Dr Galen Halverson

Teaching Interests

My teaching efforts are concentrated on clastic and carbonate sedimentology, stratigraphy, and stable isotope geochemistry. In 2009, I will teach in Sedimentary Geology II, and teach into Petroleum Exploration III and a Masters level course on climate change.

Research Interests

I study Earth history through interrogation of the sedimentary record. My research involves a combination of field mapping, stratigraphy, and geochemistry, integrated to reconstruct how the earth's surface environment has evolved. Specific problems of interest include the timing and tempo of oxidation of the oceans, causes and consequences of Neoproterozoic (1000 - 541 million years ago) global glaciations, secular change in isotopic the chemistry of the oceans, as recorded by isotopic proxies (e.g. 87Sr/86Sr, d13C, d34S) preserved in chemical precipitates, and the influence of palaeogeography on palaeoclimate and geochemical evolution of the oceans. My past and present field areas include northwest Namibia, northeast Svalbard, East Greenland, northwest Canada, and central-South Australia. My analytical instruments of choice are gas source isotope ratio mass spectrometers, for measuring the ratios of light stable isotopes, and multicollector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometers (MC ICP-MS) for measuring, among other systems, medium-heavy stable-isotopic ratios.

On-going projects include
1. Testing the hypothesis (Maloof et al., 2006) that the earth experienced multiple episodes of large-scale true polar wander c. 800 million years ago.

2. Studying the origin and evolution of late Neoproterozoic sedimentary basins in the eastern Arabian Shield and understanding their link to the final amalgamation of Gondwana. 

3. Mapping out the spatial and temporal distribution of high high-producing elements in Proterozoic basins of eastern India. 

4. Reconstructing the evolution of the concentration and sulfur isotopic composition of seawater sulfate in the Neoproterozoic and its link to oxygenation of the environment.

5. Establishing the iron isotope composition of Neoproterozoic glacial oceans and more generally applying iron isotope geochemistry to studying ancient sediments, in particular Precambrian BIFs. 

6. Investigating Holocene environmental change in the Lower Lakes region of South Australia and on North Stradbroke Island, Queensland. 

Publications

SUBMITTED

Haberlah, D., Williams, M.J., Halverson, G.P., Hill, S.M., Hrstka, T., Butcher, A.R., McTainsh, G.H., and Glasby, P., submitted. Loess and floods: high resolution multi-proxy data of Last Glacial Maxima (LGM) slackwater deposition in the Flinders Ranges, semi-arid South Australia. Quaternary Science Reviews. 

Halverson, G.P., accepted. Glacial sediments and associated strata of the the Polarisbreen Group, northeastern Svalbard. In E. Arnaud, G. Shields, and G.P. Halverson (Eds.), The Geological Record of Neoproterozoic Glaciations. Geological Society of London. 

Hoffman, P.F., and Halverson, G.P., accepted. Neoproterozoic glacial record in the Mackenzie Mountains, northwest Canadian Cordillera. Ibid

Rice, A.H.N., Edwards, M.B., Hansen, T.A., Arnaud, E., and Halverson, G.P., accepted. Glacigenic rocks of the Smalfjord and Mortensnes formations, Vestertana Group, E. Finnmark, Norway. Ibid.

Stodt, F., Rice, A.H.N., Björklund, L., Bax, G., Halverson, G.P., and Pharaoh, T.C., accepted. Evidence of late Neoproterozoic glaciation in the Caledonides of NW Scandinavia. Ibid.

Frimmel, H., Miller, R. McG., Germs, G., Gaucher, C., and Halverson, G.P., in press. Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Evolution of Southwestern Africa. In C. Gaucher, A.N. Sial, G.P. Halverson, and H. Frimmel (Eds.), Neoproterozoic-Cambrian tectonics, global change and evolution: a focus on southwestern Gondwana. Elsevier, Developments in Precambrian Geology Series.

Gaucher, C., Sial, A.N., Halverson, G.P., and Frimmel, H., 2010. The Neoproterozoic and Cambrian: A time of upheavals, extremes, and innovations. Ibid, pp. 3-11.

Halverson, G.P., Hurtgen, M.T., Porter, S.M., and Collins, A.C., 2010. Neoproterozoic-Cambrian biogeochemical evolution. Ibid. pp. 351-365.

Halverson, G.P., Poitrasson, F., Hoffman, P.F., Nédélec, A., Montel, J-M., in revision. Iron isotope composition of the Neoproterozoic Rapitan iron-formation, northwest Canada.

Halverson, G.P., Wade, B.P., Hurtgen, M.T., and Barovich, K.M., submitted. Neoproterozoic chemostratigraphy. Precambrian Research. 

2009

Hoffman P.F., Calver, C., and Halverson, G.P., 2009. Cottons Breccia of King Island, Tasmania: glacial or non-glacial, Cryogenian or Ediacaran? Precambrian Research, 172, 311-322.

McKirdy, D.M., Thorpe, C.S , Haynes, D.E., Halverson, G.P., Grice, K., Krull, E.S., and Webster, L.J., in press. The biogeochemical evolution of the Coorong during the mid- to late Holocene: An elemental, isotopic and biomarker perspective. Organic Geochemistry. 

Le Hir, G., Donnadieu, Y., Goddéris, Y., Pierrehumbert, R.T., Halverson, G.P., Macouin, M, Néedélec, A., and Ramstein, G., 2009. The snowball Earth aftermath: exploring the limits of continental weathering processes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 277, 453-463.

2008

Hoffman, P.F. and Halverson, G.P., 2008. Otavi Group of the western Northern Platform, the Eastern Kaoko Zone and the western Northern Margin Zone. In: R. McG. Miller (Ed.) The Geology of Namibia, Vol. 2, Geological Survey of Namibia (Windhoek), 69-136.

2007

Halverson, G.P. and Hurtgen, M.T., 2007. Ediacaran growth of the marine sulfate reservoir. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 263, 32-44. 

Halverson, G.P., Dudas, F., Maloof, A.C., and Bowring, S.A, 2007. Evolution of the 87Sr/86Sr Composition of Neoproterozoic Seawater. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,  Palaeoecology, 256, 103-129. 

Halverson, G.P., Maloof, A.C. Schrag, D.P., Dudas, F., and Hurtgen, M.T., 2007. Stratigraphy and geochemistry of a ca 800 Ma carbon isotope interval in northeastern Svalbard. Chemical Geology, 237, 23-45. 

Hoffman, P.F., Halverson, G.P., Domack, E.W., Husson, J.M., Higgins, J.A., and Schrag, D.P., 2007. Are basal Ediacaran (635 Ma) post-glacial “cap-dolostones” diachronous? Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 258, 114-131.

2006

Halverson, G.P., 2006. A Neoproterozoic chronology. In S. Xiao, A.J. Kaufman (Eds.) Neoproterozoic Geobiology and Paleobiology, Topics in Geobiology 27. Springer, pp. 231-271.

Hurtgen, M.T., Halverson, G.P., Arthur, M., and Hoffman, P.F., 2006. Sulfur cycling in the aftermath of a Neoproterozoic (Marinoan) snowball glaciation: evidence for a syn-glacial, sulfidic deep ocean; Earth and Planetary Science Letters 245, 551-570

Maloof, A.C., Halverson, G.P., Kirschvink, J.L., Schrag, D.P., Weiss, Benjamin P., and Hoffman, P.F., 2006. Combined paleomagnetic, isotopic, and stratigraphic evidence for true polar wander from the Neoproterozoic Akademikerbreen Group, Svalbard; Geological Society of America Bulletin 118, 1099-1124. 

2005

Halverson, G.P., Hoffman, P.F., Schrag, D.P., Maloof, A.C., and Rice, A.H., 2005. Towards a Neoproterozoic composite carbon-isotope record; Geological Society of America Bulletin 117, 1181-1207.

Hurtgen, M.T., Arthur, M.A., and Halverson, G.P., 2005. Neoproterozoic S isotopes, the evolution of microbial S species, and the burial efficiency of sulfide as sedimentary pyrite. Geology 33, 41-44.

<2005

Halverson, G.P., Maloof, A.C., and Hoffman, P.F. 2004. The Marinoan glaciation (Neoproterozoic) in northeast Svalbard. Basin Research 16, 297-324.

Halverson, G.P, Hoffman, P.F., Kaufman, A.J., and Schrag, D.P. 2002.  A major perturbation of the carbon cycle before the Ghaub glaciation (Neoproterozoic) in Namibia: prelude to snowball Earth?; Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 3, 10.1029/2001GC0002. 

Hoffman, P.F., Halverson, G.P., and Grotzinger, J.P. 2002. Comment: Are Proterozoic cap carbonates and isotopic excursions a record of gas hydrate destabilization following Earth's coldest interval? (Kennedy, M.J. et al. 2001); Geology 30, 286-287.

Schrag, D.P., Berner, R.A., Hoffman, P.F., and Halverson, G.P., 2002. On the initiation of a snowball Earth. Geochemistry, Geophysics, and Geosystems 3, 10.1029/2001GC000219.

Hoffman, P.F., Kaufman, A.J., and Halverson, G.P., 1998. Comings and goings of global glaciations on a Neoproterozoic tropical platform in Namibia. GSA Today 8(5), 1-9.

Hoffman, P.F., Kaufman, A.J., Halverson, G.P., and Schrag, D.P. 1998. A Neoproterozoic snowball Earth; Science 281, 1342-1346.

 

Expertise for Media Contact

Categories	Environment
Expertise	Geology, Sedimentology, Isotope Geochemistry, Palaeoclimatology

Entry last updated: Sunday, 22 Nov 2009