Collaborative Research: High-resolution, Multi-proxy Reconstruction of Holocene Climate Variability in West Asia

从新石器时代开始，约。9500 B.P.一些最早也是最杰出的人类文明起源于新月沃土，延伸到伊朗的北方波斯湾和地中海东部之间。从地球仪的古气候代用记录中，越来越多的证据表明，人类社会在整个全新世都受到了气候突变的影响。然而，在西亚进行的研究很少记录年际至百年时间尺度的气候变率，而这些时间尺度与人类社会的繁荣和衰落最为相关。该项目建立了第一个年代学上的强大的记录，起源于非洲-亚洲的“灰尘带”的年际大气灰尘沉积，和百年重建的古水分的基础上有机生物标志物，从两个雨养泥炭沼泽在伊朗西北部。这一项目的一个重大变革方面是有机和无机地球化学代用指标的结合，这使得能够记录西亚、北大西洋和非洲-亚洲季风系统之间大气交换的详细历史及其对西亚主要气候状况的影响。揭示中纬度西风带，西伯利亚反气旋和印度洋夏季风（IOSM）在塑造该地区全新世气候中的作用对现代社会以及古代文明具有重大意义。例如，如果在全新世早期，太阳辐射引起的IOSM的加剧与西亚干燥气候的扩张相吻合，那么可以从气候增强的全球变暖引起的IOSM强度变化中预期类似的情况，这可能会对整个中东地区造成可怕的社会经济后果。高分辨率的记录，从这项研究也提出了一个难得的机会，研究太阳活动和中纬度大气环流模式的变化之间的联系，在年际到千年的时间scale.Broader影响：该项目是一个5年的奋进由早期职业PI建立一个全新世气候实验室的一部分。该实验室的古气候研究将促进RSMAS气候研究、弗吉尼亚海洋科学研究所、德克萨斯农工大学、地中海生态学和古生态学研究所（法国）、伊朗国家海洋学中心和伊朗大学的研究人员之间的国际合作。德黑兰，伊朗。该实验室鼓励热情的本科生使用清洁实验室地球化学方法参与古气候相关的研究。该项目为至少三名本科生提供了在该设施接受实践培训的机会。本科生参与样品制备和分析测量使用新的国家的最先进的海王星高分辨率多收集器电感耦合等离子体质谱仪进行。此外，还将教授一门关于全新世气候变化对人类社会的历史和现代影响的新课程。在这个NSF资助的项目过程中收集的材料和数据被用于本课程和其他古气候课程。传统上，有机和无机地球化学代用指标在古气候研究中被独立使用。这是因为很少有研究人员有机会接受这两个古气候研究领域的培训。无机古气候学家和有机地球化学家之间的这种合作将使新一代学生具备结合使用无机和有机古代理的专业知识，以探索古气候研究的广阔领域的新前沿。

Since the beginning of the Neolithic Era, ca. 9500 B.P., some of the first and most outstanding human civilizations rose across the Fertile Crescent, extending between northern Persian Gulf in Iran and the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Evidence is mounting from paleoclimate proxy records around the globe that human societies have been impacted by abrupt climate shifts throughout the Holocene. Very few studies, however, have been conducted in West Asia that document climate variability at interannual to centennial time scales, which are most relevant to the flourishing and diminishing of human societies. This project establishes the first chronologically-robust records of interannual atmospheric dust deposition originating in the African-Asian 'dust belt,' and centennial reconstruction of paleo-moisture based on organic biomarkers, from two rain-fed peat mires in NW Iran. A significant transformative aspect of this project is the combination of organic and inorganic geochemical proxies, which allows documentation of a detailed history of atmospheric exchange between West Asia, the North Atlantic and the African-Asian monsoon system, and their influence on the dominant climate regime in West Asia. Unraveling the role of mid-latitude westerlies, the Siberian Anticyclone and the Indian Ocean summer monsoon (IOSM) in shaping the Holocene climate in this region has major implications for modern societies, as well as ancient civilizations. If, for instance, the insolation-induced intensification of the IOSM coincided with expansion of dry climate over West Asia during the early Holocene, similar conditions can be expected from changes in IOSM intensity from anthropogenically enhanced global warming, with potentially dire socio-economical consequences across the Middle East. High-resolution records from this study also present a rare opportunity to examine possible links between solar activity and changes in mid-latitude atmospheric circulation pattern on interannual to millennial time scales.Broader Impacts: The project is part of a 5-year endeavor by an early-career PI to establish a Holocene Climate Laboratory. Paleoclimate research in this lab will foster international collaborations among researchers from RSMAS Climate Studies, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Texas A&M University, Institut méditerranéen d'écologie et de paléoécologie (France), the Iranian National Center for Oceanography and the University of Tehran, Iran. The lab encourages enthusiastic undergraduate students to participate in paleoclimate-related research using clean-lab geochemical methods. This project provides opportunities for at least three undergraduate students to receive practical training in this facility. Undergraduate students are involved in sample preparation and analytical measurements performed using a new state-of-the-art Neptune High-resolution Multi-collector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer. In addition, a new course on the historical and modern impact of Holocene climate change on human societies will be taught. The material and data collected during the course of this NSF-funded project is used in this and other paleoclimate courses.Traditionally, organic and inorganic geochemical proxies have been utilized independently in paleoclimate studies. This is because few investigators have had the opportunity to receive training in these two areas of paleoclimate research. This collaboration between an inorganic paleoclimatologist and an organic geochemist will equip a new generation of students with expertise in the combined use of inorganic and organic paleo proxies to explore new frontiers in the broad field of paleoclimate research.