2015 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
| Project/Area Number |
14F04799
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| Research Institution | Nagoya University |
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Principal Investigator |
WALLIS R・Simon 名古屋大学, 環境学研究科, 教授 (30263065)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
CLARK NICOLA 名古屋大学, 環境学研究科, 外国人特別研究員
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| Project Period (FY) |
2014-04-25 – 2017-03-31
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| Keywords | Bolivia / tufa / paleoclimate / ostracods / bioherm |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
This year began with a visit to the stable isotope laboratory in Sendai (Tohoku University) to meet with Dr. Takayanagi to discuss future work and learn about the lab. I also completed the logistical planning for fieldwork in Bolivia. In June I carried out fieldwork to collect tufa samples for my project in southern Bolivia along with Professor Wallis. The samples from Bolivia were sliced and cleaned here at Nagoya University and thin sections made for examination. The thin sections were examined under the microscope to confirm good preservation and a selection under the SEM to confirm the carbonate chemistry. Each sample was also inspected for ostracods and other micro fauna with any finds being collected. After further cleaning and high resolution sampling of the tufa I visited Tohoku University again to carry out stable isotope analysis on my material from Bolivia with the help of Dr. Takayanagi. Preliminary carbon dating on a selection of samples was carried out in Nagoya University (Centre for Chronological Research) in collaboration with Associate Professor Masayo Minami and our aim is to carry out further dating this year.
While working on writing up a research paper based on my study of Bolivian tufa, I have also drafted a popular science article about our fieldwork in Bolivia and the palaeoclimatic significance of working on tufa deposits there.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The research is overall progressing as planned. The main problem that has arisen is the observation that the ages of carbonate from lower levels is similar to that at higher levels. This is unlikely to be correct and probably reflects the mixing of old carbon from higher levels. We plan to address this issue by incorporating U series dating of carbonates in the work.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The main plans will be to develop a more extensive data base of the isotopes of the carbonate deposits from the series of lakes in the SW of Bolivia. The data will include both oxygen and carbon stable isotopes, which is important for interpreting the paleoclimate, and 14C measurements which can be used to estimate the age of deposition. In addition more work will be carried out on the postcards of the region. We were able to identify many specimens in the previous year's work and now we will interact with experts in this field. The type and morphology of ostracod shells can also be a sensitive paleoclimate indicator.
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