Ellen R. M. Druffel, Professor of Earth System Science (ESS) at UCI

Professor Ellen R. M. Druffel

Earth System Science
3224 Croul Hall
University of California
Irvine, CA 92697-3100
Telephone: (949) 824-2116 (office); (949) 824-3286 (laboratory); (949) 824-8794 (department)
FAX: (949) 824-3874
E-Mail: edruffel@uci.edu
Education: B.S., Chemistry, Loyola-Marymount University, Los Angeles, 1975.; M.S., Chemistry, University of California, San Diego, 1977.; Ph.D., Chemistry, University of California, San Diego, 1980.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Coupling between climate and ocean ventilation and their effects on global CO₂ cycling. Tracking the influence of climate change on present and past upper ocean circulation using isotope studies of annually-banded corals. High-precision radiocarbon and d¹³C and d¹⁸O analyses are used to determine decade time scale changes in the ventilation rate of upper waters in major oceanic current systems during the past few centuries.

The impact of organic carbon remineralization on the cycling of inorganic carbon in the water column; determination of the sources and turnover times of organic matter within the oceans. Using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to measure radiocarbon in small amounts of carbon (0.1 mg C). Goals are (1) assessment of the contribution of deep dissolved organic carbon to the POC (particulate organic carbon) pool, (2) determining the relative amount of terrestrially-derived carbon to the DOC (dissolved organic carbon) pool, and (3) estimating the turnover time of DOC in the oceanic water column through measurements of radiocarbon activities of organic constituents in DOC and in sinking and suspended POC. These studies have direct implications for ascertaining the magnitude of the ocean repository for excess atmospheric carbon dioxide and for estimating, in part, the extent of the anticipated greenhouse effect.

Awards and Honors

Chemistry Teaching Awards, Loyola-Marymount University, 1974, 1975.
American Institute of Chemists Award, 1975.
Chemistry Teaching Award (Revelle College), University of California, San Diego, 1976.
Visiting Professorships for Women Award, National Science Foundation, 1987.
James B. Macelwane Medal, American Geophysical Union, 1990.
Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, 1990.
Best Paper Award, Organic Geochemistry Division of Geological Society of America, 1998 (Eglinton et al, 1997).
UCI, School of Physical Sciences Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2001.
Elected into the Hall of Fame, College of Science and Engineering Hall of Fame, Loyola Marymount University, 2001.
Fellow of the A.A.A.S., 2001.
UCI ADVANCE Term Chair, 2003-2008.

Peer-reviewed articles since 2000

Gagan, M.K., L.K. Ayliffe, J.W. Beck, J.E. Cole, E.R.M. Druffel, R.B. Dunbar and D.P. Schrag (2000). New Views of Tropical Paleoclimates from Corals, Quaternary Science Reviews, 19, 45-64.

Druffel, E.R.M. and J.E. Bauer (2000). Radiocarbon distributions in Southern Ocean dissolved and particulate organic carbon, Geophysical Research Letters, 27, 1495-1498.

Wang, X-C. and E.R.M. Druffel (2001). Radiocarbon and stable carbon isotope compositions of organic compound classes in sediments from the NE Pacific and Southern Oceans, Marine Chemistry, 73, 65-82.

Masiello, C. A. and E.R.M. Druffel (2001). Carbon isotope geochemistry of the Santa Clara River, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 15, 407-416.

Druffel, E. R. M., S. Griffin, T. Guilderson, M. Kashgarian, D. Schrag (2001). Changes of subtropical North Pacific radiocarbon and correlation with climate variability, Radiocarbon, 43(1), 15-25.

Bauer, J.E., E.R.M. Druffel, D. Wolgast and S. Griffin (2001). Cycling of dissolved and particulate organic radiocarbon in the Northwestern Atlantic continental margin. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 15(3), 615.

Masiello, C. A., E.R.M. Druffel and L.A. Currie, (2002). Radiocarbon measurements of black carbon in aerosols and ocean sediments, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 66, 1025-1036.

Druffel, E.R.M. (2002). Radiocarbon in Corals: Records of the Carbon Cycle, Surface Circulation and Climate, Oceanography, 15, 122-127.

Adkins, J. A., et al. (2002). Methods for determining ages of deep-sea corals using ²³⁰Th and ¹⁴C dating, Radiocarbon, 44, 567-580.

Currie, LA, BA Benner, H Cachier, R Cary, JC Chow, ERM Druffel, TI Eglinton, O Gustafsson, PC Hartman, JI Hedges, JD Kessler, TW Kirchstetter, DB Klinedinst, GA Klouda, SD Kohl, JV Marlof, CA Masiello, T Novakov, A Pearson, KM Prentice, H Puxbaum, JG Quinn, CM Reddy, H Schmid, JF Slater and SA Wise, (2002). A critical evaluation of interlaboratory data on total, elemental and isotopic carbon in the carbonaceous particle reference material, NISTSRM 1649a, Environmental Science and Technology, 107, 279-298.

Bauer, J.E., E.R.M. Druffel, D. Wolgast, and S. Griffin, (2002). Temporal and regional variability of sources and cycling of DOC and POC in the Northwest Atlantic continental shelf and slope, Deep-Sea Research II, 49 (20), 4387-4419.

Masiello, C.A. and E.R.M. Druffel (2003). Organic and black carbon ¹³C and ¹⁴C through the Santa Monica Basin sediment oxic-anoxic transition, Geophysical Research Letters, 30 (4), art. no. 1185 FEB 26 2003.

Ingalls, A.E., C. Lee and E.R.M. Druffel (2003). Preservation of organic matter in mound-forming coral skeletons, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, in press.

Hwang, J and E.R.M.Druffel (2003). Lipid-like material as the source of the uncharacterized organic carbon in the ocean? Science, 299, 881-884.

Druffel, E.R.M., J.E. Bauer, S. Griffin and J. Hwang, (2003). Penetration of anthropogenic carbon into organic particles in the deep ocean, Geophysical Research Letters in press.

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