Dr. Matthew Purtill
Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences Assistant Professor Matthew Purtill, along with ‘20 graduate Gillian Tytka, will give a virtual presentation of their poster, "Possible Evidence of Relict Polygonal Ground Features in the Finger Lakes Region of New York: A Pilot Study Using Google Earth Pro,” at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America on Thursday, Oct. 29.
Their poster reports results from a research project initiated by Ms. Tytka while she was an undergraduate Geology major, with a minor in Geographic Information Systems. It highlights potential evidence of past permafrost conditions in New York during the late Pleistocene period.
Understanding past permafrost distributions is important for paleoclimate reconstruction and calculating potential carbon release in present-day environments. A full abstract and copy of the poster can be assessed at Dr. Purtill's research website.
