SGER: Developing Proxies and Age Models for Reconstructing Monsoon Evolution on Peninsular India and in the Northern Indian Ocean

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Funds are provided for the PIs to evaluate preliminary proxy records for the Indian Ocean Monsoon by using cores collected from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal and made available by the joint US and Indian Gas Hydrate Program. The PI will perform dating and analysis of sea surface temperature, salinity, sources of surface water, and continental vegetation types. This analysis will extend the existing dataset from 15 Ma to up to 30 Ma and lead to a greater detailed understanding of the Paleo rainfall record of the Indian and Asian continents. These cores are unique and the record goes back to the Miocene - the potential initiation of the monsoonal circulation. Broader impacts include involvement of a graduate student and a post-doctoral fellow. This project will foster greater collaboration with Indian counterparts and could also lead to future drilling expeditions by IODP in the area.