Project Details
Projekt
Holocene climate dynamics and biogeochemical cycles in the Mediterranean Sea (HOBIMED)
Applicant
Professor Dr. Gerhard Schmiedl
Subject Area
Palaeontology
Term
from 2007 to 2014
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 42266882
We propose to study the mechanisms leading from deglacial and Holocene climate change to changed biogeochemical cycling in the Mediterranean Sea. We concentrate on this basin because it is a semi-enclosed ocean basin with very large amplitude reactions in the physical circulation regime to variations in the hydrological balance. The past variability of biogeochemical processes and marine ecosystems of this ocean is documented in the form of organic-rich sapropels that occurred at northern hemisphere insolation maxima. In order to understand the sensitivity of the Mediterranean Sea to high- and low-latitude climate forcing and to gauge the range of response to expected global change, we will model the Mediterranean Sea at times of the last deglaciation and climate extremes in the Holocene, including the transition into sapropel S1, the interruption of sapropel formation around 8.2 kyr BP, and reventilation during the Holocene Climate Optimum. Our Dual+ concept will be realized by the validation of global and regional Earth system model experiments with available and new proxy data from the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The aim of these experiments is to understand and quantify the relative role of the different forcing mechanisms and time scales involved in generating a state with stagnant and anoxic deepwater in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
Participating Persons
Professor Dr. Kay-Christian Emeis; Dr. Ernst Maier-Reimer (†); Dr. Uwe Mikolajewicz
