Accomplishment Based Renewal: Hydrologic History of the Indo-Pacific-Warm Pool During the Last 25,000 Years

目前尚不清楚热带水文循环对人为扰动的反应和将如何反应。海洋沉积物中记录的过去变化的记录为探索热带气候如何响应一系列表面边界条件的变化以及导致这些变化的机制提供了一条重要的途径。来自马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的一名研究人员将研究过去25,000年来热带水文循环对一系列边界条件的响应，重点是印度-太平洋地区。这一地理区域包括印度-太平洋暖池(IPWP)，它是地球上最大的地表水温暖水库，是全球大气的主要热源，也是深层大气对流和暴雨的发源地。这位研究人员之前的工作表明，IPWP海面温度的微小变化可以扰乱全球范围的大气环流和大气加热。该项目将利用陆地长链叶蜡脂肪酸的特定化合物氢和碳同位素，从IPWP内的核心地点产生水文变化记录。在感兴趣的时间段内，将特别关注千年尺度的突然变化(海因里希事件1和年轻的仙女座木星)和过去2000年。该项目建立在这位研究人员和她的同事以前所做的大量工作的基础上，并继续与有机地球化学家和气候建模人员合作，以强有力和多方面的方法了解热带水文循环。资金将支持博士后研究人员，并为本科生和高中生提供参与海洋研究的机会。

How the tropical hydrologic cycle is responding and will respond to anthropogenic perturbations is unclear. Records of past change recorded in marine sediments offer one important avenue to explore how tropical climate responds to changes in a range of surface boundary conditions, and the mechanisms that cause these changes.A researcher from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts will examine the response of the tropical hydrologic cycle to a range of boundary conditions during the last 25,000 years, focusing on the Indo-Pacific region. This geographic area includes the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP), the largest reservoir of warm surface water on earth, the major source of heat for the global atmosphere, and a location of deep atmospheric convection and heavy rainfall. Previous work by this researcher has shown that small variations in sea surface temperature of the IPWP can perturb planetary scale atmospheric circulation and atmospheric heating globally. This project will generate records of hydrologic change from core sites within the IPWP using compound-specific hydrogen and carbon isotopes of terrestrial long-chain leaf-wax fatty acids. Within the time period of interest, there will be a particular focus on abrupt, millennial-scale changes (Heinrich Event 1 and the Younger Dryas) and the last 2,000 years. This project builds on a large body of previous work carried out by this researcher and her colleagues, and continues collaborations with organic geochemists and climate modelers for a robust and multi-faceted approach to understanding the tropical hydrologic cycle. Funding will support a postdoctoral researcher, and provide opportunities for undergraduate and high school students involvement in marine research.