Paleoclimate

Overview

Paleoclimate research at Georgia Tech seeks to understand how and why climate has changed in the past. Looking back beyond the instrumental record can provide us with the context to better understand present-day climate change. Our work focuses on reconstructing past temperature, precipitation, and circulation patterns of key components of the global climate system such as the tropical Pacific El Nino-Southern Oscillation and the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation. We apply a wide variety of geochemical paleoclimate proxies to carbonate archives such as corals, deep-sea sediments, and cave stalagmites to reconstruct climate. We are actively involved in proxy calibration research, which takes us into the field on cruises and other expeditions, as well as paleoclimate modeling, which involves collaboration with other EAS faculty in the ocean/climate group. Our analytical facilities include a ThermoFisher Delta Plus/Kiel and a ThermoFisher 235/Kiel (for the measurement of oxygen isotopes in carbonates), a JY-Horiba ICP-OES (for the measurement of trace metals in solids and waters), and a Picarro water oxygen isotope analyzer.

For more information, visit Dr. Kim Cobb's web site.