Accomplishment Based Renewal: Hydrologic History of the Indo-Pacific-Warm Pool During the Last 25,000 Years

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

How the tropical hydrologic cycle is responding and will respond to anthropogenic perturbations is unclear. Records of past change recorded in marine sediments offer one important avenue to explore how tropical climate responds to changes in a range of surface boundary conditions, and the mechanisms that cause these changes.A researcher from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts will examine the response of the tropical hydrologic cycle to a range of boundary conditions during the last 25,000 years, focusing on the Indo-Pacific region. This geographic area includes the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP), the largest reservoir of warm surface water on earth, the major source of heat for the global atmosphere, and a location of deep atmospheric convection and heavy rainfall. Previous work by this researcher has shown that small variations in sea surface temperature of the IPWP can perturb planetary scale atmospheric circulation and atmospheric heating globally. This project will generate records of hydrologic change from core sites within the IPWP using compound-specific hydrogen and carbon isotopes of terrestrial long-chain leaf-wax fatty acids. Within the time period of interest, there will be a particular focus on abrupt, millennial-scale changes (Heinrich Event 1 and the Younger Dryas) and the last 2,000 years. This project builds on a large body of previous work carried out by this researcher and her colleagues, and continues collaborations with organic geochemists and climate modelers for a robust and multi-faceted approach to understanding the tropical hydrologic cycle. Funding will support a postdoctoral researcher, and provide opportunities for undergraduate and high school students involvement in marine research.