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Jim Kasting

EESI Associate

Jim Kasting
Ph.D., Michigan, 1979

Contact Information:
Department of Geosciences
The Pennsylvania State University
443 Deike Building
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 865-3207
email: kasting@geosc.psu.edu
website: http://www.geosc.psu.edu/

Current Research Interests:
Atmospheric evolution, planetary atmospheres, paleoclimates

Recent Publications:
Scalo, J.,  L. Kaltenegger, A. Segura, M. Fridlund, I. Ribas, Y.N. Kulikov, J.L. Grenfell, H. Rauer, P. Odert, M. Leitzinger, F. Selsis, M.L. Khodachenko, C. Eiora, J. Kasting and H. Lammer, M stars as targets for terrestrial exoplanet searches and biosignature detection, Astrobiol. 7, 85-166 (2007).

Shields, G. A. and J. F. Kasting, Evidence for hot early oceans? Nature 446­, doi:10.1038/nature05830 (2007).

Kasting, J. F. and S. Ono, Paleoclimates: the first two billion years, Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. Lond. B. 361, 917-929 (2006).

J. F. Kasting, Runaway greenhouses and runaway glaciation: How stable is Earth’s climate? In Frontiers of Climate Modeling, J. T. Kiehl and V. Ramanathan, eds., Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp. 349-366 (2006).

Kasting, J. F. and M. T. Howard, Atmospheric composition and climate on the early Earth, Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. Lond. B 361, 1733-1742 (2006).

Pollard, D. and J. F. Kasting, Reply to comment by Steven G. Warren and Richard E. Brandt on “Snowball Earth--a Thin-Ice Model with Flowing Sea Glaciers”, J. Geophys. Res. 111, C09017, doi:10.1029/2006JC003488 (2006).

Kasting, J. F., M. T. Howard, K. Wallmann, J. Veizer, G. Shields, and J. Jeffries, Paleoclimates, ocean depth, and the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 252, 82-93 (2006).

Kasting, J. F., Earth Sciences - Ups and downs of ancient oxygen, Nature 443, 643  (2006).

Levine, M., S. Shaklan, and J. F. Kasting, eds., Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph: Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) Report, JPL Document D-34923, 360 pp. (2006). Available on-line

Kasting, J. F., Methane and climate during the Precambrian Era, Precambrian Res. 137, 119-129 (2005).

Pollard, D. and J. F. Kasting, Snowball Earth: A thin-ice model with flowing sea glaciers, J. Geophys. Res. 110, C07010, doi:10.1029/2004JC002525 (2005).

Kharecha, P., J. F. Kasting, and J. L. Siefert, A coupled atmosphere-ecosystem model of the early Archean Earth, Geobiology 3, 53-76 (2005).

Segura, A., J. F. Kasting, V. Meadows, M. Cohen, J. Scalo, D. Crisp, R. A. H. Butler, and G. Tinetti, Biosignatures from Earth-like planets around M dwarfs, Astrobiology 5, 706-725 (2005).

Kasting, J. F., When methane made climate, Scientific American 291, No. 1 (July), 78-85 (2004).

Pollard, D. and J. F. Kasting, Climate-ice sheet simulations of Neoproterozoic glaciation before and after collapse to Snowball Earth, in Geophysical Monograph Series 146, "The Extreme Proterozoic: Geology, Geochemistry, and Climate," G. S.  Jenkins, M. A. S. McMenamin,  C. P. McKay, and L. Sohl, eds., Amer. Geophys. Union, Washington DC, pp. 91-105 (2004).

Kasting, J. F., Comment on "Evidence from massive siderite beds for a CO2-rich atmosphere before ~1.8 billion years ago" by H. Ohmoto, Y. Watanabe, and K. Kumazawa, published as “Archaean atmosphere and climate”, Nature 429, doi:10.1038/nature03166 (2004).

Pavlov, A. A., M. Hurtgen, J. F. Kasting, M. A. Arthur, Methane-rich Proterozoic atmosphere? Geology 31, 87-90 (2003).

Shuhei Onoa,*, J. L. Eigenbrodeb, A. A. Pavlovc, P. Kharechab, D. Rumble IIIa, J. F. Kastingb, and K. H. Freeman, New insights into Archean sulfur cycle from mass-independent sulfur isotope records, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 213, 15-30 (2003).

Kasting, J. F. and D. Catling, Evolution of a habitable planet, Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 41, 429-463 (2003).

Segura, A.; Krelove, K., J. F. Kasting, D. Sommerlatt, V. Meadows, D. Crisp, M. Cohen, and E. Mlawer, Ozone concentrations and ultraviolet fluxes on Earth-like planets around other stars, Astrobiology 3, 689-708 (2003).

Kasting, J. F. Review of "Snowball Earth: The Story of the Great Global Catastrophe that Spawned Life as We Know It" by Gabrielle Walker, Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc., 84, 1581-1584 (2003).

Kasting, J. F. The origins of water on Earth, Scientific Amer. Spec. Ed. 13, No. 3, 28-33 (2003).

Pavlov, A. A. and J. F. Kasting, Mass-independent fractionation of sulfur isotopes in Archean sediments: strong evidence for an anoxic Archean atmosphere, Astrobiology 2, 27-41 (2002).

J. F. Kasting and J. L. Siefert, Life and the evolution of Earth’s atmosphere (Perspective), Science 296, 1066-1068 (2002).

D. J. Des Maraisa, M. Harwitb, K. Jucksc, J. Kastingd, D. Line, J. Luninef, J. Schneiderg, S. Seagerh, W. Traubc and N. Woolfe, Remote sensing of planetary properties and biosignatures on extrasolar terrestrial planets, Astrobiology 2, 153-181 (2002).

Kasting, J. F., Long-term stability of Earth’s climate: the faint young Sun problem revisited, in Geosphere-Biosphere Interactions and Climate, L. O. Bengtsson and C. U. Hammer (eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 203-219 (2002).

Kasting, J. F., Planets, in Encyclopedia of Global Change: Environmental Change and Human Society, A. S. Goudie, ed., Oxford University Press, New York, Vol. 2, pp. 249-251 (2002).

Kasting, J. F. Review of Life Everywhere: The Maverick Science of Astrobiology by David Darling, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 45, 292-293 (2002).

Kump, L. R., J. F. Kasting, and M. E. Barley, The rise of atmospheric oxygen and the “upside-down” Archean mantle, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., vol. 2, Paper number 2000GC000114 (2001).

Kasting, J. F. Essay review of Peter Ward and Don Brownlee’s Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 44, 117-131 (2001).

Kasting, J. F., A. A. Pavlov, and J. L. Siefert, A coupled ecosystem-climate model for predicting the methane concentration in the Archean atmosphere, Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere 31, 271-285 (2001).

Kasting, J. F. and J. L. Siefert, The nitrogen fix (News and Views article), Nature 412, 26-27 (2001).

Kasting, J. F., The rise of atmospheric oxygen (Perspective), Science 293, 819-820 (2001).

Pavlov, A. A., J. F. Kasting, J. L. Eigenbrode, and K. H. Freeman, Hydrocarbon aerosols as a source of low-13C kerogens in Archean sediments, Geology 29, 1003-1006 (2001).

DesMarais, D. J., Harwit, M., Jucks, K., Kasting, J. F., Lunine, J. I., Lin, D., Seager, S., Schneider, J., Traub, W., and Woolf, N., Biosignatures and Planetary Properties to be Investigated by the TPF Mission, JPL Publication 01-008, California Inst. Of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 48 pp (2001).

Pavlov, A. A., L.L. Brown, and J. F. Kasting, Shielding of NH3 and O2 by organic hazes in the Archean atmosphere, J. Geophys. Res. 106, 23,267-23,287 (2001).

Pavlov, A. A., J. F. Kasting, L. L. Brown, K. A. Rages, and R. Freedman, Greenhouse warming by CH4 in the atmosphere of early Earth, J. Geophys. Res. 105, 11,981-11,990 (2000).

Mischna, M. and J. F. Kasting, CO2 clouds and the climate of early Mars: effect of cloud height and optical depth, Icarus 145, 546-554 (2000).

Schindler, T. L. and J. F. Kasting, Synthetic spectra of simulated terrestrial atmospheres containing possible biomarker gases, Icarus 145, 262-271 (2000).

Churchill, D. and J. F. Kasting, Nitrous oxide in the early atmosphere: a marker for life? In Proceedings of the Conference: ‘Darwin and Astronomy – the Infrared Space Interferometer’, Stockholm, Sweden (ESA SP-451, May, 2000).