POLVO SAHARIANO EN LA PENINSULA IBERICA Y EN LAS ISLAS BALEARES: DINAMICA ACTUAL, RECONSTRUCCION DURANTE EL HOLOCENO Y PERSPECTIVAS PARA LAS PROXIMAS DECADAS

Saharan dust is a main component of dust in the Iberian Mediterranean areas (Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands, IP-BI) and the projected warming suggests that it could increase in the next decades. Dust production, transport and deposition has great implications for human health, climate, ecosystem dynamics and water and soil resources, and the role of aerosols and dust in climate dynamics is of first magnitude, similar to greenhouse gasses, but their dynamics, feedbacks and synergies with other forcings are less constrained in climate models. The recent dynamics of Saharan dust episodes in the IP-BI region and its relationship with large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns (e.g. NAO) is relatively well known based on meteorological and dust monitoring data. But the longer term dynamics (frequency, intensity, regional distribution) and the relationship with drought and arid periods are not constrained at large temporal scales beyond instrumental records. POSAHPI proposes to tackle these questions with an integrated time and space strategy. The proposal builds on the DONAIRE network for recent dust monitoring, the REPLIM network, an INTERREG-POCTEFA project aimed to create an observatory of Climate Change of lakes and peatbogs in the Pyrenees (https://opcc-ctp.org/es/replim), the available paleoclimate reconstructions based on previous work by our team, and the collaboration with researchers from different universities. The regional network of modern sites and paleodust archives will include the Pyrenees, Sierra Nevada and the Balearic Islands. The temporal scale will span from meteorological and monitoring data and well-dated records for the last 150 years and the Holocene. We propose to combine available lake and peat records with a large regional distribution, robust chronologies and spanning the Holocene to identify Saharan dust using mineralogical, geochemical and isotopic signatures during the main climatic phases in the IP-BI. The network of well-dated lake records spanning the last 150 years will allow calibration with instrumental data, comparison with reanalysis meteorological data and evaluation of future trends for the next decades.

Acronym: 
POSAHPI
Author: 
Pey Betrán, Jorge
Principal researcher: 
Jorge Pey Betrán
Managing entity: 
OTRI - CSIC
Scope: 
Nacional
Entidades participantes: 
Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (CSIC)
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Universidad de León
Instituto Geológico y Minero de España
Number of researchers: 
6
Start date: 
06/2020
End date: 
05/2023
Entidad financiadora
Financing entity: 
Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Call: 
Convocatoria 2019 Proyectos de I+D+i - RTI Tipo B
Presupuesto
Total budget: 
108.900€