African rainfall variability: Palaeo insights into the climate history of our hominid ancestors and the monsoon response to a warmer future

非洲降雨变化：对我们原始人类祖先气候历史的古洞见以及季风对温暖未来的反应

基本信息

批准号：
1942238
负责人：
金额：
--
依托单位：
University of Southampton
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Studentship
财政年份：
2017
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2017 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-1942238
关键词：
African rainfall variability Palaeo insights

项目摘要

Monsoon precipitation controls the lives of over one billion of the world's poorest people. The situation is acute in the Sahel where annual rainfall is exceptionally variable. In the late 20th century the region suffered catastrophic drought in which precipitation declined by ~40%, with devastating effects as highlighted by Live Aid. Changes in rainfall over geological timescales were even more extreme. At times the Sahara Desert region was a vegetated landscape cross-cut by vast lakes and rivers inhabited by hippopotamuses. At others the desert extended well beyond present limits. What role did these dramatic past changes in rainfall play in the diversification and migration patterns of our hominid ancestors? What lessons can we learn from the palaeo-record to help predict the response of rainfall in the region to warming over coming centuries? Model predictions of future climate diverge. To address these questions we need well-dated records of change in both (i) continental hydroclimate and (ii) the moistures sources for the African monsoons: the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. You will exploit Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) marine drill-cores to test competing hypotheses of the land-ocean-atmospheric teleconnections involved by focusing on strategic past intervals of known warmth and/or hominid turnover/migration.

季风降水控制着世界上最贫穷的十亿多人的生活。在萨赫勒（Sahel）中，年降雨量异常变化很急切。在20世纪后期，该地区遭受了灾难性的干旱，降水量下降了约40％，毁灭性的影响是由现场援助强调的。地质时间尺度降雨的变化更加极端。有时，撒哈拉沙漠地区是河马居住的巨大湖泊和河流的植被横切。沙漠在其他地方延伸远远超出了现在的范围。这些巨大的过去在降雨中的戏剧性变化在我们的祖先的多元化和迁移模式中发挥了什么作用？我们可以从古纪录中学到什么教训，以帮助预测该地区对未来几个世纪变暖的降雨的反应？未来气候分歧的模型预测。为了解决这些问题，我们需要（i）（i）大陆氢气气候和（ii）非洲季风的水分来源：大西洋和印度洋的水分来源。您将利用海洋钻井计划（ODP）海洋钻核来测试涉及的陆地大气遥控触发连接的竞争假设，这是通过关注已知温暖和/或人类失误/迁移的战略性过去间隔。