CIRES Council of Fellows>

Peter Molnar

Ph.D., Columbia University, 1970
Professor, Geological Sciences

E-mail: molnar@cires.colorado.edu
Office: ESCI 462C
Phone: 303-492-4936
Web: Molnar Research Group

Research Interests

Large-scale deformation of continents, crustal and mantle geodynamics, climate change (especially over geological time scales), mechanisms of erosion, interactions among geodynamics, climate change, and geomorphology

Current Research Projects

• Dynamics of flow beneath continents, using numerical experiments and geophysical observations
• Kinematic and dynamics of deformation in Asia
• Influence of the opening of the Indonesian Seaway on tropical oceanography and meteorology, and on the onset of the ice ages in particular
• Influence of the growth of the Tibetan Plateau on the Asian Monsoon
• Mechanisms by which climate change affects erosion rates

Selected Publications

• Zhang Peizhen, P. Molnar, and W. R. Downs, Increased sedimentation rates and grain sizes 2-4 Myr ago due to the influence of climate change on erosion rates, Nature, 410, 891-897, 2001.
• Cane, M. A., and P. Molnar, Closing of the Indonesian seaway as a precursor to east African aridification around 3-4 million years ago, Nature, 411, 157-162, 2001.
• Hallet, B., and P. Molnar, Distorted drainage basins as markers of crustal strain east of the Himalaya, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 13,697-13,709, 2001.
• Molnar, P., From Plate Tectonics to Continental Tectonics: An Evolving Perspective of Important Research, from a Graduate Student to an Established Curmudgeon, in Plate tectonics: An Insider's History of the Modern Theory of the Earth, ed. by N. Oreskes, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 288-328, 2001.
• Molnar, P., and M. A. Cane, El Niño's tropical climate and teleconnections as a blueprint for pre-Ice Age climates, Paleoceanography, 17 (2), 10.1029/2001PA000663, 2002.

Molnar is also one of the CIRES Faculty who teach at the University of Colorado at Boulder with teaching loads equivalent to those of CU faculty rostered solely in departments and programs.