Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

NESSC_Improving past climate records (WP2)

This is part of Work Package 2 of NESSC (Netherlands Earth System Science Centre)

Paleoclimate information is derived from the study of ice cores, stalagmites, soils and sediment accumulating in lakes and in the ocean. The organic and inorganic chemistry in the sediment, as well as the structure and fossil content, provide the necessary information for climate research.

With this work package NESSC aims to increase the resolution and accuracy of these records, so we can narrow down the range of uncertainties in reconstruction of key past climate periods.

photo: nwo.nl

Carbon dioxide and climate change

Many previous studies suggest a strong connection between carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and climate change. For example, when 34 million years ago the atmospheric carbon dioxide values dropped to about three times the pre-industrial levels, the Antarctic ice sheet was suddenly and rapidly established. There are many more examples of strong connections between the atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and major temperature fluctuations.

One of our main goals is to improve the reconstructions of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels beyond the temporal range of ice core records, which go back only 0.8 million years. Furthermore, we aim to improve temperature records, both in space and in time. Records of additional critical climate parameters such as hydrology, sea level and greenhouse gases are required to achieve this goal.

Project information
Funder:
Ministerie van OCW
Duration:
1 Jan 2014 - 31 Dec 2023
Partners
  • Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
  • Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA), The Netherlands
  • Utrecht University, The Netherlands
  • VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Wageningen University & Research Centre (WUR), The Netherlands

Meet the team

 
Reichart, Gert-Jan
Head of Scientific Department

Linked projects

Reconstructing sea surface temperatures in deep time
Supervisor
Stefan Schouten
Funder
Ministerie van OCW
Project duration
1 Jan 2019 - 31 Dec 2023
NESSC_High-resolution organic geochemical proxy records of critical time intervals III (WP2)
Supervisor
Stefan Schouten
Funder
Ministerie van OCW
Project duration
6 Dec 2015 - 10 Jul 2025
NESSC_A salinity proxy based on specific algal biomarkers δD values (WP1)
Supervisor
Stefan Schouten
Funder
Ministerie van OCW
Project duration
6 Nov 2015 - 28 Feb 2021
NESSC-WP2_High-resolution organic geochemical proxy records of critical time intervals I
Supervisor
Stefan Schouten
Funder
Ministerie van OCW
Project duration
11 Jul 2015 - 5 Mar 2022
NESSC_Towards reconstructing past atmospheric methane concentrations using organic biomarkers (WP1)
Supervisor
Stefan Schouten
Funder
Ministerie van OCW
Project duration
10 Jul 2015 - 5 Nov 2025
NESSC_Foraminiferal salinity proxy (WP1)
Supervisor
Gert-Jan Reichart
Funder
Ministerie van OCW
Project duration
1 Jan 2014 - 31 Aug 2018
NESSC_New generation of foraminiferal proxies (WP1)
Supervisor
Gert-Jan Reichart
Funder
NA
Project duration
1 Jan 2014 - 31 Dec 2023
NESSC_High Resolution Organic Geochemical Records (WP2)
Supervisor
Stefan Schouten
Funder
Ministerie van OCW
Project duration
31 Dec 2013 - 11 Jul 2025
NESSC_Developing biomarker proxies for aerobic and anaerobic methane oxidation (WP1)
Supervisor
Stefan Schouten
Funder
Ministerie van OCW
Project duration
31 Dec 2013 - 11 Jul 2025

Linked publications

  • 2017
    Frieling, J.; Gebhardt, H.; Huber, M.; Adekeye, O.A.; Akande, S.O.; Reichart, G.-J.; Middelburg, J.J.; Schouten, S.; Sluijs, A. (2017). Extreme warmth and heat-stressed plankton in the tropics during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. Science Advances 3(3): e1600891. https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600891
    Loomis, S.E.; Russell, J.M.; Verschuren, D.; Morrill, C.; De Cort, G.; Sinninghe Damsté, J.S.; Olago, D.; Eggermont, H.; Street-Perrott, F.A.; Kelly, M.A. (2017). The tropical lapse rate steepened during the Last Glacial Maximum. Science Advances 3(1): e1600815. https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600815
    O'Brien, C.L.; Robinson, S.A.; Pancost, R.D.; Sinninghe Damsté, J.S.; Schouten, S.; Lunt, D.J.; Alsenz, H.; Bornemann, A.; Bottini, C.; Brassell, S.C.; Farnsworth, A.; Forster, A.; Huber, B.T.; Inglis, G.N.; Jenkyns, H.C.; Linnert, C.; Littler, K.; Markwick, P.; McAnena, A.; Mutterlose, J.; Naafs, B.D.A.; Püttmann, W.; Sluijs, A.; van Helmond, N.A.G.M.; Vellekoop, J.; Wagner, T.; Wrobel, N.E. (2017). Cretaceous sea-surface temperature evolution: Constraints from TEX86 and planktonic foraminiferal oxygen isotopes. Earth-Sci. Rev. 172: 224-247. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.07.012
    Rush, D.; Sinninghe Damsté, J.S. (2017). Lipids as paleomarkers to constrain the marine nitrogen cycle. Environ. Microbiol. 19(6): 2119–2132,. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.13682
  • 2016
    Johnson, T.C.; Werne, J.P.; Brown, E.T.; Abbott, A.; Berke, M.; Steinman, B.E.; Halbur, J.; Contreras, S.; Grosshuesch, S.; Deino, A.; Lyons, R.P.; Scholz, C.A.; Schouten, S.; Sinninghe Damsté, J.S. (2016). A progressively wetter climate in southern East Africa over the past 1.3 million years. Nature (Lond.) 537(7619): 220-224. dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature19065