T. Nelson Caine

  • Professor Emeritus
  • GEOGRAPHY

Geomorphology • Hydrology

Present-day erosional and hydrologic processes in mountain environments and in mass wasting and slope development.

Nel Caine grew up in the northern England where he attended the University of Leeds and conducted field research on patterned ground leading to an M.A. (1962). Further research on periglacial geomorphology on the mountains of Tasmania was conducted through the Australian National University (Ph.D. 1966). After a further two years at the University of Canterbury (New Zealand), he moved to the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1968. At the time, this was meant to be "for a few years of experience in a different academic and scientific environment". Those few years have now expanded to decades, spent at the Institute of Arctic & Alpine Research and Department of Geography. In that time, his work has involved studies of hillslope stability and erosion; sediment budgeting; patterned ground and snow hydrology. These studies have been conducted in a variety of mountain and alpine areas but have been focused on work in Green Lakes Valley in the Colorado Front Range, within commuting distance of home!

Research interests

Present-day erosional and hydrologic processes in mountain environments and in mass wasting and slope development. This includes studies of snow hydrology, streamflow generation, and sediment transport. It incorporates work on periglacial processes, mountain permafrost, and hillslope processes. Over the past 20 years, this has involved continuing work in the mountains of Colorado that is now incorporated into the Long-Term Ecological Research Program. It has also included work in the mountains of Tasmania, in central Europe, Nepal, and the Oregon Cascades.

Education

  • PhD: Australian National University, 1966

Awards

  • G. K. Gilbert Award, AAG, 1994
  • Frost Lecturer, BGRG, 1993
  • Fellow, AAAS, 1989

Example publications

Litaor, M. I., Suding, K., Anderson, S., Litus, G., Caine, T. N. 2018: . Catena, 170: 108-118. DOI: 10.1016/j.catena.2018.06.004

Preston, D. L., Caine, T. N., McKnight, D. M., Williams, M. W., Hell, K., Miller, M., Hart, S. J., Johnson, P. T. J. 2016: . Geophysical Research Letters, 43(10): 5553-5560. DOI: 10.1002/2016GL069036

Williams, M. W., Hood, E., Molotch, N. P., Caine, T. N., Cowie, R., Liu, F. 2015: nt. Plant Ecology and Diversity, 8(5-6): 639-661. DOI: 10.1080/17550874.2015.1123318

Barnes, R. T., Williams, M. W., Parman, J. N., Hill, K., Caine, T. N. 2014: . Biogeochemistry, 117(2-3): 413-430. DOI: 10.1007/s10533-013-9886-5

Leopold, M., Williams, M. W., Caine, T. N., Vlkel, J., Dethier, D. 2011: Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 22(2): 107-119. DOI: 10.1002/ppp.706

Leopold, M., Voelkel, J., Dethier, D., Williams, M. W., Caine, T. N. 2010: Mountain permafrost: A valid archive to study climate change? Examples from the Rocky Mountains Front Range of Colorado, USA. Nova Acta Leopoldina, 112(384): 281-289.

T. N. 2010: Recent hydrologic change in a Colorado alpine basin: An indicator of permafrost thaw? Annals of Glaciology, 51(56): 130-134.