Contact

kwilliford@geology.wisc.edu

Mailing address:

Department of Geoscience
University of Wisconsin
1215 W. Dayton St.
Madison, WI 53706

+1 912 344 5677
+1 608 262 0693 (fax)

Links

Astrobiology Research Consortium

WiscSIMS ion microprobe

NASA Astrobiology Institute

About Me

My research is broadly concerned with understanding the behavior of biogeochemical cycles during times of great change in Earth history. RECENT RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS (click for images): in situ carbon isotope analysis of Precambrian microbial fossils diverse microbial metabolisms preserved in Archean shales 13C-enriched radiobitumen in the ~2.5 Ga Mount McRae Shale microbial sulfate reduction during the ~2.4 Ga Great Oxidation Event

- in situ carbon isotope analysis of sedimentary organic matter in Archean and Proterozoic rocks and microfossils - understanding the biogeochemical context for global glaciation and atmospheric oxygenation using in situ measurements of sulfur and carbon isotopes from the Archean-Proterozoic transition - the effects of extreme heat stress on a terrestrial ecosystem during the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction as revealed by the distribution and compound specific stable hydrogen and carbon isotope ratios of molecular fossils - the effects of hydrothermal alteration on on the distribution and stable isotopic composition of molecular fossils in the 1.6 billion year old McArthur River (HYC) Pb/Zn/Ag deposit Analytical techniques I use include light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), gas chromatography isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-irMS) and elemental analyzer isotope ratio mass spectrometry (EA-irMS).

Curriculum Vitae

Selected Publications

Williford, K.H. et. al. 2011. Constraining atmospheric oxygen and seawater sulfate concentrations during Paleoproterozoic glaciation: In situ sulfur three-isotope microanalysis of pyrite from the Turee Creek Group, Western Australia. GCA 75: 5686-5705 pdf ea1 ea2

Williford, K.H. et al. 2011. The molecular and isotopic effects of hydrothermal alteration of organic matter in the Paleoproterozoic McArthur River Pb/Zn/Ag ore deposit. EPSL 301: 382-392 pdf

Williford, K.H. et al. 2009. Major perturbation in sulfur cycling at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. Geology 37: 835-839 pdf

Williford, K.H. et al. 2007. An extended organic carbon-isotope record across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 244: 290-296 pdf