Collaborative Research: High-Resolution, Low-Latitude Paleoclimatology Through Scientific Drilling of Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana

这项奖励是为了增加来自国际大陆钻探计划(ICDP)的120万美元的业务资金，以从博苏姆特维湖获得多个湖芯，用于古气候分析。博苏姆特维湖是一个陨石撞击坑，位于西非加纳的热带森林低地。研究人员的目标是制作过去100万年(Ma)气候变化的多代理和年际到千禧年尺度的记录。将审查从核心获得的数据，以确定北大西洋、非洲和亚洲地区气候之间的潜在联系。该湖位于热带间辐合带(ITCZ)季节性通道的下方，水文闭合，有保存年度层片的深缺氧水域。该团队之前的研究已经产生了记录陨石坑撞击来源的地震剖面，而对之前回收的活塞沉积物岩心的分析产生了800年来的环境数据记录。这些核心表明，非洲夏季风的强度在年轻仙女木和海因里希1号和2号气候事件期间减弱。这些新的地点将穿越多个温暖的间冰期，并将进一步加深古气候界对热带气候变异性的更广泛了解。这项研究将与加纳科学家充分合作，以支持美国科学家与其加纳同事之间的能力建设和技术转让。研究基金还将支持美国研究生，并为他们提供独特的研究体验。

This award is to augment $1.2M in operational funds from the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) to obtain multiple lake cores for paleoclimatic analyses from Lake Bosumtwi, a meteorite impact crater located in the tropical forest lowlands of Ghana, West Africa. The researchers aim to produce a multi-proxy and inter-annual to millennial scale record of climate change over the last ~1.0 million years (Ma). The data derived from the cores will be examined for potential linkages among climate from the North Atlantic, Africa, and the Asia regions. The lake is located beneath the seasonal passage of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and is hydrologically closed with deep anoxic waters that preserve annual laminations. Previous research by the team has yielded seismic profiles that documented the impact origin of the crater while analyses of previously recovered piston sediment cores produced an 800-year record of environmental data. These cores have shown that the intensity of the African summer monsoon decreased during the Younger Dryas and during Heinrich 1 and 2 climatic events. The new sites will drill through multiple warm interglacial periods and will further the paleoclimate community's broader understand of climate variability from the Tropics. This research will be carried out in full collaboration with Ghanaian scientists to support capacity building and technology transfer between the US scientists and their Ghanaian colleagues. The research funds will also support American graduate students and provide them with a unique research experience.