This award supports a study of sediment cores from the Southern Ocean to extract and interpret paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic information. The project will examine the impact that glacial/interglacial changes in Southern Ocean conditions might have had on the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Paleoceanographic conditions, specifically sea-surface temperatures and circulation patterns in the past, will be reconstructed by studying floral (diatom) composition, percent opal, percent carbonate, and the Germanium-Silicon ratio in deep ocean cores. This information is important as input to paleoclimatic models and models of interaction between oceans and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
