RUI: Sediment Records of Environmental Changes at Lake Victoria, East Africa, during the Past Millenium with Decade-Scale Resolution

Paul Smith'S College Of Arts And Sciences, Paul Smiths NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award will enable researchers to develop high-resolution (~10 year interval) microfossil and geochemical records from sediment cores recently collected from the northern coastal waters of Lake Victoria in East Africa. Preliminary evidence indicates that the cores contain evidence of past lake level fluctuations due to climatic changes over the last millennium. From these sedimentary records, researchers hope to reconstruct the environmental history of Lake Victoria over the last 500 years, reconstruct an unprecedented high-resolution paleoclimatological record of East African droughts, gain insights into the role of century- to decade-scale climate cycles in the tropics, investigate how solar variability over time affects African climates, and examine the timing and nature of tropical climate responses to the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age. As an RUI proposal, this award will provide a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to participate in high-quality research thereby gaining invaluable experience in practical aspects of scientific research.