Appointment as Early Career Director on the Geochemical Society Board

In our latest research, with input from colleagues across different institutions and countries, we explored the use of elemental salinity proxies (B/Ga, Sr/Ba, S/TOC) in various modern and Holocene environments, ranging from freshwater lakes to marine settings. Our findings show that these proxies are generally reliable (with a few exceptions!). We also found that factors like clay mineralogy have less of an impact than we expected. Overall, our work reinforces the value of these proxies for studying past salinity, while emphasizing the importance of context.

In this paper, we reconstruct the history of connection and disconnection of an epeiric sea from the open ocean using redox and, primarily, salinity proxies. Analyzing the Cretaceous Agrio Formation (Argentina), we show that initial isolation of the Neuquén Basin led to hypersalinity and anoxia, followed by freshening, with later reconnection marked by a sharp salinity rise before marine fossils and transgressive surfaces appeared. Our findings reveal that salinity proxies are powerful tools for detecting marine-lacustrine transitions in fine-grained successions, even in the absence of fossils.

As part of our efforts to reconstruct ancient epeiric seas, we have combined a comprehensive set of sedimentological and geochemical tools to trace the littoral drift of a Cretaceous shoreline. Using the well-studied deltaic and shoreface sandstones from the Pilmatué Member (Agrio Formation, Neuquén Basin, Argentina), we reconstruct the sand pathways along the shoreline and define this as a Sediment Routing Tract—a segment of the larger Sediment Routing System. Have a look into this multidisciplinary work that truly uses the present as the key to the past!

Thrilled to announce that we’ve been awarded an NSF grant to dive deeper into the history of ocean oxygen levels along with Geoff Gilleaudeau! We’re set to explore the dynamics of Devonian marine oxygenation, aiming to unlock new insights into how early ocean ecosystems adapted to big shifts in climate. Excited to get started on this journey that will bring us to Bolivia and Australia!

I am truly happy and honored to be appointed as a new member of the IAS Early Career Scientists Committee. This role comes with significant challenges, but I am eager to contribute my skills and previous experience to address them. I look forward to collaborating with the future generation of sedimentologists 💪💪💪

As part of our work on Mesozoic Climatic Crisis and using U isotopes, we demonstrated that anoxia during the Toarcian Event started before the onset of the infamous carbon  isotope excursion. Moreover, the extension of the anoxia development placed the T-OAE as one of the most severe deoxygenation events in Earth history.  Have a look into it!

As part of our work on proxies development, we tested the salinity of several units in the Mesozoic Neuquén Basin, showing reduced salinity during the opening of the basin, and a substantial increase over time. Have a look into it!

Had a fantastic and busy week in La Plata at the Latin American and Argentine Meeting of Sedimentology. Chaired the 'Sedimentology of Black Shales', as well as a special session for undergrad and graduate students. Honored to give a keynote talk about salinity proxies on the lacustrine session. Thanks to everyone for making it an incredible week! See you in Córdoba!

The session 'The stratigraphic record of paleoenvironmental variation in epeiric basins' in the past IMS in Dubrovnik that we organized was really exciting! Thanks to all the participants and presenters, and special thanks to the co-chairs Miquel, Ernesto Schwarz, Chelsea, and Orsolya.