This project (Collaborative research: Bridging the gap from northern Iberia to northwest Africa to reconstruct atmospheric dynamics and hydroclimate for the last 2,500 years) is funded by the National Science Foundation under the Paleo Perspectives on Climate Change (P2C2) program.
After a prolonged hiatus due to the pandemic, SIPERG lab members traveled to Portugal in March 2022 to do field work. Due to the ongoing efforts of our outstanding Portuguese collaborators, the state of the equipment inside the caves was excellent despite our lengthy absence.
Alan Wanamaker and Ryan Oeste (MS student) traveled with David Gillikin (Union College) into four of the studied caves in Portugal. While in the caves, they downloaded temperature, relative humidity, and pressure data from loggers as well as drip count data. The team collected water and slide-grown calcite from the caves.
Inside one of the caves, a new automated drip collection system was installed (Syp, Waikato Instruments). This will allow for high-resolution sampling of drip water isotopes throughout the year.
