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Maureen Raymo

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Maureen Raymo is an American paleoclimatologist and marine geologist who studies long-term climate change using marine sediments, geochemical records, and evidence of past sea levels. She helped develop the hypothesis that uplift of the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau increased chemical weathering, which removed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and contributed to Cenozoic cooling. Her work also examines orbital forcing, ice-sheet behavior, and the causes of glacial cycles.

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What is Maureen Raymo's most famous scientific contribution?

In 1989, Maureen Raymo proposed that the uplift of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau over millions of years accelerated chemical weathering of silicate rocks, drawing atmospheric CO₂ out of the air and causing long-term global cooling. This uplift-weathering hypothesis offered an explanation for the cooling trend that led to the Pleistocene ice ages.

Where does Maureen Raymo work?

Raymo is affiliated with Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and has also held a faculty position at Boston University. Her research focuses on paleoclimatology and marine geology, particularly the study of long-term climate change over millions of years using ocean sediment cores.

How does the Himalayan uplift weathering hypothesis work?

The hypothesis proposes that as the Himalayas rose through tectonic collision, freshly exposed silicate rock surfaces reacted with atmospheric CO₂ through chemical weathering, effectively removing greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Over geological timescales, this sustained drawdown of CO₂ could lower global temperatures enough to initiate widespread glaciation.

Has Maureen Raymo been recognized with major scientific honors?

Raymo has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and has received multiple awards for her paleoclimate research. She is widely cited as one of the most influential paleoclimatologists working on long-term climate change and the geological carbon cycle.