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  WHAT HAPPENS WITH CLIMATE CHANGE?
 
  PROJECT DESCRIPTION
- What can we do?
- Who we are?
- Work Program
 
Identification of
abrupt climate changes
Continental climate records
Marine climate records
Physical-chemical composition of the aerosols and their radiative effects
Qualitative and quantitative modelling
 
Environmental consequences of climate change
Changes of ocean processes and properties
Climatic control of coastal zone evolution in the Iberian Peninsula
Climatic control of the distribution of nutrients
The toxification of the biosphere
Climatic control of the redistribution of marine and continental organisms
Plant pests and diseases
Forest fires
 
Mitigation
The Carbon Cycle
Ecosystem and landscape restoration
 
  SCIENTIFIC RESULTS
 
  THE PROJECT
PARTNERS
 
  FOR PROJECT PARTICIPANTS
 
  ADMINISTRATIVE
MATTERS
   

 
  IDENTIFICATION OF ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGES
Continental climate records
  
 

Lakes are dynamic depositional settings that contain complete signals on the evolution of the surrounding landscape and aquatic system as well as of the responses of biotic and abiotic processes to climate variability. Much of this information is stored in lacustrine sediments, for which a multi-proxy methodology would be especially suited to resolve the different parameters that control or influence sedimentary deposits, and to provide information for decoding parameters such as temperature, precipitation, changes in vegetation and seasonality. The use of such a methodology requires a fully detailed and totally accurate chronology, which we will construct from the results of 210Pb and 137Cs isotopic analyses, radiocarbon dating and U/Th analysis.

We will employ long lacustrine records obtained from relatively deep (> 10 m) lakes located in areas of marked climatic and environmental gradients. These records will be established using probes that are currently available to GRACCIE members, as well as the new probing platform recently acquired by IPE. In addition, the analysis of speleotherms from caves will provide information on past precipitation and temperature on land.

Additionally, the recent analyses of speleothems from different caves in northern Iberian Peninsula will provide a complementary archive of past climate variations in terms of precipitation and temperature on land (obtained from isotopic techniques and U/Th dating) that will be contrasted with the results found by studying lacustrine records.

The analytical methodologies that we will use to study lacustrine samples will comprise a group of sedimentological, mineralogical, geochemical and biological techniques capable of detecting changes in lake water laminae, chemical composition and limnological conditions, such as streaming analysis of samples by X-ray fluorescence scanning, magnetic properties, bulk and trace geochemical compound analysis, geochemistry of stable isotopes palynology and analysis of biological indicators, including diatoms, ostracods and chironomids. Isotopes and U/Th dating in speleotherms.