The Marboré Symphony: a Science - Art Collaborative Project to increase
Global Change Awareness based on a Deglaciation and Holocene Pyrenean
high altitude lake sediment sequence
Abstract
Earth scientists and musicians have collaborated to create music to
illustrate the changes in a high altitude (2612 m a.s.l) Pyrenean lake
since deglaciation and to increase awareness about global changes in
mountains environments. Based on the sediment sequence from Marboré Lake
(42°41′44.27″N, 0° 2′24.07″E) we have selected lithological,
compositional and pollen data to represent the main climate,
environmental and limnological changes in the lake and the region during
the last 15000 years. To transform the geological data into music, notes
were assigned to compositional range intervals and the tempos were
degned using sediment accumulation rates. The electronic version of the
Marbore Symphony was created by computer software based on the raw data.
Different melodies and instruments were assigned at each data set as
they inform about lake bioproductivity (organic carbon, Br/Ti)
vegetation dynamics in the valleys (pollen), sediment iniux (Si/Ti) and
anthropogenic impact (Pb/Ti). Based on the electronic version, the music
group O’Carolan (http://www.ocarolanfolk.com) composed an 8 minutes long
symphony with an overture and six movements and using traditional
instruments from different cultures. The symphony premiered in the
Pyrenean town of Bielsa on December 14th, 2018. The Marboré music
project has served to increase citizenship awareness about climate
change in the Pyrenees and provided a new tool to better communicate
past and future changes in the environments and the impacts in our
society. Telling our earth science stories with music presents an
opportunity to reach a wider audience, integrating art and science. The
creation of this music composition was undertaken within the framework
of the REPLIM project, an INTERREG- POCTEFA – project aimed to develop
a network of climate change observatories on lakes and wetlands in the
Pyrenees. You can download the Marboré Symphony at
http://www.ipe.csic.es/proyecto-replim.