternary stratigraphy is one of the oldest subareas of Quaternary studies and it is well represented on campus. Research emphasizes the glacial and loess stratigraphy of the upper Midwest, the late Quaternary alluvial stratigraphy of the unglaciated portions of the upper Midwest, the mapping of surficial deposits in Wisconsin, and the geochronology of the late Pleistocene glaciation in Wisconsin. On the Great Plains, stratigraphic research includes the soil-stratigraphy and geochronology of eolian and lacustrine deposits and valley fills.
PEDOLOGY Pedological research focuses on soil genesis, pedologic modeling, and soil-landscape relationships on multiple scales. Current research includes: pedogenic evolution of glaciated and marginal terrains of the upper Midwest, dynamics in forested and organic soils and in permafrost-affected landscapes of northern Alaska, as well as studies of pedogenic successions in semi-arid regions of Patagonia and Costa Rica. Soil-geomorphic research emphasizes chronosequences, the use of soils as landscape development/age indicators, and interactions of eolian and pedogenic processes. Paleopedologic studies emphasize using quantifiable soil information (i.e., morphology and geochemistry) from present day settings as interpretive analogs for paleoenvironmental conditions as expressed in paleosols.
APPLIED QUATERNARY STUDIES Students can concentrate in Quaternary studies, attain an MS degree, and work in resource management for agencies or consulting firms. The faculty have research interests in the hydrologic properties of surficial materials, stream hydrology and related topics, shoreline erosion, and other aspects of applied geomorphology. In addition, the university has faculty in several departments involved in hydrogeology, hydrology, soil mechanics, soils, agricultural engineering, as well as many other departments in policy areas. Many students in applied Quaternary studies also take a degree in Water Resources Management. The Geological Engineering Program offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in applied aspects of geology.
FACILITIES AND OTHER PROGRAMS The UW-Madison campus has extensive, modern research facilities and library holdings for all of the specialty areas of Quaternary studies. All participating departments also have instructional and research computers and access to main-frame units. The Department of Anthropology has large archaeological collections, comparative collections of plant and animal remains, an inductively-coupled plasma spectrometer for elemental analyses, an isotope-ratio mass spectrometer, and equipment and facilities for microwear analysis of lithic artifacts, GIS, and for ceramic petrography. Very well-equipped laboratories exist in the Department of Geography for sedimentologic and pedologic analyses. Field equipment is available for electronic surveying, hydrologic studies, and hydraulic coring and drilling. The department also houses a state-of-the-art facility for map design and production, and labs for GIS. The Department of Geology & Geophysics has laboratories and equipment for pollen, sediment, rock, mineral, isotope, and image analyses, as well as a well equipped micropaleontology lab. Equipment is available for geophysical surveys, terrestrial coring and drilling, and lake coring. The Department of Soil Science has facilities for comprehensive physical, chemical, micromorphological, mineralogical, biochemical, and microbiological analyses of soils and unconsolidated sediments. The department has a drilling/coring rig, access to automated soils databases, and a full array of soil-hydrological monitoring equipment. The Department of Botany houses the Wisconsin State Herbarium, with extensive recent and historical collections from Wisconsin and the world. Equipment and expertise are available for high resolution imaging of microscopic and macroscopic fossils, charcoal analysis, and interpretation of fossil assemblage data. The Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and the Center for Climatic Research (CCR) are well equipped for climate modeling and paleoclimatic reconstruction. Laboratory facilities are available for dendrochronology and pollen research. The CCR is a component of the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, which also administers the "Climate, People, and Environment Program." This interdisciplinary program includes the study of both past and present environmental changes and their relationship to humans and human ecology.
Other facilities available on campus include extensive comparative collections in the Zoological Museum, a collection of exotic woods at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory on campus, and the holdings, facilities, and personnel of the Wisconsin State Historical Society. Off campus, but closely tied to UW are the personnel and facilities of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey.
QUATERNARY FACULTY & STAFF (including emeritus professors)
John W. Attig jwattig@facstaff.wisc.edu (Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey). Glacial process; Quaternary geology of midwest, Scandinavia; geomorphology.
Charles R. Bentley bentley@geology.wisc.edu (Geology and Geophysics, Emertus). Ice sheet glaciology and geophysics of Antarctica, Greenland, and ice caps of the Canadian Arctic; past and future response of ice sheets to climatic change.
James G. Bockheim bockheim@facstaff.wisc.edu (Soil Science). Quaternary soils, polar pedology, soil chronosequences use of soils in relative-age dating; soil development in high-latitude and alpine regions; forest biogeochemistry.
Waltraud A. R. Brinkmann brinkmann@geography.wisc.edu (Geography & Center for Climatic Research, Emeritus). Climatology; climate variability and climate change; dendrochronology.
Reid A. Bryson rabryson@facstaff.wisc.edu (Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences & Center for Climatic Research, Emeritus). Quantitative reconstruction of Holocene climates; causes of climate change; application of paleoclimatic information to the design of forecast systems; high resolution site-specific climate modelling.
Henry T. Bunn htbunn@facstaff.wisc.edu (Anthropology). Human evolution; evolution of human diet and early Pleistocene hominid behavior in Africa; ethnoarchaeology of hunter-gatherers.
James Burt jburt@geography.wisc.edu (Geography). Climatology, climate models; GIS.
James Burton jhburton@facstaff.wisc.edu (Anthropology). Procurement and exchange studies; artifact characterization methods; chemical methods in paleodiet studies; American Southwest, Northern Andes.
Lee Clayton lclayton@facstaff.wisc.edu (Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, Emeritus). Geomorphology; Pleistocene history of Laurentide Ice Sheet and associated lake and river history; glacial process.
Stefan L. Hastenrath slhasten@facstaff.wisc.edu (Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Emeritus). Paleoclimate and glaciers of the tropics.
Thomas S. Hooyer tshooyer@facstaff.wisc.edu (Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, Emeritus). Glacial geology, subglacial procesess on modern glaciers; Quaternary history.
Sara C. Hotchkiss shotchkiss@wisc.edu (Botany, Center for Climatic Research). Paleoecology; Quaternary climate history ecosystem dynamics; human/ecosystem interaction and landscape history.
D. Clay Kelly ckelly@geology.wisc.edu (Geology and Geophysics). Micropaleontology; paleooceanography, record of climate change.
J. Mark Kenoyer jkenoyer@facstaff.wisc.edu (Anthropology). Prehistory of South Asia; Paleolithic, Neolithic, ethnic archaeology.
James C. Knox knox@geography.wisc.edu (Geography). Geomorphology; paleohydrology; Quaternary history of the Upper Mississippi Valley; influence of climate and land-use change on erosion and sedimentation.
John E. Kutzbach jek@facstaff.wisc.edu (Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences & Center for Climatic Research, Emeritus). Paleoclimatology; quantitative evaluation of climate change; modelling of climate change.
Zhengyu Liu zliu3@facstaff.wisc.edu (Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences & Center for Climatic Research). Coupled ocean-atmosphere-land system paleoclimate modeling; decadal climatevariability.
Frederick W. Madison fredmad@wisc.edu (Soil Science & Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, Emeritus). Soil genesis and morphology; soil-landscape relationships, formation and genesis of organic soils and soils on mining waste.
Louis J. Maher Jr. maher@geology.wisc.edu (Geology and Geophysics, Emeritus). Quaternary palynology of midwestern and western America as it pertains to the region's vegetation and climate history; statistics of relative and absolute pollen data.
Joseph Mason mason@geography.wisc.edu (Geography). Quaternary history and paleoclimate of the Great Plains, soil, eolian and hillslope geomorphology, loess stratigraphy.
Kevin McSweeney kmcsween@facstaff.wisc.edu (Soil Science). Soil genesis and morphology, application of microscopy to study of soils and unconsolidated sediments, soil-landscape relationships.
David M. Mickelson mickelson@geology.wisc.edu (Geology and Geophysics, Emeritus). Glacial geology; glacial stratigraphy of midwest; landform genesis in Alaska and Wisconsin; till genesis.
T. Douglas Price tdprice@facstaff.wisc.edu (Anthropology). Human adaptation during early Post-glacial of Europe; transition from hunting/gathering to farming; reconstruction of environment during post-glacial time.
Patricia Sanford psanford@facstaff.wisc.edu (Center for Climatic Research). Paleolimnology, paleoecology.
Sissel Schroeder sschroeder2@wisc.edu (Anthropology). Archaeology of eastern North America; complex societies; historical ecology; settlement patterns; GIS.
Bradley S. Singer bsinger@geology.wisc.edu (Geology and Geophysics). Geochronology, igneous geochemistry; cosmogenic dating of Quaternary surfaces.
Richard W. Slaughter rich@geology.wisc.edu (Geology and Geophysics). Quaternary vertebrates of the Midwest; end-Pleistocene extinctions; taphonomy of bone deposits.
Cynthia A. Stiles castiles@wisc.edu (Soil Science). Soil geochemistry and weathering sequence mineralogy; paleosol interpretation; pedogenic/weathering progression and modeling; soil geochemistry in archaeological studies.
James B. Stoltman stoltman@facstaff.wisc.edu (Anthropology, Emeritus). Prehistory of eastern North America; geoarchaeology; human paleoecology of the Driftless Area; thin section analysis of ceramics.
Tom R. Vale vale@geography.wisc.edu (Geography, Emeritus). Biogeography; history of successions in western U.S. mountains.
Jack Williams jww@geography.wisc.edu (Geography). Vegetation dynamics, paleoclimatology, global environments.
Marjorie J. Winkler mwinkler@facstaff.wisc.edu (Center for Climatic Research). Paleoecology and palynology; Holocene climate change.
For more information about any of the programs mentioned above:
Department of Anthropology: 1180 Observatory Drive http://anthropology.wisc.edu/
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences: 1225 West Dayton Street http://www.aos.wisc.edu
Department of Botany: 430 Lincoln Drive http://www.botany.wisc.edu
Department of Geography: 550 North Park Street http://geography.wisc.edu
Department of Geology and Geophysics: 1215 West Dayton Street http://www.geology.wisc.edu
Department of Soil Science: 1525 Observatory Drive http://www.soils.wisc.edu
Center for Climatic Research: 1225 West Dayton Street http://ccr.meteor.wisc.edu
Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies: 550 North Park Street http://www.nelson.wisc.edu/
