Molecular views of past changes in the North American Monsoon

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The North American monsoon (NAM) brings much-needed rain to the U.S. Southwest and northeastern Mexico, sustaining agriculture, urban areas, and the unique biome of the Sonoran Desert. This project aims to clarify the response of the NAM to climatic changes in the past, in hopes of improving predictions of future climate change in the region. Specifically, this project will reconstruct past changes in the intensity of the NAM through use of the hydrogen isotopic composition of leaf waxes deposited in sediments from the Gulf of California and the Mexican Margin. The research will focus on understanding the response of the monsoon to globally cool periods such as glaciations, and regionally warm periods such as those caused by seasonal changes in solar insolation. The paleoclimate data will be synthesized with output from climate modeling simulations to understand the mechanisms of climate change in the NAM region. This project will employ a tiered mentoring system to engage a postdoctoral associate, graduate students, undergraduates, and high school students in elements of the research. This will be facilitated by a partnership with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM), whose educational mission complements the research goals of this project. High school students participating in the ASDM Junior Docent program will be directly involved in the proposed research through the Desert Museum Plant Wax Project, a modern study of plant waxes that will provide context for our paleoclimate interpretations. The research team will also work with ASDM staff and the Junior Docents to develop a Sonoran Desert Climate Change Kit, which will be presented by the teen docents to the general public visitors of the Museum. Additionally, the Principal Investigator will continue to give public lectures at the Museum concerning Sonoran climate and climate change.