Alpine Soils of the Northeastern U.S.: A consistent interest of mine is alpine soils of the northeastern U.S. Most of the work focused on the alpine zones of this region’s highest mountains has dealt with ecology or botany, and surprisingly little is known about the history of these soils and their development over time. This oversight is unfortunate because the alpine zones are threatened by increased recreational impacts and climate change. My work has shed light on the pedogenic pathways followed by alpine soils in Vermont, as well as the rates of their formation. Related work in the Presidential Range of New Hampshire revealed that deposits of glacial till are the likely parent material for alpine soils in some geomorphic settings.

 

Alpine Soils in the Rocky Mountains: My first publication was on high-elevation soils in the Uinta Mountains, and over the past 20 years I’ve continued to study the properties and development of old, cold soils on high ridgelines that were above the reach of alpine glaciers.  These soils are an anomaly because most cold mountain soils are young, because they formed after deglaciation.  My work in Utah has demonstrated that a surprising amount of the total mass of these soils is windblown dust that has accumulated over millennia.