The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) is a

research institution A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

specializing in the

Earth science Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

and

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. Though part of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, it is located on a separate closed campus in Palisades, New York. The observatory was one of the centers of research that led to the development of the theory of

plate tectonics Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...

as well as many other notable scientific developments.

Campus

LDEO is located in Palisades, New York on a property overlooking the Hudson River which was once the weekend residence of banker Thomas W. Lamont. It was donated to the university in 1948 by his widow, Florence Lamont. In 1969, the Observatory was renamed "Lamont-Doherty" following a gift from the Henry L. and Grace Doherty Charitable Foundation.

Research

Climate change

The LDEO is a substantial source of data for the US government in relation to

. Faculty at the LDEO have been noted for giving climate change testimony to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in relation to melting ice sheets.

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...

has also noted the LDEO's ''Global Ocean Surface Water Partial Pressure of CO2 Database'' as being an instrumental source of

partial pressure In a mixture of gases, each constituent gas has a partial pressure which is the notional pressure of that constituent gas as if it alone occupied the entire volume of the original mixture at the same temperature. The total pressure of an ideal g ...

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

data (pCO₂), which can, in turn, detail the amount of carbon dioxide dissolved in the earth's oceans. Many versions of the LDEO database have been published over the years, dating back to 2006.

Tree rings

The tree-ring lab at the LDEO studies the effects on climate and climate change on trees. In an interview, Nicole Davi from the LDEO noted findings like the formation of tree-rings during extended dry seasons, as well as work being done to carbon-date trees to verify tree ring data.

Core repository

The core repository at the LDEO stores various drilled sediment samples from the earth's oceans. The samples have been used to detail climate changes between glaciation periods, in context of dissolved elements and gases, like calcium (from shells) and carbon dioxide.

Earthquakes

A major source of past earthquake data comes from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory/National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (NCEER) ''Earthquake Strong Motion Database''.

Antarctic mapping

In 2012,

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

documented the work done by LDEO researcher Robin Bell, and others, in mapping the land underneath the

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

ice sheet In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacier, glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than . The only current ice sheets are the Antarctic ice sheet and the Greenland ice sheet. Ice s ...

. Several notable findings included the discovery of hidden rivers, hidden mountain ranges, and significant geothermal energy below the ice.

Other

Other examples of LDEO's research are: * Seismic activity following

nuclear weapons testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of Nuclear explosion, their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to si ...

. * Continental drift: in the North Atlantic, and, separately, their effects on the magnetic field. * The "ocean-atmosphere system." * Future weather in

El Niño EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

events. * The relationship between weather and yields. * The relationship between rotation of the core and seismic activity. * The sea floor. *

Ice ages An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and Gre ...

. * Solar weather. * Seismic activity on the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

Research vessels

Directors

# Maurice Ewing (1949–1972) # Manik Talwani (1972–1980) # Neil Opdyke (1981; interim) # C. Barry Raleigh (1981–1989) # Dennis V. Kent (1989–1990; interim) # Gordon Eaton (1990–1994) # John C. Mutter (1994–1996; interim) # Peter M. Eisenberger (1996–1999) # John C. Mutter (1999–2000; interim) # G. Michael Purdy (2000–2011) #Arthur L. Lerner-Lam (2011–2012; interim) # Sean Solomon (2012–2020) # Maureen Raymo (2020–2023) # Stephen L. Goldstein (2023–present; interim)

Notable people

* Robin Bell * Wallace Smith Broecker - popularized the term

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

* Bruce C. Heezen - mapped the

Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a Divergent boundary, divergent or constructive Plate tectonics, plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest mountai ...

in the 1950s * Terry Plank *

Marie Tharp Marie Tharp (July 30, 1920 – August 23, 2006) was an American geologist and oceanographic cartographer. In the 1950s, she collaborated with geologist Bruce Heezen to produce the first scientific map of the Atlantic Ocean floor. Her cartogr ...

- oceanic cartographer whose work led to the consensus on the

and

continental drift Continental drift is a highly supported scientific theory, originating in the early 20th century, that Earth's continents move or drift relative to each other over geologic time. The theory of continental drift has since been validated and inc ...

theories.

References

External links

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Website
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Geology organizations Buildings and structures in Rockland County, New York Columbia University research institutes Earth science research institutes {{Authority control