Mary J. Kraus Professor and Chair, Department of Geological Sciences Energy & Minerals Applied Research Center (EMARC) Fellow Ph.D., University of Colorado, 1983 M.S., University of Wyoming, 1979 B.S., Yale University, 1973 At CU since 1/1982 E-mail:Mary.Kraus@Colorado.edu Phone: 303 492 7251

Research Interests

Alluvial paleosols and their geologic utility, fluvial sedimentology, paleoclimatology, paleolandscape reconstruction, continental ichnology

Current Projects

1. Collaborative study with Steve Hasiotis (University of Kansas) of the distribution of ichnofossils across alluvial paleoenvironments. The research focuses on ichnofossils in the superbly exposed Paleogene Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. The goals of this study are to elucidate the diversity and distribution of above- and below-ground soil macrobiota in alluvial paleosols and to unravel what factors controlled their distribution during latest Paleocene-early Eocene time.

2. Using paleosols to interpret paleoclimate change, particularly precipitation patterns, across the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming. Relating changes in the sedimentologic record to paleoclimate change at the PETM.

Recent Publications

• Kraus, M.J., and Aslan, A., 1999, Paleosol sequences in floodplain environments: a hierarchical approach, In: Thiry, M., ed., Palaeoweathering, Palaeosurfaces and Related Continental Deposits, International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Publication. 27, p. 303-321.
• Kraus, M.J., and Wells, T.M., 1999, Recognizing avulsion deposits in the ancient stratigraphical record. In Smith, N.D., and Rogers, J. (Eds.), Fluvial Sedimentology VI, International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Publication 28, p. 251-268.
• Kraus, M.J., 1999, Paleosols in clastic sedimentary rocks: their geologic applications: Earth Science Reviews, 47: 41-70.
• Davies-Vollum, K.S., and Kraus, M. J., 2001. A relationship between alluvial backswamps and avulsion cycles: an example from the Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Sedimentary Geology 140: 235-249.
• Kraus, M.J., 2002, Basin-scale changes in floodplain paleosols: implications for interpreting alluvial architecture: Journal of Sedimentary Research, 72: 500-509.
• Farnham, T.M., and Kraus, M.J., 2002, The stratigraphic and climatic significance of Paleogene alluvial paleosols in synorogenic strata of the Denver Basin: Rocky Mountain Geology, 37: 201-213.
• Kraus, M.J., and Davies-Vollum, K.S., 2004, Mudrock-dominated fills formed in avulsion splay channels: examples from the Willwood Formation, Wyoming: Sedimentology, 51: 1127-1144.
• Kraus, M.J., and Hasiotis, S.T., 2006, Significance of different modes of rhizolith preservation to interpreting paleoenvironmental and paleohydrologic settings: examples from Paleogene paleosols, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA: Journal of Sedimentary Research.
• Kraus, M.J., and Riggins, S., in press, Transient drying during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM): Analysis of paleosols in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA: Palaeogeography, Palaeoecology, Palaeoclimatology.
• Hasiotis, S.T., Kraus, M.J., and Demko, T., in press, Climatic controls on continental trace fossils. In: Miller, W. (Ed.), Trace Fossils: Concepts, Problems, Prospects. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
  

Career Experience

Honors and Awards

Elected Fellow of Geological Society of America, 1998
Outstanding Paper of the Year Award, Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 1987

Service to the Profession (1997-2006)

President-Elect, SEPM, Society for Sedimentary Geology 2006-07
Journal of Sedimentary Research, Co-Editor (2000-2003)
Member of Council, SEPM, Society for Sedimentary Geology (2000-2003)
Sedimentary Geology, Editorial Board (1997-2000)
Journal of Sedimentary Research, Editorial Board (1996-1999)
General Co-chair, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, 1999
Member, Penrose Medal Committee, Geological Society of America (1998-2000)

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