W. Berry Lyons

Director, Byrd Polar Research Center
Professor, Department of Geological Sciences

The Ohio State University
108 Scott Hall
1090 Carmack Road
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1002

(614)688-3241 (phone)
(614)292-4697 (fax)
lyons.142@osu.edu

B.A. Brown University, 1969
M.S. Univeristy of Connnecticut, 1972
Ph.D. Univeristy of Connnecticut, 1979

Research Interests

Although the major focus of our research group is in the area of environmental geochemistry, the work done by members of my group is multidisciplinary and multifaceted. We have interests in the earth's chemical environment and how it is affected by physical, biological, geological and anthropogenic processes.  Currently the research in our group focuses on four different areas.  As you can see below, our research group includes professional scientists, post-doctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students.

Since my graduate student days, I have had an interest in the biogeochemistry of mercury (Hg). Hg not only has a very interesting and dynamic biogeochemistry, but it is a potential toxin even at low concentrations as it bioaccumulates in the food chain.  Our group has been investigating the Hg dynamics, transport and chemical speciation in rivers in Ohio and we will soon embark on a project investigation Hg accumulation in the food chain in Lake Erie.  In addition, we are determining the Hg concentration in Antarctic snow in order to better establish current South Hemispheric background concentrations in precipitation.  This is being done, in part, to discern the atmospheric Hg flux in remote regions.

With my colleague, Dr. Anne Carey, our group has been involved in the investigation of the relationship between chemical and physical weathering in alpine regions, especially on tectonically active oceanic islands such as New Zealand and Taiwan.  This work has also evaluated the role of these types of watersheds in transporting organic carbon to the world’s oceans. This year we will continue these investigations in the Philippines and we hope to begin work in such locales as the Dominican Republic and Chile in the next few years.  Results of these investigations suggest a strong correlation between chemical and physical erosion, and implies that tectonic uplift as well as rainfall are extremely important in driving chemical weathering.

Our third area of interest lies in the impact of both agricultural and urbanization on surface water quality.  Recently the group has worked in such places as the Chattahoochie River in Atlanta, GA, as well as the Scioto River system here in Ohio, in order to quantify the impact of urban runoff and sewage input on river water quality.  Here in Ohio, we have attempted to discern between agricultural impact and urban sources on the flux of many elements into the Scioto system.  In the past few years we have also developed detailed watershed mass balances of nitrogen for rather large river systems like the Alabama-Mobile.  Much of this research is also done in collaboration with Dr. Carey and her students.

Finally, our research group is the lead institution for the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research (MCM-LTER) project ( http://www.mcmlter.org).  We are working with a group of glaciologist, hydrologists, soil scientists and ecologists in order to determine the structure and function of this polar desert ecosystem.  The MCM-LTER is currently in its twelfth year of existence and we have recently learned that the project will continue for at least another six years.  Our group is responsible for much of the geochemical and biogeochemical work as well as the investigation of the role of climate change on the development of the ecosystem.  This work is diverse and multi-disciplinary.  For example under the guise of MCM-LTER, I currently have students investigating the atmospheric mercury flux in the Antarctic, the processes responsible for CaCO3 accumulation in polar desert soils, and the geochemistry and quantity of sediment transport from alpine glaciers into the closed-basin lakes of the dry valleys.  Within the scope of this program our group has also been heavily involved in K-12 education and outreach.

Although being director of the Byrd Polar Research Center and teaching introductory geochemistry in the Department of Geological Sciences keeps me very busy, I still find enough time to be involved in the research activities of our group.  By reading the statements of our group of students and research staff, you will get a better understanding of the diversity and excitement of the work with which we are involved.

Some recent publications

Carey, A.E., Lyons, W.B. and Owen, J.S., 2005, Significance of landscape age, uplift and weathering rates to ecosystem development, Aquatic Geochemistry,11, 215-239.

Lyons, W.B., Welch, K.A., Snyder, G., Olesik, J., Graham, E.Y., Marion, G.M. and Poreda, R.J., 2005, Halogen geochemistry of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Lakes, Antarctica: clues to the origin of solutes and lake evolution, Geochim. Cosmochim, Acta, 69, 305-323.

Lyons, W.B., Carey, A.E., Hicks, D.M., and Nezat, C.A., 2005, Chemical weathering in high sediment yielding watersheds, JGR, Surficial Processes, 110(F1), F01008.

Bonzongo, J.-C. and Lyons, W.B., 2004, Impact of land use and physicochemical settings on aqueous methylmercury levels in the Mobile-Alabama River system, Ambio, 33, 328-333.

Mikucki, J.A., Foreman, C.M., Sattler, B., Lyons, W.B. and Priscu, J.C., 2004, Geomicrobiology of Blood Fall: An iron-rich saline discharge at the terminus of the Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, Aquatic Geochemistry, 10, 199-200.

Poreda, R.J., Hunt, A.G., Lyons, W.B., and Welch, K.A., 2004, The helium isotopic chemistry of Lake Bonney, Taylor Valley, Antarctica: Timing of late Holocene climate change in Antarctica, Aquatic Geochemistry, 10, 353-371.

Roberts, E.C., Priscu, J.C., Wolf, C., and Lyons, W.B. and Laybourn-Parry, J., 2004, The distribution of microplankton in the McMurdo Dry Valley Lakes, Antarctica: Response to ecosystem legacy or present-day climatic controls? Polar Biol., 27, 238-249.

Tranter, M., Fountain, A.G., Fritsen, C.H., Lyons, W.B., Priscu, J.C., Statham, P.J. and Welch, K.A., 2004, Extreme hydrochemical conditions in natural microcosms entombed within Antarctic ice, Hydrol. Processes, 18, 379-387

Carey, A.E., Nezat, C.A., Pennock, J.R., Jones, T. and Lyons, W.B., 2003, Nitrogen budget of the Mobile-Alabama River system watershed, Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis, 3, 239-244.

Gooseff, M.N., Barrett, J.E., Doran, P.T., Fountain, A.G., Lyons, W.B., Parsons, A.N., Porazinska, D.L., Virginia, R.A. and Wall, D.H., 2003, Snow patch influence on soil biogeochemical processes and invertebrate distribution in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 35, 92-100.

Lyons, W.B., Nezat, C.A., Benson, L.V., Bullen, T.D., Graham, E.Y., Kidd, J., Welch, K.A., and Thomas, J.M., 2003, Strontium isotopic signatures of the Taylor Valley lakes, Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica: Chemical weathering in a polar climate, Aquatic Geochem., 8, 75-95.

Lyons, W.B., Welch, K.A., Fountain, A., Dana, G., Vaughn, B. and McKnight, D.M., 2003, Surface glaciochemistry of Taylor Valley, Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica and its relationship to stream chemistry, Hydrological Processes, 17, 115-130.

Ojiambo, B., Lyons, W.B., Welch, K.A., Poreda, R.J., and Johannesson, K.H., 2003, Strontium isotopes and rare elements as tracers of ground water-lake water interactions, Lake Naivasha, Kenya, Applied Geochemistry, 18, 1789-1805.

Pugh, H., Welch, K.A., Lyons, W.B., Priscu, J.C., and McKnight, D.M., 2003, The biogeochemistry of Si in the McMurdo Dry Valley lakes, Inter. J. Astrobiology, 1, 401-413.

Siegert, M.J., Tranter, M., Ellis-Evans, C., Priscu, J.P. and Lyons, W.B., 2003, The hydrochemistry of Lake Vostok and the potential for life in Antarctic subglacial lakes, Hydrological Processes, 17, 795-814.

Yang, Z., Graham, E.Y., and Lyons, W.B., 2003, Geochemistry of Pyramid Lake Sediments: Influence of Anthropogenic Activities and Climate Variations within the Basin, Environ. Geology, 43, 688-697.

Bonzongo, J.C., Lyons, W.B., Hines, M.E., Warwick, J.J., Faganeli, J., Horvat, M., Lechler, P.J., and Miller, J.R., 2002, Mercury in surface waters of three mine-dominated river systems: Idrija River, Slovenia; Carson River, Nevada and Madeira River, Brazilian Amazon, Geochemistry, 2, 111-119.

Carey, A.E., Nezat, C.A., Lyons, W.B., Kao, F.J., Hicks, D.M. and Owen, J.S., 2002, Trace metal fluxes to the ocean: The importance of high-standing oceanic islands, GRL, 29(23), 10.1029.

Doran, P.T., Lyons, W.B., Walsh, J.E., Fountain, A.G., McKnight, D.M., Moorhead, D.L., Virginia, R.A., Wall, D.H., Clow, G.D., Fritsen, C.H., McKay, C.P., and Parsons, A.N., 2002, Antarctic climate cooling and terrestrial ecosystems response, Nature, 415, 517-519.

Bryd Polar Research Center | The Ohio State University | 108 Scott Hall | 1090 Carmack Road | Columbus, OH 43210 | 614-292-6531

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