Arthur Spivack

Arthur J. Spivack is a geochemist and professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, where his research has contributed significantly to scientists’s understanding of ancient ocean chemistry, carbon cycling, and the limits of life in the deep seafloor. Born July nine, 1956, in Queens, N.Y., he earned both his bachelor’s degree in chemistry (1980) and his doctorate in oceanography (1986) from MIT, conducting graduate research at the MIT—Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution joint program. Spivack is best known for pioneering the use of boron isotopes as a proxy for the pH of ancient seawater. In a landmark 1993 paper in Nature co-authored with Chen-Feng You and Jesse Smith, his team used boron isotope ratios in foraminiferal shells to reconstruct surface ocean pH over the past 21 million years, providing a foundational tool for reconstructing past atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. That work established that ocean pH was significantly lower 21 million years ago, consistent with estimates of higher ancient CO2 levels, and has since become one of the principal methods for paleoclimate reconstruction. Beyond paleoceanography, Spivack has contributed substantially to understanding geochemical fluxes in mid-ocean-ridge hydrothermal systems, subduction zones, and the biogeochemistry of deeply buried sediments. With colleagues at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography, he was at the forefront of scientific exploration of the deep subseafloor biosphere — the vast community of microbial life living kilometers beneath the ocean floor — demonstrating that organisms can persist there with metabolic rates orders of magnitude lower than had been thought possible. He has also led investigations of unusual geochemical events closer to home, including the 2015 Salty Brine Beach explosion in Rhode Island. Spivack teaches across a range of disciplines including global climate change, chemical oceanography, astrobiology, and physical chemistry for earth scientists.