EAGER: Exploring Scientific Drilling in Lake Towuti, Indonesia: Paleoclimate, Biological Evolution, and Geomicrobiology in tropical Pacific lake

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Proposed is an exploratory multichannel seismic reflection survey of Lake Towuti, South Sulawesi, the largest lake in Indonesia. Existing seismic reflection datasets from Lake Towuti indicate the presence of up to 150 of lacustrine sediment in Lake Towuti overlying a deeper package of fluvial and lacustrine sediment. These deeper sediments potentially record the middle to late Pleistocene hydrologic history of central Indonesia, but are poorly resolved in current datasets. The overarching goal is to generate a seismic-stratigraphic framework for this basin through multichannel seismic reflection surveys to provide new insight into the climatic and geological evolution of central Sulawesi since the mid-Pleistocene. These data will also provide the fundamental, seismic-stratigraphic architecture upon which to will build a large, interdisciplinary project to obtain long drill cores from Lake Towuti to investigate climatic, environmental, and biological evolution in central Indonesia during the Pleistocene. The Indo-Pacific region contains the largest pool of warm water on Earth, and variations in rainfall over the Indo-Pacific impact global climate through changes in the Earth?s atmospheric circulation. Despite this region?s importance, we know very little about its long-term climatic and environmental evolution. Indonesia sits at the heart of the Indo-Pacific and hosts numerous lakes, the sediments in which record the region?s environmental and climate history. This proposal aims to geophysically characterize the sediments of Lake Towuti, the largest lake in Indonesia. Specifically, the project will characterize the nature and history of sedimentation in this lake since the mid-Pleistocene, or the last 1.5 million years. This work will provide new insight into this region?s climatic, biological, and geological history.