Peter Douglas | Geotop

Géochimie isotopique
Cycles biogéochimiques
Paléoclimat

McGill

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

peter.douglas [at] mcgill.ca (peter[dot]douglas[at]mcgill[dot]ca)

Thèmes de recherche
Publications
Étudiants

Mon groupe de recherche utilise la géochimie isotopique et organique pour étudier le changement climatique et le cycle du carbone dans les environnements terrestres, d'eau douce et côtiers. Récemment, nos recherches se sont concentrées sur trois thèmes principaux : 1) Définir les signaux isotopiques des émissions de méthane de l'échelle locale à l'échelle planétaire ; 2) Comprendre le destin du carbone et de l'azote libérés par le dégel du pergélisol ; et 3) Reconstruire les enregistrements des changements environnementaux naturels et anthropiques de l'Holocène dans les paysages tropicaux et arctiques.

Accès libre Allan, E., Wang, Y., de Vernal, A., Gélinas, Y., Mucci, A. O., Seidenkrantz, M. S., Douglas, P. M., 2026. Trophic changes off southwest Greenland during the Holocene and their influence on carbon burial. Geophysical Research Letters 53(6), e2025GL120012. Données / Data

Breckenridge, A., Lowell, T. V., Moretto, M., Birschbach, P., Shanoff, M., Douglas, P. et al., 2026. The mid-continent varve chronology: a∼ 3600-yr varve series from glacial lakes Agassiz and Norwood (USA and Canada). Quaternary Science Reviews 386, 109982.

Accès libre Burnett, M. S., Kallenbach, C. M., Laurion, I., Comte, J., Maranger, R., Leroy, M., Douglas, P. M., 2026. Bridging the gap from peat to ponds: Terrestrial and aquatic greenhouse gas emissions in an evolving permafrost‐associated subarctic peatland. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 131(4), e2025JG009509. Données / Data

Accès libre Dyer-Hawes, Q., Romanic, D., Huang, Y., Gyakum, J. R., Douglas, P. M. et al. (incl. J. Stix), 2026. Analysis of urban greenhouse gas dispersion for downtown Montréal using computational fluid dynamics and field measurements. Atmospheric Pollution Research 17(7), 103014.

Lemelin, M., Williamson, M. C., Léveillé, R., Belleau-Magnat, G., Brassard, É., Aoid, H., Fauconnier, B.-V., Douglas, P.M.J. et al., 2026. Reactive Gossans as Iron-Rich Mars Analogue Environments of Astrobiological Interest, Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut. Planetary and Space Science 273-274, 106258. Données / Data

Accès libre Moguel, R. G., Douglas, P. M., Ranjbar, K., Nichman, L., Asomaning, J., Dyer-Hawes, Q. et al. (incl. J. Stix), 2026. Stable isotope constraints on urban CO2 and CH4 emission sources in Montreal derived from aircraft, UAV, and ground measurements. Atmospheric Environment 382, 122224. Données / Data

Accès libre Roy-Lafontaine, A., Lee, R., Douglas, P. M., Whalen, D., Pellerin, A., 2026. Addition of brackish water to tundra soils does not inhibit methane production: implications for Arctic coastal methane production. Biogeosciences 23(11), 3777-3792. Données / Data

Accès libre Tremblay, J. D., Douglas, P. M., Halperin, C. T., Gélinas, Y., 2026. Fecal Steroids as Tracers of Human Population and Waste Management Practices at the Ancient Maya City of Ucanal, Guatemala. Archaeometry 68(4), 646-658. Données / Data

Zhang, M., Yan, D., Wang, J., Huang, H., Ni, D., Yun, S., Douglas, P. M., 2026. Differential organic matter accumulation and preservation in the quaternary driven by the East Asian Monsoon. Global and Planetary Change 265, 105638.

Accès libre Defratyka, S. M., Fernandez, J. M., Adnew, G. A., Dong, G., Douglas, P. M., Eldridge, D. L. et al., 2025. Global inventory of doubly substituted isotopologues of methane (Δ13CH3D and Δ12CH2D2). Earth System Science Data 17(12), 6889-6910.

Accès libre Gonzalez Moguel, R., Asomaning, J., Reid, E., Romanic, D., Vogel, F., Ars, S., Gillepsie, L. D., Douglas, P., Huang, Y., 2025. Four Years of Mobile Monitoring Show that Urban Waste is the Primary Source of Large Methane Emissions Hotspots in Montreal, Canada. Environmental Research Communications 7, 091002. Données / Data

Accès libre Gonzalez Moguel, R., Mahmoudi, N., Douglas, P. M., 2025. Large variability in the radiocarbon signature of greenhouse gases from incubations of thermokarst lake sediments linked to methane production rates and CH4: CO2 ratios. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 130(7), e2024JG008694. Données / Data

Accès libre Gwinneth, B., Johnston, K., Breckenridge, A., Douglas, P. M., 2025. Evidence for highly variable land use but a stable climate in the southwest Maya lowlands. Biogeosciences 22, 7079-7088. Données / Data

Accès libre Mirzaei, Y., Douglas, P. M., Gélinas, Y., 2025. Isotopic and molecular analyses of n-alkanes in a temporal study of coastal sediment contributions to organic carbon degradation induced by algal bloom and terrestrial runoff. Science of The Total Environment 958, 178071. Données / Data

Accès libre Spiller, A., Kallenbach, C. M., Burnett, M. S., Olefeldt, D., Schulze, C., Maranger, R., Douglas, P. M., 2025. Gradual drying of permafrost peat decreases carbon dioxide production in drier peat plateaus but not in wetter fens and bogs. Soil 11(1), 371-379. Données / Data

Tremblay, J. D., Douglas, P. M., Halperin, C. T., von Sperber, C., Hélie, J. F., Gauthier, L., 2025. Assessing nutrient inputs, sediment organic matter sources, and the potential for cyanobacteria in ancient water reservoirs at the Maya city of Ucanal, Guatemala: A glimpse at sustainable water management practices. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 67, 105389.

Accès libre Wang, Y., Ahad, J. M., Mucci, A. O., Gélinas, Y., Douglas, P. M., 2025. Large burial flux of modern organic carbon in the St. Lawrence estuarine system indicates a substantial atmospheric carbon sink. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 652, 119204.

Zhang, M., Yan, D., Douglas, P. M., Liang, W., Wang, J., Ni, D., Yun, S., 2025. Lacustrine shallow biogenic gas production linked to climatically forced increase in organic matter burial following the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. Quaternary Science Reviews 363, 109446.

Accès libre Dyer-Hawes, Q., Romanic, D., Huang, Y., Gyakum, J. R., Douglas, P., 2024. Analysis of urban wind conditions and wildfire smoke dispersion for downtown Montréal using computational fluid dynamics. Building and Environment 266, 112103.

Accès libre Jautzy, J. J., Campbell, C., Desiage, P. A., Douglas, P. M., Fosu, B. R., Larmagnat, S., Savard, M. M., 2024. Diapiric controls on deep-biosphere oases: Take with a grain of salt. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121(37), e2408793121.

Accès libre Prėskienis, V., Fortier, D., Douglas, P., Rautio, M., Laurion, I., 2024. Permafrost degradation and soil erosion as a driver of greenhouse gas emissions from tundra ponds. Environmental Research Letters 19, 014072.

Accès libre Sharma, B., Moore, T. R., Knorr, K. H., Teickner, H., Douglas, P. M., Roulet, N. T., 2024. Horticultural additives influence peat biogeochemistry and increase short-term CO2 production from peat. Plant and Soil 505, 449-464.

Tremblay, J. D., Halperin, C. T., Douglas, P. M., 2024. Mercury contamination in ancient water reservoirs at the Maya city of Ucanal, Guatemala. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 59, 104789.

Accès libre Wang, Y., Gélinas, Y., de Vernal, A., Mucci, A., Allan, E., Seidenkrantz, M.-S., Douglas , P.M.J., 2024. High rates of marine organic carbon burial on the southwest Greenland margin induced by Neoglacial advances. Communications Earth & Environment 5, 335. Données / Data

Accès libre Allan, E., Douglas, P., de Vernal, A., Gélinas, Y., Mucci, A., 2023. Palmitic acid is not a proper salinity proxy in Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea but reflects the variability in organic matter sources modulated by sea ice coverage. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 24(9), e2022GC010837. Données / Data

Accès libre Birkett, B. A., Obrist-Farner, J., Rice, P. M., Parker, W. G., Douglas, P. M., Berke, M. A., Taylor, A. K., Curtis, J. H., Keenan, B., 2023. Preclassic environmental degradation of Lake Petén Itzá, Guatemala, by the early Maya of Nixtun-Ch’ich’. Communications Earth & Environment 4(1), 59.

Accès libre Bogue, R. R., Douglas, P. M., Fisher, J. B., Stix, J., 2023. Volcanic Diffuse Volatile Emissions Tracked by Plant Responses Detectable From Space. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 24(11), e2023GC010938.

Gibson, D. K., Obrist-Farner, J., Birkett, B. A., Curtis, J. H., Berke, M. A., Douglas, P. M., Rice, R.M., Maurer, J., 2023. The influence of tropical Atlantic sea-surface temperatures and the North Atlantic Subtropical High during the Maya Droughts. The Holocene 34(2), 212-223.

Kuhn, M. A., Schmidt, M., Heffernan, L., Stührenberg, J., Knorr, K. H., Estop‐Aragonés, C., Broder, T., Gonzalez Moguel, R., Douglas, P.M.J., Olefeldt, D., 2023. High ebullitive, millennial‐aged greenhouse gas emissions from thermokarst expansion of peatland lakes in boreal western Canada. Limnology and Oceanography 68(2), 498-513.

Accès libre Obrist-Farner, J., Eckert, A., Douglas, P. M., Perez, L., Correa-Metrio, A., Konecky, B. L. et al., 2023. Planning for the Lake Izabal Basin Research Endeavor (LIBRE) continental scientific drilling project in eastern Guatemala. Scientific Drilling 32, 85-100.

Accès libre Parker, W. G., Ahad, J. M., Obrist‐Farner, J., Keenan, B., Douglas, P. M., 2023. Distinct modes of aged soil carbon export in a large tropical lake basin identified using bulk and compound‐specific radiocarbon analyses of fluvial and lacustrine sediment. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 128(8), e2023JG007515.

Douglas, P.M., Stratigopoulos, E., Park, S., Keenan, B., 2022. Spatial differentiation of sediment organic matter isotopic composition and inferred sources in a temperate forest lake catchment. Chemical Geology 603, 120887.

Accès libre Gonzalez Moguel, R., Vogel, F., Ars, S., Schaefer, H., Turnbull, J.C., Douglas, P.M., 2022. Using carbon-14 and carbon-13 measurements for source attribution of atmospheric methane in the Athabasca oil sands region. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 22(3), 2121-2133.

Imfeld, A., Ouellet, A., Douglas, P., Kos, G., Gélinas, Y., 2022. Molecular and stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ2H) of sedimentary n-alkanes in the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf, Quebec, Canada: importance of even numbered n-alkanes in coastal systems. Organic Geochemistry 164, 104367.

Keenan, B., Imfeld, A., Gélinas, Y., Douglas, P.M., 2022. Understanding controls on stanols in lake sediments as proxies for palaeopopulations in Mesoamerica. Journal of Paleolimnology 67, 375-390.

Bourque, R.D., Douglas, P.M., Larsson, H.C., 2021. Changes in terrestrial ecosystem across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary in western Canada inferred from plant wax lipid distributions and isotopic measurements. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 562, 110081.

Gonzalez Moguel, R., Bass, A.M., Garnett, M.H., Pilote, M., Keenan, B., Matveev, A., Douglas, P.M., 2021. Radiocarbon Data Reveal Contrasting Sources for Carbon Fractions in Thermokarst Lakes and Rivers of Eastern Canada (Nunavik, Quebec). Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 126(4), e2020JG005938.

Accès libre Keenan, B., Imfeld, A., Johnston, K., Breckenridge, A., Gélinas, Y., Douglas, P.M., 2021. Molecular evidence for human population change associated with climate events in the Maya lowlands. Quaternary Science Reviews 258, 106904.

Prėskienis, V., Laurion, I., Bouchard, F., Douglas, P.M., Billett, M.F., Fortier, D., Xu, X., 2021. Seasonal patterns in greenhouse gas emissions from lakes and ponds in a High Arctic polygonal landscape. Limnology and Oceanography 66, S117–S141.

Accès libre Douglas, P.M., Gonzalez Moguel, R., Walter Anthony, K.M., Wik, M., Crill, P.M., Dawson, K.S., Smith, D.A., Yanay, E., Lloyd, M.K., Stolper, D.A., Eiler, J.M., 2020. Clumped isotopes link older carbon substrates with slower rates of methanogenesis in northern lakes. Geophysical Research Letters 47(6), e2019GL086756.

Kang, M., Dong, Y., Liu, Y., Williams, J.P., Douglas, P., McKenzie, J.M., 2019. Potential increase in oil and gas well leakage due to earthquakes. Environmental Research Communications 1(12), 121004.

Douglas, P.M.J., Pagani, M., Eglinton, T.I., Brenner, M., Curtis, J.H., Breckenridge, A., Johnston, K., 2018. A long-term decrease in the persistence of soil carbon caused by ancient Maya land use. Nature Geoscience 11 (9), 645-649.

Shuai, Y., Douglas, P.M.J., Zhang, S., Stolper, D.A., Ellis, G.S., Lawson, M., Lewan, M.D., Formolo, M., Mi, J., He, K., Hu, G., Eiler, J.M., 2018. Equilibrium and non-equilibrium controls on the abundances of clumped isotopologues of methane during thermogenic formation in laboratory experiments: Implications for the chemistry of pyrolysis and the origins of natural gases. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 223, 159-174.

Shuai, Y., Etiope, G., Zhang, S., Douglas, P.M.J., Huang, L., Eiler, J.M., 2018. Methane clumped isotopes in the Songliao Basin (China): New insights into abiotic vs. biotic hydrocarbon formation. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 482, 213-221.

Stolper, D.A., Lawson, M., Formolo, M.J., Davis, C.L., Douglas, P.M.J., Eiler, J.M., 2018. The utility of methane clumped isotopes to constrain the origins of methane in natural gas accumulations. Geological Society Special Publication 468 (1), 23-52.

Douglas, P.M.J., Stolper, D.A., Eiler, J.M., Sessions, A.L., Lawson, M., Shuai, Y., Bishop, A., Podlaha, O.G., Ferreira, A.A., Santos Neto, E.V., Niemann, M., Steen, A.S., Huang, L., Chimiak, L., Valentine, D.L., Fiebig, J., Luhmann, A.J., Seyfried, W.E., Jr., Etiope, G., Schoell, M., Inskeep, W.P., Moran, J.J. and Kitchen, N., 2017. Methane clumped isotopes: Progress and potential for a new isotopic tracer. Organic Geochemistry 113, 262-282.

Douglas, P.M.J., Stolper, D.A., Smith, D.A., Walter Anthony, K.M., Paull, C.K., Dallimore, S., Wik, M., Crill, P.M., Winterdahl, M., Eiler, J.M. and Sessions, A.L., 2016. Diverse origins of Arctic and Subarctic methane point source emissions identified with multiply-substituted isotopologues. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 188, 163-188.

Douglas, P.M.J., Demarest, A.A., Brenner, M. and Canuto, M.A., 2016. Impacts of Climate Change on the Collapse of Lowland Maya Civilization. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 44, 613-645.

Douglas, P.M.J., Brenner, M., Curtis, J.H., 2016. Methods and future directions for paleoclimatology in the Maya Lowlands. Global and Planetary Change 138, 3-24.

Stolper, D.A., Martini, A.M., Clog, M., Douglas, P.M., Shusta, S.S., Valentine, D.L., Sessions, A.L. and Eiler, J.M., 2015. Distinguishing and understanding thermogenic and biogenic sources of methane using multiply substituted isotopologues. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 161, 219-247.

Coutros, P.R. and Douglas, P.M.J., 2015. Coring Lake Fati and Settlement Archaeology of the Middle Niger Lakes Region. African Archaeological Review 32(2), 249-266.

Douglas, P.M.J., Pagani, M., Canuto, M.A., Brenner, M., Hodell, D.A., Eglinton, T.I. and Curtis, J.H., 2015. Drought, agricultural adaptation, and sociopolitical collapse in the Maya Lowlands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 112(18), 5607-5612.

Douglas, P.M.J., Pagani, M., Eglinton, T.I., Brenner, M., Hodell, D.A., Curtis, J.H., Ma, K.F. and Breckenridge, A., 2014. Pre-aged plant waxes in tropical lake sediments and their influence on the chronology of molecular paleoclimate proxy records. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 141, 346-364.

Douglas, P.M.J., Affek, H.P., Ivany, L.C., Houben, A.J.P., Sijp, W.P., Sluijs, A., Schouten, S., Pagani, M., 2014. Pronounced zonal heterogeneity in Eocene southern high-latitude sea surface temperatures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 111(18), 6582-6587.

Sijp, W.P., von der Heydt, A.S., Dijkstra, H.A., Flögel, S., Douglas, P.M.J., Bijl, P.K., 2014. The role of ocean gateways on cooling climate on long time scales. Global and Planetary Change 119, 1-22.

Douglas, P.M.J., Pagani, M., Brenner, M., Hodell, D.A., Curtis, J.H., 2012. Aridity and vegetation composition are important determinants of leaf-wax δD values in southeastern Mexico and Central America. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 97, 24-45.

Keating-Bitonti, C.R., Ivany, L.C., Affek, H.P., Douglas, P., Samson, S.D., 2011. Warm, not super-hot, temperatures in the early Eocene subtropics. Geology 39(8), 771-774.

Asomaning, Jacob : Doctorat en sciences de la Terre et des planètes
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill
Codirection : John Stix
Sujet de recherche : Using isotope tracers to understand greenhouse gas emissions in Greater Montreal/L'utilisation de traceurs isotopiques pour comprendre les émissions de gaz à effet de serre dans le Grand Montréal

de Baets, Bonnie : Doctorat en sciences de la Terre et des planètes
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill
Codirection :  Josué Jautzy (Geological Survey of Canada);
Sujet de recherche : Using clumped isotopes to understand methane formation in the permafrost active layer

Ezzati, Milad : Stage postdoctoral
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill
Sujet de recherche : Changes in carbon stabilization and mineralization during salt water intrusion

Leishman, Kendra : Maîtrise en sciences de la Terre et des planètes
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill
Sujet de recherche : Enfouissement du carbone organique dans les sédiments d'un grand bassin lacustre tropical : Comprendre les effets de la diagenèse précoce et des changements environnementaux brusques

Pearl, Carson : Doctorat en sciences de la Terre et des planètes
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill
Codirection : Cynthia Kallenbach, University of British Columbia
Sujet de recherche : Quantifying priming effects in boreal soils and permafrost thaw ponds

Price, Aaron : Doctorat en sciences des ressources naturelles
Natural Resource Sciences, McGill
Codirection : Cynthia Kallenbach, McGill Natural Resource Sciences
Sujet de recherche : Parameterizing microbial specific models of soil carbon cycling for permafrost environments

Rabinovitch, Lola : Maîtrise en sciences de la Terre et des planètes
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill
Sujet de recherche : Tracing microbial carbon assimilation in boreal soils and permafrost thaw ponds

Wasserlauf, Joshua : Doctorat en sciences de la Terre et des planètes
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill
Sujet de recherche : Using gas radiocarbon measurements to detect plastic biodegradation in landfills