Professor Emerita
About
Research Interests
Clara’s research interests relate to a wide range of issues within hydrology, paleoclimate and the environment. Clara’s research group addresses problems in distinct geological environments, in particular, sedimentary (e.g., Gulf Coast Basin, Michigan Basin), volcanic (e.g., Hawaii Islands), and glacial (Antarctica, Greenland) using stable noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) measured in a diversity of fluids both at depth and at the surface. Problems addressed include characterization of hydrologic and geothermal systems, characterizing recent past climate change and determining the origin of methane in shallow groundwater systems at the proximity of shale gas plays.
Selected Recent Publications
Wen T., Castro M.C., J.P. Nicot, C. M. Hall, D. L. Pinti, Mickler P., Darvari, R., Larsen T. (2017) Characterizing the Noble Gas Isotopic Composition of the Barnett Shale and Strawn Group of North-Central Texas, 10.1021/acs.est.6b06447, Env. Sci. and Tech.
Hall C.M., Castro M.C., Kenig F. and Doran P.T. (2017), Constraining the Recent Climate History of West Antarctica Using He, Kr and Xe Concentrations in the Perennially Ice-Covered Lake Bonney, East Antarctica, Geochem. Cosmoch. Acta., 209, 233-253, 10.1016/j.gca.2017.04.023.
Niu Y., Castro M.C., Hall C.M., Gingerich S.B., Scholl M.A., Warrier R. (2017), Noble Gas Signatures in Groundwater and Rainwater on the Island of Maui, Hawaii – Understanding the behavior of Noble Gases in Fractured Systems, Water Resources Research, 53, doi:10.1002/2016WR020172.
Pinti, D.L., Castro M.C., Lopez-Hernandez A., *Han A. G., Shouakar-Stash, O., Hall, C.M., Montes MR. (2017), Fluid circulation and reservoir conditions of the Los Humeros Geothermal Field, Mexico, as revealed by a noble gas survey, 333-334, 104-115 , Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2017.01.015
Wen T., Castro M.C., J.P. Nicot,, Mickler P. and C. M. Hall (2016) Methane Sources and Migration Mechanisms in Shallow Groundwaters in Parker and Hood Counties, Texas – A Heavy Noble Gas analysis, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b01494, Environ. Sci. Techno.
Niu Y., Castro M.C, Aciego S.M., Hall C.M.., Emily I. S., Arendt C. and Sarah B. Das (2015), Noble Gas Signatures in Greenland – Tracing Glacial Meltwater Sources, in press, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, doi:10.1002/2015GL065778.
Castro M.C., *Warrier, R.B., Hall C.M., Lohmann, K. (2012), A late Pleistocene - Mid-Holocene noble gas and stable isotope climate and subglacial record in southern Michigan, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L19709, doi:10.1029/2012GL053098.
Warrier, R.B., Castro M.C., and Hall C.M. (2012), Recharge and Source-water Insights from the Galapagos Islands Using Noble Gases and Stable Isotopes, Water Resources Research, 48, W03508, doi:10.1029/2011WR010954.
