A High-Resolution Record of Holocene Climate Variability from Lake Edward, Central Africa

热带非洲是深层大气对流的三个主要中心之一，通过潜热为地球大气提供能量。关于热带非洲的气候如何对全球气候做出贡献，有很多需要了解的地方。爱德华湖是一个120米深的裂谷湖，位于刚果盆地的东部边缘，完美地记录了地球上最大的季风系统之一的气候变化。这项研究将以爱德华湖全新世沉积物为基础，产生十到百年尺度的水分平衡记录。这项研究的主要目标是了解非洲数十年至千年规模的全新世气候事件的原因。这项研究旨在通过将高分辨率分析的重点放在爱德华湖地区以前没有分析过的时间间隔上：过去1000年和全新世早期，以此来建立和完善之前的研究。这些分析的结果将补充正在进行的爱德华湖1,000至5,000年前的高分辨率研究。合并后的数据集将能够在各种时间尺度上测试非洲大陆、热带海洋、高纬度和外部强迫(即太阳可变性)之间的联系。研究人员将利用已经从爱德华湖和附近的火山口湖泊采集的沉积物岩芯，开发高分辨率的地球化学和稳定同位素地层学。这项研究的结果可以极大地促进我们对热带古气候动力学的理解。这项研究涉及古气候研究的若干优先领域，包括需要分析过去11 000年来一个重要季风系统的各种气候变异性，以及测试热带非洲和全球气候系统内气候变化的区域模式和阶段。

Tropical Africa is one of three major centers of deep atmospheric convection that energize the Earth's atmosphere through latent heating. There is much to be learned about how tropical Africa's climate contributes to global climate. Lake Edward is a 120-m deep rift lake situated on the eastern edge of the Congo basin, and is perfectly situated to record climate variability in one of the most immense monsoon systems on the planet. The research will generate a decade- to century-scale record of moisture balance based on Holocene sediments from Lake Edward. The main goal of this research is to understand the causes of multi-decade to millennial-scale Holocene climate events in Africa. The research is designed to build upon and refine previous studies by focusing high-resolution analyses on time intervals previously not analyzed in the Lake Edward region: the last 1,000 years and the early Holocene. Results from these analyses will complement ongoing high-resolution studies of the interval 1,000 to 5,000 yr BP in Lake Edward. The combined dataset will allow testing of linkages between continental Africa, the tropical oceans, high-latitudes, and external forcing (i.e. solar variability) at a variety of time-scales. The researcher will develop high-resolution geochemical and stable isotopic stratigraphies from sediment cores already taken from both Lake Edward and nearby crater lakes. Results of this research could significantly advance our understanding of tropical paleoclimate dynamics. This research relates to several areas of paleoclimate research priorities, including the need for analysis of the full range of climate variability over the past 11,000 years from an important monsoon system, and the testing of regional patterns and phasing of climate change within tropical Africa and the global climate system.