Rebecca L. Totten
Associate Professor
Alabama Water Institute CONSERVE Distinguished Faculty Fellow
Research Associate, Department of Museum Research and Collections & Alabama Museum of Natural History
- rltotten@ua.edu
- Shelby Hall 1007
- Website
Office Hours
by appointment
Education
- PhD, Earth Science, Rice University, 2015
- Shell Exploration and Production Co, 2015–2016
- BS, Geology and Geophysics, University of Kansas, 2009
- Geology and Geophysics, University of New Orleans, 2004–2005
Research Areas
- Marine Geology and Geophysics
- Paleontology, Paleoclimatology, and Paleoecology
- Energy
In the Sedimentary Geology and Micropaleontology Lab, our research is driven by the impacts of recent climate change; we strive to better understand recent events and observations within a longer pre-historic (geologic) context. My primary field area is in marine basins offshore Antarctica and Patagonia, where my students and I reconstruct the behavior of glaciers and volcanoes from tiny fossils and from the chemistry of sediments collected on the seafloor. We study these sediments alongside maps and seismic images that provide a larger context of the shape and stratigraphy (layering) of the basins. Analyzing differences in the behavior of various glaciers helps us understand controls on their stability, especially in light of recent oceanographic and climatic changes in Antarctica and Patagonia. In addition, reconstructing the history of volcanic eruptions in Patagonia can help us understand frequency of these events and how they affect marine ecosystems nearby.
Since I grew up in the Gulf Coastal region, I am also motivated to study sea-level rise and storm impacts in the Gulf of Mexico. We study the sediments, plankton, and chemical signatures of storms that are deposited in coastal estuaries. We reconstruct storm history from decades to millennia in an effort to understand how they might be related to sea-level changes and oceanographic changes associated with climatic evolution–and in turn, we study how these various changes and human activities affect ecosystem health. We often say in geology that the present is the key to the past, but I always add that the past is the key to predicting our future.
I am looking for motivated students to investigate some of our most pressing questions about the environmental and ecological impacts of past and present climate change. Contact me if this is you. Please write me an email with the subject line “Sed/Micro Prospective Student” and your name. Attach a copy of your CV or resume. Write 5-8 sentences describing why you want to pursue graduate or undergraduate research related to paleoclimatology and paleoecology. I look forward to hearing from you!
To learn more about what our research looks like, please visit our UA Sedimentary Geology and Micropaleontology laboratory website (microfossils.as.ua.edu).
Current Research Projects:
Schmidt Ocean Institute Fire and Ice Project: We are funded by the Schmidt Ocean Institute to investigate the expression of recent volcanic eruptions in marine environments of southern Chile. In the region of Northern Patagonia, a 2008 eruption devastated the town of Chaitén and transformed the landscape. We collected shallow seismic, bathymetric maps, and sediment cores with the ROV SuBastian in September, 2024 to investigate this understudied region and better understand volcanic impacts of the recent past. These data will help inform the locals and the geologic hazard monitoring agencies of Chile. Our group is particularly interested in studying the marine phytoplankton and benthic communities before and after eruptions, as an indicator of ecosystem impacts and overall health.
With a team led by Chief Scientist Dr. Seb Watt from the University of Birmingham and co-PI’s Dr. Rodrigo Fernandez from the Universidad de Chile, Dr. Rebecca Totten from the University of Alabama (me!), and Dr. G. Matilde Ferrante from the OGS in Italy, we collected over 2700 km2 of newly mapped areas, 3300 km of seismic, and 44 vibracores. These data provide a record that will help us understand volcanic and marine interactions in this region.
Students on the project: Marianne Heberlein (PhD student, Graduate Research Fellow, GRO Award winner 2024); Jacob Helgeson (MS student); Amalia Valdivieso (Universidad de Chile, co-advised with Dr. Rodrigo Fernandez); Abby Geiser (junior Geology major). I am looking for more students on this project!
Follow the project activities on Instagram @FireandIceProject.cl, YouTube @SchmidtOcean, and Facebook page – Schmidt Ocean Institute
NSF THOR Project: We are funded by NSF and NERC to study the past and present stability of Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, which is rapidly receding and has significant potential to contribute to sea-level rise. Our Thwaites Offshore Research team (THOR) of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration has collected sediment and geophysical records through two research expeditions and is currently analyzing these data to elucidate drivers of recent changes in the Thwaites Glacier system, as well as changes over the last 10,000 years. University of Alabama’s role in this research involves ocean productivity and temperature reconstructions. We analyze microscopic fossils of diatom and foraminifera plankton populations, as well as stable isotopes, to reconstruct ice-shelf history, sea-ice concentration, and the influence of warm deepwater through time.
Students on the project: Marianne Heberlein (PhD student, Graduate Research Fellow, GRO Award winner 2024); Jacob Helgeson (MS student); Colton Byrne (Geology and Chemistry double major; URCA award winner 2024); Gabi Barnes (UA Emerging Scholar, Geology major); Trudie Murphy (Geology major, Evolutionary Studies minor, Outstanding Rising Senior in Geological Sciences); Asmara Lehrmann (completed 2022, NSF Graduate Research Fellow and UA Graduate Council Fellow); Emma Tegert (BS Geology 2022, Outstanding Rising Junior & Senior in Geological Sciences); Robert Michael Comas (BS Environmental Science 2020); Victoria Fitzgerald (completed 2020, NSF Graduate Research Fellow). Student on related project on Antarctic Peninsula glaciers: Adlai N.R. Fonseca (MS Geology, 2019).
Example of a dropstone offshore Antarctica. Oceanographic influence on glacier stability can be interpreted from microfossils preserved in the sediment layers, including offshore diatoms (like the ~20 micron Fragilariopsis kerguelensis shown in the middle), while temperature of the water can be interpreted from warm-affinity diatoms, like the circular Thalassiosira antarctica- warm variety shown here, as well as benthic foraminifera like Bulumina aculeata, shown here with pink staining the living tissues. Photo credit: A.N.R. Fonseca and R.L. Totten.
BOEM Microfossils Project: We are also funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management – Marine Minerals Program to reconstruct paleo-environments and Pleistocene-Holocene coastal evolution offshore Mississippi through microfossil assemblage analysis, in support of the University of Southern Mississippi Cooperative Agreement (PI Davin Wallace) to map and quantify offshore sediment resources. We are currently analyzing ~40 cores with USM across the paleo-valley system offshore Petit Bois and Horn Islands.
Students on the project: Gabi Barnes (UA Emerging Scholar, Geology major), Jacob Helgeson (Marine Science Biology major, 2024), Jazmin Simons (BS Environmental Science, 2023), Elizabeth Favor (BS Marine Science Biology, 2023), Maddie Cherry (BS Marine Science Biology, 2022), and Jess Meyer (BS Marine Science Biology, 2022)
Paleo-reconstructions to improve coastal resiliency of Alabama and Mississippi: Ongoing work in the Mobile Bay-Mississippi Sound system is targeted at reconstructing paleo-storm and flood frequencies throughout the Holocene. With limited instrumental records and large paleoclimate data gaps in the Southeastern US, we aim to improve our knowledge of climate and storm relationships through long records, as well as quantify the impact of storms and coupled human impacts on ecology of estuaries. In collaboration with Drs. Davin Wallace (USM), Emily Elliott (UA), Fred Andrus (UA), Joe Lambert (UA), and other CoRPS faculty.
Students on the project: Lauren Parker (graduated, MS 2019, National Alumni Association Fellow, now working for environmental company in Maryland); Joel Sobrado (BS 2020, U.S. Army ret., now working for environmental geology company in Arizona).
USGS EdMap Project: We have also been funded by the U.S. Geological Survey to map the Coatopa Quadrangle of the Gulf Coastal Plain, in a location with world-famous outcrops of the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. We work closely with the Geological Survey of Alabama Groundwater Division to map, measure stratigraphic sections, provide biostratigraphic zonations, and measure permeability that will help in building a groundwater model for the Tombigbee River system.
Student on the project: Tyler Wood (MS 2023, former AAPG Chapter Vice President, now working in industry).
Fossil Marine Reptile Paleo-ecology: We analyze oxygen isotopes from fossil teeth to reconstruct the water environments that ancient marine mosasaurs inhabited. Continuous records of daily growth lines allow us to reconstruct their migration history and paleo-biology. In collaboration with Drs. Celina Suarez (UArk), Luis Gonzalez (KU), Dana Ehret (NJ State Museum), Lynn Harrell (Geological Survey of Alabama), and the Alabama Museum of Natural History.
Student on the project: Leah Travis Taylor (MS 2019, McNair Fellow, UA Graduate Council Fellow, now finishing a PhD in paleoclimatology at UMass-Amherst).
Research Affiliations
- Center for Sedimentary Basin Studies
- Alabama Stable Isotope Laboratory
- Collaborative Research on Paleoenvironments and Societies
- Evolutionary Studies
Google Scholar Profile; Research Gate Profile
*student of Totten
Where underlined, the publication name has been updated to R.L. Totten.
Clark, W.* and Totten, R.L., Quantitative distribution patterns of Cyclicargolithus floridanus in the Caribbean Sea: A revision of biostratigraphy at ODP Leg 165 Site 999A, in review in the Journal of Nannofossil Research.
Wood, T.,* Totten, R.L., Guthrie, G., Tew, B.N., and Tobin, T., Geology of the 1:24,000 Coatopa, AL Quadrangle, submitted to the Geological Survey of Alabama as an Open-File Report.
Lehrmann, A.*, Totten, R.L., Wellner, J., Hillenbrand, C.D., et al., in review in the Journal of Micropaleontology, Modern benthic foraminiferal communities offshore Thwaites Glacier in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica: Implications for interpretations of fossil assemblages.
Comans, C., Tobin, T., and Totten, R.L., accepted to Paleobiology, Oxygen isotopes from shark tooth enameloid: implications for the paleoecology Late Cretaceous sharks in the Gulf Coastal Plain.
Clark, W.* and Totten, R.L., 2024. Nutrient Shift in the Yucatan Basin during the late early Miocene: Evidence from calcareous nannofossils and stable isotopes at ODP Leg 165 Site 998A, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 655, p.112474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112474
Świło, M., Majewski, W., Totten, R.L., Lehrmann, A.A.*, and Anderson, J.B., 2024. Multi-proxy record of MCA, LIA, and influence of westerly winds in Maxwell Bay, South Shetland Islands, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 654, p.112450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112450
Clark, R.W., Wellner, J.S., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Totten, R.L., Smith, J.A., Simkins, L.M., Larter, R.D., Hogan, K.A., Graham, A.G.C., Nitsche, F.O., Lehrmann, A.A.*, Lepp, A.P., Kirkham, J.D., Fitzgerald, V.T.*, Garcia-Barrera, G., Ehrmann, W., and Wacker, L., 2024. Synchronous retreat of Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers in response to external forcings in the pre-satellite era, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, v.121: 11, e2211711120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2211711120 (IF 11.205, Q1)
Graham, A.G., Wahlin, A., Hogan, K.A., Nitsche, F.O., Heywood, K.J., Totten, R.L., Smith, J.A., Hillenbrand, C-D., Simkins, L., Wellner, J.S., and Larter, R.D., 2022. Rapid tidally-modulated retreat of Thwaites Glacier from a pinning point in the pre-satellite era, Nature Geoscience. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01019-9 (IF 15.781, Q1)
Lepp, A.P., Simkins L.M., Anderson, J.B., R.W. Clark, R.W., Wellner, J.S., Hillenbrand, C-D., Smith, J.A., Lehrmann, A.A.*, Totten, R., Larter, R.D., Hogan, K.A., Nitsche, F.O., and Graham, A.G.C., and Wacker, L., 2022. Spatiotemporal variability in meltwater drainage from Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, v. 10, 2296-6463, Frontiers in Earth Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.863200 (IF 3.229, Q1)
Sproson, A.D., Yokoyama, Y., Miyairi, Y., Aze, T., and Totten, R.L., 2022. Holocene melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet driven by tropical Pacific warming, Nature Communications, v. 13, 2434. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30076-2 (IF 14.92, Q1)
Totten, R.L., Fonseca, A.N.R.*, Wellner, J.S., Munoz, Y.P., Anderson, J.B., and Tobin, T., 2022. Oceanographic and Climatic Influences on Trooz Glacier, Antarctica during the Holocene, Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 276, 107279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107279 (IF 4.878, Q1)
Taylor, L.T.*, Totten, R.L., Suarez, C.A., Gonzalez, L.A., Martin, L.D., Lambert, W.J., Ehret, D.J., and Harrell, T.L., 2021. Oxygen isotopes from the teeth of Cretaceous marine lizards reveal their migration and consumption of freshwater in the Western Interior Seaway, North America, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 573, 110406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110406 (IF 3.021, Q1)
Hogan, K.A., Larter, R.D., Graham, A.G.C., Arthern, R., Kirkham, J.D., Totten, R.L., Jordan, T.A.; Clark, R., Fitzgerald, V.*, Anderson, J.B., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Nitsche, F.O., Simkins, L., Smith, J.A., Gohl, K., Arndt, J.E., Hong, J., and Wellner, J.S., 2020. Revealing the former bed of Thwaites Glacier using sea-floor bathymetry, The Cryosphere, v. 14, 2883-2908. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2883-2020 (IF 4.927, Q1)
Totten, R.L., Parker, L.*, Wallace, D.J., Lambert, W.J., Elliott, E.A., Andrus, C.F.T., and Lehrmann, A.A.*, 2020. A 7,000-year record of floods and ecological feedbacks in Weeks Bay, Alabama, USA, Science of the Total Environment, v. 743. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140052 (IF 6.419, Q1)
Bregy, J.C., Wallace, D.J, Totten, R.L., and Cruz, V.J., 2018. 2500-year paleotempestological record of intense storms for the Northern Gulf of Mexico, United States, Marine Geology, v. 396, 26-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2017.09.009 (IF 3.764, Q1)
Totten, R.L., Majewski, W., Anderson, J.B., and Jakobsson, M., 2017. Oceanographic influences on the stability of the Cosgrove Ice Shelf, The Holocene, 27(11): 1645-1658. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683617702226 (IF 2.628, Q1)
Świło, M., Majewski, W., Totten, R.L. and Anderson, J.B., 2016. Diatom assemblages from coastal settings of West Antarctica, Marine Micropaleontology, 125, p. 95-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2016.04.001(IF 2.091, Q1)
Fernandez, R.A., Anderson, J.B., Wellner, J.S., Totten, R.L., and Hallet, B., 2016. Latitudinal variation in glacial erosion rates from Patagonia and the Antarctic Peninsula (46°-65°S), GSA Bulletin, v. 128 (5-6), p. 1000-1023. https://doi.org/10.1130/B31321.1 (IF 4.368, Q1)
Totten, R.L., Anderson, J.B., Fernandez-Vasquez, R.A., Wellner, J.S., 2015. Marine record of Holocene climate, ocean, and cryosphere interactions: Herbert Sound, James Ross Island, Antarctica, Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 129, p. 239-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.09.009 (IF 4.878, Q1)
Stroynowski, Z., Totten, R.L., and Majewska, R., 2013. 4th Polar Marine Diatom Taxonomy and Ecology Workshop, Cardiff University, UK, 4-9 August 2013, Diatom Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/0269249X.2013.878253 (IF 1.148, Q2)
Jakobsson, M., Anderson, J.B., Nitsche, F., Dowdeswell, J.A., Gyllencreutz, R., Kirchner, N., Mohammad, R., O’Regan, M., Alley, R.B., Anandakrishnan, S., Eriksson, B., Kirshner, A., Fernandez, R., Stolldorf, T., Totten, R.L., Majewski, W., 2010. Geological record of ice shelf break-up and grounding line retreat, Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica, Geology, vol. 39, no. 7, p.691-694. https://doi.org/10.1130/G32153.1 (IF 5.412, Q1)
Other publications
Larter, R.D., Queste, B.Y., Boehme, L., Braddock, S., Wåhlin, A.K., Graham, A.G.C., Hogan, K.A., Minzoni, R.T.,Barham, M., De’Oliveira, D.B., Fitzgerald, V.*, Clark, R., Karam, S., Kirkham, J.D., Mazur, A., Sheehan, P., Spoth, M., Stedt, P., Welzenbach, L., Zheng, Y., Andersson, J., Rolandsson, J., Beeler, C., Goodell, J., Rush, E., Snow, T., 2020, First research cruise of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, Cruise NBP19-02, International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, http://get.rvdata.us/cruise/NBP1902/doc/NBP1902_report_final.pdf.
Minzoni, R.L. Rice University Dissertation, 2015. The Antarctic Peninsula’s response to Holocene climate variability: Controls on glacial stability and implications for future change: 144p.
Stroynowski, Z., Minzoni, R., and Shukla, S.K., PAGES News, 4th Polar Marine Diatom Taxonomy and Ecology Workshop, Cardiff University, UK, 4-9 August 2013. http://pastglobalchanges.org
Minzoni, R.L., 2012. Depositional Insights into Eagle Ford Shale Gas System- An Integrated Geologic Analysis of the Mustang Ranch 1H Core, Zavala County, SW TX, USA, Shell Internal Summer Internship Report (Restricted), Shell International Exploration and Production: 56 p.
Anderson, J.B., Jakobsson, M., and Shipboard Scientific Party, 2010. Oden Southern Ocean 0910 OSO0910 Cruise Report, http://oldsite.geo.su.se/index.php/reports/oso-0910.
Totten, R.L., 2009. Oxygen isotope evidence for Mosasaur migration and freshwater incursion. Senior Thesis, Departmental Honors, University of Kansas: 27p.
