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Rob DunbarRob Dunbar is a globe-trotting marine geologist who studies earth’s climate history by diving in the tropics and collecting sediments in Antarctica. Concentrating on global environmental change over the past 50 to 12,000 years, Rob and his team collect samples from deep-sea corals and lake and ocean sediments and analyze their age, chemistry, and morphology for clues about air-sea interactions, tropical marine ecosystems and polar climate. He is W.M. Keck Professor of Earth Science and director of the Stanford University Stable Isotope Lab. An avid nature photographer, SCUBA-diver and teacher, Rob is reporting from East Antarctica on the Wilkes Land Expedition.

Project Page: Wilkes Land Expedition

All Posts By Rob Dunbar


The End of the Beginning…

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, IN TRANSIT TO HOBART, TASMANIA– The work of the ship ended as quickly as it started nearly two months ago... {Read More »}



Tour the JOIDES Resolution

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– In this video, Christina and I lead you on a brief tour of the JOIDES Resolution... {Read More »}



Clues from Ancient Glacial and Interglacial Times

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– The poles are a great place to study both natural and man-induced changes in Earth’s climate because of a phenomenon called polar amplification... {Read More »}



A Sea of Icebergs

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– We were in a sea of icebergs -- at least 100 icebergs in the vicinity, and the wind started to blow up to 70 knots and waves reached 30 feet... {Read More »}



Iceberg City

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– We drilled for 18 hours and then had to pull the drill pipe up out of the hole and reposition the ship to avoid a large iceberg that was heading straight for us... {Read More »}



The Scene Outside: Lots of birds

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– Our ship is constantly surrounded by Albatrosses, Petrels, and Skuas. Sometimes we see more than 100 birds surrounding the ship. They swoop and dive, looking for food in the water... {Read More »}



Crossing the Antarctic Circle

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– Yes, we crossed the Antarctic Circle today! It is perhaps only the 3rd time this ship has ever done so... {Read More »}



Inside the Sedimentology Lab

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– In this video, see what happens to a sediment core after it comes on deck and gets delivered to the sedimentology lab... {Read More »}



Tales of Past Warm Climates

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– Wow! What a week! We just finished retrieving our final core from the bottom of a drill hole more than 1 km in length. We’ve now recovered and described sediments that range in age from a few million to more than 36 million years old, all in the span of about 9 days... {Read More »}



En Español, Video del JOIDES Resolution

EN EL JOIDES RESOLUTION-- Les presentamos a la Doctora Carlota Escutia, quien es una de las Científicas a Cargo de la Expedición Terrestre Wilkes del JOIDES Resolution. En este video, la Dra. Escutia nos muestra el sedimento obtenido del fondo del mar... {Read More »}