Graduate student Ben Gaglioti and his advisor Dr. Mann are building on their previous successful NIWR project that looked into the changes of ancient Alaskan permafrost due to temperature and precipitation from 14,000 to 7,000 years ago. Their current project is filling in the missing years by investigating the release of carbon from thawing permafrost from 7,000 years ago to present. They hypothesize that ancient large mats of vegetation may insulate current permafrost and helping slow the thawing process. They will be testing their hypothesis by comparing oxygen isotopes of ancient willow wood to climate records.
