High-Resoltuion Paleoclimatic Studies of Lake Turkana, Kenya

东非的古气候历史鲜为人知。该地区的大陆裂谷作用产生了一系列跨越许多气候制度的大型湖泊。如果这些湖泊被证明包含有用的古气候记录，那么关于地球气候历史的许多重要信息就可以获得。这项研究的目的是评估肯尼亚图尔卡纳湖在古气候重建方面的潜力。这个湖中的沉积物正在以很高的速度积累，通常是在反映生产力和沉积作用的年度循环的层片中。因此，该湖有可能重建该地区过去5000年的年度到世纪时间尺度上的气候历史。这项研究很重要，因为它将提供一个高分辨率的气候记录，从中研究气候过程和变化。

The history of paleoclimate in East Africa is poorly known. Continental rifting in this region has produced a series of large lakes that span many climate regimes. If these lakes are shown to contain useful paleoclimate records, then much important information about the history of earth's climate could be obtained. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the potential of Lake Turkana, Kenya, for paleoclimate reconstructions. Sediments in this lake are accumulating at high rates, often in laminations that reflect the annual cycle of productivity and sedimentation. Thus the lake has the potential of allowing reconstruction of the history of climate in this region on annual to century time scales for the last 5000 years. This research is important because it will provide a high resolution climate record from which to study climate processes and change.