[Coral-List] PhD defence

[Fabrice Desenfant]

Dear coralisters,

Please find an annoncement for my PhD defense program the Ist of July 2004
in Aix-en-Provence (France - CEREGE Univ. Aix Marseille III ;
www.cerege.fr).
The title is :  
Reconstruction of ocean and atmospheric circulation using signals recorded
in massive corals from the Subtropical North Atlantic.

For more details (Articles, abstracts..) you can contact me directly by
e-mail (desenfant at cerege.fr).

Sincerely, 

F. Desenfant


Reconstruction of ocean and atmospheric circulation using isotopic signals
recorded in massive corals from the Subtropical North Atlantic.

The main purpose for this study is to reconstruct atmospheric and oceanic
transport of pollutant lead in relation to climate variability in the
subtropical North Atlantic during the XXth. century. This shall be performed
using geochemical coral records and anthropogenic lead emission archives.
We did first quantify the relative impact of the main anthropogenic sources
to Caribbean corals (Mona Island and Martinique) with lead and its stable
isotope (low level analysis by thermal ionisation mass spectrometry). Data
show the capacity of corals to faithfully record input from industrialized
continental sources (Northern and Central America, Western Europe) as well
as meteorological events such as hurricanes. This high resolution study
evidence the role of climate oscillations such as the NAO on the
distribution of continental pollutants into oceanic surface waters.
Discrepancies between the transient pollutant lead emission and its record
inot corals from different locations in the Western North Atlantic did
strongly suggest a significant control of oceanic circulation on lead
distribution. Surface Seawater Temperature anomalies as recorded by d18O do
evidence the seasonal impact of the Pacific meteorological indices
(ENSO-PDO) on the North Atlantic circulation.

KEY WORDS : Coral, Lead, Lead and Oxygen stable isotopes, Caribbean Sea,
Subtropical North Atlantic Ocean, Endolithic micro-organisms, Atmosphere,
Ocean, North Atlantic Oscillation.