Diana Ochoa
Geologist
Specialist on microfossils
Diana Ochoa
Geologist
Specialist on microfossils
Most of us have gone to places where the landscape just takes our breath away. Places where the beauty of the ocean, mountains or valleys are just inspiring!!!... So, we just have to wonder how such landscapes were formed and preserved! Well, having that feeling and wondering such things is what I got to do thanks to my professional career..
Yes, I am Geologist, and within this vast field, I have specialized on study small-sized fossils (microfossils). They can be either from continental (pollen and spores) or marine (foraminifers) settings. I use them for understanding the evolution of some living forms and ecosystems throughout time, for reconstructing features of ancients environments, but also for building up relative time frames (bio/chronostratigraphy).
What I do, although it may seem a bit romantic or even useless, has several applications in different fields, and I would say that one of the main uses is providing extremely valuable information to the oil industry. Having accurate and reliable data on the age, type, and environments of the rocks can save millions of dollars!
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In this project, I will focus on generate robust time frames for the Pisco Basin, which will allow understanding when key (geological or biological) processes took place.
PUBLICATIONS
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2021
Benites-Palomino, A., Vélez-Juarbe, J., Collareta, A., Ochoa, D., Altamirano, A., Carré, M., Laime, M.J., Urbina, M., Salas-Gismondi, R. (2021). Nasal compartmentalization in Kogiidae (Cetacea, Physeteroidea): insights from a new late Miocene dwarf sperm whale from the Pisco Formation. Papers in Palaeontology. https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1351
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Valqui J., Ibañez-Erquiaga B., Pacheco A. S., Wilbur L., Ochoa D., Cardich J., Pérez-Huaranga M., Salas-Gismondi R., Pérez A., Indacochea A., Peltroche J. A., Rivera Ch. M., Carré M. (2021). Changes in rocky intertidal communities after the 2015 and 2017 El Niño events along the Peruvian coast. Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science. 250, 107142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2020.107142
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Ochoa, D., Salas-Gismondi, R., DeVries, T.J., Baby, P., de Muizon, C., Altamirano, A., Barbosa-Espitia, A., Foster, D.A., Quispe, K., Cardich, J., Gutiérrez, D., Perez, A., Valqui, J., Urbina, M., Carré, M. (2021). Late Neogene evolution of the Peruvian margin and its ecosystems: a synthesis from the Sacaco record. International Journal of Earth Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-021-02003-1
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November 2018 – June 2019 Career break for Maternity Leave.
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2018
Ochoa, D., Sierro, F.J., Cortina A., Hilgen, F., Lofi, J., Kouwenhoven, T., and Flores, J.A. (in press) Origin and implications of orbital-induced sedimentary cyclicity in Pliocene well logs of the Western Mediterranean. Marine Geology. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2018.05.009
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Cortina, A., Filippelli, G., Ochoa, D., Sierro, F. J., Flores, J. A., & Grimalt, J. O., 2018. Climate-driven changes in sedimentation rate influence phosphorus burial along continental margins of the northwestern Mediterranean. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 500, 106-116.
Maillard, A., Driussi, O., Briais, A., Chanier F., Gaullier, V., Garcia M., Ochoa D., Sage, F., Johanna Lofi, F Sierro, T Lüdmann. 2018. 3.A-Baleares promontory. Regional setting, in: Seismic atlas of the Messinian salinity crisis markers in the Mediterranean sea. Volume 2. Ed. J. Lofi.. SGF/CCGM.
Maillard, A., Driussi, O., Briais, A., Chanier F., Gaullier, V., Garcia M., Ochoa D., Sage, F., Johanna Lofi, F Sierro, T Lüdmann. 2018. 33. B-Baleares promontory. MSC units, in: Seismic atlas of the Messinian salinity crisis markers in the Mediterranean sea. Volume 2. Ed. J. Lofi.. SGF/CCGM.
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2016
Ochoa, D., Zavada, M. S., Liu, Y., & Farlow, J. O., 2016. Floristic implications of two contemporaneous inland upper Neogene sites in the eastern US: Pipe Creek Sinkhole, Indiana, and the Gray Fossil Site, Tennessee (USA). Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 96 (2), 239-254.
2015
Ochoa, D., Sierro, F.J., Lofi, J., Maillard, A., Flores, J.A. and Suárez, M., 2015. Synchronous onset of the Messinian evaporite precipitation: First Mediterranean offshore evidence. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 427, pp.112-124.
Driussi, O., Maillard, A., Ochoa, D., Lofi, J., Chanier, F., Gaullier, V., Briais, A., Sage, F., Sierro, F. and Garcia, M., 2015. Messinian Salinity Crisis deposits widespread over the Balearic Promontory: Insights from new high-resolution seismic data. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 66, pp.41-54.
Flecker, R., Krijgsman, W., Capella, W., de Castro Martíns, C., Dmitrieva, E., Mayser, J.P., Marzocchi, A., Modestu, S., Ochoa, D., Simon, D. and Tulbure, M., et al., 2015. Evolution of the Late Miocene Mediterranean–Atlantic gateways and their impact on regional and global environmental change. Earth-Science Reviews, 150, pp.365-392.
2013
Jaramillo, C., Zavada, M., Ortiz, J., Pardo, A., Ochoa, D., 2013. The Biogeography of the Araucarian dispersed pollen Cyclusphaera. International Journal of Plant Biology, Vol. 174(3): 489–498.
2012
Ochoa, D., Whitelaw. M., Liu, Y.S., Zavada, M., 2012. Neogene Palynology of the Gray Fossil Site, Tennessee, USA: Floristic Implications. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Vol. 184: 36–48.
Ochoa, D., Hoorn, C., Jaramillo, C., Bayona, G., De La Parra, F., 2012. The final phase of tropical lowland deposition in the axial zone of the Eastern Cordillera: Evidence from three palynological records (Eocene to Miocene, Colombian Andes). Journal of South American Earth Sciences, Vol. 39: 157–169.
2010
Jaramillo, C., Ochoa D., Contreras,L., Pagani, M., Carvajal-Ortiz, H., Pratt, L.M., Krishnan, S., et al., 2010. Effects of Rapid Global Warming at the Paleocene-Eocene Boundary on Neotropical Vegetation. Science 330: 957-961.
Hoorn, C., Roddaz, M., Dino, R., Soares, E., Uba, C., Ochoa, D., Mapes, R., 2010. The Amazonian Craton and its influence on past fluvial systems (Mesozoic-Cenozoic, Amazonia), in: Amazonia, Landscape and Species Evolution: A Look into the Past. Eds. C. Hoorn & F. Wesselingh Wiley-Blackwell.