Date of Award
8-2020
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Department
Marine Science
First Advisor
Christopher Hayes, Ph.D.
Advisor Department
Marine Science
Abstract
The circulation in the Southern Ocean is a component of global nutrient, heat, and carbon cycles. Changes in any of these cycles can dramatically change ocean conditions around the world. Therefore, any changes that occurred to this circulation in the past is of scientific interest. We hypothesize that changes in the glacial cycle of the planet can affect this circulation. Specifically, we hypothesize that the strength of circulation in the Southern Ocean can be reduced by conditions during interglacial, or warm climate, time periods. It is proposed that during the interglacial period of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 (425 to 375 thousand years ago), there was a reduction to Southern Ocean circulation. This research seeks to assess these proposed circulation changes by chemically analyzing the trace metal concentrations of rhenium and manganese in sediments from the Ocean Drilling Program site 1094. These trace metal containing sediments are located in the Southern Ocean and were deposited during the MIS 11 interglacial. In this research the two trace metals, Re and Mn, are utilized as proxies for indirectly estimating oxygen delivery to the site which can be used to assess the strength of the ocean circulations. The assessment of Southern Ocean circulation allows for additional knowledge that can be used in characterizing past, present, and future ocean conditions.
Copyright
Copyright for this thesis is owned by the author. It may be freely accessed by all users. However, any reuse or reproduction not covered by the exceptions of the Fair Use or Educational Use clauses of U.S. Copyright Law or without permission of the copyright holder may be a violation of federal law. Contact the administrator if you have additional questions.
Recommended Citation
Rohde, Evan E., "Utilizing manganese and rhenium sediment concentrations to reconstruct past interglacial Southern Ocean circulation changes" (2020). Honors Theses. 734.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/734