Descripción del proyecto
Estudio de los cocolitóforos para encontrar pistas del cambio climático a lo lago de la historia de la Tierra
El ecosistema pelágico es el más grande de la Tierra ya que comprende el 99 % del volumen total de la biosfera. Su entorno extenso y diverso alberga cientos de tipos de organismos como bacterias, fitoplancton, zooplancton, peces, reptiles, mamíferos y aves. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos P4 estudiará el efecto de los extremos climáticos pasados en el ecosistema pelágico. Para ello, empleará los cocolitóforos, unos organismos unicelulares parecidos a las plantas que constituyen uno de los principales tipos de fitoplancton y la base de la red trófica marina. Dado que los cocolitóforos se vieron afectados por los cambios climáticos en los antiguos océanos pelágicos, es importante estudiar los patrones de sus comportamientos pasados, su abundancia y distribución, y cómo cambian con condiciones más frías o más cálidas. Los descubrimientos mejorarán nuestra comprensión de la posible respuesta futura de los cocolitóforos al calentamiento global.
Objetivo
The P4 fellowship will test the impact of past climate extremes on marine ecosystems using coccolithophores, a group of marine primary producers that experienced first order effects of climatic changes in ancient pelagic oceans. Here we will use sedimentary materials of exceptional quality recovered during IODP Expedition 361: South African Climates from the Mozambique Channel (Site U1476), Natal Valley (U1474), Agulhas Plateau (U1475), and Cape Basin (U1479), to reconstruct surface water biotic response during the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period (MPWP; 3.264 to 3.025 Ma), an interval considered to be the nearest analogue for future warm climate. For the first-time, recovery of a complete Pliocene/Pleistocene succession in this region offers an unprecedented and timely opportunity to investigate episodes of major ocean and climate reorganizations during the Neogene period. With this, P4 is original and novel, being able to combine biological (assemblage composition), physical (volume, mass), and geochemical (trace elements, stable isotopes) coccolithophore-derived datasets for understanding the climate of the MPWP, and explore its link with the past dynamics of the greater Agulhas Current system. P4 is innovative and collaborative, using state-of-the-art analytical techniques, and in combination with other proxies from ongoing works of other IODP Expedition 361 scientists, offer a broad context for understanding 21st century global climate vulnerabilities. Thus, P4 results and our understanding of the potential future response of coccolithophore species to a warming world will underpin the future design of evidence-based monitoring, mitigation, and management strategies of marine ecosystem and environment. Furthermore, an exceptional set of training and transferable skills between the Experienced Researcher, the Supervisor, and the Secondment Hosts is envisioned, an important prerequisite for the successful delivery of P4’s ambitious research objectives.
Ámbito científico
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Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
CF24 0DE Cardiff
Reino Unido