Collaborative Research: Past Deep-Sea Carbonate Ion Concentrations as Constraints on Scenarios Purporting to Explain Quaternary Atmospheric CO2 Changes

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Summary: This ESH award will attempt to estimate past concentration of carbonate ion in the ocean during glacial/interglacial climate transitions by examining the occurrence and magnitude of changes in sediment carbonate preservation. Carbonate concentration will be estimated by two methods: mass/size ratio of planktic foraminifera and the ratio of sand-sized to total calcite, in depth transects of cores from the eastern and western tropical Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.