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Abigail Allwood

Photo of Abigail Allwood

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive
M/S 183-301 Pasadena, CA 91109

Phone:

818.393.4275

Fax:

818.393.4445

Member of:

Planetary Science

Education

  • Ph.D. Earth Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia (2006)
  • B. App. Sc. (Honours First Class) (Geoscience), Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia (2002)
  • B. App. Sc (Geoscience) with Distinction, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia (2001)

Research Interests

Abby is a field geologist with a strong interest in the early Earth, microbial sediments, evaporites and the oldest record of life on Earth. She has studied 3.43 billion year old stromatolites (microbial sedimentary structures) and aims to understand the formation and interpretation of traces of primitive microbial life in extremely ancient rocks. Approaches include palaeoenvironmental interpretation, integration of field relationships, morphology and assemblage characteristics of stromatolites, sedimentary fabrics, mineral paragenesis studies, Raman spectroscopy, XRF chemical imaging and stable isotope geochemistry.

Selected Awards

  • Lew Allen Award for Excellence (2013)
  • JPL Outstanding Postdoc Award, (2008)

Selected Publications

  1. Allwood, A.C., 2008. Deep time paleobiology: stromatolites-a key to decoding primitive ecosystems on Earth and beyond. The Paleontological Society Papers v. 14, p. 55-66.
  2. Allwood, A.C., Walter, M.R., Burch, I.W., 2007, Stratigraphy and Facies of the 3.43 Ga Strelley Pool Chert in the Southwest North Pole Dome. Western Australia Geological Survey Record. 2007/11.
  3. Allwood, A.C., Walter, M.R., Burch, I.W., Kamber, B.S., 2007: 3.43 billion-year-old stromatolite reef from the Pilbara Craton of Western Australia: Ecosystem-scale insights to early life on Earth. Precambrian Research, v. 158, p. 198-227.
  4. Sugitani, K., Grey, K., Allwood, A., Nagaoka, T., Mimura, K., Minami, M., Marshall, C.P., Van Kranendonk, M., Marshall, C., Walter, M., 2007: Diverse microstructures from c. 3.4 Ga Strelley Pool Chert, Kelly Group, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia: microfossils, dubiofossils or pseudofossils? Precambrian Research, v. 158 (3-4), p. 228-262.
  5. Marshall, C.P., Love, G.D., Snape, C.E., Hill, A.C., Allwood, A.C., Walter, M.R., Van Kranendonk, M.J., Summons, R.E., 2007, Characterization of carbonaceous materials in Archean cherts, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. Precambrian Research, v. 155, p. 1-23.
  6. Allwood, A.C., Walter, M.R., Kamber, B.S., Burch, I.W., 2006: Stromatolite reef from the Early Archaean era of Australia, Nature, v. 414, p 714-718.
  7. Allwood, A.C., Walter, M.R., and Marshall, C.P., 2006: Raman spectroscopy reveals thermal palaeoenvironments of c.3.5 billion-year-old organic matter. Journal of Vibrational Spectroscopy, v. 41, p 190-197.
  8. Allwood, A. and Brown, A., 2004: Seeking the oldest evidence of life on Earth, Microbiology Australia, v. 25 (1), p. 26-27.
  9. Allwood, A.C., 2008: 3.43 billion yr-old stromatolites and new approaches to deep time paleobiology. Astrobiology v. 8 (2), p 293.
  10. Allwood, A.C., Anderson, M.S., Burch, I.W., Coleman, M.L., 2008: Genesis of 3.43 billion year old conical stromatolites: geochemical imaging, spectroscopy and microfacies analysis in recrystallized reef margin accretionary structures. Astrobiology v. 8 (2), p 319.
  11. Love, G.D, Marshall, C.P., Allwood, A. C., Snape, C.E., Walter, M.R., Van Kranendonk, M.J., Summons, R.E., 2006: Kerogen-bound aromatic hydrocarbons as potential molecular biosiognatures for overmature organic matter in 3.43 Ga Strelley Pool Chert from Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 39 (6), p. 448
  12. Allwood, A.C., Walter, M.R., Burch, I.W., 2006, Early Archaean Stromatolites: suggestions of life's firm foothold 3.43 billion years ago. Abstracts from the 2nd International Palaeontological Congress, Beijing, June 2006.
  13. Allwood, A.C., Walter, M.R., Van Kranendonk, M.J., Kamber, B.S., 2005: Life on a transgressive rocky shoreline and carbonate platform: 3.43 Ga Strelley Pool Chert, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. European Geophysical Union Annual General Meeting abstract.
  14. Allwood, A.C., Walter, M.R., Van Kranendonk, M.J., 2005: Stromatolite facies of the 3.43 Ga Strelley Pool Chert: Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. NAI 2005: Biennial Meeting of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, April 10-14, University of Colorado, Boulder: Downloadable abstracts - URL: http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/nai2005/abstracts.cfm.
  15. Allwood, A.C., Walter, M.R., Van Kranendonk, M.J., Kamber, B.S., 2005: 3.43 Ga Stromatolites, Rocky Shorelines and a Carbonate Platform: Strelley Pool Chert, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. NAI 2005: Biennial Meeting of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, April 10-14, University of Colorado, Boulder: Downloadable abstracts - URL: http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/nai2005/abstracts.cfm.