A Combined Geochemical and Physical Oceanographic Study of Deep Water Formation in the Red Sea

9416895 Cane In this project the PIs will study deep water formation in the Red Sea using geochemical and physical techniques. Geochemical work will involve obtaining high resolution samples corals, from which measurements of stable oxygen isotopes (O-18/O-16 and Sr/Ca) will be made. Samples will be obtained near the tip of the Sinai Peninsula, where the temperature is high, allowing very rapid coral growth, but where the PIs hypothesize that strong winter convection produces deep water formation. Samples of corals near the sea surface will be compared with those at greater depths in the pycnocline. In this component of the study, the data will be assimilated in a model of the Red Sea which includes deep convection, in order to test the hypothesis.