DAVID MARCHANT
PhD University of Edinburgh, UK, 1993
Director of Graduate Admissions
marchant@bu.edu
EARTH AND PLANETARY GEOMORPHOLOGY
RESEARCH:
Climatic geomorphology, Antarctic gla-cial geology and landscape evolution. Research evaluates East Antarctic Ice Sheet response to middle Miocene global change; landscape evolution of polar regions; and permafrost processes associated with ancient glacier ice. Laboratory research utilizes cosmogenic surface-exposure dating (21Ne, 3He and 10Be), numerical ice-flow models, and land surface imaging through the application of digital-terrain models.
Vertical air photograph of drop moraines in Arena Valley. Valley walls have been stable for 11 Ma.
Recent Publications: († denotes Marchant student)
†Lewis, A.R., D.R. Marchant, E.J. †Moore, W.M. Phillips, G.H. Denton, D.E. Sugden, N. Potter, G.P. Landis, and B. Idleman. Stagnant rock glaciers of Antarctica: a potential source for Miocene atmosphere: Submitted to Geomorphology.
Head, J.W. III, Mustard, J.F., Kreslavsky, M.A., Milliken, R.E., and Marchant, D.R. 2003. Recent ice ages on Mars. Nature 426, 897-802.
Head, J.W. III and Marchant, D.R. 2003. Cold-based mountain glaciers on Mars: western Arsia Mons. Geology 31, 641-644.
Marchant, D.R., †Lewis, A., Phillips, W.C., †Moore, E.J., Souchez, R., and Landis, G. P. 2002. Formation of patterned-ground and sublimation till over Miocene glacier ice in Beacon Valley, Antarctica. Geological Society of America Bulletin 114, 718-730.
Kleman, J., Marchant, D.R., and Borgstrom, I. 2001. Late glacial ice dynamics on southern Baffin Island and in Hudson Strait. Arctic Antarctic and Alpine Research 33(3), 249-257.
Prof. David Marchant welcomes graduate students interested in quantifying rates of landscape evolution in polar deserts and exploiting comparisons between buried glaciers in Antarctica and buried ice on Mars. Students will conduct field research in the Dry Valleys region of Antarctica (helicopter-supported field camps) for at least two months while enrolled at Boston University.