Published in Space Science Reviews
Stable isotope compositions of biologically cycled elements encode information about the interaction between life and environment. On Earth, geochemical biomarkers have been used to probe the extent, nature, and activity of modern and ancient organisms. However, extracting biological information from stable isotopic compositions requires untangling...
Published in Astrobiology
The conditions, timing, and setting for the origin of life on Earth and whether life exists elsewhere in our solar system and beyond represent some of the most fundamental scientific questions of our time. Although the bombardment of planets and satellites by asteroids and comets has long been viewed as a destructive process that would have present...
Atmospheric aerosols (suspension of solid or liquid particles in the present in the atmosphere) can harbor a diverse array of airborne microorganisms and upon deposition into terrestrial or marine systems, airborne microbes can alter function and biogeochemical cycles of the receiving ecosystems. My work focuses on aerosols and their impact on mari...
The preservation of organic matter in the sedimentary rock record is strongly controlled by thermal maturity. This poses a problem when investigating Precambrian or extraterrestrial samples as they are typically heavily altered. In order to preform detailed biomarker analysis on very ancient samples, one must either scour for unusually well preserv...
Organic geochemistry provides a way to explore the dynamics of past life on the Earth without requiring the preservation of discrete macrofossils. In particular, lipid biomarker analysis and stable isotope analyses, combined with sedimentological, paleontological, and other geochemical background, can be utilized to understand biogeochemical cycles...
Published in Geological magazine
The late Ediacaran Dengying Formation (ca. 551.1–538.8 Ma) in South China is one of two successions where Ediacara-type macrofossils are preserved in carbonate facies along with skeletal fossils and bilaterian animal traces. Given the remarkable thickness of carbonate-bearing strata deposited in less than 12.3 million years, the Dengying Formation ...
The transition from simple, single cellular eukaryotes to more complex multicellular organisms, including animals, represents one of life’s most profound evolutionary advances. Yet, the temporal dynamics and natural selection pressures which led to the evolution of animals remains enigmatic. A detailed investigation of the evolutionary history of t...
Published in Science China Earth Sciences
Global warming, the most severe faunal mass extinction and the shift of biogeochemical cycles were observed in the ocean across the Permian-Triassic boundary about 252 million years ago, providing an analog to understanding the modern oceans. Along with the progressive global warming, the biogeochemical cycle was documented to show a shift from the...
Published in Science China Earth Sciences
Geomicrobiology is a sub-discipline of geobiology and emphasizes the interaction between microorganisms and their environment on Earth. There is a need to explicitly emphasize the biogeochemical processes performed by microorganisms associated with Earth’s tectonic activities, especially under the framework of the modern theory of plate tectonics. ...
Bivalve shells contain growth lines which are formed as a result of periodic environmental or physiological stress, analogous to tree rings. The study of these regular growth increments in the hard parts of bivalves and other calcifying organisms is called sclerochronology. In this thesis, I have examined the ways that sclerochronology can be usefu...
