Collaborative Research: P2C2--A 5-million-year Record of Western Mediterranean Sea Level Variability

该合作奖旨在通过研究沿海洞穴中洞穴的潜水过度生长（POS），在西班牙马略卡岛建立一个新的稳定的海平面站点。具体来说，研究人员的目标是通过精确测量铀/铅U/Pb测年法来确定过去500万年地中海西部盆地海平面高度的时间、位置和持续时间，从而建立年龄控制。以该岛屿沿岸洞穴的POS为中心的海平面重建的意义是理解西地中海盆地冰川均衡调整（GIA）的基础。这项研究产生的数据将更好地限制上新世和早更新世海平面的估计，而不会受到与这一时期可用代用物相关的巨大不确定性的困扰。新数据可用于改进GIA校正。这一点很重要，因为在过去间冰期气候期间，目前公布的海平面高度明显高于现代海平面，并且随时间变化很大。这些结果的准确性仍然存在争议，准确的数据对于实际评估本世纪末的潜在海平面至关重要。这个项目包括对几名研究生和本科生的培训，在马略卡岛和佛罗里达州的推广工作，制作一部关于洞穴的纪录片，以及强有力和有意义的国际科学合作。

This collaborative award generally aims to establish a new stable sea level site in Mallorca, Spain, through the study of phreatic overgrowths on speleothems (POS) from littoral caves. Specifically, the researchers aim to establish age control by precisely measuring overgrowths by Uranuium/Lead U/Pb dating to determine the timing, position, and duration of sea-level high stands in the western Mediterranean basin over the past 5 million years using cave deposits that grow exactly at sea level.Implications of sea-level reconstructions centered on the POS from this island's littoral caves are fundamental for understanding the glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) in the western Mediterranean basin. The data generated by this research will better constrain estimates of Pliocene and early Pleistocene sea-level, without being plagued by the large uncertainties associated with proxies available for this time period.New data could be used to improve GIA corrections. This is important because current published sea level highstands during past interglacial climate are significantly above modern sea level and vary widely over time. The precision of such results are still controversial and accurate data to realistically evaluate potential sea level by the century's end is critical. This project involves training for several graduate and undergraduate students, outreach efforts in Mallorca and in Florida, production of a documentary film on the caves, and strong and meaningful international scientific collaborations.