Alexis Cutignola ’27
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Tracking Ocean Circulation Patterns in the Late Cretaceous Southern Ocean
I worked within the Zhang Research Laboratory to better understand ocean circulation during the Late Cretaceous, the time period right before the dinosaurs became extinct. This period was characterized by extreme warmth and the separation of the Australian and Antarctic continents; my project involved analyzing sediment core samples that were collected from Australia’s southern coast on a 2017 drilling expedition through the Integrated Ocean Discover Program. My daily tasks involved breaking down sedimentary samples that spanned 94-87 million years ago. Combining laboratory and research work, I examined the disaggregated sample components under a microscope and worked on collecting fish debris that could later be used to measure its neodymium (Nd) isotopic composition. As a rare earth element and a water mass tracer, Nd isotopes in the fossilized fish debris reflect the region in which the water mass originated and the isotopic signal is carried with the seawater as it circulates throughout the ocean. Although the Nd analysis step falls outside of my internship timeline, I have already gained an interest in geoscience applications and I look forward to seeing how I can reflect this new curiosity onto my further studies at Princeton.
2024
Oceans and the Environment
The Zhang Research Laboratory, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University - Princeton, New Jersey
Xinning Zhang, Assistant Professor of Geosciences and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Shannon Haynes, Associate Professional Specialist, Geosciences