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Earth Science

D-Index
64
Citations
14528
World Ranking
1493
National Ranking
91

Overview

Malcolm R. Walter is affiliated with the University of New South Wales in Australia, focusing primarily on Earth and Planetary Sciences with a significant body of work also related to Physics and Astronomy. Their research covers multiple interrelated scientific fields and topics, reflecting a multidisciplinary approach to understanding ancient geological and biological processes.

Walter's main fields of study include:

  • Earth and Planetary Sciences
  • Physics and Astronomy

Within these areas, their subfields of expertise are notably diverse, encompassing:

  • Paleontology
  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Atmospheric Science
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Geochemistry and Petrology

The principal scientific topics addressed in their work feature:

  • Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
  • Planetary Science and Exploration
  • Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
  • Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping
  • Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis
  • Geological and Geochemical Analysis
  • Biocrusts and Microbial Ecology

Recent publications illustrate a range of interests, from early Earth conditions to microbial ecosystems and planetary analogues, with examples including:

  • A Reconstructed Subaerial Hot Spring Field in the ∼3.5 Billion-Year-Old Dresser Formation, North Pole Dome, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia (2020, Astrobiology)
  • Modern arsenotrophic microbial mats provide an analogue for life in the anoxic Archean (2020, Communications Earth & Environment)
  • Targeting mixtures of jarosite and clay minerals for Mars exploration (2020, American Mineralogist)
  • Trace Element Concentrations Associated with Mid-Paleozoic Microfossils as Biosignatures to Aid in the Search for Life (2021, Life)
  • 2-Methylhopanoids in geographically distinct, arid biological soil crusts are primarily cyanobacterial in origin (2021, Environmental Microbiology Reports)

Frequent collaborators in Walter's research include scientists such as Tara Djokic, Martin J. Van Kranendonk, J. R. Havig, Pieter T. Visscher, and Kimberley L. Gallagher.

Publication venues where Walter's work has appeared reflect a focus on planetary sciences, astrobiology, and Earth system sciences, including:

  • Astrobiology
  • Communications Earth & Environment
  • American Mineralogist
  • Life
  • Environmental Microbiology Reports

Best Publications

  • Stromatolite reef from the Early Archaean era of Australia

    Abigail C. Allwood;Malcolm R. Walter;Balz S. Kamber;Craig P. Marshall;Craig P. Marshall

  • Stromatolites 3,400–3,500 Myr old from the North Pole area, Western Australia

    M. R. Walter;R. Buick;J. S. R. Dunlop

  • Dating the 840–544 Ma Neoproterozoic interval by isotopes of strontium, carbon, and sulfur in seawater, and some interpretative models

    M.R. Walter;J.J. Veevers;C.R. Calver;P. Gorjan

  • Morphological and ecological complexity in early eukaryotic ecosystems

    Emmanuelle J. Javaux;Andrew H. Knoll;Malcolm R. Walter

  • Filamentous fossil bacteria from the Archean of Western Australia

    S.M. Awramik;J.W. Schopf;M.R. Walter

  • The Ediacaran Period: A New Addition to the Geologic Time Scale

    Andrew H. Knoll;Malcolm R. Walter;Guy M. Narbonne;Nicholas Christie-Blick

  • Neoproterozoic stratigraphy of the Centralian Superbasin, Australia

    M.R. Walter;J.J. Veevers;C.R. Calver;K. Grey

  • Latest Proterozoic stratigraphy and Earth history.

    Andrew H. Knoll;Malcolm R. Walter

  • Earliest signs of life on land preserved in ca. 3.5 Ga hot spring deposits

    Tara Djokic;Tara Djokic;Martin J Van Kranendonk;Martin J Van Kranendonk;Kathleen A Campbell;Malcolm R Walter

  • Evidence for low sulphate and anoxia in a mid-Proterozoic marine basin

    Yanan Shen;Andrew H. Knoll;Malcolm R. Walter

  • A New Period for the Geologic Time Scale

    Andrew H. Knoll;Malcolm R. Walter;Guy M. Narbonne;Nicholas Christie-Blick

  • Neoproterozoic biotic diversification: Snowball Earth or aftermath of the Acraman impact?

    Kathleen Grey;Malcolm R. Walter;Clive R. Calver

  • TEM evidence for eukaryotic diversity in mid‐Proterozoic oceans

    Emmanuelle J. Javaux;Andrew H. Knoll;Malcolm R. Walter

  • Molecular fossils and microfossils of prokaryotes and protists from Proterozoic sediments

    R. E. Summons;M. R. Walter

  • Preservation of biological information in thermal spring deposits: developing a strategy for the search for fossil life on Mars.

    M. R. Walter;David J. Des Marais

  • Siliceous Algal and Bacterial Stromatolites in Hot Spring and Geyser Effluents of Yellowstone National Park

    Malcolm R. Walter;John Bauld;Thomas D. Brock

  • Environmental Evolution of the Archean-early Proterozoic Earth

    James C. G. Walker;Cornelis Klein;Manfred Schidlowski;J. William Schopf

  • 3.43 billion-year-old stromatolite reef from the Pilbara Craton of western Australia: Ecosystem-scale insights to early life on Earth

    Abigail C. Allwood;Abigail C. Allwood;Malcolm R. Walter;Ian W. Burch;Ian W. Burch;Balz S. Kamber

  • Trace elements record depositional history of an Early Archean stromatolitic carbonate platform

    Abigail C. Allwood;Abigail C. Allwood;Balz S. Kamber;Malcolm R. Walter;Ian W. Burch

  • Combined micro-Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy of Proterozoic acritarchs: a new approach to Palaeobiology

    Craig P. Marshall;Emmanuelle J. Javaux;Andrew H. Knoll;Malcolm R. Walter

  • Structural characterization of kerogen in 3.4 Ga Archaean cherts from the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia

    Craig P. Marshall;Craig P. Marshall;Gordon D. Love;Gordon D. Love;Colin E. Snape;Andrew C. Hill;Andrew C. Hill

Frequent Co-Authors

Andrew H. Knoll
Andrew H. Knoll Harvard University
Martin J. Van Kranendonk
Martin J. Van Kranendonk Curtin University
Simon C. George
Simon C. George Macquarie University
Brett A. Neilan
Brett A. Neilan University of Newcastle Australia
Jeremy Bailey
Jeremy Bailey University of New South Wales
David Crisp
David Crisp California Institute of Technology
Dorothy Z. Oehler
Dorothy Z. Oehler Planetary Science Institute
J. William Schopf
J. William Schopf University of California, Los Angeles
Peter L. Bergquist
Peter L. Bergquist University of Auckland

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