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Professor Alan Cooper Director, Blue Sky Genetics
Abstract: The magnetic poles of the earth have reversed frequently through geological history, but the global impacts of these events, if any, remain unclear. The last major magnetic inversion, the Laschamps Excursion, occurred around 41 thousand years ago (ka). The resulting rapid increase in cosmic ionising radiation impacting the earth’s atmosphere makes radiocarbon dating inaccurate, and has complicated the study of potential biological impacts. We use ancient New Zealand kauri trees to develop a detailed record of atmospheric radiocarbon levels across the Laschamps Excursion to precisely characterise the geomagnetic changes, perform global chemistry-climate modelling, and trace solar Grand Minima. We find that the geomagnetic field collapsed as the poles reversed 42ka, and in combination with Grand Solar Minima, caused substantial changes in atmospheric ozone concentration, driving synchronous global climate shifts that caused major environmental changes, multiple extinction events, and largescale upheaval in the archaeological record. We have named this the Adams Event, in honour of Douglas Adams, who correctly predicted that 42 was the answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything.
Bio: Prof. Cooper has been recognised as a pioneer in the field of ancient DNA since his PhD work with Svante Pååbo at UC Berkeley established that ancient bones and teeth preserved DNA (PNAS 1992). He was made a Professor at the University of Oxford in 2002, and built the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA at the University of Adelaide, where he was Director from 2005-2019. He has over 300 publications, of which more than 10% have appeared in either Nature or Science, mostly as first or senior author. His research is characterised by large multi-disciplinary studies that have made major advances in evolution, human history, climate change, microbiomes, genomics, archaeology, and mathematical biology. He recently led a team of 31 international experts in a multi-disciplinary study of the Adams Event, published in Science in Feb 2021.
Adams Event background:
Stephen Fry Adams Event Animation:
2 min outline video:
Podcasts about the Adams Event: https://alanjcooper42.podbean.com
For further information visit: www.fieldgeologyclubsa.org.au
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Mawson Lecture Theatre, Adelaide, SA, Australia