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Project details
Title: | The evolution of marine life in Antarctica: a novel approach using ancient DNA |
Id: | 2602 |
Investigator(s): | Linda Armbrecht
University of Tasmania [details] |
Description: | Characterise past Antarctic marine communities over multiple glacial interglacial cycles using novel ancient DNA techniques. Investigate the evolution of key polar marine organisms through time. |
Years: | 2022 |
List of surveys that this project was on.
Use [details] link to view survey details (map, reports, metadata etc) including links to download data.
Survey | Investigator | Description |
---|---|---|
IN2023_V01 [details] |
Alix Post (GA) | This study has two main scientific objectives: i) to understand past changes in Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) production using long sediment cores from the continental slope over multiple warm periods during the Pleistocene; ii) develop an improved bathymetry model to support oceanographic modelling of AABW pathways. Sediment core records of previous warmer interglacials will provide an analogue for understanding the impact of any future changes in bottom water production associated with a warming climate. This project will recover long sediment cores from the shelf and slope off Cape Darnley to provide palaeoceanographic records over multiple glacial-interglacial cycles, including previous interglacials when Antarctic air temperatures were 2 to 4.5°C warmer than today. A multi-proxy approach, combining sedimentological, geochemical and biological proxies, will provide evidence of the nature and timing of past changes in AABW formation, and associated variations in meltwater input, and the extent of the Cape Darnley polynya. AABW has previously been associated with unique and diverse benthic ecosystems, including hydrocorals. We will investigate the presence and distribution of hydrocorals, and, if present, analyse their carbonate skeletons to understand past water mass variability over recent centuries, complementing the sediment core records. |