About the project
This project aims to develop a novel climate proxy from Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic to reconstruct the strength and movement of southern westerly winds, crucial for understanding climate tipping points and future projections. It involves quantifying wind-blown particles found in ice peat and assessing spatial and temporal relationships across the region.
The southern westerly winds are a belt of prevailing westerly airflow that encircle Antarctica and have been identified as crucial drivers of climate and environmental change, impacting Antarctic sea ice, ocean-carbon flux, regional weather patterns and ocean circulation. By creating and validating a novel proxy to reconstruct the strength and latitudinal movement of these winds over the last 20,000 years, this research will enhance our understanding of the mechanisms behind these changes.
A key focus will be on quantifying wind-blown particles, such as pollen, tephra and dust, from an Antarctic Peninsula ice core, utilizing flow cytometry for pollen concentration and developing an image processing algorithm for precise identification.
This project will utilise a global network of proxy records and apply meta-data analysis to assess the spatial and temporal relationships to uncover mechanisms of abrupt climate changes in the past. Ultimately, the project will provide critical insights into the future behaviour of the southern westerly winds under ongoing climate change, informing predictive models that are vital for anticipating the impacts on global climate systems.
There are potential opportunities for fieldwork in both the Antarctic Peninsula and the sub-Antarctic.
This PhD project is supported by a NERC-funded deep-drilling project, led out of the British Antarctic Survey, and a Future Leaders Fellowship, led out of the University of Southampton.
This project has the following external supervisors, in addition to the University of Southampton's supervisory team:
