Research
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Contact Information
Office: SL 134
Phone: 317-278-1343
Email: klicht@iupui.edu
Departmental Mailing Address

Background
Ph.D., University of Colorado, Boulder, 1999

Specialties
Glacial Geology, Quaternary Geology, Paleoclimatology, Sedimentology

Research focus is on reconstructing the history of the Antarctic and Laurentide Ice Sheets over the past 30,000 years.

Reliable predictions of the West Antarctic ice sheet's future response to changing climate and rising sea level depend, to a large extent, on improving our knowledge and understanding of its ice dynamics during the last glacial maximum (~18,000 yrs ago). Sediments from the Ross Sea, Antarctica contain a detailed physical record that can be used to reconstruct the glacial history of the region. Although significant progress has been made in constraining the extent of ice and the timing of its maximum extent, details of ice flow paths, chronology, and ocean conditions remain unresolved.

Current projects also include studies of lake sediments in northern Indiana.

Fall 2007
G334 Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy

Spring 2007
G115 Oceanography
G130 Global Warming Short Course
G525 Glacial Geology

The primary objective of this proposal is to use till provenance to constrain paleo-ice flow paths of the Ross Ice Sheet during the last glacial maximum (LGM). We are comparing the mineralogic and geochemical signature of LGM-age till from potential source areas in East and West Antarctica with till on the Ross Sea continental shelf.

Andrea Schilling
Provenance of Antarctic detrital zircons

Kate Kramer
Provenance of sediment from Reedy Glacier, Antarctica

Emerson Palmer
Provenance of sediment of the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Past Students

Sediment Analysis Laboratory

Iceland Field Trip
2005 Antarctica
2006 Antarctica

Emslie, S., Coats, L., and Licht, K., 2007. A 45,000 yr record of Adélie penguins and climate change in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Geology, v.35. p.61-64.

Licht, K.J., Lederer, J.R., Farmer, G.L., Swope, R.J., and Andrews, J.T., 2006. Petrographic and Isotopic Composition of Late Quaternary Ross Embayment Till. Terra Antartica Reports No. 12. p.35-42.

Farmer, G.L., Licht, K., Swope, R.J., and Andrews, J.T., 2006. Isotopic constraints on the provenance of fine-grained sediment in LGM till from the Ross Embayment, Antarctica. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v.249, p.90-107.

Licht, K.J., *Lederer, J.R., and Swope, R.J., 2005. Provenance of LGM Glacial Till (sand fraction) across the Ross Embayment, Antarctica. Quaternary Science Reviews, v.24, p.1499-1520.

Licht, K.J., 2004. Antarctica's contribution to eustatic sea level during meltwater pulse - 1A. Sedimentary Geology, v.165, p.343-353. 

Licht, K.J., and Andrews, J.T., 2002. The 14C Record of Late Pleistocene ice advance and retreat in the central Ross Sea, Antarctica. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, v.34, p.324-333. 

Wilson, G.S., and 22 others, 2002. The Mount Feather diamicton of the Sirius Group: an accumulation of indicators of Neogene Antarctic glacial and climatic history. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 182, p. 117-131. 

Steig, E.J., Fastook, J.L., Zweck, C., Goodwin, I.D., Licht, K.J., White, J.W.C., Ackert, R.P., 2001, West Antarctic ice sheet elevation changes: Antarctic Research Series 77, 75-90.  

Andrews, J.T., Domack, E.W., Cunningham, W.L., Leventer, A., Licht, K.J., Jull, A.J.T., DeMaster, D.J., and Jennings, A.E., 1999, Problems and possible solutions concerning radiocarbon dating of surface marine sediments, Ross Sea, Antarctica: Quaternary Research 52, 206-216. 

Licht, K.J., Dunbar, N., Jennings, A.E., and Andrews, J.T., 1999, Sedimentological evidence for the maximum extent of grounded ice in the western Ross Sea during the last glacial maximum: Geological Society of America Bulletin111, 91-103. 

Licht, K.J., Cunningham, W.L., Andrews, J.T., Domack, E.W., and Jennings, A.E., 1998, Establishing chronologies from acid-insoluble organic 14C dates on Antarctic (Ross Sea) and Arctic (North Atlantic) marine sediments: Polar Research 17, 203-216. 

Licht, K.J., Jennings, A.E., Andrews, J.T., and Williams, K.M., 1996, Chronology of late Wisconsin ice retreat from the western Ross Sea, Antarctica: Geology 24, pp.223-226.