Collaborative Research: Developing a Paleoceanographic and Paleoclimatic Record from the Fjords and Continental Margin of Southeast Alaska

University Of New Hampshire, Durham NH

Investigators

Abstract

This is a project to conduct geophysical surveys and acquire sediment cores from the fjords and continental shelf of southeastern Alaska. The data collected will be used to examine climatic variability in this region over the Holocene and Late Glacial interval. In particular, the study will determine if terrestrial climate changes in this region are linked to changes in regional ocean conditions and if decadal-scale climate changes, analogous to those in the historical record (referred to as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation"), are recorded in rapidly accumulating fjord sediments. If localities are discovered that yield important paleoclimatic records, these localities will be targeted in a drilling proposal for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.