Descrizione del progetto
Osservare più da vicino l’evoluzione dei venti occidentali
Le proiezioni relative alla disponibilità idrica sono incerte e gli scienziati mettono in guardia su una riduzione del bacino del Mediterraneo, condizionata dalle circolazioni atmosferiche sinottiche dell’inverno. I venti occidentali, invece, svolgono un ruolo cruciale nella distribuzione tanto delle precipitazioni quanto del calore. Sebbene l’epoca dell’Olocene sia stata ampiamente studiata per perfezionare la nostra conoscenza sul clima e verificare l’efficienza dei modelli e dei proxy climatici, la questione dei meccanismi e dell’evoluzione dei venti occidentali giace irrisolta. Per colmare tale lacuna, il progetto CROSSROADS, finanziato dall’UE, studierà i sedimenti dell’Olocene recuperati dalle profondità del Mar Morto, dove la temperatura subisce l’influsso di quella dell’aria invernale e i livelli dipendono dallo scarico del Giordano, alimentato dalle precipitazioni invernali.
Obiettivo
Water availability in the Mediterranean basin is projected to decrease in the future in the 6th IPCC report. It is largely influenced by wintertime synoptic atmospheric circulations, as the westerlies play a crucial role in the distribution of both rainfall and heat. However, to date, climate models have lacked the accuracy to predict the evolution of atmospheric circulations, making water availability projections uncertain and thus hampering adaptation strategies by policy makers. The Holocene epoch has been extensively studied to refine our understanding of climate and test the efficiency of climate models and proxies. And yet, mismatches among proxies and models leave the issue of the mechanisms and evolution of the westerlies still unresolved. In this fellowship, we will address this issue by studying the Holocene sediments recovered from the deep Dead Sea. The deep Dead Sea temperature is mainly influenced by winter air temperature and its level depends on the Jordan discharge that is fueled by winter rainfall, making this site ideal to reconstruct the winter variables affected by the westerlies. We will use novel methods based on spectroscopy and spectrometry on salt fluid inclusions (FIs) to reconstruct Holocene lake temperature and composition and we will develop a new method exploiting the lake composition, thickness of deposited salt, speed of sound in FIs, sediments microfacies and X-ray fluorescence elemental composition to reconstruct lake levels. As, in these arid latitudes, it has been impossible so far to obtain Holocene winter temperatures and hydrological reconstructions are scant, and because this site responds in an unusual way to changes in westerlies, I believe this action will prove key in understanding the evolution of the westerlies.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
14473 POTSDAM
Germania