University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Reconstructing the climate variation of eastern Peru over the last millennium

(USC Thesis Other)

Reconstructing the climate variation of eastern Peru over the last millennium

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Abstract (if available)

Abstract The δ^18 O of two speleothems from northeastern Peru provides a 1000 year history of precipitation variability at subannual to decadal resolution. The speleothem δ^18 O varies in response to shifting North Atlantic SSTs that bring about a southward or northward bias in the Intertropical Convergence Zone. A southward bias in the ITCZ leads to increased precipitation over eastern Peru. Wetter periods cause lower speleothem δ^18 O due to the 'amount effect'. The 1000 year speleothem reconstruction documents a multicentury increase in the amount of precipitation during the "Little Ice Age". There has been a progressive decrease in precipitation over the past two centuries. These observations do not agree with earlier reconstructions of rainfall variability that relied upon river runoff proxies from northern South America. It is proposed that this discrepancy is a result of decreased river runoff in wetter periods because precipitation is stored at higher elevations as ice.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Reuter, Justin Michael (author)

Core Title Reconstructing the climate variation of eastern Peru over the last millennium

School College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Degree Master of Science

Degree Program Geological Sciences

Publication Date 10/28/2008

Defense Date 09/11/2008

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag cariaco basin,d18O,earth sciences,Geology,Glacier,ITCZ,little ice age,OAI-PMH Harvest,paleoclimate,Peru,precipitation,speleothem,stable isotopes

Place Name Peru (countries)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Stott, Lowell D. (committee chair), Berelson, William M. (committee member), Hammond, Douglas E. (committee member)

Creator Email jmreuter3@aol.com,reuter@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m1703

Unique identifier UC1313116

Identifier etd-Reuter-2428 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-117220 (legacy record id),usctheses-m1703 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Reuter-2428.pdf

Dmrecord 117220

Document Type Thesis

Rights Reuter, Justin Michael

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu