RUI: P2C2--Assessing the Influence of Extreme Rainfall Events on Australian Stalagmite Reconstructions of Tropical Cyclone Landfalls and the Indo-Australian Summer Monsoon

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This award generally aims to use cave systems and speleothems as natural archives of environmental conditions related to tropical cyclones and variations in ocean and atmospheric conditions. This research is important because it will help expand the scientific understanding of the nature and timing of past tropical cyclone activity, especially during periods of varying regional (i.e., Indo-Pacific sea surface temperature and Pacific temperature gradients) and extra-tropical (i.e., Northern Hemisphere temperature) climatic conditions. Since tropical cyclones are responsible for the majority of extreme rainfall events in some regions, an improved assessment of their dynamics can aid in developing models of long-term water budgets and storm-related risks. Investing in understanding tropical cyclones has significant economic and social returns in terms of saved lives and protected property. Furthermore, this award will advance research and education at a primarily undergraduate institution thereby providing an early experience for students in the conduct of research. Specifically, the research project will involve the installation of instruments to monitor meteorological, chemical, and hydrologic conditions at three caves spanning a near-coastal transect across northwestern Australia. Environmental variables (e.g., temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure) in each cave will be integrated with meteorological and rainwater data (including rainfall amounts and stable isotopic compositions) collected at each site, along with the oxygen isotopic ratios of plate-grown spelean carbonate. These data will help develop a holistic understanding of cave responses, both hydrologic and isotopic, to extreme rainfall events such as those that characterize many tropical cyclones.