Last Interglacial Ocean of the Nordic Seas

• Applicant: Dr. Henning A. Bauch
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2005 to 2010
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5442670

As inferred from previous paleoceanographic research in the northeast Atlantic, influence of warm, subtropical surface water at mid-latitudes was higher during the peak of the last interglaciation (MIS 5e) than in the Holocene. However, such finding is somewhat contradictory to data from further north in the Nodic seas, where lower sea furface temperatures and a larger seasonal sea-ice over probably existed during MIS 5e. The planned study tries to resolve this controversy by unravelling surface ocean properties as induced by overall atmospheric-oceanic forcing during MIS 5e and the ensuing time of glacial intensification (MIS 5d-a). Work will focus on reconstructiong upper water column properties in the eastern Nordic seas, i.e., vertical and spatial temperature-salinity gradients. A profound micropaleontological approach using dinocycts and refined planktic foraminiferal diversities will be applied in combination with geochemical and sedimentary proxies, such as records of multispecies stable O/C isotopes and ice-rafted debris.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Jörn Thiede (†)