Collaborative Research: A Test for Extending the High-Resolution Climate Record back to 1.2 Ma & Investigating the Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition in Santa Barbara Basin

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PIs propose to conduct an integrated high-resolution Multi-channel Seismics and coring cruise in 2008 in collaboration with the USGS to collect suites of overlapping piston cores across dipping outcrop strata. Sedimentologic, isotopic and paleontological studies will be conducted on the recovered cores to test the 3D structure and stratigraphic models, to verify the presence and suitability of early-to-late Quaternary sediments to provide an ultra-high-resolution marine paleoclimate record, and to develop optimal and safe drilling strategies suitable for recovering a continuous paleoclimate record.The study aims to provide the initial framework for testing the hypothesis that the highly distinctive millennial-scale global climate behavior typical of the last 70 kyr emerged during the mid-Pleistocene climate transition when the modern "100,000-yr glacial-cycle world" first developed.Broader Impacts The proposed work aims to enhance understanding of climate variability and major climate transitions, and of factors related to climate destabilization and abrupt climate change. Training of student participants at Long Beach State will be integrated with the NSF-funded Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program.