EAGER: Exploratory Analyses of Sediment Cores from Lac Toponowini (French Guiana)

该奖项支持对来自Lac Toponowini项目的样品进行实验室分析。该项目是一项新的法国/美国联合合作倡议，旨在以年代际到世纪的时间尺度重建全新世期间亚马逊河北部气候和热带辐合带（ITCZ）的变化。Toponowini岩心是一个独特的分析测试平台，因为它们层压良好，保存完好。研究人员将对Toponowini工作岩心进行一系列探索性分析，包括：(1)使用正矩阵分解（PMF）进行多元统计分析，以探索初步x射线密度数据中高（2mm）分辨率的成分变化；(2)分析选定地层的关键生物标志物化合物，以确定其分子和碳同位素组成的较长时间尺度变化；3)碳-14分析，构建准确的年龄模型。这项研究可能会对更广泛的科学界产生广泛的影响，因为它为围绕ITCZ变异性及其随之而来的环境影响的棘手科学问题提供了新的视角，从而催化了围绕气候问题的新思维。计划的活动是高风险的，但可能具有变革性。

This award supports the laboratory analyses of samples derived from the Lac Toponowini project. This project is a new joint French/United States collaborative initiative to reconstruct variability in the northern Amazonia climate and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) during the Holocene on decadal to century time scales. The Toponowini cores are a unique test bed for analyses because they are well laminated and well preserved. The researcher will conduct a suite of exploratory analyses on the Toponowini working core halves that include: (1) multivariate statistical analyses, using Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF), to explore the high (2 mm) resolution compositional changes seen in preliminary X-ray density data; (2) analyses of key biomarker compounds from selected horizons to determine longer-time scales changes in their molecular and carbon isotopic composition; and 3) carbon-14 analyses to construct an accurate age model.The research could have broad impact on the wider science community by catalyzing new thinking in issues surrounding climate by offering a new perspective on knotty scientific problems surrounding ITCZ variability and its consequent environmental impacts. The planned activities are high risk yet potentially transformative.