Sarah P. Slotznick
Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences
Iron is the most abundant transition metal in the Earth's crust; as such, it is a key player in the planetary redox budget and it utilized by nearly all life. Iron is present in a diverse suite of minerals and is the crucial component in magnetic minerals such natural "permanent" magnets. The research in my group centers on using iron minerals to understand the (co)evolution of Earth's surface environments and life and the fidelity of the rock record in preserving ancient bio- and environmental signatures. Integrating magnetic, textural, and geochemical tools with field observations, we probe questions spanning geologic time from the Modern to the Archean, with each time period providing distinct perspectives into the interaction of the biosphere and the Earth.
Contact
Department(s)
Earth Sciences
Education
- S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009
- M.S. California Institute of Technology, 2012
- Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, 2016
Selected Publications
Slotznick, S. P., Johnson, J. E., Rasmussen, B. Raub, T. D., Webb, S. M., Zi, J.-W., Kirschvink, J. L., Fischer, W. W. (2022) Re-examination of 2.5 Ga "Whiff" of Oxygen Interval Points to Anoxic Ocean Before GOE. Science Advances. 8, eabj7190.
Green, T., Slotznick, S. P., Jaqueto, P., Raub, T. D., Tohver, E., Playton, T. E., Haines, P. W., Kirschvink, J. L., Hocking, R. M., Montgomery, P. (2021) High-resolution late Devonian magnetostratigraphy from the Canning Basin, Western Australia: A re-evaluation. Frontiers in Earth Sciences. 9, 757749.
Slotznick, S.P., Sperling, E.A., Tosca, N J., Miller, A.J., Clayton, K., van Helmond, N.A.G.M., Slomp, C.P., and Swanson-Hysell, N.L. (2020) Unraveling the mineralogical complexity of sediment iron speciation using sequential extractions. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 20, e2019GC008666.
Slotznick, S.P., Webb, S.M., Kirschvink, J.L., and Fischer, W.W. (2019) Mid-Proterozoic ferruginous conditions reflect post-depositional processes, Geophysical Research Letters, 46. doi: 10.1029/2018GL081496.