Orbital Forcing and the evolution of the South American Monsoon from Late Miocene to Early Pliocene

• Grant number: 24/06531-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: October 07, 2024
• End date: October 06, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Oceanography - Geological Oceanography
• Principal Investigator: Luigi Jovane
• Grantee: Allana Queiroz de Azevedo
• Supervisor: Michael J Henehan
• Host Institution: Instituto Oceanográfico (IO). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Bristol, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/02970-9 - Orbital forcing and the evolution of South American Monsoon from late Miocene to early Pliocene, BP.PD

Abstract

Monsoonal regions worldwide are key locations that shelter several people lives.In South America, limited data hampered our knowledge about the future of SouthAmerican Monsoon System (SAMS), and thus it remains unclear how it willbehave facing the global warming. To constrain accurate models about futuremonsoon rainfall is critical evaluate paleoclimate data, and thus we will seekreconstruct the SAMS variability from late Miocene to early Pliocene throughsedimentary records of the Brazilian Equatorial Margin (BEM). To achieve thisgoal, we will analyse the isotope signal of planktonic (´18O, ´13O), analyse the(paleo)vegetation under influence of SAMS (palynological analysis) andreconstruct the pCO2 levels of the atmosphere bases on ´11B of planktonicforaminifera. By this we hope to address the following: 1) comprehend therelationship between sea-level fluctuations on the Brazilian continental shelf,atmospheric CO2 levels, and the SAMS from late Miocene to early Pliocene; 2)Did the SAMS vary according to the atmospheric CO2 levels along those timeintervals?; 3) Colder temperatures at the thermocline accompanied higheremissions of CO2 to atmosphere?; 4) Did the depletion of heat content from thethermocline in the South Atlantic work as positive feedback amplifying the orbitalforcing?