Research: The study of a past interglacial vegetation changes as a tool to understand the human role in hydrological changes.
Resarch Activity (Research Project for the first year):
Title: The study of a past interglacial vegetation changes as a tool to understand the human role in hydrological changes
One of the great challenges that humanity is facing is climate warming and its impact on the environment, the economy and society. The future climate projections indicate that the Mediterranean region will be warmer and dryer. However, there are still large gaps in the understanding how the water cycle and ecosystems will respond to global warming. With this regard, the fossil archives can provide valuable information on hoy climate system works under different boundary conditions and on how climate variability may impact on marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
A peculiar feature of the Quaternary climate is the marked cyclicity (led by the change of the Earth's orbital parameters) alternating glacial and interglacial periods. The comparable orbital configurations of MIS 19 and MIS 1 motivated much modelling. The interglacial MIS 19c (788 -777 ca. ka. ago) also had a very similar concentration of greenhouse gases compared to the present interglacial. For that reason, the MIS 19 climate and ecosystem variability provides a reference scenario of how the current interglacial could evolve.
The Sulmona Basin contains a unique sedimentary, through discontinuous, record of the Pleistocene. It also includes a well-documented and radioisotopically constrained record of the MIS 19c interglacial (788-777 ka). A high-resolution pollen analysis of this interglacial will provide us a better understanding of the impact of the hydrological changes in the area at that time. Then, through a comparison with the present MIS 1 interglacial, we can assess the role of the human impact on the local/regional vegetation systems since prehistoric times. Last, but not least, the pollen analysis can contribute to the assemblage of a multiproxy MIS 19c record.
The goal of this PhD project is the understanding of human influence on hydrological changes through the investigation of environmental and climatic change. The Sulmona Basin, in central Italy, hosts a lacustrine succession with one of the few worldwide highly resolved paleoclimatic records of the MIS 19. The main specific objectives of this PhD are: 1) Characterization of the vegetation dynamics in response to MIS 19 climate change through a high resolution pollen analysis of samples obtained from the Sulmona record. 2) Reconstruction of the millennial to sub-millennial scale hydrological variability using the pollen and a multi-proxy approach. The obtained multi-proxy paleoclimatic data will be compared with the climatic changes during the human pre-industrial and present periods.
The main application of the data obtained throughout this PhD will be the completion
of the multi-proxy database of the Sulmona Basin using pollen data. The Sulmona multi-proxy record could be used as a natural background in climate models.
A new core spanning the interval of interest has been recovered in Fall 2021. A contribution to the processing (opening, XRF scanning and construction of composite depth) is programmed at Institute of Geological Sciences. In the first year of the PhD a systematic literature review for the characteristics of the Sulmona Basin will be undertaken. A high resolution pollen analysis will be initiated by the end of the second PhD year. Bayesian age model will be developed through appropriate software. Field trips have been programmed for the first year in order to obtain further information about the regional geological setting of the Sulmona Basin. In the second year of the PhD, a six month stay in the University College of London. During the last year of the PhD a comparison of the results obtained throughout the PhD with the present dynamics will be made. Human influence on the environment after the Industrial Period will be interpreted.
Personal CV:
I'm Geologist Specializaded in Paleontology, Palynology and Energy Resources.
I consider myself a dynamic and determined person. My interests are in Paleontology,Sedimentology and Stratigraphy. I enjoy facing new challenges and challenging myself with new tasks and knowledge
Proffessional Experience:
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) | Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (IACT) |
May 2021 - September 2021: Laboratory techniques associated with the analysis of clays and interpretation of the results obtained by XRD, XRF, AAOO, ICP-MS and TOC analysis
Projects:
- Pollen analysis of a sedimentary record from Laguna Larga, SierraNevada | July 2021 - December 2021
Education and training:
MSc - Geology Applied to Mineral and Energy Resources (GEOREC) | University of Granada | 2020 - 2021:
- Specialized in Energy Resources
- Master's Thesis: Sedimentological Characterization of the deposits rich in Organic Matter in the central sector of the Betic Cordillera: Origin of the source rock | 2021 | 9/10
- Cum Laude:
-- Geophysical Logging in the Exploration of the Basement rock
-- Geology and Principles of Fossil Fuel Exploration
BSc - Geology | University of Granada | 2016 - 2020:
- Bachellor's Thesis: History of fires in Colorado during Holocene from the analysis of charcoals in sediments of St. Mary's Lake, USA | 2020 | 9/10
- Cum Laude:
-- Quaternary Geology
Courses:
- Webinar: UGR: Workshop aimed at authors who are doing their doctoral thesis. Virtual training session.
- CSIC Laboratory Equipment Management Course - calibrations and verifications of basic laboratory equipment: balances, pipettes,thermometers, thermal equipment
- Practical Course on writing and publishing scientific articles
- Conference - From sedimentary facies to geostatistical modeling: Comprehensive characterization of a Triassic outcropping analog(Luis Miguel Yeste)
- Entrepreneurship Conference - Looking for my future: How I can change the world being an entrepreneur
Skills and Knowledge:
Palynology, Paleontology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Sedimentary Geochemistry, Field Work, Group Work, Interpretation of seismic data, Advanced Knowledge about softwares.