Project Grant 2317228

The National Science Foundation awarded Rowan University a $166,722 Project Grant under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) to characterize stratigraphy and paleotemperature estimates from the Last Interglacial period in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The university will analyze sediment cores from the eastern equatorial Pacific to reconstruct El Niño Southern Oscillation behavior during the warm period known as Marine Isotope Stage 5e, which occurred approximately 119,000 to 126,000 years ago. Researchers will generate stable isotope and trace element stratigraphy using foraminifera to identify sediments from this time period. Undergraduate students will gain experience assisting with geochemical analyses as part of a summer workshop. The project aims to improve understanding of how ENSO variability responds to elevated carbon dioxide levels by examining its past behavior during warm climate conditions in the absence of modern atmospheric influences.