Doctoral Dissertation Research: Reconstructing the Paleoenvironmental History of the Cuenca Oriental in Mexico's Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

博士论文研究：重建墨西哥跨墨西哥火山带昆卡东方古环境历史

• 批准号: 1333370
• 负责人: Roger Byrne
• 金额: $ 1.58万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-08-15 至 2015-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1333370&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Reconstructing; Paleoenvironmental

This doctoral dissertation research project will examine possible linkages between climate change and prehistoric societies in the Cuenca Oriental, an area of interior drainage in the eastern Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Drought has been invoked to explain the abandonment of many areas of Mesoamerica, but direct evidence is only available for a handful of sites, and non-climatic explanations often have been proposed. This doctoral dissertation research project will focus on development of a multi-proxy record of human occupation and Holocene climate change from Aljojuca and Alchichica, two maar lakes located near Cantona, an archaeological site in the northeastern part of the Cuenca Oriental. During the late Classic period, Cantona was one of the largest cities in the Americas, but the site was abandoned several hundred years later, possibly as a result of drought. The doctoral student will develop a record of Holocene climate change by analyzing the fossil pollen content, stable isotope composition, and sediment chemistry of sediment cores from Aljojuca and Alchichica. Pollen slides will be scanned for corn pollen as an index of agricultural activity in the area. These data will help reconstruct the timing of past changes in climate as well as the history of human settlement in the region. The Aljojuca core has already been recovered by an international scientific team from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences. Radiocarbon dating reveals that the core spans approximately 6,200 years.This dissertation project will produce two new high-resolution, well-dated paleoenvironmental records from the eastern Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. These records will improve basic understanding of the timing of Holocene climate change in the region, especially the history of Mexico's summer rainfall regime. The project therefore will contribute to interdisciplinary debates in archaeology and geography about the role of climate change as a factor influencing human societies. The project will strengthen international collaborations among scientists in Mexico, Germany, and the U.S. Results will be disseminated through a variety of media for scholarly and public audiences, and they will be used in educational activities and lesson plans for undergraduate and K-12 students. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this project will provide support to enable a promising student to establish an independent research career.

该博士学位论文研究项目将研究气候变化与史前社会之间的可能联系，昆卡东方地区是东部跨墨西哥火山带的室内排水区域。 援引干旱被援引解释了中美洲许多地区的放弃，但直接证据仅用于少数几个地点，并且经常提出非气候解释。 该博士学位论文研究项目将着重于发展人类占领和全新世气候变化的多种记录。 在经典时期，坎托纳是美洲最大的城市之一，但该地点在几百年后被遗弃，可能是由于干旱的结果。 博士生将通过分析来自Aljojuca和Alchichica的沉积物核心的化石花粉含量，稳定的同位素组成和沉积物化学来发展全新世气候变化的记录。 将花粉载玻片扫描玉米花粉作为该地区农业活动的指数。 这些数据将有助于重建过去气候变化的时机以及该地区人类定居的历史。 墨西哥国家自治大学和GFZ德国地球科学研究中心的国际科学团队已经回收了Aljojuca核心。放射性碳年限表明，核心跨度约为6,200年。该论文项目将产生两个新的高分辨率，日期良好的古环境记录，来自东部跨墨西哥火山带。 这些记录将改善对该地区全新世气候变化时机的基本了解，尤其是墨西哥夏季降雨制度的历史。 因此，该项目将有助于考古学和地理学的跨学科辩论，内容涉及气候变化作为影响人类社会的因素的作用。 该项目将加强墨西哥，德国科学家之间的国际合作，美国的业绩将通过各种媒体传播，以供学术和公众受众群体，并将用于教育活动和本科生和K-12学生的教育活动和课程计划。 作为博士学位论文研究改进奖，该项目将提供支持，使有前途的学生能够建立独立的研究职业。