Dynamics of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and deep Southern Ocean oxygenation linked to atmospheric CO2 variation over the past million years

• Applicant: Dr. Shuzhuang Wu, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Palaeontology ; Oceanography
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 465743599

The voluminous deep ocean remineralized carbon reservoir and the dynamics of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) are regarded as key components modulating Plio-Pleistocene climate change on orbital- to millennial timescales.This project aims to reconstruct the spatio-temporal variability in ACC flow intensity over the past million years based on independent physical and chemical proxies using marine sediment cores retrieved from the three basins of Southern Ocean, thus providing a novel perspective on the link between climate evolution and Southern Ocean circulation.A second objective relates to reconstructing past changes in deep water oxygenation and trace water mass provenance to better document the processes modulating global overturning circulation changes through time. This task will allow distinguishing Southern Ocean processes linked to CO2 variations across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) and Mid-Brunhes Event.The results collected in the context of this proposal will thus advance our understanding related to the connection between climate and ACC dynamics and Southern Ocean processes linked to CO2 variations in the past, which will thus increase our ability to better project its future behavior in the face of anthropogenic climate change.

• DFG Programme: WBP Fellowship
• International Connection: Switzerland
• Host: Professor Dr. Samuel Jaccard