Reconstructing oceanographic changes in the Southern Indian and Southwest Pacific Oceans during the last 250,000 years

The Southern Ocean plays a key role in global climate over the glacial-interglacial cycle. Carbon is transported to the deep ocean via phytoplankton which sinks to the oceans depths. Here it is trapped until upwelled in the Southern Ocean and released to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. But we do not fully understand the oceanographic processes that are involved. This project aims to investigate the sea ice and water mass history of the Indian and Southwest Pacific Sectors of the Southern Ocean using microfossils (diatoms and radiolarians) and other available data (isotope and elemental) over the last 250,000 years. We will reconstruct sea-surface and sub-surface temperatures, and apply the Southern Ocean Water Mass Index to assess and compare the progression and timing of important mechanisms that influenced the accumulation or outgassing of carbon dioxide in the two SO Sectors.

Faculty Supervisor:

Karen Kohfeld

Student:

Partner:

The University of Queensland

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Education

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: