RAPID: Capturing the Signature of a Strong El Nino Event in Galapagos Lake Sediment Records: the 2015/16 El Nino Opportunity

该奖项在快速反应研究（RAPID）概念的支持下，使用资金维持加拉帕戈斯的Genovesa和班布里奇火山口湖的长期监测站点，以捕获2015/2016年厄尔尼诺-南方涛动（ENSO）事件，并确定潜在的强烈厄尔尼诺事件对加拉帕戈斯湖泊沉积物档案的影响。Genovesa和班布里奇的沉积物记录提供了热带太平洋气候变率过去变化的长期记录，特别是与ENSO有关的变率。然而，现有的假设，气候变化对这些湖泊沉积的影响还没有经过实地测试。2009年，PI和她的研究合作者部署了气象站和湖中探测仪，以及简单的沉积物陷阱，以测试这些湖泊中沉积物的现有假设。 从2009年12月至今，这些仪器几乎每天都在提供关于火山口湖泊气候和湖沼学的数据，这一时期涵盖了五个以上的完整季节周期，包括弱厄尔尼诺，中等厄尔尼诺和持续的拉尼娜条件。迄今为止的研究结果促使人们重新思考已发表的基于湖泊的气候重建的解释。 然而，实时监测没有捕捉到强烈厄尔尼诺事件对这些湖泊的气候、湖沼学和沉积作用的影响。研究人员认为，因此，她能够隔离2015/16年强烈厄尔尼诺现象对这些湖泊沉积的影响，以测试ENSO事件对沉积影响的相互竞争的假设，这一点至关重要。这笔资金将用于支持一个由三名研究人员组成的团队进行两次旅行，以收集数据并重新部署长期在2015/2016年厄尔尼诺事件之前和之后，班布里奇和Genovesa火山口湖的长期监测仪器。这些数据将用于解决关于这些关键档案中沉积物的两个关键研究问题：（1）强厄尔尼诺事件的特征是什么？碳酸盐沉淀的主要驱动力是什么？潜在的更广泛的影响包括提供长期监测数据集和改善对过去厄尔尼诺/南方涛动事件强度和频率的重建，这将有助于限制该区域观测到的变异范围。该项目将支持一名早期职业女性研究人员，并为美国和厄瓜多尔的研究生提供教育和研究机会。

This award uses funds, under the auspices of the Rapid Response Research (RAPID)concept, to maintain long-term monitoring sites at Genovesa and Bainbridge crater lakes, Galápagos to capture the 2015/2016 El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event and identify the impact of a potentially strong El Niño events on key Galápagos lake sediment archives. The sediment records from Genovesa and Bainbridge have provided long records of past changes in tropical Pacific climate variability, particularly variability associated with the ENSO. However, existing hypotheses for the impact of climate variability on sedimentation in these lakes have not been field tested. In 2009, the PI and her research collaborators deployed weather stations and in-lake sondes, as well as simple sediment traps, to test existing hypotheses for sedimentation in these lakes. These instruments have produced nearly continuous daily data on the climate and limnology of the crater lakes from December 2009 to present, a period that covers more than five full seasonal cycles and includes a weak El Niño, a moderate El Niño, and sustained La Niña conditions. Research results to date have prompted a re-thinking of published interpretations of lake-based climate reconstructions. However, the real-time monitoring has not captured the impact of a strong El Niño event on the climate, limnology and sedimentation of these lakes. The researcher argues that it is therefore critical that she be able to isolate the impact of the strong 2015/16 El Niño on sedimentation in these lakes to test competing hypotheses for the impact of ENSO events on sedimentation.Specifically, the funds will be used to support two trips for a team of three researchers to collect data and redeploy long-term monitoring instruments at Bainbridge and Genovesa crater lakes prior to and following the 2015/2016 El Niño event. This data will be used to address two key research questions regarding sedimentation in these key archives: (1) What is the signature of strong El Niño events? and (2) What is the primary driver of carbonate precipitation?The potential broader impacts include providing a long-term monitoring dataset and improving reconstructions of the strength and frequency of ENSO events in the past, which will help constrain the range of variability observed in the region. This project will support an early-career female researcher and provide educational and research opportunities for U.S. and Ecuadorian graduate students.