FOR 668:  Dated Speleothems: Archives of the Paleoenvironment

• Subject Area: Geosciences
• Term: from 2005 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 16276678

The intention of the Research Unit is to understand the basic mechanisms which control speleothem growth and composition by a combined application of field and laboratory experiments. In particular, the impact of kinetic fractionation processes on the oxygen isotope signal will be quantified. The knowledge of these basic mechanisms will allow for the first time to obtain high resolution information about the intensity of precipitation and temperature in the past from stalagmites. Hereby, speleothems will advance to a precisely dated continental archive providing quantitative climate information.
By the application to late quaternary speleothems we will reconstruct the temporal and spatial variability of precipitation and temperature on a supra-regional scale. These data will represent an important basis for prognostic climate modelling.

• DFG Programme: Research Units

Projects

• 14C in speleothems (Applicant Kromer, Bernd )
• C- and O-isotope and trace element composition of synthetic carbonates (Applicant Mangini, Augusto )
• Calibration and application of the new delta26Mg weathering proxy in speleothem research (Applicant Immenhauser, Adrian )
• Dated speleothems, archives of the paleoenvironment (Applicant Mangini, Augusto )
• Holocene isotope modelling: Integrating model simulations with stalagmite proxy data (Applicant Lohmann, Gerrit )
• Noble gas thermometry on fluid inclusions in speleothems: Optimization and application of a new method for paleoclimate reconstruction (Applicant Aeschbach, Werner )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Augusto Mangini