Long-term continuous sea surface temperature record of tropical atlantic across the cenozoic era
Abstract
The lack of long-term continuous multiproxy records of the sea surface temperature (SST) for critical time intervals obstructs development of a detailed understanding of Cenozoic climate evolution, which is crucial for a precise projection of our warming world. Here I propose to fill in gaps in Cenozoic SST records using TEX86 paleothermometry in the tropics and the southern hemisphere (SH) mid-to-high latitudes where continuous Cenozoic depositions are present. Preliminary results of regional TEX86 stacks reveal three main temporal gaps: (1) the Paleocene epoch (ca. 66-56 Ma) for both tropical and SH mid-to-high latitude records, (2) the middle Oligocene to the middle Miocene (ca. 30-14 Ma) for tropical records, and (3) the early Miocene to recent (ca. 20- 0 Ma) for SH mid-to-high latitudes. Three ocean drilling sites – ODP 807, 929, and IODP 1172 – include sedimentary records from which new TEX86 data could potentially fill those temporal gaps. I hypothesize that the continuous regional TEX86 records will uncover a more dramatic thermal history at the ocean surface, a signal that might be muted from the global benthic δ18O stack. This work will provide new regional Cenozoic SST stacks derived from a single proxy type and provide insights into the past climate dynamics that have implications for multi-proxy calibration, climate model validation, and beyond.
Biography
Born and raised in a concrete jungle like Bangkok, Thailand, the wo ways that I could learn about our Planet Earth and the world around me were either: 1) watch nature documentaries narrated by my beloved Sir David Attenborough’ or 2) become an Earth investigator (geologist) myself. I choose both! I got a B.Sc. in Geology and an M.Sc. in Petroleum geosciences from Chulalongkorn University. I first developed my passion for sediments when I was a volunteer field assistant with Dr. Kruawan Jankaew, my undergrad research advisor, on a remote island studying the 2004 tsunami and its predecessors’ deposits. As a recipient of the Fulbright Thai Graduate Scholarship, I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Oceanography at Texas A&M University. I am working with Dr. Yige Zhang on an investigation of Cenozoic sea surface temperature history using archaeal lipid biomarkers (GDGTs and alkenones) from IODP deep-sea sediments. Besides research, I am an amateur ultra-distance runner. So, there might be a chance that I will run past you if you visit College Station, TX.
