PALEOCEANOGRAPHY & PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
Abell Lab
Our lab performs research spanning the fields of paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, geology, and geoarchaeology. To investigate this broad range of topics, we primarily use a geochemical toolkit that focuses on the isotopic and elemental composition of marine and terrestrial sediments. Specific approaches include: 1) using the helium isotope composition of marine sediments to quantify sediment accumulation rates and transport, and 2) applying major and trace element concentrations to characterize the composition of marine, terrestrial, and archaeological sediments. We frequently combine our various geochemical methods with field work and climate modeling through collaboration with other Earth Scientists. This interdisciplinary approach allows us to investigate a variety of questions, such as:
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What were atmospheric and ocean circulation like during a warmer-than-present world?
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How did the land, ocean, and atmosphere interact over the last several million years?
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Can we identify new feedbacks between the climate system and ever-changing landscapes?
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What can we learn about past civilizations from the chemistry of archaeological sediments?
The lab is recruiting! There are opportunities available at both the undergraduate and graduate (M.S. and Ph.D.) levels. Potential projects for undergraduates include studying the chemistry of 1) mud from the bottom of the ocean to understand climate in the past, and 2) archaeological sediments to see how people in the past interacted with their surroundings. The research I have in mind for a graduate student would be part of our ‘Pacific Ocean circulation in the Pliocene’ project. Additionally, I would also be open to other project ideas based on the interests of the incoming graduate student. If you are interested, please get in touch with Jordan Abell (joa423@lehigh.edu).
Current Members
Jordan Abell
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor
Jordan is a Paleoceanographer and Paleoclimatologist trained at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.
Emma Lindemuth
Graduate Researcher
Emma is an Earth and Environmental Sciences Master’s student at Lehigh University. She graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry from University of California, Santa Cruz.
Bangran Tang
Graduate Researcher
Bangran is a Master's student in the Earth and Environmental Sciences department. Bangran earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Davis.
Jessica Melhorn
Laboratories Facilities Technician
Jessica is the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Laboratory Facilities Technician at Lehigh University. Jessica earned a B.S. in Geology with a minor in Chemistry from Lafayette College.
Takeru Hiura
Undergraduate Researcher
Takeru is a senior majoring in Computer Engineering at Lehigh University.
Fieldwork
Oceanographic and Land Research Expeditions
2022 Pech de l’Aze IV, France: Archaeological mapping and geochemical sampling
2018 Geochemist aboard the RV SONNE: Sediment coring, core preparation, and description
2017 Aşıklı Höyük Field Site, Turkey: Archaeological mapping and geochemical sampling
2017 Chinese Loess Plateau: Geologic mapping
2014 Ocotillo Wells, CA: Geologic mapping and structural analysis of ‘yardangs’
Publications
Han, W., Tian, Q., Zhang, J., Hui, Z., Kemp, D. B., Zhang, T., Wang, Z., Mai, L., Abell, J. T., and Fang, X. (Accepted). Reorganization of northern hemisphere westerlies at 41 Ma revealed by carbonate oxygen isotope from the Tibetan Plateau. Geological Society of America Bulletin.
Rattanasriampaipong, R., Tierney, J. E., Abell, J. T., and Gilmore, L. D. (2025). A nutrient effect on the TEX86 paleotemperature proxy. Geophysical Research Letters. 52 (12), e2025GL115237. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL115237
Zhao, Y., Fan, N., An Y., Nie, J., Abell, J. T., Jin, Z., Wang C., Nie R., and Liu, X. (2025). Co-evolution of paleolakes in the Hetao Basin and the Yellow River over the last 500 ka. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 674, 113038. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.113038
Toyos, M., H., Lamy, F., Lange, C. B., Abell., J. T., Lembke-Jene, L., Arz, H. W., and Winckler, G. (2025). A new perspective on past export production in the subantarctic South Pacific for the last ~1.4 Myr. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 40 (2), e2024PA004929. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024PA004929
Zhang, D., Wang, G., Abell, J. T., Pullen, A., Cheng, F., Shen, T., and Ji, J. (2025). Erosion and dust emission driven by episodic water and wind environments in the stony Hami Basin, East Asia. Geological Society of America Bulletin, https://doi.org/10.1130/B38004.1
Tierney, J. E., King, J., Osman, M. B., Abell, J. T., Burls, N. J., Erfani, E., Cooper, V. T., and Fang, R. (2025). Pliocene warmth and patterns of climate change inferred from paleoclimate data assimilation. AGU Advances, 6 (1), e2024AV001356. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001356
Kapp, P., Pullen, A., Abell, J. T., and Zhang, L. (2024). Wind erosion in northern China: Insights from the western Qaidam fold belt, Loess Plateau, and Hami Basin. Earth-Science Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.105037
Wang, Z., Bradshaw, C. D., Wei, H., Cao, M., Huang, C., Han, W., and Abell, J. T. (2024). Moisture variability in northeast Tibet following the middle Miocene Climate Transition. Communications Earth and Environment. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01710-2
Zhong, Y., Tan, N., Abell, J. T., Sun, C., Kaboth-Bahr, S., Ford, H. L., Herbert, T. D., Pullen, A., Horikawa, K., Yu, J., Struve, T., Weber, M. E., Clift, P. D., Larrasoaña, J. C., Lu, Z., Yang, H., Bahr, A., Chen, T., Zhang, J., Wei, C., Xia, W., Yang, S., and Liu, Q. (2024). Role of land-ocean interactions in stepwise Northern Hemisphere Glaciation. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51127-w.
Zhang, D., Wang, G., Pullen, A., Abell, J. T., Cheng, F., Shen, T., Ji, J., and Zhang, M. (2024). A westerly dominated Early Cretaceous eolian system in the Hami Basin, NW China. Geological Society of America Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1130/B37436.1.
Sandoval-Castellanos, E., Hare A. J., Lin, A. T., Dimopoulos, E. D., Daly, K. G., Geiger, S., Mullin, V. E., Wiechmann, I., Mattiangeli, V., Lükhen, G., Zinovieva, N. A., Zidarov, P., Cakirlar, C., Stoddart, S., Orton, D., Bulatović, J., Mashkour, M., Sauer E, W., Horwitz, L. K., Horejs, B., Atici, L., Özkaya, V., Mullville, J., Pearson, M. P., Mainland, I., Card, N., Brown, L., Sharples, N., Griffiths, D., Allen, D., Arbuckle, B., Abell, J. T., Duru, G., Mentzer, S. M., Munro, N. D., Uzdurum, M., Gülçur, S., Buitenhuis, H., Gladyr, E., Stiner, M. C., Pöllath, N., Özbaşaran, M., Krebs, S., Burger, J., Frantz, L., Medugorac, I., Bradley, D. G., and Peters, J. (2024). Ancient mitogenomes from Pre-Pottery Neolithic central Anatolia and the effects of a Late Neolithic bottleneck in sheep (Ovis aries). Science Advances. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2023.11.019
Pavia, F. J., Abell, J. T., Middleton, J. L., Leal, A., Vivancos, S. M., Fleisher, M. Q., Winckler, G., and Anderson, R. F. (2024). Discrepant Mass Accumulation Rates of Sediments in the South Pacific Ocean from 230Th and 3He Measurements. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2023.11.019
Stubbins, B., Leier, A. L., Barbeau, D. L. Jr., Pullen, A., Abell, J. T., Nie, J., Zárate, M. A., and Fidler, M. K. (2023). Global climate forcing on the late Miocene establishment of the Pampean aeolian system in South America. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42537-3.
Abell, J. T., Winckler, G., Pullen, A., Kinsley, C. W., Kapp, P., Middleton, J. M., Pavia, F. J., McGee, D., Ford, H. L., and Raymo, M. E. (2023). Evaluating the drivers of Quaternary dust fluxes to the western North Pacific: East Asian dustiness and Northern Hemisphere gustiness. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022PA004571.
Abell, J. T. and Winckler, G. (2023). Long‐Term Variability in Pliocene North Pacific Ocean Export Production and Its Implications for Ocean Circulation in a Warmer World. AGU Advances. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022AV000853.
Zhao, Y., Fan, N., Nie, J., Abell, J. T., An, Y., Jin, Z., Wang, C., Zhang, J., Liu, X., and Nie, R. (2023). From desiccation to re-integration of the Yellow River since the last glaciation. Geophysical Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL103632.
Zhang, W., Zhang, E., Liu, E., Abell, J. T., Sun, W., Ni, Z., Chen, R., Cai, Y., Liu, E., and Meng, X. (2023). Mongolian dust activity over the last 25 ky predominantly driven by the East Asian Winter Monsoon: Insights from the geochemistry of Lake Tuofengling sediments. Geophysical Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL103633.
McClymont, E. L., Ho S.-L., Ford H. L., Bailey I., Berke M. A., Bolton C. T., De Schepper S., Grant G. R., Groeneveld J., Inglis G. N., Karas C., Patterson M. O., Swann G. E. A., Thirumalai K., White S. M., Alonso-Garcia M., Anand P., Hoogakker B. A. A., Littler K., Petrick B. F., Rosebrobakken B., Abell J. T., Crocker A. J., de Graaf F., Feakins S. J., Hargreaves J. C., Jones C. L., Markowska M., Ratnayake A.S., Stepanek C., and Tangunan D. (2023). Climate Evolution through the onset and intensification of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation. Reviews of Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022RG000793.
Lambert, J. E., Linsley, B. K., Abell. J. T., Bova, S. C., Winckler, G., Rosenthal, Y., Weiss, T. L., and Huang, W. (2023). Obliquity-driven subtropical forcing of the thermocline after 240 ka in the southern sector of the Western Pacific Warm Pool. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111578.
Li, M., Nie, J., Li, Z., Pullen, A., Abell, J. T., Zhang, H., McMechen, C. A., and Pan, B. (2023). A middle Pleistocene to Holocene perspective on sediment sources for the Tengger Desert, China. Catena. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2023.107119.
Pullen, A., Barbeau, D. L. Jr., Leier, A. L., Abell, J. T., Ward, M., Bruner, A., and Fidler, M. K. (2022). A westerly wind dominated Puna Plateau during deposition of upper Pleistocene loessic sediments in the subtropical Andes, South America. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31118-5.
Zhang, D., Wang, G., Abell, J. T., Pullen, A., Winckler, G., Schaefer, J., and Shen, T. (2022). Climatically and geomorphologically controlled wind erosion since the late Pleistocene in the Hami Basin, Eastern Asia. Geophysical Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL097495.
Liu, C., Nie, J., Li, Z., Qiao, Q., Abell, J. T., Wang, F., and Xiao, W. (2021). Eccentricity forcing of monsoonal systems over the past 3 million years: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2107055118.
Abell, J. T., Winckler, G., Anderson, R. F., and Herbert, T. D. (2021). Poleward and weakened westerlies during Pliocene warmth. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-03062-1.
Abell, J. T., Rahimi, S., Pullen, A., Lebo, Z., Zhang, D., Kapp, P., Gloege, L., Ridge, S., Nie, J., and Winckler, G. (2020). A quantitative model-based assessment of stony desert landscape evolution in the Hami Basin, China: Implications for Plio-Pleistocene dust production in Eastern Asia. Geophysical Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090064.
Zhang, D., Wang, G., Pullen, A., Abell, J. T., Ji, J., and Shen, T. (2020). Landscape evolution and development of low albedo eolian-modified unconsolidated gravel surfaces and yardangs in the Hami Basin, NW China. Geomorphology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107355.
Abell, J. T., Pullen, A., Lebo, Z., Kapp, P., Gloege, L., Metcalf, A., Nie, J., and Winckler, G. (2020). A wind albedo-wind feedback driven by landscape evolution. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13661-w.
Abell, J. T., Quade, J., Duru, G., Mentzer, S. M., Stiner, M. C., Uzdurum, M., and Özbaşaran, M. (2019). Urine salts elucidate Early Neolithic animal management at Aşıklı Höyük, Turkey. Science Advances. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw0038.
Pelletier, J. D., Kapp, P. A., Abell, J., Field, J. P., Williams, Z. C., and Dorsey, R. J. (2018). Controls on yardang development and morphology I. Field observations and measurements at Ocotillo Wells, California. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JF004461.
Licht, A., Dupont-Nivet, G., Pullen, A., Kapp, P., Abels, H., Lai, Z., Guo, Z., Abell, J., and Giesler, N. (2016). Resilience of the Asian atmospheric circulation shown by Paleogene dust provenance. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12390.
Licht, A., Pullen, A., Kapp, P., Abell, J., and Giesler, N. (2016). Eolian cannibalism: reworked loess and fluvial sediment as the main sources of the Chinese Loess Plateau. GSA Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1130/B31375.1.
