Paleo-productivity in the Late Pleistocene Eastern Equatorial Pacific

Abstract

Reconstructions of marine primary productivity (PP) in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP) from the late Pleistocene are often contradictory, reflecting the lack of multi-proxy and multi-site studies of this highly variable region. A zonal transect of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites in the EEP will be evaluated to characterize changes in PP across recent glacial cycles, mechanisms of change, and influences on global climate. U-series isotopes in marine sediments will be measured at a sub-orbital resolution to generate records of PP, mass flux, terrigenous flux, carbonate flux, and bottom water oxygen. Results from ODP 1240 are consistent with minima in PP in the last two glacial maxima, increases across glacial terminations, and maxima early in the interglacials.

Biography

I first learned about paleoclimate, paleoceanography, and marine sediments as an undergraduate student at Barnard College. I was fascinated by these archives of millions of years of Earth’s history and the science that decodes them. I completed a summer internship in sedimentology and geochemistry at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) and participated in research cruises during my undergraduate studies. I knew I wanted to study climate and ocean dynamics across recent glacial-interglacial cycles and have developed an interest in two dynamics regions: the Eastern Equatorial Pacific and the North Atlantic. I am currently a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University and LDEO, where I am advised by Professor Jerry McManus. In my dissertation research, I use multiple proxies derived from marine sediments to characterize marine primary production, water mass properties, upwelling dynamics, water column structure, and ocean-atmosphere interactions in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific over the late Pleistocene. I also recently sailed as a sedimentologist on IODP Expedition 397 (Iberian Margin Paleoclimate).