Research Website for Pedro J. Marenco

UCR Earth Sciences

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Dr. Pedro Jose Marenco
Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow
University of California at Riverside
Department of Earth Sciences
Riverside, CA 92521-0423
maVVrenUUco@uTTcGGr.edu (without the capital letters)

My research involves the use of sedimentary and geochemical approaches to solve paleobiological problems.  I am currently involved with a combined sulfur and oxygen isotope study of the Late Paleozoic icehouse to greenhouse climate transition.  By using stable isotopes of sulfur preserved in brachiopods and oxygen isotopes preserved in conodonts, I hope to better understand sulfur cycle dynamics during this important warming event.

My dissertation research focused on stable isotope geochemistry of carbonate associated sulfate (CAS) during the Permo-Triassic mass extinction, the largest biotic crisis in Earth history.  My investigation of CAS across a Permo-Triassic boundary section in Turkey has uncovered severe fluctuations in the sulfur and carbon isotopic composition of shallow water carbonates, providing geochemical evidence for shallow water euxinia as the cause of the end Permian mass extinction.

An important part of my research has been the exploration of CAS as a reliable geochemical indicator.  To this end, I have investigated CAS and evaporite geochemistry from shallow to deep environmental transects across the ancient Early Triassic shelf of western North America. My analyses revealed that the sulfur isotopic compositions of dolostones and evaporites are depleted in 34-S relative to limestones (sometimes up to 10 ‰) suggesting that limestones may be the best recorders of the isotopic composition of ancient seawater sulfate.  Petrographic and trace element analyses suggest that CAS is robust to most diagenetic processes, with the exception of dolomitization.

Academic Appointments

Education

Peer-reviewed Publications

In Review

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Richoz, S., Baud, A., Bottjer, D.J., Hammond, D.E., Berelson, W., Kaufman, A.J., In review. Combined Permo-Triassic sulfur and carbon isotope variations and their implications for the End-Permian mass extinction.

In Prep

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Bottjer, D.J., Kaufman, A.J., In prep. Early Triassic sulfur isotopes and the biotic recovery from the end Permian mass extinction.

Published

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Kaufman, A.J., Bottjer, D.J., 2008. Environmental and diagenetic variations in carbonate associated sulfate: An investigation of CAS in the Lower Triassic of the western USA. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. (Abstract and PDF, where available)

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Hammond, D.E., Kaufman, A.J., Bottjer, D.J., 2008. Oxidation of pyrite during extraction of carbonate associated sulfate. Chemical Geology, 247, p 124-132. (Abstract and PDF, where available)

Corsetti, F.A., Kidder, D.L., Marenco, P.J., 2006. Trends in oolite dolomitization across the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian boundary: A case study from Death Valley, California. Sedimentary Geology, vol. 191, p. 135-150. (Abstract and PDF, where available)

Clapham, M.E., Bottjer, D.J., Powers, C.M., Bonuso, N., Fraiser, M.L., Marenco, P.J., Dornbos, S.Q., Pruss, S.B., 2006. Assessing the ecological dominance of Phanerozoic marine invertebrates. Palaios, vol. 21, p. 431-441. (Abstract and PDF, where available)

Corsetti, F.A., Baud, A., Marenco, P.J., and Richoz, S., 2005. Summary of Early Triassic carbon isotope records. Comptes Rendus Palevol, vol. 4, p. 473-486. (Abstract and PDF, where available)

Book Chapters

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Bottjer, D.J., 2002. Noonday tubes: observations and reinterpretations based on better preservation from a new locality. In Proterozoic-Cambrian of the Great Basin and Beyond, Pacific Section SEPM Book #93, p. 31-41.

Invited Talks

Marenco, P.J., 2008. Sulfur isotopes and the End Permian mass extinction. University of California Santa Cruz, Whole Earth Seminar series, June 3, 2008.

Marenco, P.J., 2008. Trajectories into the professoriate: graduate school, postdoctoral research and beyond.  University of California Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate. UC Riverside AGEP lunch seminar series, May 6, 2008.

Marenco, P.J., 2008. The sulfur cycle through time: what we know and how we know it. University of California Davis, guest lecture in Graduate Seminar in Biogeochemical Cycles, February 7, 2008.

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Hammond, D.E., Kaufman, A.J., Bottjer, D.J., 2007. Fidelity of the Carbonate Associated Sulfate signal: Implications for geobiological studies. Southern California Geobiology Symposium, California Institute of Technology.

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Bottjer, D.J., Kaufman, A.J., 2006. Early Triassic sulfur isotopes: implications for linking land, sea and air following the end-Permian mass extinction. Geological Society of America annual meeting, Abstracts with Programs.

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Richoz, S., Baud, A., Bottjer, D.J., Hammond, D., Berelson, W., Kaufman, A.J., 2006. Combined sulfur and carbon isotope anomalies and the End Permian mass extinction. Southern California Geobiology Symposium, University of California at Riverside.

Conference Abstracts

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Kaufman, A.J., Bottjer, D.J., 2007. Carbonate associated sulfate, euxinia, the Siberian Traps and the End Permian mass extinction. Geological Society of America annual meeting, Abstracts with Programs, vol. 39, no. 6, p. 420.

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Bottjer, D.J., Baud, A., Kaufman, A.J., 2006. Sulfur isotope anomalies and the biotic recovery from the End-Permian mass extinction. Second International Palaeontological Congress, Beijing, China.

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Kaufman, A.J., Bottjer, D.J., 2005. Sulfur isotopic variability of CAS along an Early Triassic environmental transect. Geological Society of America annual meeting, Abstracts with Programs vol. 37, no. 7.

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Baud, A., Bottjer, D.J., Kaufman, A.J., 2005. Euxinia as the cause of the end-Permian mass extinction: evidence from sulfur isotope chemostratigraphy. Earth Systems Processes 2 meeting, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Geological Society of America Specialty Meetings, Abstracts with Programs, no. 1.

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Bottjer, D.J., Baud, A., Kaufman, A.J., 2005. Sulfur isotope anomalies and the end Permian mass extinction. North American Paleontology Convention, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Programme and Abstracts, PaleoBios, vol. 25, supplement to number 2.

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Bottjer, D.J., Baud, A., Kaufman, A.J., 2005. Sulfur isotope anomalies across the Permo-Triassic boundary and through the Early Triassic. International Symposium on Triassic Chronostratigraphy and Biotic Recovery, Chaohu, China. Albertiana, vol. 33.

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Baud, A., Bottjer, D.J., Kaufman, A.J., 2004. Sulfur isotope anomalies across Permo-Triassic boundary sections in Turkey. Geological Society of America annual meeting, Abstracts with Programs, vol. 36, no. 5.

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Bottjer, D.J., Kaufman, A.J., 2003. Killer oceans of the Early Triassic. Geological Society of America annual meeting, Abstracts with Programs, vol. 35, no. 6.

Corsetti, F.A., Pruss, S.B., Marenco, P.J., Kaufman, A.J., Bottjer, D.J., 2003. Calcium carbonate seafloor fans from Neoproterozoic and Lower Triassic strata, Death Valley region: a snowball's chance? Geological Society of America annual meeting, Abstracts with Programs, vol. 35, No. 6.

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Bottjer, D.J., 2003. Strange chemistry in Early Triassic oceans. California Paleontology Conference abstracts, PaleoBios, vol. 23, no. 1.

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Bottjer, D.J., Kaufman, A.J., 2002. Chemostratigraphy of the Union Wash Formation: Implications for the Early Triassic recovery from the Permian Triassic mass extinction. Geological Society of America annual meeting, Abstracts with Programs, vol. 34 no. 6.

Corsetti, F.A., Kaufman, A.J., Marenco, P.J., 2002. A re-evaluation of the number and magnitude of Neoproterozoic ice ages. Geological Society of America, Rocky Mountain Section annual meeting, Abstracts with Programs, vol. 34, no. 4.

Marenco, P.J., Corsetti, F.A., Bottjer, D.J., 2001. Enigmatic "tube-like" structures in the Noonday dolomite: constraints on possible hypotheses. Geological Society of America annual meeting, Abstracts with Programs, vol. 33 no. 6.

Marenco, P.J., and Bottjer, D.J., 2001. Early Triassic gastropods in theoretical morphospace. California Paleontology Conference abstracts, PaleoBios, vol. 21, supplement to no. 1, 2001.

Awards and Grants

Teaching Experience

Additional Professional Experience

Last Updated 09/19/2008