Matthew Nadeau

I am a geochemist interested in how life, climate, and ocean chemistry have co-evolved through Earth’s history. My research focuses on carbonate archives, using stable isotope systems (e.g., Li, Mg, Ca, Sr) and major and minor elements to distinguish global seawater signals from local environmental phenomena and diagenetic alteration. A central goal of my work is to determine the reliability of marine carbonates as archives of seawater chemistry, and how these records can be used to evaluate long-term changes in the carbonate factory and Earth system. I combine geochemical measurements with quantitative models to evaluate how changes in the carbonate factory and Earth system influence the isotopic and elemental composition of the oceans. My current work applies isotope systems, including Ba and Sr, to modern Arctic marine mammals to understand how foraging strategies respond to climate change and sea-ice variability, and what this reveals about rapidly evolving Arctic ecosystems.