Science communication methods and strategies for paleoscientists

Why communicate our science? Aside from our duty to let taxpayers, who largely fund our research, know what their money has been spent on, our motivation to communicate stems mainly from a desire to make a contribution towards a more sustainable world. Given the scale of the environmental challenges facing the planet and human societies today, doing only research is not enough. There is a clear need for us, as scientists, and even more as early-career scientists, to communicate to a wider audience than just our direct peers

Early-career paleoscientists meet in the mountains of Aragon

Three days prior to the 5th PAGES Open Science Meeting (OSM), 80 ambitious early-career scientists (PhD students and postdoctoral researchers) met in the restored village of Morillo de Tou, Spain. The remote setting in the Pyrenees, the old style buildings constructed of turbidites, and the clear and sunny weather made this place an inspiring location to discuss past climate, environment and human interactions. Despite some grumblings about cold coffee served in small cups, the conference was a high-energy affair that promoted connections

North Atlantic Ice‐Rafting, Ocean and Atmospheric Circulation During the Holocene: Insights From Western Mediterranean Speleothems

In this study, we present a Holocene rainfall index based on three high-resolution speleothem records from the Western Mediterranean, a region under the influence of the westerly winds belt modulated by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). On centennial to millennial timescales, we show that the North Atlantic ice-rafting events were likely associated with negative NAO-like conditions during the Early Holocene and the Late Holocene. However, our data reveal that this is not clearly the case for the mid-Holocene ice-rafting events, during which we also show evidence of positive NAO-like patterns from other paleo-oceanographic and paleo-atmospheric data. Hence, contradictory mechanisms involving prolonged periods of both north and south shifts of the westerly winds belt (resembling positive and negative NAO-like patterns) might at least partially trigger or amplify the ice-rafting events and the slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

Potential interactions between climate and prehistoric populations in Southern Morocco: Insights from archaeological and paleoclimatic evidence

International audienc

Summer insolation controlled movements of Intertropical Convergence Zone during last glacial cycle in northern South America

Abstract A paradigm in paleoclimatology holds that shifts in the mean position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone were the dominant climatic mechanism controlling rainfall in the tropics during the last glacial period. We present a new paleo-rainfall reconstruction based on speleothem stable oxygen isotopes record from Colombia, which spans most of the last glacial cycle. The strength and positioning of the Intertropical Convergence Zone over northern South America were more strongly affected by summer insolation at high northern latitudes than by local insolation during the last glacial cycle, resulting in an antiphased relationship with climate in the Cariaco Basin. Our data also provide new insight into how orbital forcing amplified/dampened Intertropical Convergence Zone precipitation during millennial-scale events. During Greenland Stadial events, the Intertropical Convergence Zone was positioned close to the latitude of El Peñon, as expressed by more negative δ18O values. Greenland Interstadial events are marked by relatively high stable oxygen isotope values and reduced rainfall in the El Peñon record, suggesting a northward withdrawal of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. During some Heinrich Stadial events, and especially Heinrich Stadial 1, the Intertropical Convergence Zone must have been displaced away from its modern location near El Peñon, as conditions were very dry at both El Peñon and Cariaco