Eugene C. Perry
Professor
Environmental Geochemistry, Hydrogeology,
Economic Geology
Ph.D.
Massachusetts Institute
of Technology
1963
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Environmental Geochemistry, Hydrogeology,
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Research | Teaching | Personal | Photos | Geochemistry Homepage
CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS OF EUGENE PERRY
Table of Contents
Publications most closely related to the ongoing research in Yucatan, Mexico
Other research activity in Yucatan
Research and publications on Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico
Research on groundwater in the Valley of Puebla, Mexico
(PhD research of Guadalupe Velazquez-Oliman)
Ongoing Research in Yucatan
Major interests:
I. I am conducting research in collaboration with archeologists, geochemists, and soil scientists from other universities to develop and test stable isotopes in cave speleothem laminations as high resolution proxy measures of ancient climate for the past three millennia in the northern Maya Lowlands of Mexico. We hope to demonstrate from isotopic and trace element studies that speleothems can preserve a unique record of short-term events like hurricanes, El Niños, and volcanic eruptions. Speleothem analyses promise annual and perhaps even subannual resolution from which archaeologists can learn much about the specific climatic events that impacted the ancient Maya. Other members of the research group are Timothy Beach (Georgetown University). Clifford Brown (Florida Atlantic University), Bruce Dahlin (Shepherd University), Amy Frappier (Boston College), and their students.
II. Together with Prof. Melissa Lenczewski (Geology), Prof. Melvin Duval (Biology), and students, I am investigating the unique biogeochemical processes taking place within the water columns of selected deep karst sinkholes, known locally as cenotes, which occur in the highly permeable carbonate rocks of the northern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. In the chosen cenotes, sulfate, which is derived from seawater, and carbon, derived from forest vegetation, undergo redox reactions mediated by common but elusive organisms including dissimilatory sulfate reducing bacteria, photoautotrophic bacteria, and sulfur oxidizing bacteria, all of which are essential to the operation of worldwide geochemical cycles of carbon, oxygen, and sulfur. Despite their importance and abundance, the behavior of the target communities of organisms is relatively poorly known because they thrive in environments free or nearly free of molecular oxygen. The water columns of the selected cenotes are highly unusual because they have been demonstrated to provide steady-state zones of varying redox potential that are wide enough to be sampled with relative efficiency. We are evaluating distinctive physical and chemical differences (such as size, light availability, interface depth, turbidity, nutrient sources, and water velocity) between the selected cenotes in order to identify and evaluate the importance of environmental factors to these important but elusive communities of microbial organisms.
III. For years I have been acquiring geochemical data from the karst aquifer of the northern Yucatan peninsula, Mexico that can be used for groundwater model calibration. These data include oxygen and deuterium isotopes of hurricane precipitation from Hurricane Isadore (and inevitable future hurricanes). The northern Yucatan aquifer is particularly well suited for this study.
• It has a relatively simple structure consisting of a "layer cake" stratigraphy interrupted by distinct fault and fracture systems that control groundwater flow.
• It has well-defined sources of groundwater ions, including a seawater intrusion and both carbonate aquifer rocks and buried evaporite rocks that provide SO4, Cl, Sr, and other ions that are natural tracers. Sr isotopes, are also modeled, make Sr a powerful tracer species.
• Whereas Yucatan has a good road network, permitting access, population and industrial development are relatively low, large portions of the aquifer system are still relatively undisturbed by human activity.
• Coastal test sites for model calibration range from pristine (Bocas de Dzilam), little developed (Celestun), moderately developed (Dzilam Bravo), populous and polluted (Chelem/Progreso) to frenetically overdeveloped (Cancun/Tulum).
Publications most closely related to the ongoing research in Yucatan, Mexico
http://downloads.geol.niu.edu/markh/GSA2007ecp.pdf
Lefticariu, Mihai, Perry, Eugene C., Ward W.C., and Lefticariu, L. (2006) Post-Chicxulub depositional and diagenetic history of the northwestern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Sedimentary Geology, 183, pp. 51-70.
Perry, E.C., Velazquez-Oliman, and Socki, R. A. (2003) Hydrogeology of the Yucatan. 21st Symposium on Plant Biology. Arturo Gomez Pompa and Scott Fedick editors. The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY. Chapter 7; p. 115-138 .
Socki, R. A.; Perry, E. C., and Romanek, C. S. (2002) Stable isotope systematics of two cenotes from the northern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Limnology and Oceanography, 47, p. 1808-1818.
Perry, E.C., Velazquez-Oliman, G., and Marin, L. E. (2002) The Hydrogeochemistry of the Karst Aquifer System of the Northern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. International Geology Review, 44, p. 191-221.
Perry, E.C., and Velazquez-Oliman, G., 1996, The hydrogeology of the northern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, with special reference to coastal processes: LOICZ (Land Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone) Ground Water Discharge in the Coastal Zone, in Proceedings of an International Symposium, LOICZ/R&S/96-8 [Buddemeier, R.W., ed., 179 p.], p. 92-97.
Perry, E.C., Marin, L.E., McClain, J., and Velazquez, G., 1995, The Ring of Cenotes (sinkholes) northwest Yucatan, Mexico: Its hydrogeologic characteristics and association with the Chicxulub Impact Crater: Geology, v. 23, p. 17-20.
Reeve, A.S. and Perry, E.C. (1994) Carbonate geochemistry and the concentrations of aqueous Mg++, Sr++, and Ca++: Western north coast of Yucatan, Mexico. Chemical Geology 112, pp. 105-117.
Tulacyzk, S., Perry, E.C., Duller, C. and Villasuso, M. (1993) Geomorphology and hydrogeology of the Holbox area, northeastern Yucatan, Mexico, interpreted from two LANDSAT TM images. In Applied Karst Geology, Proceedings of the Fourth Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst, B.F. Beck Editor pp. 181-188.
Coke, J.; E.C. Perry, and A. Long, (1991) Charcoal from a probable fire pit on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico: another point on the glacio-eustatic sea level curve. Nature, 353, p. 25.
Perry, E.C., Swift, J., Gamboa, J., Reeve, R., Sanborn, R., Marin, L., and Villasuso, 1989, Geologic and environmental aspects of caliche formation, north coast, Yucatan, Mexico: Geology, v. 17, p.818_821.
Published Abstracts of ongoing Yucatan studies:
Perry, E. C.; Paytan, Adina; Stoessell. Ronald; Ward, William; and Pedersen, Bianca (2007) Sr isotopes in Groundwater as a stratigraphic tracer, Yucatan, Mexico. To be presented at the National GSA Meeting, 2007.
Pedersen, B. , Booth, C., and Perry, E. (2005) Hurricane precipitation isotope signature as a calibration tool and recharge flux marker for modeling a tropical karstic aquifer. GSA Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City. Paper No. 70-13.
Lefticariu, M ., E. Perry, W. Ward, and L. Lefticariu, 2002. Diagenetic evolution of the Cenozoic Formations associated with the Chicxulub impact crater, Northwestern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Abstract in Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 34, no.6, A 142-3.
1999 Perry, E.C., Socki, R.A., and Sanchez, I., Hurricane Precipitation as a Groundwater Tracer. Presented at the national Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Denver, CO, November, 1999.
Other activity in Yucatan:
Field trip leader: Hydrogeology of NW Yucatan, sponsored by SWICA2, 3 April, 2003.
NSF Grant 0716015. Collaborative Research: Speleothem Proxies for Interactions of Climate, Land Use, and Culture in the Ancient Maya Lowlands
I am participating in a project directed by Rosa M. Leal Bautista and Guadalupe Velazquez Oliman (NIU alumni and researchers at the Centro para el Estudio del Agua, Cancun, Mexico) entitled: RED DE MONITOREO DE AGUA DE EVENTOS METEOROLOGICOS VINCULACION CIENCIA Y EDUCACIÓN MEDIA SUPERIOR (SECUNDARIA Y PEPARATORIA). The objective is to start a region-wide science project in which secondary school students throughout the northern Yucatan peninsula will form a network to begin a systematic collection of rainwater for stable isotope analysis.
Paper and abstracts in review related to ongoing research in the Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico
Lefticariu, L., Perry, E.C., and Banner, J. (2005) Sources and manner of fluid migration in an evaporite-detached fold complex: Stable and radiogenic isotope constraints. Geology, 33, pp. 69-72 .
Lefticariu, L.; Perry, E . C.; Fischer, M. P.; Higuera-Diaz, I. C.; Evans, M; and Fong, J.,2002, Isotopic and petrographic evidence of thermochemical sulfate reduction, Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico. Paper 153-6, Abstracts: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, Abstract in Geological Society of America. Abstracts with Programs, 34, no. 6, A153-6.
Higuera-Diaz, C., M. Fischer, L. Lefticariu, E. Perry and M. Evans, 2002, Fracture-controlled fluid migration in a detachment fold: an example from the Mexican Sierra Madre Oriental. Abstract in Geological Society of America. Abstracts with Programs, v. 34, no. 6, A.165-17.
2001 Perry, E. C., Lefticariu, L., Fischer, M., and Higuera, C. Oxygen isotope thermometry of quartz and calcite veins from the Nuncios Fold Complex, Monterrey Salient, Mexico. Accepted for Annual GSA Conference, Boston (Abstract No: 28396), v. 33, no. 6, p. A238.
2001 Lefticariu, L.: Romanek, C.; Perry, E. C.; and Fischer, M. (2001) Millimeter-scale variations in carbon and oxygen isotopes: new insights on vein growth mechanisms and plumbing systems of fault-related folds.. Accepted for Annual GSA Conference, Boston (Abstract No: 27937), v. 33, no. 6, p. A238.
2000 Lefticariu, L., Perry, E.C.; and Fischer, M.P., Structural and stable isotope analysis of veins and host rocks from the Nuncios Fold Complex, Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico. Abstract in 2000 GSA Annual Meeting, p. A7.
Research on groundwater in the Valley of Puebla, Mexico (PhD research of Guadalupe Velazquez-Oliman)
Velazquez-Oliman, G: Perry, E. C.; and Socki, R. A. (2005) Geochemical and isotopic constraints on recharge; Puebla Valley, Mexico. GSA Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City. Paper No. 158-13.
Velazquez-Oliman, G. E. Perry, and G. Landis (2002) Geochemical characterization of groundwater of distinctively high alkalinity and CO2 pressure from an unconfined aquifer in a volcanic terrain: Puebla Valley,Mexico. Abstract in 2000 GSA Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
Velasquez, G.; Perry, E.C.; Socki, R.A., and Nimz, G. (2000) Groundwater supply for the city of Puebla, Mexico. Abstract in 2000 GSA Annual Meeting, p. A89.
Other research interests
Perry, E. C. and Lefticariu. L. (2004, extensively revised 2007) Formation and Geochemistry of Precambrian Chert. Treatise on Geochemistry, Holland, H. and Turekian, K. eds. V. 7, Sediments, Diagenesis, and Sedimentary Rocks, McKenzie, F. T. ed. Elsevier, published on-line, May, 2007.
Perry, E. C. and Lefticariu, L. (2006) The oxygen isotopic composition of Precambrian cherts revisited (again). Paper presented at the Goldschmidt Conference, Melbourne, Australia.
1983 E.C. Perry, Oxygen isotope geochemistry of iron formation, in: Iron Formation: Facts and Problems, A.F. Trendall and R.C. Morris editors. Elsevier, New York, pp. 359-321.
1983 E.C. Perry, Jr. and S.N. Ahmad, Oxygen isotope geochemistry of Proterozoic chemical sediments. GSA Memoir 161, pp. 253-263.
Perry, E.C., Jr.; T.J. Grundl, and R.H. Gilkeson (1982) H,O, S isotopic study of groundwater in the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer of northern Illinois, in Isotopic Studies in Hydrologic Processes, E.C. Perry, Jr., and Carla Montgomery, editors, NIU Press, p. 35-43.
Perry, E.C.Jr.; S.N. Ahmad and T.M. Swulius (1978) The oxygen isotope composition of 3800 m.y. old metamorphosed chert and iron formation from Isukasia, West Greenland, J. Geol. 86, p. 223-239.
Perry, E.C. Jr. and S.N. Ahmad (1977) Carbon isotope composition of graphite and carbonate minerals from 3.8 AE metamorphosed sediments, Isukasia, Greenland, Earth and Planetary Sci. Letters 36, 280.
Oskvarek J.D. and E.C. Perry, Jr. (1976) Temperature limits on the early Archean ocean from oxygen isotope variations in the Isua supracrustal sequence, West Greenland, Nature 259, 192-194.
Perry, E.C., Jr. and F.C. Tan (1972) Significance of oxygen and carbon isotope determinations in Early Precambrian cherts and carbonate rocks of Southern Africa, Bull. Geol. Soc. America, 83, 647-664.
TEACHING
I teach a variety of courses for undergraduate non-majors, undergraduate and graduate students majoring in geology. This table provides a listing of the courses I teach, as well as a copy of the most recent syllabus for each course, and the description of the course that appears in the NIU course catalog.
Course Name |
Syllabus |
Course Info |
| GEOL 105 Environmental Geology | ||
| GEOL 120 Introductory Geology | ||
| GEOL 420 Geochemistry of the Earth's Surface | ||
| GEOL 444 Economic Geology | ||
| GEOL 524 Stable Isotope Geology | ||
| GEOL 630 Advanced Geochemistry |
PERSONAL
My PhD is from MIT. I have been at NIU since 1972. My major research interests involve aqueous geochemistry and application of stable isotope geochemistry to studies of diagenesis and low grade metamorphism.
A major advantage of being at a University is the opportunity to work with students. A major advantage of undertaking research in or related to geology is the opportunity to go where the rocks are. Lately, for me, that has been mostly in Mexico, where many great problems are still unexplored. The accompanying pictures may give some idea of the journey.
PHOTOS
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| A-B | NIU Field Trip to Mammoth Cave. |
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| 1 | Barrancas del Cobre, huge canyon in Chihuahua, Mexico. | |
| 2 | Cave at Calchetok in the Sierrita de Ticul, Yucatan. | |
| 3 | Moonrise near Celestun, Yucatan. | |
| 4 | ICDP Deep Drilling Project into the Chicxulub Impact Crater, Yaxcopoil, Yucatan, Mexico. | |
| 5 | El Chichon, Chiapas, on the 20th anniversary of its eruption. | |
| 6 | Sierra Madre Oriental, near Saltillo, Mexico. | |
| 7 | Cortinas Canyon, Sierra Madre Oriental. | |
| 8 | Ascent of Cortinas Canyon (Detail of #7). | |
| 9 | Geologists and Associates (Monterrey, Mexico). | |
| 10 | Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) geologists on a field excursion. | |
| 11-12 | Waiting at the Spring, Tehuacan, Mexico. Here are some people who do not take water for granted. |
MOVIES
Field Season 07
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August
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Last revised 9/07/2007