Miriam Jones, Ph.D.
I use a range of proxies (plant macrofossils, pollen, charcoal, stable isotopes) to interpret climate and landscape change over centennial to millennial timescales. Current topics include responses to abrupt permafrost thaw, sea-level rise, sea-ice retreat, and centennial-scale land-use change.
Education and Certifications
Columbia University, PhD, 2008
Columbia University, MPhil, 2006
Columbia University, M. A., 2005
Barnard College, A.B., 2002, Magna Cum Laude
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 48
Permafrost thaw in northern peatlands: Rapid changes in ecosystem and landscape functions
Peatlands within the northern permafrost region cover approximately 2 million km2 and are characterized by organic soils that can be several meters thick, and a fine-scale mosaic of permafrost and non-permafrost landforms interspersed by shallow ponds and lakes. Ongoing permafrost thaw is transforming these peatlands, causing abrupt changes to their morphology, hydrology, ecology, and biogeochemis
Authors
David Olefeldt, Liam Hefferman, Miriam C. Jones, A. Britta Sannel, Claire C. Treat, Merritt R. Turetsky
Predicted vulnerability of carbon in permafrost peatlands With future climate change and permafrost thaw in western Canada
Climate warming in high-latitude regions is thawing carbon-rich permafrost soils, which can release carbon to the atmosphere and enhance climate warming. Using a coupled model of long-term peatland dynamics (Holocene Peat Model, HPM-Arctic), we quantify the potential loss of carbon with future climate warming for six sites with differing climates and permafrost histories in Northwestern Canada. We
Authors
Claire C. Treat, Miriam C. Jones, Jay R. Alder, A. Britta K. Sannel, Philip Camill, Steve Frolking
Carbon fluxes and microbial activities from boreal peatlands experiencing permafrost thaw
Permafrost thaw in northern ecosystems may cause large quantities of carbon (C) to move from soil to atmospheric pools. Because soil microbial communities play a critical role in regulating C fluxes from soils, we examined microbial activity and greenhouse gas production soon after permafrost thaw and ground collapse (into collapse-scar bogs), relative to the permafrost plateau or older thaw featu
Authors
Mark Waldrop, Jack McFarland, Kristen L. Manies, Mary-Cathrine Leewis, Steve Blazewicz, Miriam C. Jones, Rebecca Neumann, Jason Keller, Rachel Cohen, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Colin W. Edgar, Merritt R. Turetsky, William Cable
USGS permafrost research determines the risks of permafrost thaw to biologic and hydrologic resources
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with university, Federal, Tribal, and independent partners, conducts fundamental research on the distribution, vulnerability, and importance of permafrost in arctic and boreal ecosystems. Scientists, land managers, and policy makers use USGS data to help make decisions for development, wildlife habitat, and other needs. Native villages and cities
Authors
Mark P. Waldrop, Lesleigh Anderson, Mark Dornblaser, Li H. Erikson, Ann E. Gibbs, Nicole M. Herman-Mercer, Stephanie R. James, Miriam C. Jones, Joshua C. Koch, Mary-Cathrine Leewis, Kristen L. Manies, Burke J. Minsley, Neal J. Pastick, Vijay Patil, Frank Urban, Michelle A. Walvoord, Kimberly P. Wickland, Christian Zimmerman
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Climate Research and Development Program, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Land Change Science Program, Volcano Hazards Program, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Volcano Science Center
Spatiotemporal patterns of northern lake formation since the last glacial maximum
The northern mid- to high-latitudes have the highest total number and area of lakes on Earth. Lake origins in these regions are diverse, but to a large extent coupled to glacial, permafrost, and peatland histories. The synthesis of 1207 northern lake initiation records presented here provides an analog for rapid landscape-level change in response to climate warming, and its subsequent attenuation
Authors
L. S. Brosius, K. M. Walter Anthony, C. C. Treat, J. Lenz, Miriam C. Jones, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte, G. Grosse
Subsea permafrost carbon stocks and climate change sensitivity estimated by expert assessment
The continental shelves of the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas contain large stocks of organic matter (OM) and methane (CH4), representing a potential ecosystem feedback to climate change not included in international climate agreements. We performed a structured expert assessment with 25 permafrost researchers to combine quantitative estimates of the stocks and sensitivity of organic carbon in
Authors
Sara Sayedi, Benjamin Abbott, B.F. Thornton, Jennifer M. Frederick, Jorien E. Vonk, Paul Overduin, Christina Schadel, E.A.G. Schuur, A. Bourbonnais, N. Demidova, Anatoly Gavrilov, Shengping He, Gustaf Gustaf Hugelius, Martin Jakobsson, Miriam C. Jones, DoongJoo Joung, Gleb Kraev, Robie W. Macdonald, A. David McGuire, Cuicui Mu, M. O'Regan, Kathryn M. Schreiner, Christian Stranne, Elena Pizhankova, A. Vasiliev, S. Westermann, Jay P. Zarnetske, Tingjun Zhang, M Ghandehari, Sarah Baeumler, Brian C. Brown, Rebecca J. Frei
Expert assessment of future vulnerability of the global peatland carbon sink
The carbon balance of peatlands is predicted to shift from a sink to a source this century. However, peatland ecosystems are still omitted from the main Earth system models that are used for future climate change projections, and they are not considered in integrated assessment models that are used in impact and mitigation studies. By using evidence synthesized from the literature and an expert el
Authors
Julie Loisel, A.V. Gallego-Sala, M.J. Amesbury, G. Magnan, G. Anshari, D. W. Beilman, J. Blewett, J. C. Benevides, P. Camill, D. J. Charman, S. Chawchai, A. Hedgpeth, T. Kleinen, A. Korhola, D. Large, J. Müller, C. A. Mansilla, S. van Bellen, J. B. West, Z. Yu, J. L. Bubier, M. Garneau, T. Moore, A. B. K. Sannel, M. Väliranta, S. Page, M. Bechtold, V. Brovkin, L. E. S. Cole, J. P. Chanton, T. R. Christensen, M. A. Davies, F. De Vleeschouwer, S.A. Finkelstein, S. Frolking, M. Galka, L. Gandois, N. Girkin, .L.I. Harris, A. Heinemeyer, A.M. Hoyt, Miriam C. Jones, F. Joos, S. Juutinen, K. Kaiser, M. Lamentowicz, T. Larmola, M. Leifeld, A. Lohila, A.M. Milner, Kari Minkkinen, P. Moss, B.D.A. Naafs, J. Nichols, J. O'Donnell, R. Payne, M. Philben, S. Pilo, A. Quillet, A.S. Ratnayake, T.P. Roland, S. Sjogersten, O. Sonnentag, G.T. Swindles, W. Swinnen, J. Talbott, C. C. Treat, A.C. Valach, J. Wu
High sensitivity of Bering Sea winter sea ice to winter insolation and carbon dioxide over the last 5,500 years
Anomalously low winter sea ice extent and early retreat in CE 2018 and 2019 challenge previous notions that winter sea ice in the Bering Sea has been stable over the instrumental record, although long-term records remain limited. Here, we use a record of peat cellulose oxygen isotopes from St. Matthew Island along with isotope-enabled general circulation model (IsoGSM) simulations to generate a 55
Authors
Miriam C. Jones, Max Berkelhammer, Katherine Keller, Kei Yoshimura, Matthew J. Wooller
Large stocks of peatland carbon and nitrogen are vulnerable to permafrost thaw
Over many millennia, northern peatlands have accumulated large amounts of carbon and nitrogen, thus cooling the global climate. Over shorter timescales, peatland disturbances can trigger losses of peat and release of greenhouses gases. Despite their importance to the global climate, peatlands remain poorly mapped, and the vulnerability of permafrost peatlands to warming is uncertain. This study co
Authors
Gustaf Hugelius, Julie Loisel, Sarah Chadburn, Robert B. Jackson, Miriam C. Jones, Glen MacDonald, Maija Marushchak, David Olefeldt, Maara S. Packalen, Matthias B. Siewert, Claire C. Treat, Merritt Turetsky, Carolina Voigt, Zicheng Yu
Using multiple environmental proxies and hydrodynamic modeling to investigate Late Holocene climate and coastal change within a large Gulf of Mexico estuarine system (Mobile Bay, Alabama, USA)
A high degree of uncertainty exists for understanding and predicting coastal estuarine response to changing climate, land-use, and sea-level conditions, leaving geologic records as a best-proxy for constraining potential outcomes. With the majority of the world's population focused in coastal regions, understanding how local systems respond to global, regional, and even local pressures is key in d
Authors
Christopher G. Smith, Miriam C. Jones, Lisa Osterman, Davina Passeri
Carbon release through abrupt permafrost thaw
The permafrost zone is expected to be a substantial carbon source to the atmosphere, yet large-scale models currently only
simulate gradual changes in seasonally thawed soil. Abrupt thaw will probably occur in
Authors
Merritt R. Turetsky, Benjamin W. Abbott, Miriam C. Jones, Katey Walter Anthony, David Olefeldt, Edward A. Schuur, Guido Grosse, Peter Kuhry, Gustaf Hugelius, Charles Koven, David M. Lawrence, Carolyn Gibson, A. Britta K. Sannel, A.D. McGuire
Impacts of Hurricane Irma on Florida Bay Islands, Everglades National Park, U.S.A.
Hurricane Irma made landfall in south Florida, USA, on September 10, 2017 as a category 4 storm. In January 2018, fieldwork was conducted on four previously (2014) sampled islands in Florida Bay, Everglades National Park to examine changes between 2014 and 2018. The objectives were to determine if the net impact of the storm was gain or loss of island landmass and/or elevation; observe and quantif
Authors
G. Lynn Wingard, Sarah E. Bergstresser, Bethany Stackhouse, Miriam Jones, Marci E. Marot, Kristen Hoefke, Andre Daniels, Katherine Keller
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 48
Permafrost thaw in northern peatlands: Rapid changes in ecosystem and landscape functions
Peatlands within the northern permafrost region cover approximately 2 million km2 and are characterized by organic soils that can be several meters thick, and a fine-scale mosaic of permafrost and non-permafrost landforms interspersed by shallow ponds and lakes. Ongoing permafrost thaw is transforming these peatlands, causing abrupt changes to their morphology, hydrology, ecology, and biogeochemis
Authors
David Olefeldt, Liam Hefferman, Miriam C. Jones, A. Britta Sannel, Claire C. Treat, Merritt R. Turetsky
Predicted vulnerability of carbon in permafrost peatlands With future climate change and permafrost thaw in western Canada
Climate warming in high-latitude regions is thawing carbon-rich permafrost soils, which can release carbon to the atmosphere and enhance climate warming. Using a coupled model of long-term peatland dynamics (Holocene Peat Model, HPM-Arctic), we quantify the potential loss of carbon with future climate warming for six sites with differing climates and permafrost histories in Northwestern Canada. We
Authors
Claire C. Treat, Miriam C. Jones, Jay R. Alder, A. Britta K. Sannel, Philip Camill, Steve Frolking
Carbon fluxes and microbial activities from boreal peatlands experiencing permafrost thaw
Permafrost thaw in northern ecosystems may cause large quantities of carbon (C) to move from soil to atmospheric pools. Because soil microbial communities play a critical role in regulating C fluxes from soils, we examined microbial activity and greenhouse gas production soon after permafrost thaw and ground collapse (into collapse-scar bogs), relative to the permafrost plateau or older thaw featu
Authors
Mark Waldrop, Jack McFarland, Kristen L. Manies, Mary-Cathrine Leewis, Steve Blazewicz, Miriam C. Jones, Rebecca Neumann, Jason Keller, Rachel Cohen, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Colin W. Edgar, Merritt R. Turetsky, William Cable
USGS permafrost research determines the risks of permafrost thaw to biologic and hydrologic resources
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with university, Federal, Tribal, and independent partners, conducts fundamental research on the distribution, vulnerability, and importance of permafrost in arctic and boreal ecosystems. Scientists, land managers, and policy makers use USGS data to help make decisions for development, wildlife habitat, and other needs. Native villages and cities
Authors
Mark P. Waldrop, Lesleigh Anderson, Mark Dornblaser, Li H. Erikson, Ann E. Gibbs, Nicole M. Herman-Mercer, Stephanie R. James, Miriam C. Jones, Joshua C. Koch, Mary-Cathrine Leewis, Kristen L. Manies, Burke J. Minsley, Neal J. Pastick, Vijay Patil, Frank Urban, Michelle A. Walvoord, Kimberly P. Wickland, Christian Zimmerman
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Climate Research and Development Program, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Land Change Science Program, Volcano Hazards Program, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Volcano Science Center
Spatiotemporal patterns of northern lake formation since the last glacial maximum
The northern mid- to high-latitudes have the highest total number and area of lakes on Earth. Lake origins in these regions are diverse, but to a large extent coupled to glacial, permafrost, and peatland histories. The synthesis of 1207 northern lake initiation records presented here provides an analog for rapid landscape-level change in response to climate warming, and its subsequent attenuation
Authors
L. S. Brosius, K. M. Walter Anthony, C. C. Treat, J. Lenz, Miriam C. Jones, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte, G. Grosse
Subsea permafrost carbon stocks and climate change sensitivity estimated by expert assessment
The continental shelves of the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas contain large stocks of organic matter (OM) and methane (CH4), representing a potential ecosystem feedback to climate change not included in international climate agreements. We performed a structured expert assessment with 25 permafrost researchers to combine quantitative estimates of the stocks and sensitivity of organic carbon in
Authors
Sara Sayedi, Benjamin Abbott, B.F. Thornton, Jennifer M. Frederick, Jorien E. Vonk, Paul Overduin, Christina Schadel, E.A.G. Schuur, A. Bourbonnais, N. Demidova, Anatoly Gavrilov, Shengping He, Gustaf Gustaf Hugelius, Martin Jakobsson, Miriam C. Jones, DoongJoo Joung, Gleb Kraev, Robie W. Macdonald, A. David McGuire, Cuicui Mu, M. O'Regan, Kathryn M. Schreiner, Christian Stranne, Elena Pizhankova, A. Vasiliev, S. Westermann, Jay P. Zarnetske, Tingjun Zhang, M Ghandehari, Sarah Baeumler, Brian C. Brown, Rebecca J. Frei
Expert assessment of future vulnerability of the global peatland carbon sink
The carbon balance of peatlands is predicted to shift from a sink to a source this century. However, peatland ecosystems are still omitted from the main Earth system models that are used for future climate change projections, and they are not considered in integrated assessment models that are used in impact and mitigation studies. By using evidence synthesized from the literature and an expert el
Authors
Julie Loisel, A.V. Gallego-Sala, M.J. Amesbury, G. Magnan, G. Anshari, D. W. Beilman, J. Blewett, J. C. Benevides, P. Camill, D. J. Charman, S. Chawchai, A. Hedgpeth, T. Kleinen, A. Korhola, D. Large, J. Müller, C. A. Mansilla, S. van Bellen, J. B. West, Z. Yu, J. L. Bubier, M. Garneau, T. Moore, A. B. K. Sannel, M. Väliranta, S. Page, M. Bechtold, V. Brovkin, L. E. S. Cole, J. P. Chanton, T. R. Christensen, M. A. Davies, F. De Vleeschouwer, S.A. Finkelstein, S. Frolking, M. Galka, L. Gandois, N. Girkin, .L.I. Harris, A. Heinemeyer, A.M. Hoyt, Miriam C. Jones, F. Joos, S. Juutinen, K. Kaiser, M. Lamentowicz, T. Larmola, M. Leifeld, A. Lohila, A.M. Milner, Kari Minkkinen, P. Moss, B.D.A. Naafs, J. Nichols, J. O'Donnell, R. Payne, M. Philben, S. Pilo, A. Quillet, A.S. Ratnayake, T.P. Roland, S. Sjogersten, O. Sonnentag, G.T. Swindles, W. Swinnen, J. Talbott, C. C. Treat, A.C. Valach, J. Wu
High sensitivity of Bering Sea winter sea ice to winter insolation and carbon dioxide over the last 5,500 years
Anomalously low winter sea ice extent and early retreat in CE 2018 and 2019 challenge previous notions that winter sea ice in the Bering Sea has been stable over the instrumental record, although long-term records remain limited. Here, we use a record of peat cellulose oxygen isotopes from St. Matthew Island along with isotope-enabled general circulation model (IsoGSM) simulations to generate a 55
Authors
Miriam C. Jones, Max Berkelhammer, Katherine Keller, Kei Yoshimura, Matthew J. Wooller
Large stocks of peatland carbon and nitrogen are vulnerable to permafrost thaw
Over many millennia, northern peatlands have accumulated large amounts of carbon and nitrogen, thus cooling the global climate. Over shorter timescales, peatland disturbances can trigger losses of peat and release of greenhouses gases. Despite their importance to the global climate, peatlands remain poorly mapped, and the vulnerability of permafrost peatlands to warming is uncertain. This study co
Authors
Gustaf Hugelius, Julie Loisel, Sarah Chadburn, Robert B. Jackson, Miriam C. Jones, Glen MacDonald, Maija Marushchak, David Olefeldt, Maara S. Packalen, Matthias B. Siewert, Claire C. Treat, Merritt Turetsky, Carolina Voigt, Zicheng Yu
Using multiple environmental proxies and hydrodynamic modeling to investigate Late Holocene climate and coastal change within a large Gulf of Mexico estuarine system (Mobile Bay, Alabama, USA)
A high degree of uncertainty exists for understanding and predicting coastal estuarine response to changing climate, land-use, and sea-level conditions, leaving geologic records as a best-proxy for constraining potential outcomes. With the majority of the world's population focused in coastal regions, understanding how local systems respond to global, regional, and even local pressures is key in d
Authors
Christopher G. Smith, Miriam C. Jones, Lisa Osterman, Davina Passeri
Carbon release through abrupt permafrost thaw
The permafrost zone is expected to be a substantial carbon source to the atmosphere, yet large-scale models currently only
simulate gradual changes in seasonally thawed soil. Abrupt thaw will probably occur in
Authors
Merritt R. Turetsky, Benjamin W. Abbott, Miriam C. Jones, Katey Walter Anthony, David Olefeldt, Edward A. Schuur, Guido Grosse, Peter Kuhry, Gustaf Hugelius, Charles Koven, David M. Lawrence, Carolyn Gibson, A. Britta K. Sannel, A.D. McGuire
Impacts of Hurricane Irma on Florida Bay Islands, Everglades National Park, U.S.A.
Hurricane Irma made landfall in south Florida, USA, on September 10, 2017 as a category 4 storm. In January 2018, fieldwork was conducted on four previously (2014) sampled islands in Florida Bay, Everglades National Park to examine changes between 2014 and 2018. The objectives were to determine if the net impact of the storm was gain or loss of island landmass and/or elevation; observe and quantif
Authors
G. Lynn Wingard, Sarah E. Bergstresser, Bethany Stackhouse, Miriam Jones, Marci E. Marot, Kristen Hoefke, Andre Daniels, Katherine Keller