Collaborative Research: Developing a Continuous Reconstruction of Tropical Pacific Climate Over the Last 500-700 Years: Analysis of Massive Porites Corals from American Samoa

基线海洋-大气变率的记录为了解平均气候状态的变化提供了重要背景。然而，在异常的中世纪温暖期/小冰期和现在（最近~500-800年）之间的时间内，海洋-大气变化并没有得到很好的理解。这个项目是哥伦比亚大学的拉蒙多尔蒂地球观测站和斯坦福大学之间的合作项目，将开发一个过去500多年来热带太平洋西部变化的代理记录。从美属萨摩亚Ta 'u岛的巨型滨珊瑚群采集的珊瑚芯将被分析温度和盐度（Sr/Ca和氧同位素）的年际至百年尺度变化，表明南太平洋辐合带范围的变化。研究人员将与美属萨摩亚国家公园合作，建造一个展览，说明使用长珊瑚芯研究环境变化。这个展览在公园的信息中心展出，将包括塔乌珊瑚核心材料和与这项研究有关的数据。该项目将支持拉蒙的一名博士后研究员和斯坦福大学的一名研究生。

Records of baseline ocean-atmosphere variability provide critical context for understanding changes in mean climate state. However, ocean-atmosphere variability is not well understood during the time between the anomalous Medieval Warm Period/Little Ice Age and the present (the last ~500-800 years). This project-- a collaboration between Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory and Stanford University-- will develop a proxy record of variability in the western tropical Pacific over the past 500+ years. Coral cores collected from giant Porites colonies in Ta'u Island, American Samoa, will be analyzed for interannual- to centennial-scale variability in temperature and salinity (Sr/Ca and oxygen isotopes), indicating changes in the extent of the South Pacific Convergence Zone.The researchers will partner with the National Park of American Samoa to construct an exhibit illustrating the use of long coral cores to study environmental change. This exhibit, displayed at the park's information center, will include Ta'u coral core material and data associated with this study. The project will support a post-doctoral researcher at Lamont and a graduate student at Stanford.