Eric W. Portenga
Associate Professor
Geography & Geology
Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI
About Me
About Me
I am a geomorphologist who uses cosmogenic nuclides and other tools to study the rates and spatial patterns of landscape evolution, their relationship to topographic, climatic, and tectonic forces, and to place landscape response to human land-use practices in a geological context.
Education
Education
Ph.D. 2015
Ph.D. 2015
Earth Science
University of Glasgow
& Macquarie University
M.S. 2011
M.S. 2011
Geology (Geomorphology)
University of Vermont
B.S. 2008
B.S. 2008
Geological Sciences
University of Michigan
Current Projects
Current Projects
Erosion of the Santa Monica Mountains
Erosion of the Santa Monica Mountains
Summary: This project uses basin-averaged 10Be erosion rates from streams draining the Santa Monica Mountains, California, to elucidate the relationship between erosion and uplift along the Malibu Coast and Santa Monica Faults.
Funding: Purdue University PRIME Lab Seed Data Grant
Funding: Purdue University PRIME Lab Seed Data Grant
The Woolsey Fire and 10Be
The Woolsey Fire and 10Be
Summary: This project seeks to understand how sensitive 10Be measured from stream sand is to widespread erosion associated with recent, large-magnitude geomorphic events, and this study uses the 2018 Woolsey Fire as a case study.
Funding: NSF Award No. 1939000, EMU James H. Brickley Endowment for Faculty Development
Funding: NSF Award No. 1939000, EMU James H. Brickley Endowment for Faculty Development
Laurentide Ice Retreat
from the Sturgis Moraine
Laurentide Ice Retreat
from the Sturgis Moraine
Summary: This project uses 10Be and in situ 14C exposure-age dating on glacial erratics positioned on the Sturgis Moraine in south-central Michigan to determine when the Saginaw Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated after the Last Glacial Maximum.
Funding: Advancing Geochronology Science, Spaces, and Systems - Diversity in Geochronology (AGeS-DiG)
Funding: Advancing Geochronology Science, Spaces, and Systems - Diversity in Geochronology (AGeS-DiG)
Schmidt hammer exposure-age dating
in the Great Lakes region
Schmidt hammer exposure-age dating
in the Great Lakes region
Summary: This project seeks to establish a Schmidt hammer exposure-age calibration curve for the Great Lakes region, which if successful will allow for cost-effective and rapid exposure-age estimation of erratics and the landforms on which they are found.
Funding: EMU Provost Research Support Award
Funding: EMU Provost Research Support Award
Dating eskers with 10Be
Dating eskers with 10Be
Summary: This project will use 10Be dating to determine the deposition and/or exposure age of an esker in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Funding: Purdue University PRIME Lab Seed Data Grant
Funding: Purdue University PRIME Lab Seed Data Grant
Updating the Global 10Be Erosion Database
Updating the Global 10Be Erosion Database
Summary: This project seeks to reanalyze a global database of 10Be erosion rates by updating Portenga and Bierman (2011, Understanding Earth's Eroding Surface with 10Be, GSA Today) with hundreds of new bedrock erosion rates and thousands of new basin-averaged erosion rates inferred from measurements of 10Be.
Funding: EMU Summer Research Award
Funding: EMU Summer Research Award