Miocene Climate Change
Coupled Southern Ocean cooling and Antarctic ice sheet expansion during the middle Miocene
In this study, we looked into the thermal evolution of the Southern Ocean during a period of major Antarctic ice sheet growth using two independent temperature proxies (TEX86 and clumped isotopes). We challenge the hypothesis of thermal isolation of Antarctica that has led to the glaciation and suggest a strong coupling between Southern Ocean temperature conditions and Antarctic ice volume in times of declining atmospheric CO2.
MioOCEAN temperature synthesis
As part of the steering committee of MioOcean temperature synthesis and the group leader of theTEX86 group, I collected, compiled, validated and evaluated sea surface temperature data sets covering the Miocene. In total the MioOcean compilation consists of over 21,000 data entries, from over 160 publications, in over 90 core sites across 5 different temperature proxies.
The synthesis will soon be available.
Pacific upwelling and primary productivity
In this ongoing project I reconstruct past primary productivity and surface nutrient consumption using alkenones and FB-δ15N in IODP Site U1337. The combined biomarker and nitrogen isotope data can be used to assess Pacific equatorial upwelling dynamics across the Miocene.
Millenial scale methane release during warm period
I currently work on a project that investigates seafloor methane release during Middle Miocene Climate Optimum using lipid biomarkers and compound-specific isotopes. Stay tuned for results!