Ellen R.M. Druffel

Picture of Ellen R.M. Druffel
Fred Kavli Professor, Earth System Science
School of Physical Sciences
Adjunct Professor - Research Associate, IOD, Scripps, UCSD
Co-Director, Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Lab
Ph.D., U.C. San Diego, Chemistry
B.S., Loyola Marymount University, Chemistry
Phone: (949) 824-3286
Fax: (949) 824-3874
Email: edruffel@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
Croul Hall 3222
Mail Code: 3100
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Changes in past ocean circulation and ventilation; sources and cycling of marine dissolved and particulate carbon using AMS
Academic Distinctions
American Institute of Chemists Award, 1975
Macelwane Medal, AGU, 1990
Fellow of AGU, AAAS and The Oceanography Society
Hall of Fame, Loyola Marymount Univ. 2001
Ruth Patrick Award, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, 2004
UCI NSF Advance Chair, 2003-2008
Fred Kavli Chair of Earth System Science 2013 - present
Revelle Medal, AGU, 2016
Research Abstract
The goals of my research group are twofold. First, we aspire to understand why the 14C age of marine dissolved organic carbon is thousands of years old, despite the fact that most of it is produced recently in the surface ocean during photosynthesis. Second, how has circulation changed in the tropical Pacific during the past millennium? We use accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and preparative capillary gas chromatography (PCGC) to measure radiocarbon in samples as small as 2µg C to date the time since C was last in contact with the atmosphere. We study coral from the Pacific and Atlantic to reconstruct seasonal-to-annual records of isotopes that lend themselves well to reconstruction of past temperature, salinity and upwelling strength in surface waters.

Recent doctoral students in our group include Steve Beaupré (2007, moving to SUNY Stony Brook as Professor) and Lori Ziolkowski (2009, Professor at University of South Carolina).
Publications
Druffel, E.R.M., S. Griffin, C. S. Glynn, R. Benner and B. D. Walker (2017). Radiocarbon in dissolved organic and inorganic carbon of the Arctic Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 44 DOI:10.1002/2016GL072138
Rafter, P., S.C. Sanchez, J Ferguson, E.R.M. Druffel, H.D. Graven, J.R. Southon and J.D. Carriquiry (2017). Eastern tropical North Pacific coral radiocarbon reveals North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO) variability, Quaternary Science Reviews 160, 108-115.
Salvatteci, R., D. Gutierrez, A. Sifeddine, L. Ortlieb, E. Druffel, and R. Schneider (2016). Centennial to millennial–scale changes in oxygenation and productivity in the Eastern Tropical South Pacific during the last 25,000 years, Quaternary Science Reviews 131, 102-117.
Bolton, A, N.F. Goodkin, E.R.M. Druffel, S. Griffin, S.A. Murty (2016). Upwelling of Pacific Intermediate Water in the South China Sea revealed by coral radiocarbon record, Radiocarbon, 58 37-53.
Southon, J.R., R. De Pol–Holz, E.R.M. Druffel (2016). Chapter 7: Paleoclimatology, in Radiocarbon and Climate Change: Mechanisms, Applications and Laboratory Techniques, Editors E.A.G. Schuur, S.E. Trumbore and E.R.M. Druffel, Springer International Publishing, New York/Heidelberg, 221-252
Schuur, E.A.G., S.E. Trumbore, E.R.M. Druffel, J.R. Southon, A. Steinhof, R.E. Taylor, J.C. Turnbull, X. Xu (2016). Chapter 1: Radiocarbon and the Global Carbon Cycle, in Radiocarbon and Climate Change: Mechanisms, Applications and Laboratory Techniques, Editors E.A.G. Schuur, S.E. Trumbore and E.R.M. Druffel, Springer International Publishing, New York/Heidelberg, 1-19
Druffel, E.R.M., S.R. Beaupré and L.A. Ziolkowski (2016). Chapter 5: Radiocarbon in the Oceans, in Radiocarbon and Climate Change: Mechanisms, Applications and Laboratory Techniques. Editors E.A.G. Schuur, S.E. Trumbore and E.R.M. Druffel, Springer International Publishing, New York/Heidelberg, 139-166.
Coppola, A.I. and E.R.M. Druffel (2016). Cycling of black carbon in the oceans. Geophysical Research Letters, 43 DOI:10.1002/2016GL068574.
Druffel, E.R.M., S. Griffin, * A. I. Coppola, and B. D. Walker (2016). Radiocarbon in dissolved organic carbon of the Atlantic Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 43, doi:10.1002/2016GL068746.
Walker, B.D., S. Griffin and E.R.M. Druffel. Effect of acidified versus frozen storage on marine dissolved organic carbon concentration and isotopic composition, Radiocarbon, 58 DOI:10.1017/RDC.2016.48.
Walker, B.W. S.R. Beaupré, T.P. Guilderson, M.D. McCarthy, E.R.M. Druffel, (2016). Pacific carbon cycling constrained by organic matter size, age and composition relationships, Nature Geoscience doi:10.1038/ngeo2830.
Walker, B.D., F.W. Primeau, S.R. Beaupré, T.P. Guilderson, E.R.M. Druffel, M.D. McCarthy (2016). Linked changes in marine dissolved organic carbon molecular size and radiocarbon age. Geophysical Research Letters, 43 DOI/10.1002/2016GL070359.
Wang, X., C. Xu, E.R.M. Druffel, Y. Xue and Y. Qi (2016). Two black carbon pools transported by the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, doi:10.1002/2016GB005509.
Grants
NSF Chemical Oceanography
The Kavli Foundation
American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund Grant
Professional Societies
AGU, ASLO, TOS
Other Experience
Scientist
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 1981—1993
Visiting Scholar
University of California, Santa Cruz 1987—1988
Research Centers
W. M. Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory
Last updated
09/29/2023