SEDIMENTARY MAGNETIC RECORDS OF NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
An environmental magnetics laboratory was established at the University of Akron in 2001. Since then the lab has been used by numerous undergraduate and graduate students for both coursework and research. This poster presentation will summarize a variety of research projects undertaken at the University of Akron to show the widespread utility of the environmental magnetic method. Research project summaries include the application of rock-magnetic parameters as a proxy of heavy metal contamination in recent lake sediments. Rock magnetic parameters can provide important insight on sediment contamination issues because the pollution input is often highly magnetic. In addition, rock-magnetic records of natural environmental change aid in multiproxy reconstructions of environmental variability since deglaciation in Ohio. West African monsoon variability over the last 1 Ma is actively being studied at the University of Akron through the application of rock magnetic measurements of long drill cores from Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana.