P2C2: Precipitation Variability in California from 70 Kyr to 8 Ka: Using High Resolution, Multi-proxy Speleothem Records to Understand Past Climate

该项目将从加州的内华达州山脉的洞穴中开发洞穴沉积物古气候记录。 这位研究人员是范德比尔特大学的新助理教授，他将制作铀系列的稳定同位素（氧和碳）和金属/钙比率的记录，这些记录对各种气候过程敏感，但特别是降水。 此外，研究人员将与同事合作，使用现有的NCAR古气候模拟评估记录，并试图确定水分输送到研究区域的途径。 这项研究将侧重于从海洋同位素第三阶段开始到全新世大约8 000年前的时间间隔。 因此，记录将包括21,000年至10,000年前冰消期的突变，这段时间经历了与冰盖退缩和大西洋纬向翻转环流变化有关的气候变化。该项目还包括积极参与纳什维尔地区贫困高中学生的教育计划。 PI将开发互动课堂材料，并为学生提供暑期研究机会。 私家侦探是刚拿到博士学位的。在她的第一个学术职位上开始了她的研究生涯。

This project will develop speleothem paleoclimate records from caves in the Sierra Nevada in California. The researcher, a new Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University, will produce uranium-series dated records of stable isotopes (oxygen and carbon) and metal/calcium ratios that are sensitive to a variety of climate processes, but particularly precipitation. In addition, the investigator will collaborate with colleagues on evaluating the records using existing NCAR paleoclimate simulations and make an attempt to determine the pathways of the moisture transport to the study area. The study will focus on the time interval beginning in marine isotope stage 3 up to about 8,000 years ago in the Holocene. Thus the records will include the abrupt changes during the deglacial interval 21,000 to 10,000 years ago, the interval that experienced changes in climate associated with ice sheet retreat and changes in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation.The project also includes active participation in an educational program for disadvantaged high school students in the Nashville area. The PI will develop interactive classroom materials and host summer research opportunities for students. The PI is a recent Ph. D. embarking on her research career in her first academic position.