Collaborative Research: Late Holocene Climate Archives Preserved in Archaeological Shells

University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC

Investigators

Abstract

This award aims to reconstruct water temperatures and salinity in the coastal SW Florida region during the past 2,000 years using oxygen isotope data generated from dated aragonitic mollusk shells and fish otoliths preserved in archaeological deposits. The research employs a novel approach to reconstruct pre-industrial, low-latitude climate from biotic, isotopic, and archaeological archives. The project will support new relatively investigators and their graduate students in a strong outreach effort involving the Florida Museum of Natural History.