SGER: Environmental History of the White Nile Headwaters

该奖项在探索性研究小额赠款（SGER）计划的赞助下，将使用资金从东非的阿尔伯特湖收集一系列岩心。 研究人员和一名本科生将前往阿尔伯特湖，从阿尔伯特湖最深的沃茨收集一套库伦伯格活塞岩心，将岩心运送到明尼苏达大学的国家湖沼研究中心，为岩心制定年表，完整的同位素和形态分析烧焦的草表皮在这些核心，以评估C3和C4草物种的相对贡献，阿尔伯特湖位于西部裂谷内，位置优越，可以记录大西洋和印度洋水分来源对非洲季风的相对贡献的变化，以及为尼罗河提供水源的各种赤道非洲湖泊之间的水文输入变化。 先前的研究表明，东非湖泊对气候和环境条件的突然十年尺度变化敏感，并且是这种变化的独特记录者。来自阿尔伯特湖的新的和日期明确的沉积物岩心可以提供这种气候行为的关键但缺失的细节。在以前的裁决中（即，ATM-9912052/0196564），Beuning由古气候计划资助，以分析东非湖泊的化石草库，以更好地了解C3和C4草在热带非洲分布的相对范围随时间的变化。 该奖项是在减少预算和工作范围的情况下颁发的，以使Beuning能够磨练她对铜的同位素分析的分析技术。 因此，Beuning将阿尔伯特湖从研究地点名单中删除。 然而，在其间的几年里，Beuning成功地证明了她的同位素技术。 碰巧的是，2003年春天，一次商业地震勘探正在阿尔伯特湖进行。 Beuning已经被提供了几天的时间在RV Kilindi的船核心湖。 湖上没有足够的本地船只进行取芯，因此，商业探险是一个机会，以具有成本效益的方式利用私人和公共资金，为国际古气候研究人员带来重大回报。只需少量的财政投资，更广泛的科学界就可以从一个新的、可公开访问的古气候档案中受益。

This award, under the auspices of the Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER) program, will use funds to collect a series of cores from Lake Albert in East Africa. The investigator and an undergraduate student will travel to Lake Albert and collect a suite of Kullenberg piston cores from the deepest waters of Lake Albert, ship the cores to the publicly accessible National Limnological Research Center at the University of Minnesota, develop a chronology for the cores, complete isotopic and morphological analyses of charred grass epidermis in these cores to assess the relative contribution of C3 and C4 grass species in the region, and examine shifts in grass species in conjunction with various proxies of climatic and environmental conditions.Lake Albert is located within the western Rift and is well sited to record shifts in the relative contributions of Atlantic and Indian Ocean moisture sources to the African monsoon as well as changes in the hydrologic input among the various equatorial African lakes that feed the Nile River. Previous research has shown East African lakes to be sensitive to abrupt decadal-scale variability in climate and environmental conditions and unique recorders of such change. New and well-dated sediment cores from Lake Albert could provide critical, yet missing, details of this climatic behavior. In a previous award (i.e., ATM-9912052/0196564), Beuning was funded by the Paleoclimate Program to analyze fossil grass cuticles from East African lakes to better understand changes in the relative extent of C3 and C4 grass distribution in tropical Africa over time. The award was made at a reduced budget and scope of work to allow Beuning to hone her analytical techniques for the isotopic analyses of cuticles. As a result, Beuning left Lake Albert off the list of research sites. In the intervening years, however, Beuning has successfully proved her isotopic techniques. As chance would have it, a commercial seismic expedition is being conducted on Lake Albert in the spring of 2003. Beuning has been offered several days of ship time on the RV Kilindi to core the lake. No local vessels on the lake are sufficient for coring so, the commercial expedition is an opportunity to cost-effectively leverage private and public funds to achieve a significant payoff for the international community of paleoclimtic researchers. With a small financial investment, the wider scientific community could benefit from a new and publicly accessible paleoclimatic archive.