On the Application of Uk&#x27;37 in Narraganset Bay (Rhode Island, U.S.A.)

Salacup, Jeffrey M.

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Year:: 2014
Contributor:: Salacup, Jeffrey M (creator); Herbert, Timothy (Director); Prell, Warren (Director); Huang, Yongsong (Reader); Parman, Stephen (Reader); Hastings, Meredith (Reader); Cronin, Thomas (Reader); Brown University. Geological Sciences (sponsor)
Genre:: theses
Subject:: climate change; Common Era; sea surface temperature; alkenones; nutrients; Climatic changes; Land use
Extent:: 27, 150 p.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7301/Z00K26WT

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Abstract:: Knowing how the Earth system will respond to the human release of greenhouse gases (GHG) requires knowing something about how climate has responded to similar events, if they exist, in the past. Paleoceanography is the discipline of reconstructing past climates using physical and chemical clues left behind in marine sediments. Estuaries provide an attractive opportunity to reconstruct paleo-environments because they often contain thick sequences of sediment that have accumulated much faster than in the open ocean, and are transition zones between marine and fresh waters, thus their sediments concurrently capture both terrestrial and marine responses to environmental change at high temporal resolution. Herein, I discuss results based on the application of a suite of geochemical proxies to the sediment record of Narragansett Bay, a high-salinity estuary located in RI, USA, towards the reconstruction of sea surface temperature and watershed soil and nutrient mobilization. Highlights include: 1) the verification that sedimentary Uk’37 Index accurately reflects mean annual sea surface temperature in Narragansett Bay to within ±0.3°C, 2) the determination that water-column Uk’37 over four annual cycles was within 1.1°C of instrumental mean (12.7°C) during the same period despite interesting seasonal deviations between Uk’37 and water temperature , 3) the development of a 1500 year-long record of sea surface temperature for Narragansett Bay showing structure consistent with the Medieval Climate Anomaly, the Little Ice Age, and modern global warming, and the reconstruction of the effects of land-use change on sediment and nutrient delivery in Narragansett Bay.
Notes:: Thesis (Ph.D. -- Brown University (2014)

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Rights: In Copyright
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Salacup, Jeffrey M., "On the Application of Uk'37 in Narraganset Bay (Rhode Island, U.S.A.)" (2014). Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Theses and Dissertations. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://doi.org/10.7301/Z00K26WT

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Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations for the Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences department.
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On the Application of Uk'37 in Narraganset Bay (Rhode Island, U.S.A.)