Reconstructing past changes in the spatial structure of tropical Pacific hydroclimate requires archives of past moisture balance across spatial gradients of precipitation. To date, only one, 600‐year, terrestrial record of hydroclimate is available for the central tropical Pacific (CTP) from Washington Lake, Washington Island, limiting the ability to test the hypotheses regarding the location of the CTP Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in the last millennium. A new lake sediment record from Lake 30, Kiritimati, Republic of Kiribati, 3° south of Washington Island, provides additional constraints on past CTP ITCZ position. Lake 30 geochemical and sedimentological data indicate an episode of increased microbial mat development and gypsum precipitation from 900 to 1200 CE, coincident with the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA). We infer drier conditions during the MCA at Kiritimati as the Washington Lake proxy record indicates wetter conditions, suggesting that the CTP ITCZ was displaced northward during the MCA relative to its position today. At the transition between the MCA and the Little Ice Age (LIA), Lake 30 sediment becomes predominantly carbonate, suggesting a transition to wetter conditions and a southward shift of the ITCZ relative to its MCA position. However, a tropical Pacific synthesis of hydroclimate‐sensitive proxy records does not point to a consistent spatial or temporal pattern of variability in the MCA and LIA, suggesting multiple influences on centennial‐scale tropical Pacific hydroclimate during the last millennium.

Microbiological activity can exert a substantial influence on carbonate mineral precipitation, but linking specific microbiological processes to carbonate minerals in an environmental setting is complex, as both abiotic and biotic factors ultimately influence carbonate mineral precipitation. The coral atoll of Kiritimati, Republic of Kiribati (1.9°N, 157.4°W), in the central tropical Pacific Ocean, contains hundreds of shallow water brackish to hypersaline lakes that contain a range of carbonate and evaporite minerals. Previous studies of Kiritimati lakes have investigated the microbial communities of finely laminated microbial mats and associated microbialites found in several of the more hypersaline lakes on the island. However, the microbial communities of the more brackish lakes are unknown. These brackish lakes precipitate metres of fine‐grained carbonate muds, which are useful for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Here, the relationships between carbonate abundance, mineralogy, water chemistry, and bacterial and archaeal communities are investigated in a suite of brackish to hypersaline lakes (8.7‐190 ppt) on Kiritimati. Next generation 16S rRNA gene sequencing of bacteria and archaea indicate that brackish lake sediments contain distinct microbial communities. In relation to carbonate precipitation, the relative abundance of Cyanobacteria, Choloroflexi and Deltaproteobacteria is greater in the brackish lake sediments, suggesting photosynthesis and sulphate reduction associated with these taxa may strongly influence alkalinity and carbonate precipitation in brackish lakes. The presence of dolomite in certain hypersaline lakes also coincided with the presence of a methanogenic family, indicating that methogenesis may contribute to dolomite precipitation in these lakes.

The current understanding of Lake Warren as a proglacial lake stage in the Lake Erie basin during the last deglaciation is based on limited stratigraphic information from strandlines and a wide range of radiocarbon ages. The purpose of this study is to use ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to reconstruct the stratigraphy, depositional environment, and age of the Oak Openings Ridge (OOR), a former strandline of Lake Warren in northwestern Ohio. Both sedimentary exposures and >4 km of GPR data were used to demonstrate that the OOR is a barrier spit that migrated from the northeast to the southwest, and is currently blanketed by an aeolian sheet. Sediments observed in exposures show a shallowing-up sequence attributed to the retreat of proglacial lakes from the area. Corresponding GPR data reveal three distinct GPR facies. The lowermost radar facies 1 (RF1) is a sandy barrier spit platform of a lower beach face prograding across finergrained lacustrine mud or till. Eroded into RF1 is an upper beach face of RF2, the top of which is visible in cutbank and borrow pit exposures. Overlying the RF2 beach face is uppermost unit RF3, consisting of low-relief, aeolian parabolic dunes and sand sheets. Four OSL ages from a climbing ripple sequence in RF2 average 14.2 ± 0.5 ka, consistent with an earlier published OSL age of 14.1 ± 1.0 ka (Campbell et al. in 2011) from the same unit. From earlier work, the overlying aeolian dunes (RF3) record westerly winds after formation of the OOR, and OSL dating records episodic activity from the Younger Dryas chronozone to ϳ8000 years ago. The results suggest that the OOR formed in two phases. First, a barrier spit prograded into Lake Warren from the northeast. Second, parabolic sand dunes and a sand sheet formed episodically for ϳ5000 years thereafter. The sediment source for the sand body is from southeast Michigan, but it is of uncertain origin.Résumé : Notre compréhension actuelle du lac Warren en tant qu'une étape de lac proglaciaire dans le bassin du lac Érié durant la dernière déglaciation est basée sur de l'information stratigraphique limitée d'anciennes lignes de rivage et d'une vaste plage d'âges 14 C. Le but de la présente étude est d'utiliser des données géoradar et de datation par luminescence stimulée optiquement (OSL) pour reconstruire la stratigraphie, l'environnement de déposition et l'âge de la crête Oak Openings (OOR), une ancienne ligne de rivage du lac Warren dans le nord-ouest de l'Ohio. Des affleurements de roches sédimentaires et plus de 4 km de données géoradar ont été utilisés pour démontrer que l'OOR est une flèche littorale qui a migré du nord-est au sud-ouest et qui est actuellement recouverte d'une couche de dépôts éoliens. Les sédiments observés dans les affleurements montrent une séquence moins profonde vers le haut attribuée au retrait des lacs proglaciaires de la région. Les données géoradar correspondantes révèlent trois faciès géoradar distincts. Le faciès géoradar inférieur (RF1) est une plateforme de flèc...

For small tropical islands with limited freshwater resources, understanding how island hydrology is influenced by regional climate is important, considering projected hydroclimate and sea level changes as well as growing populations dependent on limited groundwater resources. However, the relationship between climate variability and hydrologic variability for many tropical islands remains uncertain due to local hydroclimatic data scarcity. Here, we present a case study from Kiritimati, Republic of Kiribati (2°N, 157°W), utilizing the normalized difference vegetation index to investigate variability in island surface water area, an important link between climate variability and groundwater storage. Kiritimati surface water area varies seasonally, following wet and dry seasons, and interannually, due to hydroclimate variability associated with the El Niño/Southern Oscillation. The NIÑO3.4 sea surface temperature index, satellite‐derived precipitation, precipitation minus evaporation, and local sea level all had significant positive correlations with surface water area. Lagged correlations show sea level changes and precipitation influence surface water area up to 6 months later. Differences in the timing of surface water area changes and variable climate‐surface water area correlations in island subregions indicate that surface hydrology on Kiritimati is not uniform in response to climate variations. Rather, the magnitude of the ocean–atmosphere anomalies and island–ocean connectivity determine the extent to which sea level and precipitation control surface water area. The very strong 2015–2016 El Niño event led to the largest surface water area measured in the 18‐year data set. Surface water area decreased to pre‐event values in a similarly rapid manner (<6 months) after both the very strong 2015–2016 event and the 2009–2010 moderate El Niño event. Future changes in the frequency and amplitude of interannual hydroclimate variability as well as seasonal duration will thus alter surface water coverage on Kiritimati, with implications for freshwater resources, flooding, and drought.

Abstract. Field experiences are a critical component of undergraduate geoscience education; however, traditional onsite field experiences are not always practical due to accessibility, and the popularity of alternative modes of learning in higher education is increasing. One way to support student access to field experiences is through virtual field trips, implemented either independently or in conjunction with in-person field trips. We created a virtual field trip (VFT) to Grand Ledge, a regionally important suite of sedimentary outcrops in central lower Michigan, USA. This VFT undertakes all stages of a field project, from question development and detailed observation through data collection to interpretation. The VFT was implemented in undergraduate Sedimentation and Stratigraphy courses at two different liberal arts institutions, with one version of the VFT conducted in-person and the other online. The VFT was presented from a locally hosted website and distributed through an online learning platform. Students completed a series of activities using field data in the form of outcrop photos, virtual 3D models of outcrops and hand samples, and photos of thin sections. Student products included annotated field notes, a stratigraphic column, a collaborative stratigraphic correlation, and a final written reflection. VFT assessment demonstrated that students successfully achieved the inquiry-oriented student learning outcomes and student reflection responses provide anecdotal evidence that the field experience was comparable to field geology onsite. This VFT is an example of successful student learning in an upper-level Sedimentation and Stratigraphy course via virtual field experience with an emphasis on local geology.