Programma: Finanziamento olandese (Netherlands Organisation for Sceintific Research) a Francesca Sangiorgi e Henk Brinkhuis, Universita’ di Utrecht con collaborazione internazionale
Titolo progetto: Reconstructing the evolution and dynamics of the Antarctic cryosphere from Ocean Drilling; a dinoflagellate perspective
Acronimo: nessuno
Durata: 2012- 2015
Budget totale: € 240.000.000
Sito Web : NO
Sommario:
Unraveling the stability of the Antarctic cryosphere from its inception during the Greenhouse – Icehouse transition (~34 Ma) through the subsequent periods of climate and atmospheric CO2 changes, is a major current scientific theme. Moreover, Southern Ocean dynamics and phytoplankton productivity is important for global biogeochemical cycling, including the sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2) and the global carbon balance. The recent (2010) drilling of the Wilkes Land (WL) margin (East Antarctica) now provides an unprecedented long-term record of the Cenozoic East Antarctic climate history. Organic remains of dinoflagellates (dinocysts) are abundant throughout the record, and, importantly, are at times the sole microfossil group preserved. Preliminary analyses indicate that the dinocyst assemblages yield a strong paleoenvironmental signal that is likely strongly dependant from cryosphere dynamics, as (heterotrophic) dinoflagellates record sea-ice cover and oceanic polar fronts. Combined with organic geochemical analyses, and within a multidisciplinary context, the stratigraphic and environmental potential of Antarctic dinoflagellate cyst will serve to document trophic state, sea ice coverage and ocean circulation over critical intervals of the last 34 Ma. This information is crucial to quantify ice sheet dynamics and evaluate the vulnerability of Antarctic ecosystems under changing climate forcing.
Contatto in ISMAR: Francesca Sangiorgi F.Sangiorgi@uu.nl e Lucilla Capotondi lucilla.capotondi@bo.ismar.cnr.it
Partnership:
- Earth Science department, Faculty of Geosciences – UU
- NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research – UU
- Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra CSIC – Univ Granada
- Istituto di Scienze Marine ISMAR – Italy
- EarthScience, Stanford University – US