This project supports research to reconstruct the environmental history of northern Greece and Greek Macedonia from lacustrine sediment cores at detail sufficient to reveal decadal and centennial-scale fluctuations in moisture availability over the last ~10,000 years. Multi-proxy analyses of sediment cores will be used to generate the first reliable high-resolution accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C-dated record of Holocene environmental variability in the region. The oxygen isotopic composition of biogenic carbonate preserved in the lake sediments will also be measured in order to reconstruct precipitation and evaporation changes.
Sedimentological and paleoecological data from this project will be used to understand the local and regional extent of Holocene climate transitions in the Mediterranean. Climate records in the Mediterranean and west Asia document the abrupt onset of arid conditions at 4,200 years before present. Data from Greek lakes will permit direct comparison of climate fluctuations in the Aegean with other high-resolution Mediterranean and west Asian paleoclimate archives, thereby refining the spatial and temporal dimension of the abrupt climate change events.
Results from this study will contribute to the understanding of human-mediated environmental shifts of the circum-Mediterranean. Identification of the natural range of climate variability and the extent to which this variability is affected by human activities is critical to the understanding of environmental impacts on future populations. This project includes the participation of both graduate and undergraduate students and will promote the training of young scientists. The project also fosters international relations through collaboration with research faculty in Greece.
