Maria Clara Castro - University of Michigan

M. Clara Castro
Associate Professor
Hydrogeology and Noble Gas Geochemistry
Department of Geological Sciences
University of Michigan
mccastro@umich.edu
Education
B.Sc.: University of Porto, Portugal, 1988 (Geology, Summa Cum Laudae)
M.S.: University of Paris VI (Pierre et Marie Curie), Paris, France, 1991 (Quantitative Hydrology
and Hydrogeology)
Ph.D.: University of Paris VI and Paris School of Mines, France, 1995 (Hydrogeology and Noble
Gas Geochemistry)
Positions Held
2008 - present Faculty Associates, Applied Physics Program
2007 (January – August) – Visiting Professor, University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
2006 – present Associate Professor (with tenure), Geological Sciences, University of Michigan
2004 - present Faculty Associate, Program in the Environment, University of Michigan
1999 - 2006 Assistant Professor, Geological Sciences, University of Michigan
1998 - 1999 Post-doctoral Research Associate, University of Connecticut
1996 - 1998 Post-doctoral Research Associate, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia
University
1989 - 1990 Hydrogeologist, Burgeap Company, Paris, France
1988 - 1989 Hydrogeologist, Foraco Company, Cameroon, Africa
Honors and Awards
2006: CAREER Award, National Science Foundation
2005: Prix Verdaguer, Academy of Sciences, France - Institute of France
2002: Elizabeth Caroline Crosby Research Award (NSF ADVANCE at Univ. of Michigan)
1995: Special mention on PhD dissertation - in French: "Très Honorable avec les Félicitations du
Jury"
1990, 1994, 1995 - Fellowships from the Portuguese Ministry of Education
Editorial Service
2007 – present: Editorial Board of Geofluids
2004 - 2008: Associate Editor Hydrogeology Journal
2003 - 2007: Associate Editor Ground Water
Professional Affiliations
American Geophysical Union
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Geological Society of America
International Association of Hydrogeologists
National Ground Water Association
American Chemical Society
M. Clara Castro, Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae 1

Postdoctoral Fellows
Dr. Martin Saar (2003 – 2004; Turner Post-doc, now Assistant Professor University of
Minnesota)
Dr. Delphine Patriarche (2001- 2004, now Research Project Head, Gas de France, France)
Graduate students
Tao Wen, PhD candidate
Rohit B. Warrier, PhD expected fall 2012
Jessica Malone, MS 2009
Tie Sun, MS 2008
Lin Ma, PhD 2008 (Now Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at El Paso)
Undergraduate students
Sindhuja Sunder (Double major, Mathematics and Environmental Geosciences, May-July 2010)
Alex Costakis (January 2009 – April 2010, Honors thesis)
Paul Joseph Hojnacki (October 2008 – March 2009)
Jessica Malone (January 2007 – August 2007)
Brian Ellis (2004 – 2006, Honors thesis, now PhD student, Dept. of Civil and Env. Eng., Princeton Univ.)
Kathy Flemming (2003)
Ann Hoenke (2001)
Courses Taught
Water and Society (GEOSCI 109)
Seminar Environmental Geology (GEOSCI 148)
Scientific Discovery in Earth Sciences: A Research Experience (GEOSCI 210)
Water in the 21 st Century (GEOSCI 277 - to be taught for the first time winter 2012)
Hydrogeology (GEOSCI 477)
Laboratory Facilities
Noble Gas Laboratory
Computer Facilities
Sun Server V880
Sun Server Fire 280R
Sun Ultra 10 workstations
Some examples of new and on-going research projects:
1. Investigating the behavior of all noble gases in ice and sealed lakes in Antarctica through
a combined analysis of concentrations and isotopic ratios to reconstruct both the sealing
history of these lakes as well a to clarify some aspects of the tectonic history of this
region.
2. To obtain an in-depth and overall understanding of the hydrogeological functioning of the
Galapagos Islands through noble gases in order to evaluate their aquifers’ potential as
long term water suppliers and to prevent future groundwater contamination.
3. Investigating the behavior of noble gases at the interface unsaturated zone/water table and
developing new noble gas temperature models to improve noble gas paleoclimatic
reconstructions.
M. Clara Castro, Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae 2

PUBLICATIONS
*Student Advisee
Pinti D.L., Béland-Otis C., Tremblay A., Castro M.C., Hall C.M., Marcil J.S., Lavoie J.Y.,
Lapointe R. (2011), Fossil brines preserved in the St-Lawrence Lowlands, Quebec,
Canada as revealed by their chemistry and noble gas isotopes, Geochimica
Cosmochimica Acta, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2011.05.006.
*Malone, J.L., Castro M.C., Hall C.M., Doran P.T., Kenig F., and McKay C.P. (2010), Tracing
the complex ice cover Evolution of Lake Vida, Antarctica, through noble gases, Earth
Planetary Science Letters, 289, 112–122.
*Sun T., Hall, C. M., and Castro M.C. (2010), Statistical Properties of Groundwater Noble Gas
Paleoclimate Models: Are They Robust and Unbiased Estimators? Geochemistry
Geophysics Geosystems, 11, 2, Q02002, doi:10.1029/2009GC0027
*Ma, L., Castro, M.C., and Hall, C.M. (2009), Crustal noble gases in deep brines as natural
tracers of vertical transport processes in the Michigan Basin, Geochemistry Geophysics
Geosystems, 10, 6, Q06001, doi:10.1029/2009GC002475.
Castro M.C., *Ma L., Hall, C.M. (2009), A Primordial, Solar He-Ne Signature in Crustal Fluids
of a Stable Continental Region, Earth Planetary Science Letters, 279, 174-184.
*Ma L., Castro M.C., Hall C.M. (2009), Atmospheric noble gas signatures in deep Michigan
Basin brines as indicators of a past thermal event, Earth Planetary Science Letters, 277
(137-147).
*Sun T., Hall, C. M., Castro, M.C., K. C. Lohmann, Goblet P. (2008), Excess Air in the Noble
Gas Groundwater Paleothermometer: A New Model Based on Diffusion in the Gas
Phase, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L19401, doi:10.1029/2008GL035018.
Castro M.C., Hall, C.M., Patriarche D., Goblet P., and *Ellis, B.R. (2007), A New Noble Gas
Paleoclimate Record in Texas - Basic Assumptions Revisited, Earth and Planetary
Science Letters, Earth Planetary Science Letters, 157 (1-2), 170-187,
:10.1016/j.epsl.2007.02.030.
Hall, C. M., Castro, M.C., K. C. Lohmann, and L. *Ma (2006), Reply to comment by Klump et
al. on “Noble gases and stable isotopes in a shallow aquifer in southern Michigan:
Implications for noble gas paleotemperature reconstructions for cool climates”, Geophys.
Res. Lett., 33, L24404, doi:10.1029/2006GL028102.
Castro M.C., Patriarche D., and Goblet P. (2005), 2-D Numerical Simulations of Groundwater
Flow, Heat Transfer and 4 He transport - Implications for the He Terrestrial Budget and
the Mantle Helium-Heat Imbalance, Earth Planetary Science Letters, 237, 893-910.
Castro M.C., and Goblet P. (2005), Calculation of Groundwater ages – a Comparative Analysis,
Ground Water, 43, 3, 368-380.
Castro M.C. (2005) Reply to a comment on "Helium sources in passive margin aquifers new
evidence for a significant mantle 3 He source in aquifers with unexpectedly low in situ
3 He/ 4 He production" by M. C. Castro [Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 222 (2004) 897-913]”,
Earth Planetary Science Letters, 240, 830-834.
*Ma L., Castro M.C., Hall C.M., and Walter L.M. (2005) Cross-formational flow and salinity
sources inferred from a combined study of helium concentrations, isotopic ratios and
major elements in the Marshall aquifer, southern Michigan, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst.,
6, 10, Q10004, doi:10.1029/2005GC001010.
Hall C.M., Castro M.C., and Lohmann K.C., and *Ma L. (2005) Noble Gases and Stable
Isotopes in a Shallow Aquifer in Southern Michigan: Implications for Noble Gas
Paleotemperature Reconstructions for Cool Climates, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L18404,
doi:10.1029/2005GL023582.
M. Clara Castro, Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae 3

Patriarche D., Castro M.C., and Goovaerts P. (2005), Estimating Regional Hydraulic
Conductivity Fields – a Comparative Study of Geostatistical Methods, Mathematical
Geology, 37, 6, 587-613.
Saar M.O., Castro M.C., Hall, C.M., Manga M., and Rose, T.P. (2005) Quantifying magmatic,
crustal, and atmospheric helium contributions to volcanic aquifers using all stable noble
gases: Implications for magmatism and groundwater flow, Geochemistry, Geophysics,
Geosystems, 6, 3, Q03008, doi:10.1029/2004GC000828.
Ma L., Castro M.C., and Hall C.M. (2004) A Late Pleistocene – Holocene Noble Gas
Paleotemperature Record in Southern Michigan, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L23204,
doi:10.1029/2004GL021766.
Patriarche, D., Castro M.C., and Goblet P. (2004), Large-scale hydraulic conductivities inferred
from three-dimensional groundwater flow and 4 He transport modeling in the Carrizo
aquifer, Texas, J. Geophys. Res., 109, B11202, doi:10.1029/2004JB003173.
Castro M.C. (2004), Helium sources in passive margin aquifers – new evidence for a significant
mantle 3 He source in aquifers with unexpectedly low in-situ 3 He/ 4 He production, Earth
Planetary Science Letters, 222, 897-913.
Castro M.C., and Goblet P. (2003), Noble Gas Thermometry and Hydrologic ages: Evidence for
Late Holocene Warming in Southwest Texas, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30 (24), 2251,
doi:10.1029/2003GL018875.
Phillips F.M. and Castro M.C. (2003) Groundwater dating and residence-time measurements, pp.
451-497. In Surface and Ground Water, Weathering, and Soils (ed. J.I.Drever) Vol.5
Treatise on Geochemistry (eds. H.D.Holland and K.K.Turekian), Elsevier, Oxford.
Castro M. C. and Goblet P. (2003), Calibration of regional groundwater flow models – working
toward a better understanding of site-specific systems, Water Resources Research, 39(6),
1172, doi:10.1029/2002WR001653.
Marsily G. de, Goncalves J., Violette S., and Castro M. C. (2002), From nuclear fuels to waste:
Current Research; Migration mechanisms of radionuclides from a clay repository toward
adjacent aquifers and the surface, C.R. Physique 3, Academie des Sciences/Editions
scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS, S1631-0705(02)01385-3/REV, 945-959.
Castro M. C., Stute M., and Schlosser P. (2000) Comparison of 4 He and 14 C ages in simple
aquifer systems: implications for groundwater flow and chronologies, Appl.
Geochemistry, 15, 1137-1167.
Castro M. C., Jambon A., Marsily G. de, and Schlosser P. (1998) Noble gases as natural tracers
of water circulation in the Paris Basin. 1. Measurements and discussion of their origin and
mechanisms of vertical transport in the basin, Water Resources Research, vol. 34, 10,
2443-2466.
Castro M. C., Goblet P., Ledoux E., Violette S, and Marsily. G. de. (1998) Noble gases as
natural tracers of water circulation in the Paris Basin. 2. Calibration of a groundwater flow
model using noble gas isotope data, Water Resources Research, vol. 34, 10, 2467-2483.
M. Clara Castro, Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae 4