Application of Rayleigh-Based, Multi-Element Coral Thermometry to Constrain Atlantic Sea Surface Temperatures During the Coldest Period of the Little Ice Age

拟议的工作将测试和应用一种新技术，利用珊瑚骨骼重建季节分辨率的海表温度。该技术被称为基于瑞利的多元素（RBME）测温法，使用多元素比率将SST信号与影响珊瑚骨骼组成的其他因素隔离开来。量化方法？RBME温度测量的准确性和可重复性，将用于重建SST从现代热带外和热带大西洋珊瑚的四个物种在约50年的部分，仪器温度记录可用。然后，该技术将被应用于相同的四个物种的珊瑚化石，以产生小冰期（1650年？1700）。这些记录将有助于我们更好地了解气候异常期间大西洋SST变化的幅度和空间分布，而气候异常尚未完全了解。气候系统，从而了解这个系统在未来可能如何变化。该项目将通过开发计算机代码加强研究基础设施，使更广泛的科学界能够使用RBME技术。研究生将通过WHOI/MIT联合项目获得支持，本科生将通过WHOI？的夏季奖学金，冬季实习，少数民族奖学金，和客座学生计划。

The proposed work will test and apply a new technique for reconstructing sea surface temperature (SST) at seasonal resolution using coral skeletons. The technique, called Rayleigh-based multi-element (RBME) thermometry, uses multiple element ratios to isolate the SST signal from other factors affecting coral skeleton composition. To quantify the method?s accuracy and reproducibility, RBME thermometry will be used to reconstruct SSTs from four species of modern extra-tropical and tropical Atlantic corals in ~50-year sections for which instrumental temperature records are available. The technique will then be applied to fossil corals of the same four species to generate seasonal-scale SST records for the coldest period of the Little Ice Age (1650?1700). These records will lead to an improved understanding of the amplitude and spatial distribution of SST change in the Atlantic during a climate anomaly that is not fully understood.This research will advance our capacity to reconstruct past changes in the ocean?climate system, and thereby to understand how this system may change in the future. The project will enhance research infrastructure by developing computer code to make the RBME technique accessible to the broader scientific community. A graduate student will be supported through the WHOI/MIT Joint Program, and undergraduate students will be involved via WHOI?s Summer Fellowship, Winter Internship, Minority Fellowship, and Guest Student programs.