Event: Seminar: Greening of Western Sahara in the Geological past: Evidence from Malta
Date: 07 December 2023
Time: 13:00 – 14:00
Venue: Maths & Physics Building Lab 602 (MP602)
Speaker: Ray Zammit
Faculty of Science Seminar Series 2023-2024
Abstract: The Central Mediterranean region and North Africa represent highly populated zones that are susceptible to major drought in the context of near future Anthropogenic climate change. Climate models fail to produce consistent predictions for the region and therefore it is important to look at the geological past in order to understand climate sensitivity and precipitation in the area.
The geological and chemical records from the il-Blata, Ras il-Pellegrin and Marsalforn sections (Malta) offer the possibility of investigating regional climate during the Miocene (23 to 5 million years ago). The Miocene is considered to represent a possible analogue for near future climate. It is during the Miocene that significant expansion of the Antarctic Ice sheet occurred and these cryospheric expansions are also correlatable with the closure of the Seaway between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea.
The records from Malta indicate a close link between closure of the seaway and enhanced humid activity over North Africa. This likely indicates that the combined forcing factors of Antarctic Ice Sheet expansion and changes in Ocean circulation at low latitudes had a profound effect on North African hydroclimate, possibly due to intensification of Atlantic Overturning Circulation. This highlights the importance of land-atmosphere-ocean feedbacks in regional hydroclimate.
The Speaker: Ray Zammit is a paleoclimatologist and carbonate geologist. He holds a Diploma in Environmental Science from the University of Malta, a BSc (Hons) in Physics and Earth Science and an MSc in Earth Science from the Open University, UK. He read a PhD in Earth Science at Cardiff University, UK under the supervision of Prof. Carrie Lear. He makes use of the geochemistry of carbonate rocks and marine microfossils to investigate climate in the geological past. He is a full-time teacher of Physics at De La Salle 6th Form and has held various visiting lecturing positions at the University of Malta since 2014. He is currently an associate post-doctoral researcher at The School of Earth and Environmental Sciences of Cardiff University and the Faculty of Geosciences at Utrecht University.
Note: For any information about this event email the organiser, Prof. Noel Aquilina on email.
