The Black Sea Palaeoclimate and Environment during the penultimate glacial - reconstructions from lacustrine sediments (BlackPearl)

• Applicant: Dr. Antje Wegwerth
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2016 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 323005359

The Black Sea reacts very sensitive to global climate fluctuations occurring on glacial-interglacial but also on millennial timescales. Recent studies have shown that the so-called Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) climate variability clearly affected the regional climate and environmental conditions in the formerly Black Sea Lake during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 2-4 (20-64 ka BP), thus reflecting a close atmospheric teleconnection between the North Atlantic and Eurasia. Although DO-like climate variability may have also prevailed during the penultimate glacial (i.e. MIS 6; 130-180 ka BP), continental evidence including quantitative temperature reconstructions is missing to approve a similar northern-hemispheric teleconnection as during the last glacial (MIS 2-4). In frame of the RV Maria S. Merian cruise MSM 33 in 2013, unique sediment cores were retrieved from the SE Black Sea, which extend back up to ca. 180 ka BP thus covering the entire MIS 6. This project aims to reconstruct for the first time and at high-resolution the palaeoclimate and environmental evolution in the formerly isolated Black Sea Lake during MIS 6. A multi-proxy approach comprising e.g. organic biomarkers, ostracod geochemistry, and major and trace element geochemistry will serve for the following main objectives:1. Reconstruction of the regional climate trends during MIS 6 and the detailed reconstruction of short-term DO-like millennial-scale climate and environmental variability.2. Identification of the hydrological changes possibly linked to the major melting episode during the Fleuve Manche palaeoriver discharge (ca. 150-160 ka BP) of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet.3. A comparison of the last two glacial maxima will serve for assessing the importance of the different Fennoscandian Ice Sheet extents and associated atmospheric circulation patterns for climate and environmental changes in the Anatolian/eastern Mediterranean region.The analyses will be complemented by additional data including pollen and dinoflagellate assemblages as well as O- and Sr-isotopes on ostracods that will be provided by collaboration partners. These datasets will support the reconstructions of salinity and productivity in the limnic Black Sea as well as the characterisation of meltwater sources and vegetation changes in NE Anatolia.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Helge W. Arz