Collaborative Research: A High Resolution Speleothem Record of Holocene, Last Glacial, and Last Interglacial Climate and Vegetation from the North American Mid-Continent

该奖项利用资金帮助从北美中部大陆的洞穴中获得13万年来的高分辨率气候记录。在过去的间冰期-冰川周期中，密苏里州的主要野外地点位于前劳伦蒂德冰盖的南部。研究人员假设，该地点的位置很好，可以记录中大陆气候的变化，全球气候的变异性，以及间冰期-冰川周期期间的植被变化。研究人员之前的研究表明，来自缝隙洞穴的洞穴已经持续生长了数万年。研究人员希望从北美中大陆产生一个高分辨率的稳定同位素记录，该记录由钍-230技术确定，覆盖了最后一个间冰期-冰川周期的大部分时间。这项研究将为研究生和本科生提供独特的教育经验，并将有助于从新的古气候数据档案中提高我们对北美全新世气候变异性的了解。

This award uses funds to help obtain a 130,000-year high-resolution record of climate from speleothems in the mid-continent of North America. The primary field site, Crevice Cave, Missouri, was located south of the former Laurentide Ice Sheet during the past interglacial-glacial cycle. The researchers hypothesize that the site is well situated to record changes in mid-continent climate, global climate variability, and vegetation changes during interglacial-glacial cycles. Previous studies by the researchers indicate that speleothems from Crevice Cave have grown continuously over tens of thousands of years. The researchers expect to produce a high-resolution stable isotope record, dated by the Thorium-230 technique, from the North American mid-continent covering most of the last interglacial-glacial cycle. This research will provide a unique educational experience for graduate and undergraduate students and will help improve our knowledge of Holocene climate variability of North America from a new paleoclimate data archive.