Suborbital climate variability in the Southern Ocean (SUBCLIMATE): Comparision and potential forcing using high-resolution sediment physical, geochemical, and micropaleotological

• Applicants: Dr. Gerhard Kuhn; Professor Dr. Werner Ricken (†)
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2007 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 29589599

The project SUBCLIMATE intends to study suborbital climate cycles of the Weddell Sea and the Scotia Sea as part of the Southern Ocean Initiative of the International Marine Past Global Change Study (IMAGES) program. Scientific goals of our study are (i) a high-resolution insight into ice-sheet dynamics. Through a combination of bottom water and surface water climate signals, we will investigate internal and external forcing factors that influence, for instance, (ii) Antarctic Bottom Water production and the associated development of the Southern Ocean and the global thermohaline circulation. In addition, our aim is to data the retreat of the Antarctic ice masses (iii) at the end of the last glacial, and to conduct (iiii) a bi-polar comparison of suborbital climate change. To achieve this goal, we will create ultrahigh-resolution paleoclimate proxy records through a combination of traditional analytical means (e.g., ¿18O, ¿13C, ICP/MS, , diatoms, carbonate, Corg) and state-of-the-art core logging techniques (Multi-Sensor Core Logger, Geoscan color logger, XRF-scanner). Those proxy records will be dated by AMS14C, ¿18O, and geomagnetic paleointensity, and investigated, together with globally distributed records of suborbital climate variability, for spectral and cross-spectral behavior, to provide clues about underlying mechanisms and forcing factors of suborbital climate change.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Dr. Rainer Gersonde