SGER: Exploratory Research to Calibrate a High-Altitude Lacustrine Geochemical Record to the Instrumental Record of Western Tropical Pacific Convection

University Of New Hampshire, Durham NH

Investigators

Abstract

This award, under the auspices of the Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER) program, will establish a unique proxy isotopic record for the lower free troposphere of the western Pacific convection system. This system plays a dominant role in the climate of the tropical Pacific. The study site on Lake Guam is situated adjacent to the Pacific warm pool and at an elevation of 3600 meters on the high plateau of the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea (6 degrees S and 147 degrees E). The researcher will generate and calibrate isotopic records of Oxygen-18 and Carbon-13 from carbonate sediments in Lake Guam to instrumental records of temperature, humidity, and winds from historical atmospheric soundings in the western tropical Pacific. The rationale for considering this award is the high-risk challenge of validating the first high altitude isotopic record of the lower troposphere in the western tropical Pacific and developing the first proxy vertical soundings of this convection system.