Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Holocene ENSO Events on Peruvian Coast

该项目旨在更好地了解厄尔尼诺/南方涛动（ENSO）事件的长期活动以及这些事件对秘鲁沿海居民的影响。为此，杰克·约翰逊将研究秘鲁北部沙漠海岸两个流域的不同类型的沉积物，以确定当地在过去几千年里由enso引起的景观变化。然后，在James K. Feathers博士的监督下，他将使用发光法获得这些沉积物的年龄，以建立每个地区这些事件的时间，频率和大小的广泛图像。然后将这一情况与广泛发表的关于史前秘鲁经济的考古数据进行比较，以评估ENSO活动的波动对居住在该地区的史前社会的经济基础设施的潜在影响。出于几个原因，这种性质的研究很重要。首先，它将提高对秘鲁ENSO活动过去变化的科学认识，这反过来将为了解世界各地ENSO事件古代和现代波动的努力提供地理和时间视角。其次，这项研究将有助于为这些事件对秘鲁人造成的长期经济威胁提供类似的视角，因此它将有助于为当地公共努力提供信息，以减轻这些事件因大规模侵蚀土壤和基础设施而造成的数十亿美元的损失。第三，结合ENSO活动的数据和该地区独特丰富的考古记录，可以详细说明人类群体如何长期应对气候事件。这样的洞见对于那些对安第斯山脉的史前史特别感兴趣的研究人员，以及那些对评估由剧烈气候波动对复杂的经济网络的影响所带来的现代全球挑战更感兴趣的人来说，将是无价的。从更广泛的角度来看，该项目还将有助于整合对考古记录和考古方法感兴趣的各种研究人员和公民社区。秘鲁考古学家和地质学家将从事实地工作，并将接受实地收集样品的培训，以进行发光测年，这是秘鲁学术界缺乏专业知识的技术。秘鲁和美国的学生，包括两名全职实地助理，将接受实地沉积物分析和发光方法方面的培训。有关这项研究的报告和讲座将在美国和秘鲁的多个论坛上进行，包括专业会议、小学和社区会议。所有结论将以英文和西班牙文发表在同行评议的期刊上，所有数据将以英文和西班牙文在线存档，供任何对气候数据、时间计量数据或考古数据感兴趣的研究人员公开查阅。最后，这个项目将为杰克·约翰逊提供博士学位的培训和晋升。

This project aims to better understand the long-term activity of El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and the impacts of these events on the inhabitants of coastal Peru. To this end, Jack Johnson will examine various types of sediments in two drainage basins in the northern desert coast of Peru to identify local ENSO-caused landscape changes over the last several thousand years. He will then use luminescence methods to obtain ages for these sediments under the supervision of Dr. James K. Feathers to build an extensive picture of the timing, frequency, and magnitude of these events in each area. This picture will then be compared with a wide range of published archaeological data on prehistoric Peruvian economies to assess the potential impacts of fluctuations in ENSO activity on the economic infrastructure of the prehistoric societies that inhabited the area. Research of this nature is important for several reasons. First, it will improve scientific understanding of past variations in ENSO activity in Peru, and this will in turn provide both geographic and temporal perspective to efforts to understand both ancient and modern fluctuations in ENSO events around the world. Second, this research will help give similar perspective to the long-term economic threats these events pose to Peruvians, and it will therefore help inform local public efforts to mitigate the billions of dollars in damages that these events can cause through massive erosion of soils and infrastructure. Third, the combination of data on ENSO activity and the uniquely rich archaeological record of the area can provide a detailed illustration as to how human groups deal with climatic events over the long term. Such insight will be invaluable to researchers interested specifically in the prehistory of the Andes, as well as those more generally interested in evaluating modern global challenges posed by the impacts of acute climatic fluctuations on elaborate economic webs. In broader terms, this project will also help integrate various communities of researchers and citizens with an interest in the archaeological record and archaeological methods. Peruvian archaeologists and geologists will be engaged in fieldwork and will be trained in the field collection of samples for luminescence dating, a technique for which expertise is lacking amongst Peruvian academics. Peruvian and American students, including two full-time field assistants, will be trained in field sediment analysis and in luminescence methods. Presentations and lectures on this research will be given in multiple forums in both the United States and Peru, including professional conferences, primary schools, and community meetings. All conclusions will be published in peer-reviewed journals in both English and Spanish, and all data will be archived online in both English and Spanish for public access by any researcher with an interest in climate data, chronometric data, or archaeological data. Lastly, this project will provide training and advancement towards a doctoral degree for Jack Johnson.