Collaborative Research: High-Resolution Paleoclimatology from Newly Acquired Sediment Cores from Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana

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This research will examine a suite of cores from Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana, for evidence of a high-resolution (i.e., interannual to millennial-scale) record of West African Monsoon dynamics over the last 20,000 years.Lake Bosumtwi is the remnant of a basin formed by a meteor impact approximately 1.1 million years ago. As such, the lake is a well-defined catchment basin that is sensitive to small changes in precipitation-evaporation balance, a fundamental aspect of climate.The research strategy is to use a multi-proxy approach to analyze cores recovered from the lake under previous NSF funding. Specifically, the researchers will develop annual resolution records of West African climate through the last 1,000 years, examine the record of West African monsoon variability through the last 20,000 years when climatic forcing functions were different than today, and establish detailed chronologies for sediments from the lake to examine abrupt climate change events in the region.