Nathaniel Lifton

Professor & Associate Head
Nathaniel Lifton

Research Areas

Education

  • 1997 Ph.D., Geosciences, University of Arizona
  • 1985 B.S., Geological Sciences, University of California at Santa Barbara

Research Interests

My research interests focus on developing methods for using in situ cosmogenic nuclides (CNs) to derive surface exposure ages and/or erosion rates for process-oriented geomorphic studies. I have developed reliable methods for extracting in situ cosmogenic 14C (in situ 14C) from quartz, and continue to advance those techniques. Recently, I have been using in situ 14C to calibrate variations of in situ CN production rates with altitude and latitude. As an outgrowth of that work, I am also investigating the effects of millennial-scale geomagnetic variability on CN production rates in time and space. I am also applying in situ 14C in concert with long-lived CNs such as 10Be, 26Al, and 36Cl to investigate complex exposure scenarios, particularly involving glacial advance and retreat.

Professional Experience

  • 2018 - present: Associate Head, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University
  • 2024 – present: Professor, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University
  • 2016 - 2024: Associate Professor, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University
  • 2010 - 2016: Assistant Professor, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University
  • 2002 - 2010: Associate Research Scientist, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, and NSF-Arizona Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility
  • 1997 - 2002: Research Associate, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, and NSF-Arizona Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility
  • 1990 - 1997: Research Assistant, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona
  • 1985 - 1990: Geologist, Dames & Moore, Santa Barbara, CA, Irvine, CA, and Tucson, AZ

Selected Publications - Google Scholar Page for a complete list of publications

  • Brooks, J.P., Jones, A.G., Marcott, S.A., Zoet, L.K., Lifton, N.A., Helanow, C., and Caffee, M.W., 2026. Controls on glacial erosion rates revealed by cosmogenic nuclide measurements in southeastern Alaska. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 123 , e2608894123, doi:10.1073/pnas.2608894123.
  • Stroeven, A.P., Rosqvist, G.C., Koester, A.J., Andersen, J.L., Wahlström, C.-A., and Lifton, N.A., 2026, Riukojietna, a small low-altitude ice cap that may have persisted through the Holocene: evidence from combining cosmogenic multi-nuclide dating and lacustrine sediment records. Climate of the Past 22, 1363–1381, doi:10.5194/cp-22-1363-2026.
  • Jones, A.G., Marcott, S.A., Shakun, J.D., Lifton, N.A., Gorin, A.L., Hidy, A.J., Zimmerman, S.R.H., Stock, G.M., Kennedy, T.M., Goehring, B.M., Caffee, M.A., 2025. Glaciers in California’s Sierra Nevada are likely disappearing for the first time in the Holocene. Science Advances , 11 (40), eadx9442. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adx9442
  • Andersen, J.L., Lifton, N.A., Linge, H., Stuart, F., Olsen, J., & Pedersen, V.K., 2025. Ice-burial history and early Holocene thinning of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet at Gaustatoppen, southern Norway. Quaternary Science Reviews , 361 , 109409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109409 .
  • Mijjum, M., Bristol, K.E., Bono, R.K., Sprain, C.J., Lifton, N., & Tremblay, M.M., 2025. A model framework for scaling pre-Quaternary cosmogenic nuclide production rates. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 26 , e2024GC012020. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GC012020
  • Goodfellow, B.W., Stroeven, A.P., Lifton, N.A., Heyman, J., Lewerentz, A., Hippe, K., Näslund, J.-O., Caffee, M.W., 2024. Last ice sheet recession and landscape emergence above sea level in east-central Sweden, evaluated using in situ cosmogenic 14 C from quartz, Geochronology 6 , 291–302. https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-291-2024
  • Lifton, N., Wilson, J., Koester, A., 2023. Technical note: Studying Li-metaborate fluxes and extraction protocols with a new, fully automated in situ cosmogenic 14 C processing system at PRIME Lab. Geochronology 5 , 361-375. https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-361-2023 .
  • Andersen, J.L., Newall, J.C., Fredin, O., Glasser, N.F., Lifton, N.A., Stuart, F.M., Fabel, D., Caffee, M., Pedersen, V.K., Koester, A.K., Suganuma, Y., Harbor, J.M., Stroeven, A.P., 2023. A topographic hinge-zone divides coastal and inland ice dynamic regimes in East Antarctica. Communications Earth & Environment , 4 (1), 9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00673-6
  • Koester, A.J., Lifton, N.A., 2023. Technical note: A software framework for calculating compositionally dependent in situ 14 C production rates. Geochronology , 5 (1), 21–33. https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-21-2023
  • Slosson, J.R., Hoke, G.D., Lifton, N., 2022. Non-steady-state 14 C- 10 Be and transient hillslope dynamics in steep high mountain catchments. Geophysical Research Letters , 49 (24). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022gl100365
  • Andersen, J.L., Newall, J.C., Blomdin, R., Sams, S.E., Fabel, D.G., Koester, A.J., Stuart, F.M., Lifton, N.A., Fredin, O., Caffee, M.W., Glasser, N.F., Rogozhina, I., Suganuma, Y., Harbor, J.M., Stroeven, A.P., 2020. Ice surface changes during recent glacial cycles along the Jutulstraumen and Penck Trough ice streams in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Quaternary Science Reviews 249 , 106636. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106636
  • Pendleton, S.L., Miller, G.H., Lifton, N., Lehman, S.J., Southon, J., Crump, S.E., Anderson, R.S., 2019. Rapidly receding Arctic Canada glaciers revealing landscapes continuously ice-covered for more than 40,000 years. Nature Communications 10 (1), 445-452. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-08307-w
  • Schweinsberg, A.D., Briner, J.P., Miller, G.H., Lifton, N.A., Bennike, O., Graham, B.L., 2018. Holocene mountain glacier history in the Sukkertoppen Iskappe area, southwest Greenland. Quaternary Science Reviews 197 , 142-161. ISSN 0277-3791, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.06.014 .
  • Lifton, N.A., 2016. Implications of two Holocene time-dependent geomagnetic models for cosmogenic nuclide production rate scaling. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 433 , 257-268 . Marrero, S., Phillips, F.M., Borchers, B., Lifton, N., Aumer, R., Balco, G., 2016. Cosmogenic nuclide systematics and the CRONUScalc Program. Quaternary Geochronology 31 , 160-187.
  • Phillips, F.M., Argento, D.C., Balco, G., Caffee, M.W., Clem, J., Dunai, T., Finkel, R., Goehring, B., Gosse, J.C., Hudson, A., Jull, A.J.T., Kelly, M., Kurz, M., Lal, D., Lifton, N., Marrero, S.M., Nishiizumi, K., Reedy, R., Schaefer, J., Stone, J.O.H., Swanson, T., Zreda, M.G., 2016. The CRONUS-Earth Project: A Synthesis. Quaternary Geochronology 31 , 119-154.
  • Borchers, B., Marrero, S.M., Balco, G., Caffee, M., Goehring, B., Gosse, J., Kurz, M., Lifton, N., Nishiizumi, K., Phillips, F., Schaefer, J., Stone, J., 2016. Geological calibration of spallation production rates in the CRONUS-Earth Project. Quaternary Geochronology 31 , 188-198. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2015.01.009.
  • Lifton, N.A., Goehring, B.M., Wilson, J., Kubley, T., Caffee, M., 2015. Progress in automated extraction and purification of in situ 14 C from quartz: Results from the Purdue in situ 14 C laboratory, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 361 , 381-386. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2015.03.028 .
  • Lifton, N., Caffee, M., Finkel, R., Marrero, S., Nishiizumi, K., Phillips, F.M., Goehring, B., Gosse, J., Stone, J., Schaefer, J., Theriault, B., Jull, A.J.T., Fifield, K., 2015. In situ cosmogenic nuclide production rate calibration for the CRONUS-Earth project from Lake Bonneville, Utah, shoreline features. Quaternary Geochronology 26 , 55-69. doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2014.11.002.
  • Lifton, N., Sato, T., Dunai, T., 2014. Scaling in situ cosmogenic nuclide production rates using analytical approximations to atmospheric cosmic-ray fluxes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 386 149-160
  • Briner, J.P., Lifton, N.A., Miller, G.H., Refsnider, K., Anderson, R.K., Finkel, R., 2014. Using in situ cosmogenic 10Be, 14C, and 26Al to decipher the history of polythermal ice sheets, Quaternary Geochronology 19, 4-13.
  • Granger, D.E., Lifton, N.A., Willenbring, J.K., 2013. A cosmic trip: 25 years of cosmogenic nuclides in geology (invited contribution). Geological Society of America Bulletin 125, 1379–1402.
  • Goehring, B.M., Muzikar, P., and Lifton, N.A., 2013, An in situ 14C-10Be Bayesian isochron approach for interpreting complex glacial histories: Quaternary Geochronology, v. 15, p. 61–66.
  • Pigati, J.S., Lifton, N.A., Jull, A.J.T., and Quade, J, 2010. A simplified in situ cosmogenic 14C extraction system, Radiocarbon. 52(2-3), 1236-1243
  • Pigati, J.S., Lifton, N.A., Jull, A.J.T., and Quade, J, 2010. Extraction of in situ cosmogenic 14C from olivine, Radiocarbon. 52(2-3), 1244-1260
  • Goehring, B.M., Kurz, M.D., Balco, G., Schaefer, J.M., Licciardi, J., Lifton, N., 2010. A reevaluation of in situ 3He production rates, Quat. Geochron. 5, 410-418.
  • Lifton, N., Smart, D. F., and Shea, M. A., 2008. Scaling time-integrated in situ cosmogenic nuclide production rates using a continuous geomagnetic model. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 268, 190-201.
  • Balco, G., Stone, J.O., Lifton, N., and Dunai, T.J., 2008. A complete and easily accessible means of calculating surface exposure ages or erosion rates from 10Be and 26Al measurements. Quat. Geochron. 3, 174-195.
  • Anderson, R.K., Miller, G.H., Briner, J.P., Lifton, N.A., DeVogel, S.B., 2008, A millennial perspective on Arctic warming from 14C in quartz and plants emerging beneath ice caps, Geophysical Research Letters, 35, L01502, doi: 10.1029/2007GL032057.
  • Pigati, J.S., Quade, J., Wilson, J., Jull, A.J.T., and Lifton, N., 2007, Development of low-background vacuum extraction and graphitization systems for 14C dating of old (40-60 ka) samples: Quaternary International, v. 166, p. 4-14.
  • Miller, G.H., Briner, J.P., Lifton, N.A., and Finkel, R.C., 2006, Limited ice-sheet erosion and complex exposure histories derived from in situ cosmogenic 10Be, 26Al, and 14C on Baffin Island, Arctic Canada: Quaternary Geochronology, 1, p. 74-85.
  • Lifton, N.A., Bieber, J.W., Clem, J.M., Duldig, M.L., Evenson, P., Humble, J.E., and Pyle, R., 2005, Addressing solar modulation and long-term uncertainties in scaling in situ cosmogenic nuclide production rates: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 239(1-2), p. 140-161.
  • Matmon, A., Shaked, Y., Porat, N., Enzel, Y., Finkel, R., Lifton, N., Boarretto, E., and Agnon, A., 2005, Landscape development in a hyperarid sandstone environment along the margins of the Dead Sea fault: Implications from dated rock falls: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 240, p. 803-817.
  • Lifton, N.A., Jull, A.J.T., and Quade, J., 2001. A new extraction technique and production rate estimate for in situ 14C in quartz. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 65(12): 1953-1969.

Contact Info

nlifton@purdue.edu

HAMP 3275

765-494-0754

Websites

Google Scholar , Personal Website