R. Lawrence Edwards

About

R. Lawrence Edwards is a Regents and Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota. He is an isotope geochemist renowned for his development of modern uranium-thorium (Th-230) dating methods and their application to studying climate history and ocean chemistry. His work has significantly improved the accuracy of radiocarbon dating, contributing to the calibration of the radiocarbon timescale. Edwards champions cave deposits as recorders of historic and prehistoric climate, relating these records to ocean sediments and ice cores to establish patterns of climate change over time and space. His research helps to understand the causes of abrupt climate change and rapid ice sheet melting at the end of glacial cycles. Additionally, he investigates the relationship between climate change and cultural history, linking global shifts in rainfall patterns to major cultural changes, such as the decline of Chinese dynasties and the expansion of rice cultivation. His cave records of recent centuries provide some of the strongest evidence for human-induced climate change. Edwards is one of the most cited earth scientists worldwide, with numerous awards and honors recognizing his contributions to geoscience.

Research topics

• Geology
• Oceanography
• Geography
• Ecology
• Climatology
• Environmental science
• Biology
• Archaeology
• Paleontology
• Chemistry

Selected publications

• The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55 cal kBP)

  Radiocarbon · 2020 · 7374 citations

  ABSTRACT Radiocarbon ( 14 C) ages cannot provide absolutely dated chronologies for archaeological or paleoenvironmental studies directly but must be converted to calendar age equivalents using a calibration curve compensating for fluctuations in atmospheric 14 C concentration. Although calibration curves are constructed from independently dated archives, they invariably require revision as new data become available and our understanding of the Earth system improves. In this volume the internatio…

  DOI

• Coupling of Indo-Pacific climate variability over the last millennium

  Nature · 2020 · 205 citations

  DOI

• The Transpolar Drift as a Source of Riverine and Shelf‐Derived Trace Elements to the Central Arctic Ocean

  Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans · 2020 · 164 citations

  Abstract A major surface circulation feature of the Arctic Ocean is the Transpolar Drift (TPD), a current that transports river‐influenced shelf water from the Laptev and East Siberian Seas toward the center of the basin and Fram Strait. In 2015, the international GEOTRACES program included a high‐resolution pan‐Arctic survey of carbon, nutrients, and a suite of trace elements and isotopes (TEIs). The cruises bisected the TPD at two locations in the central basin, which were defined by maxima in…

  DOI

• No consistent ENSO response to volcanic forcing over the last millennium

  Science · 2020 · 139 citations

  Not a big deal after all Do volcanic eruptions affect El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability? Models indicate that sulfate aerosols resulting from large eruptions can initiate an El Niño–like response in the tropical Pacific, but observations have not shown evidence of such behavior. Dee et al . present an oxygen-isotope time series of fossil corals from the central tropical Pacific to investigate ENSO's response to large volcanic eruptions during the past millennium. They found a weak…

  DOI

• Droughts and societal change: The environmental context for the emergence of Islam in late Antique Arabia

  Science · 2022 · 61 citations

  In Arabia, the first half of the sixth century CE was marked by the demise of Himyar, the dominant power in Arabia until 525 CE. Important social and political changes followed, which promoted the disintegration of the major Arabian polities. Here, we present hydroclimate records from around Southern Arabia, including a new high-resolution stalagmite record from northern Oman. These records clearly indicate unprecedented droughts during the sixth century CE, with the most severe aridity persisti…

  DOI

Recent grants

• MRI: Acquisition of a Multi-collector Inductively-coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer for Research and Education in the Earth and Environmental Sciences

  NSF · $895k · 2013–2018

• Collaborative Research: U.S. GEOTRACES Pacific Section: Analysis of 230Th, 232Th and 231Pa

  NSF · $410k · 2013–2015

• Collaborative Research: P2C2--Cave Climate Histories of East/Central Asia: Deeper in Time, Wider Geographically, New Analytical Approaches, and New Tests of Climate Interpretations

  NSF · $403k · 2017–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Hai Cheng

  Xi'an Jiaotong University

  935 shared

• Yongjin Wang

  Nanjing Normal University

  176 shared

• Yanjun Cai

  Xi'an Jiaotong University

  137 shared

• Zhisheng An

  Chinese Academy of Sciences

  116 shared

• Xianfeng Wang

  Earth Observatory of Singapore

  114 shared

• Liangcheng Tan

  Institute of Earth Environment

  97 shared

• Chuan–Chou Shen

  National Taiwan University

  81 shared

• Christoph Spötl

  73 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences

  California Institute of Technology

  1988

• M.S., Geosciences

  University of Michigan

  1986

• S.B., Earth, Atmosphere, and Planetary Sciences

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1976

Awards & honors

• 2015 Appointed Regents Professor
• 2014 Highly Cited Researcher
• 2014 Geochemical Fellow (Geochemical Society & European Asso…
• 2013-present Gunn Professor (inaugural professor)
• 2012 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement…

Similar researchers at University of Minnesota

• Marc Hirschmannh-75
• William Seyfriedh-63
• Christian Teyssierh-56