Banda Sea and the Indonesian Throughflow variability during the past 700,000 years

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Mahyar Mohtadi Hamadani
• Subject Area: Palaeontology ; Oceanography
• Term: from 2021 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 446964017

The Banda Sea is a critical basin in mixing and modifying of the subsurface water masses entering the Indian Ocean from the Pacific Ocean, called the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF). Mixing of the relatively saltier South Pacific and fresher North Pacific source waters of the ITF takes place here, where the depth and temperature of the thermocline are capable of generating large atmospheric feedbacks and rainfall anomalies. However, the contribution of South Pacific water masses to the ITF is unknown due to the lack of instrumental records and proxy-based reconstructions from the Banda Sea. We propose for funding to reconstruct 700,000 years of surface and thermocline conditions from shell Mg/Ca and oxygen isotopes of two planktic foraminifera species from a marine core in the Banda Sea. By reconstructing the upper water conditions in the Banda Sea from multi-centennial to orbital timescales and under different climate boundary conditions, we will elucidate the relative contributions of the different source waters to the ITF, their relation to sea-level changes, and to convection and rainfall over Indonesia.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants