Collaborative Research: P2C2--South African Hydroclimate Reconstructions Using Speleothem Multiproxy Analyses

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This project aims to reconstruct and investigate drivers of climate variability during the last glacial-interglacial transition in South Africa (~90,000-60,000 years ago). Specifically, this project will use high resolution trace element analyses (mainly magnesium, strontium and barium) and Oxygen stable isotopes from speleothem records located in the South African south coast to address the following questions: 1) How did changes in global boundary conditions at the last glacial-interglacial transition affect hydroclimate on the southern coast of South Africa? 2) How are changes in hydroclimate related to variations of atmospheric circulation and synoptic conditions during rainfall formation and rainfall seasonality? 3) How are these high-resolution proxy records related to millennial scale climate variations in the southern and northern hemisphere? Additionally, this project will identify sulfur peaks in the speleothems that are associated with the younger Toba eruption to link these records to ice core records from both hemispheres. The potential Broader Impacts include generating a new multi-proxy hydroclimate record in South Africa. This record will further the understanding of past climate variability in this region and provide a context for the evolution of plant diversity and modern human behaviors. The paleoclimate proxy records produced by this project will inform the development of a model that reconstructs the resource landscape that people have encountered in this region and thus inform the critical understanding of hunter-gatherer adaptations to their environments. Other Broader Impacts include strengthening multi-institution and international collaborations to develop a multi-proxy speleothem record, the training of undergraduate students, support for a post-doctoral researcher and an early career scientist.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.