Mayewski, Kurbatov collaborate on ice core study covered by Phys.org
Paul Mayewski, professor and director of the Climate Change Institute (CCI) at the University of Maine, is a co-author on a study that was the focus of a University of Nottingham news release published by Phys.org. Mayewski collaborated with a team of researchers to study an ice core in the Swiss-Italian Alps that yielded evidence showing a seventh century switch from gold to silver currencies in western Europe occurred a quarter of a century earlier than previously thought, the release states. Using ultra-high resolution laser analysis of elements on the ice core; along with markers of volcanic eruptions and analysis of tephra (volcanic glass) led by Andrei Kurbatov, associate professor and researcher in CCI; data from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and UMaine’s Climate Reanalyzer to provide insight on wind directions and origins of lead pollution in the Alps resulting from silver mining, the research team achieved a new level of precision in their results. The results of the interdisciplinary Historical Ice Core Project (HICP) have implications for the history of the European monetary system, and for established knowledge about trade and the economy at the time, according to the release.