Quaternary Research Group
Education
1988, M.S. Utrecht University
1993, Ph.D. Utrecht University
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Research Interests
- Quaternary geology
- Fluvial and deltaic sedimentology
- Sequence stratigraphy
- Sea-level change
- Applied geochronology
- Paleoclimatology
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Courses Taught
- EENS 120 Earth Systems
- EENS 608
The Scientific Enterprise
- EENS 397 (Katrina, Global
Change, and Public Policy)
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Selected Publications
González,
J.L. and
Törnqvist, T.E., 2006. Coastal
Louisiana in crisis: Subsidence or sea level rise?
Eos, 87: 493, 498.
Törnqvist, T.E.,
Wortman, S.R., Mateo, Z.R.P., Milne, G.A. and Swenson, J.B., 2006. Did the last
sea level lowstand always lead to cross-shelf valley formation and
source-to-sink sediment flux? Journal of
Geophysical Research, 111: F04002, doi:10.1029/2005JF000425.
Törnqvist, T.E.,
Bick, S.J., Van der Borg, K. and
De Jong, A.F.M., 2006. How stable is the Mississippi Delta?
Geology, 34: 697-700.
Törnqvist, T.E., Bick, S.J.,
González, J.L., Van der Borg, K.
and De Jong, A.F.M., 2004. Tracking the sea-level signature of the 8.2
ka cooling event: New constraints from the Mississippi Delta. Geophysical
Research Letters, 31: L23309, doi:10.1029/2004GL021429.
Wallinga
J., Törnqvist, T.E., Busschers, F.S. and Weerts, H.J.T., 2004.
Allogenic forcing of the late Quaternary Rhine-Meuse fluvial record: the
interplay of sea-level change, climate change and crustal movements. Basin
Research, 16: 535-547.
Törnqvist, T.E., González, J.L.,
Newsom, L.A., Van der Borg, K., De Jong, A.F.M. and Kurnik, C.W., 2004.
Deciphering Holocene sea-level history on the U.S. Gulf Coast: A
high-resolution record from the Mississippi Delta. Geological Society of
America Bulletin, 116: 1026-1039.
Törnqvist, T.E., Wallinga, J. and Busschers, F.S., 2003. Timing of the
last sequence boundary in a fluvial setting near the highstand shoreline –
Insights from optical dating. Geology, 31: 279-282.
Törnqvist, T.E. and Bridge, J.S., 2002. Spatial variation of overbank
aggradation rate and its influence on avulsion frequency. Sedimentology,
49: 891-905.
Törnqvist, T.E., González, J.L.,
Newsom, L.A., Van der Borg, K. and De Jong, A.F.M., 2002.
Reconstructing “background” rates of sea-level rise as a tool for forecasting
coastal wetland loss, Mississippi Delta. Eos, 83: 525, 530-531.
Wallinga,
J., Murray, A.S., Duller, G.A.T. and Törnqvist, T.E., 2001. Testing
optically stimulated luminescence dating of sand-sized quartz and feldspar
from fluvial deposits. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 193:
617-630.
Karssenberg, D., Törnqvist, T.E. and Bridge, J.S., 2001. Conditioning a
process-based model of sedimentary architecture to well data. Journal of
Sedimentary Research, 71: 868-879.
Törnqvist, T.E., Wallinga, J.,
Murray, A.S., De Wolf, H., Cleveringa, P. and De Gans, W., 2000.
Response of the Rhine-Meuse system (west-central Netherlands) to the last
Quaternary glacio-eustatic cycles: a first assessment. Global and Planetary
Change, 27: 89-111.
Blum,
M.D. and Törnqvist, T.E., 2000. Fluvial responses to climate and
sea-level change: a review and look forward. Sedimentology, 47
(Supplement 1): 2-48.
Willemse,
N.W. and Törnqvist, T.E., 1999. Holocene century-scale temperature
variability from West Greenland lake records. Geology, 27: 580-584.
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Active Research Projects
Holocene sea-level records as a proxy for crustal
movements and global eustasy. Field investigations focus on the
Mississippi Delta and adjacent Gulf Coast and aim, among others, to reconcile
the controversy about a Middle Holocene sea-level highstand (collaborative
with Mike Blum, LSU), to understand the relationship between dm-scale
sea-level fluctuations and global temperature changes during the past few
millennia, and to measure differential crustal movements along the Gulf Coast
with exceptionally high accuracy and precision in order to predict rates of
future relative sea-level rise.
Evolution of the Lower Mississippi Valley during the
last glacial-interglacial cycle. This project involves the collection of
new borehole data from the late Pleistocene Prairie Complex (collaborative
with Whitney Autin, SUNY Brockport) and the development of a new geochronology
based on OSL dating. The ultimate goal is to understand the response of a
continental-scale river to climate and sea-level change.
The continental margin as a critical interface for
earthscape processes. Sea-level positions during the Last Glacial Maximum
obtained by means of geophysical modeling (in collaboration with Glenn Milne,
Univ. of Durham, UK) serve as the foundation for a GIS-based analysis of the
spatial relationship between the lowstand shoreline and the shelf edge along
passive margins worldwide. Our objectives include, among others, to understand
the nature of source-to-sink sediment flux during glacial-interglacial cycles,
to predict the occurrence of valleys and related features on the continental
shelf, and to investigate the currently poorly understood mechanisms of
shelf-edge formation (in collaboration with John Swenson, Univ. of Minnesota
Duluth).
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