Details for: Ethan Grossman

Ethan L. Grossman is a stable isotope geochemist who serves as the Michel T. Halbouty Chair in Geology in the Department of Geology and Geophysics and the Co-Director of the Stable Isotope Geosciences Facility (SIGF) at Texas A&M University (TAMU). Dr. Grossman joined the faculty of the Department of Geology at TAMU as an Assistant Professor in 1982 after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. During his tenure at TAMU Dr. Grossman and his students have developed and applied oxygen-isotope, carbon-isotope, and trace-element proxies to understand Earth system processes and history, including paleoclimate and paleoceanography. Highlights include (1) fractionation relations for oxygen isotopes in aragonite and dissolved carbonate species, and for carbon isotopes in calcite and aragonite; (2) factors influencing isotopic signals in benthic foraminifera; (3) the role of the carbon cycle in Permo-Carboniferous climate; (4) environmental change and evolution associated with the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama; and (5) clumped isotope thermometry in sedimentary basins. In addition, he and his students have studied the biogeochemistry and geomicrobiology of aquifer systems in Texas, especially the origin and fate of microbial methane in aquifer systems. With recent funding from the Chancellor’s Office of the TAMU System, Dr. Grossman is establishing a clumped isotope capability at TAMU.