Fred J. Longstaffe, FRSC
Laboratory for Stable Isotope Science
Distinguished University Professor
Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Stable Isotope Science
Director, Laboratory for Stable Isotope Science
P.Geol.
Ph.D. McMaster University, 1978
Office: Rm. 1023 Bio. & Geo. Bldg.
Phone: 1-519-661-2111 x.83177
Fax: 1-519-661-3198
Email: flongsta@uwo.ca
Lab Website
Research Interests
Stable
isotope science across the atmosphere-hydrosphere-biosphere-lithosphere (rock,
soil) continuum (earth-systems science); Stable isotope and biomarker proxies
for paleoclimate reconstruction in continental and lacustrine systems; Stable
isotope systematics of Pleistocene and Holocene ecosystems and associated
megafauna; Stable isotopic analysis of anthropological materials and its
applications to environment and climate reconstruction; Stable isotope
systematics of hydrous minerals; Triple oxygen-isotope systematics in
meteorites; Oil sands; Diagenesis of clastic sedimentary systems; Clay
mineralogy; Rock-water interaction in hydrothermal systems and mineralization.
Selected Publications
Webb EC, White CD & Longstaffe FJ (2013)
Dietary shifting in the Nasca Region as inferred from the carbon- and
nitrogen-isotope compositions of archaeological hair and bone. Journal of
Archaeological Science 40: 129-139. Dahal K, Kane K, Gadapati W, Webb
EA, Savitch LV, Singh J, Sharma P, Sarhan F, Longstaffe FJ, Grodzinsk IB &
Hüner NPA (2012) The effects of
phenotypic plasticity on photosynthetic performance in winter rye, winter wheat
and Brassica napus. Physiologia
Plantarum 144: 169-188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-3054.2011.01513.x Fraser EE, McGuire LP, Eger J, Longstaffe
FJ & Fenton MB (2012) Evidence of latitudinal migration in Tri-coloured
bats, Perimyotis subflavus. PloS ONE 7(2):
e31419. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031419 (9 pages). Hyodo A & Longstaffe FJ (2012) Variations
in the oxygen-isotope composition of ancient Lake Superior between 11,000 and
8,800 cal BP. Journal of Paleolimnology 47:
327-338. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10933-011-9552-7 John CM, Banerjee NR, Longstaffe FJ, Sica C,
Law KR & Zachos JC (2012) Clay assemblage and oxygen isotopic constraints
on the weathering response to the PETM, East Coast of North America. Geology 40:
591-594. http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/40/7/591.abstract Metcalfe JZ &
Longstaffe FJ (2012) Mammoth tooth enamel growth rates inferred from stable isotope analysis
and histology. Quaternary Research 77: 424-432. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003358941200021X Petts
DC, Longstaffe FJ, Potter J, Barr SM & White CE (2012) Regional
hydrothermal alteration and 18O-depletion of the ca. 620 Ma
Huntington Mountain pluton and related rocks. Atlantic Geology 58: 54-69.
http://www.erudit.org/revue/ageo/2012/v48/n/ Polat
A, Longstaffe FJ, Weisener C, Fryer B, Frei R & Kerrich R (2012) Extreme element mobility during
transformation of Neoarchean (ca. 2.7
Ga) pillow basalts to a Paleoproterozoic (ca.
1.88 Ga) paleosol, Schreiber Beach, Ontario, Canada. Chemical Geology 326-327: 145-173. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0009254112003245 Potter J, Longstaffe FJ & Barr SM (2012)
Fluid-rock interactions in 18O-depleted Neoproterozoic rocks of the Mira
terrane, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia: A fluid inclusion and stable isotope
study of vein assemblages. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 49: 359-378. http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/e11-074 Szpak
P, Longstaffe FJ, Millaire J-F & White CD (2012) Stable isotope
biogeochemistry of seabird guano fertilization: Results from growth chamber
studies with maize (Zea mays). PLoS
ONE 7(3): e33741.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0033741 Szpak P, Millaire
J-F, White CD & Longstaffe FJ (2012) Influence of seabird guano and camelid dung fertilization on the
nitrogen isotopic composition of field-grown maize (Zea mays). Journal of Archeological Science 39: 3721-3740. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440312003019 Tabacaru CA, Millar JS & Longstaffe FJ (2012)
Seasonal moulting in deer mice (Peromyscus
maniculatus). Canadian-Field
Naturalist 125: 126-131. Chapligin B, Leng MJ, Webb EA, Alexandre A,
Dodd JD, Ijiri A, Lücke A, Shemesh A, Abelmann A, Herzschuh U, Longstaffe FJ et al. (2011) Inter-laboratory
comparison of oxygen isotopes from biogenic silica. Geochimica et Cosmochimica
Acta 75: 7242-7256. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016703711004674 Hyodo A & Longstaffe FJ (2011a) The
chronostratigraphy of Holocene sediments from four Lake Superior basins.
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 48:
1581-1599. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e11-060 Hyodo A & Longstaffe FJ (2011b) The
paleoproductivity of ancient Lake Superior. Quaternary Science Reviews 30: 2988-3000. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379111002083 Marsh JH, Gerbi CC, Culshaw, NG, Potter J, Longstaffe
FJ & Johnson SE (2011) Initiation and development of the Twelve Mile Bay
shear zone: The low viscosity sole of a granulite nappe. Journal of Metamorphic
Geology 29: 167-191. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1314.2010.00913.x Metcalfe JZ, Longstaffe FJ, Ballenger J &
Haynes CV, Jr (2011) Isotopic paleoecology of Clovis mammoths from
Arizona. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences 108(44):
17,916-17,920. http://www.pnas.org/content/108/44/17916.abstract Miller JF, Millar JS & Longstaffe FJ (2011)
Stable nitrogen and carbon isotope discrimination between juveniles and adults
in an income breeding small mammal (Peromyscus
maniculatus). Mammalian Biology 76:
563-569. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1616504711000292 Olsen
KC, von Heyking K, McGlynn G, Grupe G, White CD & Longstaffe FJ (2011)
Interpretive limitations of bone collagen nitrogen-isotope ratios: preliminary
insights from a dataset for subadults. In: Documenta
Archaeobiologiae 9:
119-132. Edited by G. Grupe, G. McGlynn and J. Peters, Rahden/Westfalen: Verlag
Marie Leidorf GmbH. Watts CM, White CD & Longstaffe FJ (2011)
Childhood diet and Western Basin tradition foodways at the Krieger site,
southwestern Ontario, Canada. American Antiquity 76: 446-472. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA264270746&v=2.1&u=lond95336&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w Williams LJ, White CD & Longstaffe FJ
(2011) Improving stable isotopic interpretations made from human hair through
reduction of growth-cycle error. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 145: 125-136. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.21479
Courses Taught
On
Leave but in residence (July 2012 – June 2013)
Students
Natalie
St. Amour, PDF (Earth Sciences) Nadia
Dildar, PDF (Earth Sciences) Joanne Potter, Research Associate
(Earth Sciences) Scott
Colborne, PhD candidate (Biology) (Joint with B. Neff) Alicia
Donis, PhD candidate (Anthropology) (Joint with C. White) Ryan
Hladyniuk, PhD candidate (Earth Sciences) Zoe
Morris, PhD candidate (Anthropology) (Joint with C. White) Karyn
Olsen, PhD candidate (Anthropology) (Joint with C. White) Carlie
Pennycook, PhD candidate (Anthropoogy) (Joint with C. White) Sam
Russell, PhD candidate (Earth Sciences) Deana
Schwarz, PhD candidate (Earth Sciences) Rachel
Schwartz-Narbonne, PhD candidate (Earth Sciences) Paul
Szpak, PhD candidate (Anthropology) (Joint with C. White) Farnoush
Tahmasebi, PhD candidate (Earth Sciences) Nicolle
Bellissimo, MSc candidate (Earth Sciences) Laura
Booth, MA candidate (Anthropology) (Joint with C. White) Natasha
Bumstead, MSc candidate (Earth Sciences) Alana
Crump, MSc candidate (Earth Sciences) Leslie
Erdman, MSc candidate (Biology) (Joint with B. Fenton) Candace Freckelton, MSc candidate
(Earth Sciences) Camila Bernardes A. A. Neves, MSc candidate (Universidade
Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro) Mitchell
Skuce, MSc candidate (Earth Sciences) Emily
Wells, MA candidate (Anthropology) (Joint with C. White) Recent
Graduates Duane C Petts (2012) PhD Reba A Macdonald (2012) PhD Erin E Fraser (2011) PhD Jessica Z Metcalfe
(2011) PhD Emily C Webb (2011) PhD Ayumi Hyodo (2010) PhD Researchers
in the Longstaffe group measure oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and sulphur
isotopic variations to address one or more of the following general questions: 1.
What is the distribution of heavy versus light isotopes of the same element
among Earth materials, and what does it tells us about Earth systems? 2.
What is the environmental significance of isotopic signatures recorded by
‘proxy’ materials from lacustrine sediments and terrestrial soils and
sediments? ‘Proxies’ include – but are not limited to – ostracodes, clams,
gastropods, bulk organic matter, pollen and other palynomorphs, plant
macromolecules (e.g., cellulose), biogenic silica (phytoliths, diatoms), bone,
teeth, hair, feathers, antler, tusk, and fur. 3.
How do we read and what can we learn from past and present isotopic records of
ecological, environmental and climate change? Can we use the light stable
isotopes to go “back to the future”? Research
projects are currently available within the following topic areas: See http://www.uwo.ca/earth/graduate/prospective_students/student_opportunities.html
for more details.
Past and present isotope hydroclimatology and hydrology, Great Lakes region
Compound-specific C- and N-isotope tracers in sediments
Carbonic gases, mineral-fluid interactions, and their origin and evolution
in mineralized and unmineralized Neoproterozoic terranes of North America,
Britain and Wales, and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks of SW Ontario
Isotopic investigation of foraging polymorphisms and assortative mating in
sunfish sympatric speciation
Tracing the movement of people at Lamanai through time using stable isotopes
The evolution of Lake Ontario: a paleolimnological study using stable
isotopes
Stable isotopic investigation of Late Woodland (AD 1000-1600) SW Ontario deer,
dog and wild turkey from Iroquoian and Western Basin sites
The effects of disease on human bone collagen nitrogen-isotope compositions
Palaeodiet and health in the Pre-Columbian Quito Basin, Ecuador
The nitrogen and oxygen isotope ratios of dissolved nitrate in Pinery
Provincial Park
Stable isotope composition of modern pollen and its relationship to
environment
Reconstructing North American Pleistocene ecosystems by stable isotope
analysis
South American camelids in Prehispanic Peru: Perspectives from stable
isotope analysis
Stable isotope analysis of soils and plants of mammoth steppe ecosystems
Stable isotope investigation of bioapatite from modern and Late Pleistocene
horses
Stable isotope analysis of faunal remains from Iroquoian archaeological
sites
The paleolimnology of Lake Simcoe using stable isotopes and other proxies
Stable isotopic investigations of organic biomarker variation in the
plant-soil-clay system
Assessing trophic level effects on the stable hydrogen isotope composition
of bat fur
Geochemical characterization of groundwater in SW Ontario’s breathing well
region
Dental
wear and stable isotopic investigations of South American megafauna
The geochemical characterization of deep groundwaters in southwestern
Ontario
Stable isotope analysis of a 19thcentury Catholic cemetery
population, Ingersoll, ON
Deep
crustal evolution of the western Churchill Province, Nunavut, Canada: Isotopic
(U-Pb, O), trace element, and micro-structural analysis of zircom from lower
crustal xenoliths
Late
Quaternary histories of Lakes Huron and Michigan: A stable isotope
investigation of sediment cores and modern biogenic carbonates
Stable
isotope analyses of bat fur: applications for investigating North American bat
migration
Late Pleistocene climate and proboscidean
paleoecology in North America: Insights from stable isotope compositions of
skeletal remains.
Residential
mobility, palaeodiet and stress in Nasca, Peru: biogeochemical and biomolecular
analyses of archaeological tissues
The
Holocene paleolimnology of Lake SuperiorAvailable
Graduate Research Projects
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