Funding is provided to investigate the role of natural and anthropogenic forcing in El Nino events by examining the record of El Nino events from Peruvian mollusk shells in terms of their magnitude, intensity, and frequency during glacial and interglacial time periods. The researcher will use mollusk shells as climate proxies to complement direct measurements and observations from the equatorial Pacific.
Specifically, the research aims to produce quantitative seasonal-scale sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions spanning the Holocene from the eastern tropical Pacific region directly impacted by El Niño events in coastal Peru. By determining annual mean SSTs, the seasonal amplitude of SST, and ENSO activity, the researcher plans to address: (i) how Holocene solar insolation changes may have affected the seasonal cycle of SST, upwelling intensity, and ENSO variability; (ii) the precise timing and extent of mid-Holocene ENSO variability changes in the Eastern Pacific; (iii) how atmospheric ENSO teleconnections may have changed; and (iv) the influence of seasonality and Pacific background state on ENSO activity.
The broader impacts include the promise of developing unique sea-surface temperature error estimates that can be used in climate models and supporting graduate and graduate students involved in the research.
