Alan Rooney

I am interested in understanding the interactions between tectonics, climatic processes and geochemical cycles on a range of time scales. I use radiogenic isotope geochemistry, in particular the rhenium-osmium (Re-Os) geochronometer, Sr and Nd isotopes combined with field-based mapping, sedimentology, stratigraphy and mineralogy to interrogate the rock record of critical transitions in Earth history.

My near term research interests are centered on three main areas: 1) refining Earth history records, especially Proterozoic tectonic reorganizations and eukaryotic diversification, 2) combining multiple geochemical proxies to provide better constraints on ice sheet dynamics over the last 5 million years, and 3) employing radiogenic isotopes as tracers of crustal-mantle processes.