Climate forcing of Atlantic overturning over the last 3 Myr

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). With this award the PI will test four hypotheses about what drives changes in the Atlantic overturning circulation on orbital timescales over the last 3 Ma. A dataset of more than sixty benthic oxygen isotope records and more than fifty carbon isotope records will be used to reconstruct detailed patterns of circulation change and link specific circulation responses with particular forcing mechanisms. This work will contribute to the understanding of which forcings are important drivers of circulation change and how overturning changes affect regional and global climate. Funds will support a PhD student. The PI is an early career female scientist with no prior funding from NSF.