U.S.-Australian Cooperative Research in Evidence for the Younger Dryas Event in Australia

该奖项支持保罗博士在两年期间的两次访问 I.罗得岛大学的阿贝尔， 西澳大利亚州，与卡尔-海因茨Wyrwoll博士，简C。 纽瑟姆和乔治肯德里克。 注意到目前关于下列问题的辩论： 无论是全球变暖和温室效应， 各种形式的大气污染，对我们的 全球环境，研究人员建议检查过去的 气候变化的古气候，以映射其时间和 在地理范围内， 气候引起的灾难。 具体来说，他们将 调查杨格·戴维斯再冰川事件的程度 一万年前，在澳大利亚西部，一个远离 假定的来源（来自中部冰川的融水分流） 加拿大）。 研究人员将使用稳定同位素技术 陆生腹足类文石壳中氧的比例 贝壳（由阿贝尔博士在气候研究中开创的技术） 中部和南部非洲的变化）， 气候变化 罗德岛大学的同位素研究 岛屿将被花粉和沉积物地貌覆盖 西澳大利亚大学的合作者的研究。 知道是什么导致了这一事件，它如何迅速实现 它的最大值和持续时间对于理解 对未来气候变化的预期。

This award supports two visits over a two-year period by Dr. Paul I. Abell of the University of Rhode Island to the University of Western Australia, to work with Drs. Karl-Heinz Wyrwoll, Jane C. Newsome, and George Kendrick. Mindful of the current debate on whether global warming and the greenhouse effect, brought on by various forms of atmospheric pollution, pose a threat to our global environment, the investigators propose examining past climatic changes in paleoclimates to map their temporal and geographic extent to give some warming of the magnitude of climatically-induced catastrophes. Specifically, they will investigate the extent of the Younger Davis reglaciation event of 10,000 years ago, in western Australia, a region remote from its putative source (meltwater diversion from glaciers in central Canada). The investigators will use techniques of stable isotope ratios of oxygen in the aragonitic shells of land gastropod shells (techniques pioneered by Dr. Abell in studies of climatic change in central and southern Africa) to provide a proxy for climate change. The isotopic studies at the University of Rhode Island will be paralleled by pollen and sediment geomorphology studies by collaborators at the University of Western Australia. Knowledge of what produced that event, how quickly it achieved its maximum, and how long it lasted, are crucial in understanding what to expect in future climatic changes.