| NSF Org: |
AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | March 25, 2021 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | May 21, 2021 |
| Award Number: | 2102887 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
David Verardo
AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | June 1, 2021 |
| End Date: | May 31, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $113,228.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $113,228.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO ALBUQUERQUE NM US 87131-0001 (505)277-4186 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
NM US 87131-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Paleoclimate |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
The research team aims to develop a replicated, 4000-year-long, precisely dated, sub-decadally resolved, multi-proxy stalagmite reconstruction of Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) rainfall in Nepal and to couple this record with climate model simulations to examine the nature and origins of multidecadal monsoon variability during different climate states of the late Holocene.
The ISM supplies nearly seventy percent of South Asia?s annual precipitation, serving as the primary water resource for agriculture and the myriad of natural environments, including glaciers, across the region. Over the last century and a half, ISM rainfall has been positively correlated at multidecadal time scales with sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean. However, in the last twenty years, this link appears to have been broken, with monsoon rainfall over India failing to increase despite a much warmer North Atlantic. This shift has profound consequences for regional ecosystems and the approximately two billion people living in South Asia.
The potential Broader Impacts include a deeper understanding of a climatological system which impacts large human population centers, capacity building and expertise exchange with international colleagues, support of students involved with the research, and public outreach.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
How climate change will impact monsoons is of enormous importance, given the impact of monsoons on the lives of billions of people. One way to gain insight into potential changes is to study how monsoons might have varied during past climate variability. The study area is in Nepal, a critical region of the Indian Summer Monsoon. The objective of this project is to study changes in the Indian Summer Monsoon over the past 4,000 years. The data consisted of oxygen and carbon isotopic data from stalagmites, which provide insight into past rainfall variability. Cave drip water and rainwater data are used to calibrate the isotopic data. In addition, existing tree ring and glacier data and model results are used to gain a full picture of the variability and gain a mechanistic understanding.
A vital component of the data is constraining the timing of events. Our part of the project was to provide precise timing of events by dating speleothems using the uranium-series technique. The technique is based on the short-lived daughters from the decay of uranium-238. Speleothems can be dated using this technique because the carbonate mineral contains uranium. We generated 120 dates for the period, providing a high-resolution temporal framework. Results from this project have been presented at national scientific meetings, and full publications are forthcoming. In addition to generating the dating data, we were able to train and mentor undergraduate students.
Last Modified: 10/14/2024
Modified by: Yemane Asmerom
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