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Research title Paired lake sediment records of centennial- to millennial-scale variability in the Aleutian Low across southern Alaska: utilising the oxygen isotope composition of diatoms. Summary of research To comprehend the modern climate system, determine the extent to which its current change is aberrant, and to predict its future course, all require an understanding of the natural variability of climate. The salient feature of the ocean-atmospheric circulation in the North Pacific is the Aleutian Low (AL) pressure system. My research concerns reconstructing the behaviour of the AL on centennial- to millennial time-scales and to assess how its variability is related to past changes in climate and glacial activity. The AL modulates the strength and trajectory of storms that dominate winter precipitation over North America; when the AL strengthens, winter precipitation and temperature increase in the Gulf of Alaska, while it decreases in the west. Moisture sources also shift with the AL and these are recorded in the oxygen-isotope ratios of lake water and the diatoms (microscopic algae) that grow within them.
To reconstruct past shifts in the AL, my project couples two lakes across Alaska from Adak (Aleutian Islands) to the Chugach Range (Gulf of Alaska). There is also potential for developing a third site in the Ahklun Mountains (SW Alaska). These three areas straddle the prominent dipole in the influence of the AL.
This PhD research is funded by NERC, with all analytical work and training carried out at the NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory in association with a CASE award.
Background
I have a background predominantly in palaeoclimatic research and the application of diatom and geochemical analyses to lake sediments, particularly from East Africa and New Zealand. I received a BSc (Hons.) in Geography from Aberystwyth University in 2009, during which time I also studied at UNIS in Svalbard. I then completed an MRes in Quaternary Environmental Change during 2010, also at Aberystwyth University. Aside from an unusual fascination with microscopic algae, I also enjoy exploring mountainous and cold places when I can.
Research Interests
Arctic environmental change, stable isotope geochemistry, diatom palaeoecology, Quaternary palaeoclimatology Supervisors Dr Andrew Henderson
Professor Melanie Leng (BGS)
Professor Darrell Kaufman (NAU) Recent research grants NERC CASE PhD Studentship at the University of Glasgow 2010-2014 |
