African dust from the Sahara desert is observed across the Atlantic as far west as the Caribbean region where it produces a hazy sky condition during the annual dry season. You are a climate scientist and make a prediction that the Sahara was not a desert during glacial periods in the northern hemisphere. How could you test this hypothesis by looking at deep sea sediments from the Atlantic off west Africa?
◦ The hypothesis is untestable with deep sea sediment.
◦ You would look at fossils to see if there were organisms that preferred dusty conditions vs. clear water conditions.
◦ You could measure the isotopes in the sediment to estimate the sea surface temperatures.
◦ You could look at the sediments to see if there were biogenic sediments interbedded with sediments with terrigeneous input corresponding to the dry, interglacial intervals.
Desert cottontail as seen from behind such that the white tail is easily visible
Desert
English Colonies on the Atlantic Seaboard
West facade, Cha1134–1220; south spire, ca. 1160; north spire 1507–13.
Food Web in Desert Biome