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

这项拟议的工作将测试和应用一种使用珊瑚骨骼以季节性分辨率重建海表面温度(SST)的新技术。这项技术被称为基于瑞利的多元素测温(RBME)，它使用多种元素比率来将SST信号与其他影响珊瑚骨骼组成的因素分开。为了验证S方法的准确性和重复性，我们将利用RBME测温仪对4种现代热带和热带大西洋珊瑚近50年的海温进行重建。然后，这项技术将被应用于同样四个物种的珊瑚化石，以产生小冰期(1650-1700)最冷时期的季节性SST记录。这些记录将有助于我们更好地了解气候异常期间大西洋海温变化的幅度和空间分布。这项研究将提高我们重建海洋气候系统过去变化的能力，从而了解该系统未来可能发生的变化。该项目将通过开发计算机代码来加强研究基础设施，使更广泛的科学界能够使用RBME技术。研究生将通过世界卫生组织/麻省理工学院联合计划得到支持，本科生将通过世界卫生组织？S暑期奖学金、冬季实习、少数民族奖学金和客座学生计划参与。

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.