Collaborative Research: A combined proxy and model investigation of Late Holocene paleoclimate in the Horn of Africa

该项目旨在调查过去4,500年来非洲之角干旱事件的机制，使用替代测量和建模相结合。来自伍兹霍尔海洋研究所和哥伦比亚大学拉蒙多尔蒂地球观测站的研究人员将合作为该地区创造第一个已知的古气候记录。该项目将使用从亚丁湾收集的沉积物岩心中获得的代用数据，以确定区域海面温度（Mg/Ca，TEX 86）和水文气候（植物叶蜡的碳和氢同位素），分辨率约为20年。区域海表温度数据将用于推动社区地球系统模型对主要干旱和暴雨事件的模拟。模型输出将与代用水文气候记录进行比较，以评估非洲之角对区域SST的敏感性，而不是更遥远的（全球）气候驱动因素。非洲之角的干旱历史与政治不稳定密切相关，使其人口特别容易受到气候变化的影响。调查人员将通过与伍德罗·威尔逊中心的环境变化和安全方案合作举办的讲习班，与关注这一问题的决策者接触。该项目将支持三名早期职业研究人员，其中两名是女性，以前没有NSF的支持，以及一名本科生的培训。

This project seeks to investigate the mechanisms causing drought events in the Horn of Africa over the last 4,500 years using a combination of proxy measurements and modeling. Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory will collaborate to generate the first known paleoclimate record for the region. The project will use proxy data from a sediment core collected in the Gulf of Aden to determine regional sea surface temperatures (Mg/Ca, TEX86) and hydroclimate (carbon and hydrogen isotopes from plant leaf waxes) at a resolution of ~20 years. The regional sea surface temperature data will be used to drive Community Earth System Model (CESM) simulations of key drought and pluvial events. Model output will be compared with the proxy hydroclimate record to assess the Horn of Africa's sensitivity to regional SSTs versus more remote (global) climate drivers. Drought history in the Horn of Africa is closely tied to political instability, making its population particularly vulnerable to climate change. The investigators will engage policy makers focused on this issue through a workshop held in collaboration with the Woodrow Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program. The project will support three early-career researchers, two of which are female with no prior NSF support, as well as training of an undergraduate student.