Most Recent Contributions

More recent discoveries by Kennett, with his students and colleagues, result from studies of a late Quaternary stratigraphic sequence in Santa Barbara Basin. This sequence is providing a record of climate change of very high stratigraphic resolution, perhaps the highest in the world ocean. Hence, important components of the climate system have been revealed that are not seen in other sequences. For example, an almost complete record of so-called Dansgaard/Oeschger interstadial events of the Greenland Ice Sheet have also been discovered in Santa Barbara Basin. These are reflected by changes in oxygenation of basinal deep waters and by significant changes in sea-surface temperatures. Major changes in climate and oceanic conditions occurred within decades. Tight linkages occurred between the climate changes recorded in the Greenland Ice Sheet and the north Pacific as recorded in Santa Barbara Basin. These discoveries are relevant to questions concerning processes involved with rapid global warming and ocean responses.

Also, over the last few years Kennett, with his many colleagues, has been addressing the question as to whether a major cosmic impact at 12.9 ka led to abrupt cooling at the onset of the Younger Dryas episode, north American megafaunal extinction and human cultural and population change.