Ulrich G. Wortmann

My research interests straddle marine geology, paleoceanography, and geomicrobiology. I am interested in the global interplay of biology, chemistry, and physics on various timescales. Investigation of these tightly coupled systems requires an interdisciplinary approach, involving a multitude of methods. Stable isotope geochemistry and numerical modeling are versatile tools in Earth System Science and the cornerstone of my own research. I currently serve as the University of Toronto’s Liason to the Canadian Consortium for Ocean Drilling (which represents Canada within the international IODP Program). and I am a fellow at UofT’s Data Science Institute. To get an idea of what my group is doing, check out this talk, you can also find me on github and there is also a podcast where I discuss some cool research of colleagues of mine.

Recent Undergraduate Projects

• Exploring the oceans long trem response to the IPCC emission scenarios, Lisa Zhong, 2024
• Sedimentary phosphorous fluxes as a function of seawater oxygen concentrations, Roland Magnus Marun, 2024
• R. Navasardyan: Linear trend recognition-based interval partitioning for discontinuous ODE systems. AGU Fall Meeting
  December 2022
• M. Wolfe: Updated Hypsographies for the Major Ocean Basins. AGU Fall Meeting December 2022
• S. Omran: Comparison of the Dissolution Rates of Pyrite and Barite. AGU Fall Meeting December 2022
• T. Tsan: Quantifying the effect of shelf pyrite oxidation on the marine carbonate system during the Last Glacial
  Maximum. Goldschmidt Conference, Hawaii, July 2022
• M.Niazi & T. Tsan: A fast parametrization of carbonate burial and dissolution for the Earth Science Box Modeling Toolkit (ESBMTK). Center for Climate Change Research Internship, August 2021

Research Opportunities

Do you have a Marine Geology/Oceanography/Paleoceanography background, and an interest in data science/modeling? Are you looking for M.Sc. or a Ph.D. project? I mainly use python based models to understand how changes in the biogeochemical cycles of carbon and sulfur affect ocean chemistry. My group tackles questions like, how do glacial/interglacial sea-level changes affect marine productivity? How does climate change affect oxygen availability in the ocean? My research team is a small, welcoming group committed to the principles of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. All positions are fully funded.

Note however the department’s application requirements and deadlines /graduate/future-graduate-students/application-information

Publications

Selected student-led publications:

• Man-Yin Tsang, Michael Ernst Böttcher, Ulrich Georg Wortmann, Estimating the effect of elemental sulfur disproportionation on the sulfur-isotope signatures in sediments, Chemical Geology, Volume 632,2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2023.121533
• Yao W. and Wortmann U.G. (2022) Glacier-Sparked Volcanism Harmed Ocean Health. Nature doi:10.1038/d41586-022-03456-3.
• Yao W., Tsang M.Y. and Wortmann U.G. (2022) Oxidation of Pyrite During Barite Extraction. Chemical Geology 607(nil), 121011. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.121011
• Tsang M.Y. and Wortmann U.G. (2022) Sulfur Isotope Fractionation Derived From Reaction-Transport Modeling in the Eastern  Equatorial Pacific. Journal of the Geological Society 179(5), jgs2021–068. doi:10.1144/jgs2021-068
• Yao W., Markovic S., Paytan A., Erhardt A.M. and Wortmann U.G. (2021) Quantifying Pyrite Oxidation on Continental Shelves During the Onset of Antarctic Glaciation in the Eocene-Oligocene  Transition. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 568, 117015. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117015
• Yao W., Paytan A. and Wortmann U.G. (2018) Large-Scale Ocean Deoxygenation During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. Science 361(6404), 804–806. doi:10.1126/science.aar8658