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Multidisciplinary study of continental/ocean climate dynamics using high-resolution records from the eastern mediterranean (MOCCHA)

English title Multidisciplinary study of continental/ocean climate dynamics using high-resolution records from the eastern mediterranean (MOCCHA)
Applicant Bernasconi Stefano
Number 115934
Funding scheme Project funding (special)
Research institution Geologisches Institut ETH Zürich
Institution of higher education ETH Zurich - ETHZ
Main discipline Geology
Start/End 01.04.2008 - 31.03.2011
Approved amount 273'850.00
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Keywords (9)

multidisciplinary study; high-resolution record; land-ocean interaction; paleoclimate; isotope geochemistry; stable isotopes; Mediterranean; palaeoceanography; paleoclimatology

Lay Summary (English)

Lead
Lay summary
The Mediterranean sea is located at a strategic position between low and mid-latitude borderlands, and between monsoonal and North Atlantic-influenced climate systems. Therefore, it is an important and sensitive site to obtain continuous high-resolution paleoclimate records over at least one Glacial-Interglacial interval. Such records are rare but vital for our understanding of causes and consequences of climate and environmental change at decadal to millennial time scales. High-resolution records are extremely difficult to get in marine settings because of bioturbation, degradation, and low sedimentation rates. However, preliminary studies on the two coring sites that will be studied in detail during this project, indicate that our proposed sites seem to be very sensitive climate recorders that can provide climate reconstructions with sub-decadal resolution. In particular our first target, a near-coastal site in the Gulf of Taranto, has been shown to have a high-frequency 11-yr climate cycle for the thus far recovered last 2.000 years. Our preliminary studies have also revealed that similar cycles occur at a deep anoxic basin site in the Ionian sea, were we also aim to complete an uninterrupted 11-year sediment trap time series. The data obtained from sediment cores, together with satellite and other observations, will permit us to understand the mechanisms underlying the observed 11-year climatic cycles and the relative importance of temperature, salinity, marine biogenic productivity and changes in land-derived fluxes. Comparison of the deep-ocean anoxic basin sites to the near-coastal sediments will allow to unravel near-coastal land-ocean interaction dominated signals, from typical deep-ocean signals. In addition, we wish to calibrate new geochemical proxies for temperature so as to make them applicable to older times. This project aims at assessing the origin and mechanisms of the observed climatic variations, and to provide a basis to evaluate their potential functioning in more remote time periods such as may be recovered using IODP drilling.
Direct link to Lay Summary Last update: 21.02.2013

Responsible applicant and co-applicants

Employees

Associated projects

Number Title Start Funding scheme
143485 Application of Clumped Isotope Thermometry to burial diagenetic and low temperature hydrothermal systems. 01.02.2013 Project funding
134987 Multidisciplinary study Of Continental/ocean Climate dynamics using High-resolution records from the eastern mediterraneAn (MOCCHA): Part 2 01.04.2011 Project funding
160377 Glacial-interglacial temperature changes based on clumped isotopes in foraminifera from the Mediterranean Sea. 01.01.2015 International short research visits
169849 Improving the reconstruction of deep-time paleoclimate and diagenetic history of sedimentary basins with carbonate clumped isotopes. 01.01.2017 Project funding
154501 4th International Workshop on Clumped Isotopes 01.08.2014 Scientific Conferences
160046 Clumped Isotope Thermometry in burial diagenetic systems - part 2: new constraints on the kinetics of 13C-18O bond reordering from contact metamorphic aureoles of magmatic intrusions 01.04.2015 Project funding

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