Collaborative Research: High-Resolution Paleoclimatology from Newly Acquired Sediment Cores from Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana

这项研究将检查来自加纳Bosumtwi湖的一套岩心，以寻找过去2万年来西非季风动态的高分辨率（即年际到千年尺度）记录的证据。博苏姆特维湖是大约110万年前流星撞击形成的盆地的遗迹。因此，该湖是一个定义明确的集水区，对降水-蒸发平衡的微小变化很敏感，这是气候的一个基本方面。研究策略是使用多代理方法来分析在以前的NSF资助下从湖中恢复的岩芯。具体来说，研究人员将开发过去1000年西非气候的年度分辨率记录，检查过去2万年中西非季风变化的记录，当时气候强迫功能与今天不同，并建立湖泊沉积物的详细年表，以检查该地区的突然气候变化事件。

This research will examine a suite of cores from Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana, for evidence of a high-resolution (i.e., interannual to millennial-scale) record of West African Monsoon dynamics over the last 20,000 years.Lake Bosumtwi is the remnant of a basin formed by a meteor impact approximately 1.1 million years ago. As such, the lake is a well-defined catchment basin that is sensitive to small changes in precipitation-evaporation balance, a fundamental aspect of climate.The research strategy is to use a multi-proxy approach to analyze cores recovered from the lake under previous NSF funding. Specifically, the researchers will develop annual resolution records of West African climate through the last 1,000 years, examine the record of West African monsoon variability through the last 20,000 years when climatic forcing functions were different than today, and establish detailed chronologies for sediments from the lake to examine abrupt climate change events in the region.