Collaborative Research: Temperature reconstruction of the western equatorial Pacific thermocline during the last ~2000 years: a paleo perspective for modern observations

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Funds are provided for the PIs to reconstruct thermocline hydrography in the Western Pacific Warm Pool/Indonesian Seas spanning the lat 2000 years of the late Holocene. The existing sediment cores have high sedimentation rates and the proxy records can be compared to the instrumental record. The proposed work will involve stable-isotopic anlayses and Mg/Ca ratios on planktic foraminifera as well as benthic foraminifera H. balthica, for which the study will refine the existing Mg/Ca-temperature calibration. In addition, a Cd/Ca calibration for this benthic species will be established. The study, if it is able to better characterize the upper-ocean hydrography in the Indonesian Seas will lead to a greater understanding of late Holocene climate change in the Western Pacific warm pool. The work is considered to have a modest risk but a high return, if it succeeds in its objectives.Broader impacts include support of a female graduate student who will conduct 300 Mg/Ca analyses. Part time undergraduate student support is also included at SUNY Albany for basic lab tasks. Understanding of the long-term ENSO dynamics would be important for other workers and modelers alike.