Abrupt Climatic Transitions: Surface To Deep-Water Response From High-Resolution Sediment Records, Santa Barbara, California

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to better understand the magnitude, depth and timing of changes in upper intermediate waters off southern California in relation to decadal to millennial scale climate change and test the relationship of changes along the California margin to global climate signals associated with deglaciation events of the late Quaternary. The hypothesis that tropical changes preceded high-latitude changes will be tested by comparing records of ventilation changes in intermediate waters with surface water records. The study will focus on well known transitions and intervals of rapid climate change, such as Terminations 1A and 1B and interstadials 3, 4, and 5. Multiproxy analyses, including stable isotope analyses of benthic and planktic foraminifers, Mg/Ca analyses of benthic and planktic foraminifers and coiling ratios of selected planktic foraminifers will be done at decadal-scale resolution across the critical intervals in piston cores recovered from the Santa Barbara Basin.