Daniel Stolper
Faculty
Daniel Stolper
Biogeochemistry; Earth History; Geobiology; Global Climate Studies; Organic Geochemistry; Stable Isotope Geochemistry
I’m a geochemist with interests in a variety of problems related to the rock record, microbiology, and biogeochemical cycles in the present and past. My approach to scientific problems is centered around linking experiments and physically based models to natural observations in an integrated fashion and, when necessary, developing new methods and techniques. My lab is centered around mass spectrometric measurements of experimental and environmental samples.
My interests are currently centered on the following questions.
(1) The application of carbonate clumped-isotope paleothermometry to solve geological problems including the formation of carbonates during crustal alteration reactions off mid-ocean ridge flanks, the temperature history of the Neogene ocean, terrestiral climate over the Cenozoic, and controls on carbonate crystal growth and recrystallization.
(2) Understanding on what controls the carbon, hydrogen, and clumped isotopic composition of thermogneic, biogenic, and abiotic methane. This inludes experimental, theoretical and field-based research projects.
(3) The devlopement of a wood-based clumped isotope proxy using the isotopic composition of methoxy groups in lignin.
(4) The study of the O2 cycle in the present and past and its influence on the composition of igneous rocks.
(5) Controls on the 17O composition of altered igneous rocks and the ocean.
Professional History
Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, 2017-present
Faculty Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2017-present
Postdoctoral Scholar, Dept. of Geosciences, Princeton University, 2015 - 2016,
Petroleum Geochemistry Intern ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, 2015
Postdoctoral Scholar, Caltech 2014
Education
Ph.D., Geobiology, Caltech, 2014
M.S., Geobiology, Caltech, 2011
A.B., Earth and Planetary Sciences Magna Cum Laude, Harvard College, 2008
Fellowships and Awards
• NSF CAREER Award, 2021
• Sloan Research Fellow, Ocean Sciences, 2020
• F.W. Clarke Medal, The Geochemical Society, 2020
• Hisashi Kuno Award, Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology Section of the American Geophysical Union, 2019
• Hellman Fellow, University of California, Berkeley, 2019-2020
• Rose Hills Innovator, University of California, Berkeley, 2017-2019
• NOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2015-2016
• Richard H. Jahns Teaching Prize, Caltech, 2013
• ExxonMobil Student Grant, 2012
• Student oral presentation competition winner, Goldschmidt Conference, 2012
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2010-2013
• Eaton Fellowship, Caltech, 2009-2010
• Fulbright Scholar, University of Southern Denmark, 2008-09
• Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize, Harvard College, 2008
• National Merit Scholar, 2004
In Review:
Stolper DA, X Pu, MK Lloyd, NI Christensen, CE Bucholz, RA Lange (in review). Constraints on Early Paleozoic deep-ocean oxygen concentrations from the iron geochemistry of the Bay of Islands ophiolite.
Hodgin E, N Swanson-Hysell, J DeGraaf, A Kylander-Clark, M Schmitz, A Turner, Y Zhang, D Stolper (in revision). Final inversion of the Midcontinent Rift during the Rigolet Phase of the Grenvillian orogeny.
Ibarra DE, AG Yanchilina, MK Lloyd, KA Methner, CP Chamberlain, R Yam, A Shemesh, DA Stolper (in revision). Triple oxygen isotope systematics of diagenetic recrystallization of diatom opal-A to opal-CT to microquartz in deep sea sediments.
Published:
31. Stolper DA, JA Higgins, LA Derry (Accepted). The role of the solid earth in regulating atmospheric O2 levels. American Journal of Science.
30. Turner AC, R Korol, DL Eldridge, M Bill, M Conrad, TF Miller, DA Stolper (in press). Experimental and theoretical determinations of hydrogen isotopic equilibrium in the system CH4-H2-H2O from 3 to 200°C. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.
29. Lloyd MK, DL Eldridge, DA Stolper (2021). Clumped 13CH2D and 12CHD2 compositions of methyl groups from wood and synthetic monomers: methods, experimental and theoretical calibrations, and initial results. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 297, p. 233-275. [pdf] [supplementary materials]
28. Douglas PMJ, RG Moguel, KM Walter Anthony, M Wik, PM Crill, KS Dawson, DA Smith, E Yanay, MK Lloyd, DA Stolper, JM Eiler, AL Sessions (2020). Clumped isotopes link older carbon substrates with slower rates of methanogenesis in northern lakes. Geophysical Research Letters, 47, e2019GL086756. [pdf] [SI] [Table S1]
27. Eldridge DL, R Korol, MK Lloyd, AC Turner, MA Webb, TF Miller, DA Stolper (2019). Comparison of experimental vs. theoretical abundances of 13CH3D and 12CH2D2 for isotopically equilibrated systems from 1 to 500°C. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, 3, p. 2747-2764. Chosen as ACS Editor's Choice. [pdf] [supplement]
26. Kast ER, DA Stolper, A Auderset, JA Higgins, H Ren, XT Wang, A Martinez-Garcia, GH Haug, DM Sigman (2019). Nitrogen isotope evidence for expanded ocean suboxia in the early Cenozoic. Science, 364, p. 386-389. [pdf [SI] [data S1 S2]
25. Stolper DA and CE Bucholz (2019). Neoproterozoic to early Phanerozoic rise in island arc redox state due to deep ocean oxygenation and increased marine sulfate levels. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201821847. [pdf] [SI] [table S1 S2 S3 S4 S5]
24. Stolper DA, WW Fischer, ML Bender (2018). Effects of temperature and carbon source on the isotopic fractionations associated with O2 respiration for 17O/16O and 18O/16O ratios in E. coli. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 240, p. 152-172. [pdf]
23. Stolper DA, JM Eiler, JA Higgins (2018). Modeling the effects of diagenesis on carbonate clumped-isotope values in deep- and shallow-water settings. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 227, p. 264-291. [pdf] [supplementary table]
22. Brenner D, BH Passey, DA Stolper (2018). Influence of water on clumped-isotope bond reordering kinetics in calcite. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 224, p. 42-63. [pdf] [supplementary data 1] [supplementary data 2]
21. Shuai Y, P Douglas; S Zhang; D Stolper; M Lewan; M Lawson; G Ellis; M Formolo; J Mi; K He; G Hu; JM Eiler (2018). Equilibrium and non-equilibrium controls on the abundances of clumped isotopologues of methane during thermogenic formation in laboratory experiments: Implications for the chemistry of pyrolysis and the origins of natural gases. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 223, p. 159-174. [pdf]
20. Stolper DA and CB Keller (2018). A record of deep-ocean dissolved O2 from the oxidation state of iron in submarine basalts. Nature, 553, p. 323-327. [pdf] [SI Table 1] [SI Table 2]
19. Lawson M, BJ Shenton, D Stolper, JM Eiler, T Rasbury, TP Becker, C Lander, AS Buono, SP Becker, R Pottorf, GG Gray, D Yurewicz, J Gournay (2018). Deciphering the diagenetic history of carbonates using reordered clumped isotope temperatures. Geological Society of American Bulletin, 130, p. 617-629. [pdf]
18. Stolper DA, M Lawson, MJ Formolo, CL Davis, PMJ Douglas, JM Eiler (2018). The utility of methane clumped isotopes to constrain the origins of methane in natural-gas accumulations. Geological Society of London, Special Publications, v 468. [pdf]
17. Douglas PMJ, DA Stolper, JM Eiler, AL Sessions, M Lawson, Y Shuai, A Bishop, OG Podlaha, AA Ferreira, EV Santos Neto, M Niemann, AS. Steen, L Huang, E Chimiak, DL Valentine, J Fiebig, AJ Luhmann, WE Seyfried Jr., G Etiope, M Schoell, WP Inskeep, JJ Moran, N Kitchen (2017). Methane clumped isotopes: progress and potential for a new isotopic tracer. Organic Geochemistry, 113, p. 262-282. [pdf]
16. Ryb U, MK Lloyd, DA Stolper, JM Eiler (2017). The clumped-isotope geochemistry of exhumed marbles from Naxos, Greece. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 470, p. 1-12. [pdf]
15. Stolper DA, GD Love, S Bates, TW Lyons, E Young, AL Sessions, JP Grotzinger (2017). Paleoecology and paleoceanography of the Athel Silicilyte, Ediacaran-Cambrian Boundary, Geobiology, 15, p. 401-426. [pdf]
14. Stolper DA, ML Bender, GB Dreyfus, Y Yan, JA Higgins (2016). A Pleistocene ice core record of atmospheric O2 concentrations, Science, 353, p. 1427-1430. [pdf] [SI]
13. Douglas PMJ, DA Stolper, DA Smith, KM Walter Anthony, CK Paull, S Dallimore, M Wik, PM Crill, M Winterdahl, M, JM Eiler, AL Sessions (2016). Diverse origins of Arctic and Subarctic methane seeps identified with multiply-substituted isotopologues. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 188, p. 163-188. [pdf]
12. Stolper DA and JM Eiler (2016). Diagenesis of phosphorites through time as recorded by carbonate clumped isotopes. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 181, p. 238-259. [pdf]
11. Stolper DA, AM Martini, M Clog, PM Douglas, SS Shusta, DL Valentine, AL Sessions, JM Eiler (2015). Distinguishing and understanding thermogenic and biogenic sources of methane using multiply substituted isotopologues. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 161, p. 219-247. [pdf]
10. Stolper DA and JM Eiler (2015). The kinetics of solid-state isotope-exchange reactions for clumped isotopes: A study of inorganic calcites and apatites from natural and experimental samples. American Journal of Science, 315, p. 363-411. [pdf]
9. Clog M, DA Stolper, JM Eiler (2015). Kinetics of CO2,g-H2Ol isotopic exchange, including mass 47 isotopologues. Chemical Geology, 395, p. 1-10. [pdf]
8. Stolper DA, M Lawson, CL Davis, A Ferreira, EV Santos Neto, GS Ellis, MD Lewan, AM Martini, Y Tang, M Schoell, AL Sessions, JM Eiler (2014). Formation temperatures of thermogenic and biogenic methane. Science, 344, p. 1500-1503. [pdf]
7. Stolper DA, AL Sessions, AA Ferreira, EV Santos Neto, A Schimmelmann, SS Shusta, DL Valentine, JM Eiler (2014). Combined 13C-D and D-D clumping in methane: methods and preliminary results. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 126, p. 169-191. [pdf]
6. Eiler JM, B Bergquist, I Bourg, P Cartigny, J Farquhar, A Gagnon, W Guo, I Halevy, A Hofmann, TE Larson, N Levin, EA Schauble, D Stolper (2014). Frontiers of stable isotope geoscience. Chemical Geology, 372, p. 119-143. [pdf]
5. Eiler JM, M Clog, P Magyar, A Piasecki, A Sessions, D Stolper, M Deerberg, H-J Schlueter, J Schwieters (2013). A high-resolution gas-source isotope ratio mass spectrometer. International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 335, p. 45-56. [pdf]
4. Frei R, C Gaucher, D Stolper, DE Canfield (2013). Fluctuations in Late Neoproterozoic atmospheric oxidation — Cr isotope chemostratigraphy and iron speciation of the late Ediacaran lower Arroyo del Soldado Group (Uruguay). Gondwana Research, 23.2, p. 797-811. [pdf]
3. Zhang Y, G Sicot, X Cui, M Vogel, CA Wuertzert, K Lezon-Geyda, J Wheeler, DA Harki, K Muzikar, DA Stolper, PB Dervan, AS Perkins (2011). Targeting a DNA binding motif of the EVI1 protein by a pyrrole-imidazole polyamide. Biochemistry, 50, p. 10431-10441. [pdf]
2. Stolper DA, NP Revsbech, DE Canfield (2010). Aerobic growth at nanomolar oxygen concentrations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, p. 18755-18760. [pdf]
1. Herkenhoff KE, J Grotzinger, AH Knoll, SM McLennan, C Weitz, A Yingst, R Anderson, BA Archinal, RE Arvidson, JM Barrett, KJ Becker, JF Bell III, C Budney, MG Chapman, D Cook, B Ehlmann, B Franklin, LR Gaddis, DM Galuszka, PA Garcia, P Geissler, TM Hare, E Howington-Kraus, JR Johnson, L Keszthelyi, RL Kirk, P Lanagan, EM Lee, C Leff, JN Maki, KF Mullins, TJ Parker, BL Redding, MR Rosiek, MH Sims, LA Soderblom, N Spanovich, R Springer, SW Squyres, D Stolper, RM Sucharski, T Sucharski, R Sullivan, JM Torson (2008). Surface processes recorded by rocks and soils on Meridiani Planum, Mars: Microscopic Imager observations during Opportunity’s first three extended missions. JGR-Planets, 113, p. 1-39. [pdf]
Theses:
Stolper, DA (2014). New insights into the formation and modification of carbonate-bearing minerals and methane gas in geological systems using multiply substituted isotopologues. PhD thesis. California Institute of Technology.
Stolper DA (2008). Constraining the physiological activity of deep-sea sedimentary microbial communities: the development and application of methods to characterize proteins in deep-sea sedimentary sites. Undergraduate Senior Thesis. Harvard College.
I am actively recruiting both graduate students and postdocs. Please contact me if interested!
Berkeley offers a world class geochemical and geobiological research environment with the Center for Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry (in Integrative Biology), the UC Museum of Paleontology, the Center for Isotope Geochemistry (at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and in Earth and Planetary Science), and the Berkeley Geochronology Center all on or in walking distance of campus.