The project will test a hypothesis as to the role of North Atlantic Deep Water in ititiating glaciation via transport of heat between northern and southern hemispheres. The hypothesis is derived from limited data with several weaknesses. This project will use long sediment records collected from the Ceara Rise, which intersects the flow paths of the relevant water masses, measuring the stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in benthic foraminifera over a 1 million year interval.
