World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Earth Science
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Earth Science

D-Index
104
Citations
55994
World Ranking
105
National Ranking
53

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Earth Science in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Earth Science in United States Leader Award
  • 2018 - Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2017 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 2011 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2008 - Fellow of American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Overview

James C. Zachos is affiliated with the University of California, Santa Cruz in the United States. Their research primarily focuses on Earth and Planetary Sciences, with a significant concentration in several related subfields.

The main subfields of study include Atmospheric Science, Ocean Engineering, Oceanography, Paleontology, and Ecology. These areas reflect the scope of their investigation into Earth's climatic and geological history.

The key topics covered in their work are:

  • Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
  • Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
  • Drilling and Well Engineering
  • Isotope Analysis in Ecology
  • Reservoir Engineering and Simulation Methods
  • Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
  • Marine and Coastal Ecosystems

Zachos has contributed significantly to scientific literature, with recent papers published in prestigious journals. Selected recent works include:

  • "An astronomically dated record of Earth's climate and its predictability over the last 66 million years," 2020, Science
  • "On impact and volcanism across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary," 2020, Science
  • "Global warming in the pipeline," 2023, Oxford Open Climate Change
  • "Toward a Cenozoic history of atmospheric CO 2," 2023, Science
  • "Ice retreat in Wilkes Basin of East Antarctica during a warm interglacial," 2020, Nature

Their frequent co-authors include Isabella Raffi, Jan Backman, Paul N. Pearson, Ursula Röhl, and Timothy J. Bralower, with multiple joint publications.

Zachos has published extensively in venues such as Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America, OPAL (Open@LaTrobe) from La Trobe University, and Science.

Recognition of their scientific contributions is reflected in several awards, including:

  • Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2018
  • Member of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017
  • Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2011
  • Fellow of American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2008

Best Publications

  • Trends, Rhythms, and Aberrations in Global Climate 65 Ma to Present

    James Zachos;Mark Pagani;Lisa Sloan;Ellen Thomas;Ellen Thomas

  • An early Cenozoic perspective on greenhouse warming and carbon-cycle dynamics

    James C. Zachos;Gerald R. Dickens;Richard E. Zeebe

  • Target atmospheric CO2: Where should humanity aim?

    James Hansen;Makiko Sato;Pushker Kharecha;David Beerling

  • An astronomically dated record of Earth's climate and its predictability over the last 66 million years.

    Thomas Westerhold;Norbert Marwan;Norbert Marwan;Anna Joy Drury;Anna Joy Drury;Diederik Liebrand

  • Rapid acidification of the ocean during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum.

    James C. Zachos;Ursula Röhl;Stephen A. Schellenberg;Appy Sluijs

  • The Geological Record of Ocean Acidification

    Bärbel Hönisch;Andy Ridgwell;Daniela N. Schmidt;Ellen Thomas;Ellen Thomas

  • Marked Decline in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentrations During the Paleogene

    Mark Pagani;James C. Zachos;James C. Zachos;James C. Zachos;Katherine H. Freeman;Katherine H. Freeman;Katherine H. Freeman;Brett Tipple;Brett Tipple;Brett Tipple

  • Assessing "dangerous climate change": required reduction of carbon emissions to protect young people, future generations and nature.

    James E. Hansen;Pushker A. Kharecha;Pushker A. Kharecha;Makiko H. Sato;Valerie Masson-Delmotte

  • Evolution of Early Cenozoic marine temperatures

    James C. Zachos;Lowell D. Stott;Kyger C. Lohmann

  • A Transient Rise in Tropical Sea Surface Temperature During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

    James C. Zachos;Michael W. Wara;Steven Bohaty;Margaret L. Delaney

  • Correlation between isotope records in marine and continental carbon reservoirs near the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary

    Paul L. Koch;James C. Zachos;Philip D. Gingerich

  • Abrupt climate change and transient climates during the Paleogene: a marine perspective.

    James C. Zachos;Kyger C. Lohmann;James C. G. Walker;Sherwood W. Wise

  • Astronomical pacing of late Palaeocene to early Eocene global warming events

    Lucas J. Lourens;Appy Sluijs;Dick Kroon;James C. Zachos

  • Climate response to orbital forcing across the Oligocene-Miocene boundary.

    James C. Zachos;Nicholas J. Shackleton;Justin S. Revenaugh;Heiko Pälike

  • High‐resolution (104 years) deep‐sea foraminiferal stable isotope records of the Eocene‐Oligocene climate transition

    James C. Zachos;Terrence M. Quinn;Karen A. Salamy

  • On the duration of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM)

    Ursula Röhl;Thomas Westerhold;Timothy J. Bralower;James C. Zachos

  • Carbon dioxide forcing alone insufficient to explain Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum warming

    Richard E. Zeebe;James C. Zachos;Gerald R. Dickens

  • Significant Southern Ocean warming event in the late middle Eocene

    Steven M. Bohaty;James C. Zachos

  • Extreme warming of mid-latitude coastal ocean during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: Inferences from TEX86 and isotope data

    J.C. Zachos;S. Schouten;S. Bohaty;T. Quattlebaum

  • Early Cenozoic decoupling of the global carbon and sulfur cycles

    A. C. Kurtz;L. R. Kump;M. A. Arthur;J. C. Zachos

  • The geological record of ocean acidification

    B. Hoenisch;A. J. Ridgwell;E. Thomas;J. C. Zachos

Frequent Co-Authors

Thomas Westerhold
Thomas Westerhold University of Bremen
Ellen Thomas
Ellen Thomas Yale University
Isabella Raffi
Isabella Raffi University of Chieti-Pescara
Steven M Bohaty
Steven M Bohaty University of Southampton
Appy Sluijs
Appy Sluijs Utrecht University
Roy H Wilkens
Roy H Wilkens University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant
Lucas Joost Lourens
Lucas Joost Lourens Utrecht University
Richard E. Zeebe
Richard E. Zeebe University of Hawaii at Manoa
Timothy J. Bralower
Timothy J. Bralower Pennsylvania State University
Dick Kroon
Dick Kroon University of Edinburgh

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