- Marine geology
- Sedimentology
- Desert dust and aeolian sedimentary processes.
- Paleaclimate reconstructions
Dr. Jan Berend Stuut
Research interests & specialization
I study two main aspects of desert dust:
1) the depositional aspect allows me to study dust dispersal in the geologic past. Just like rivers nearly always flow to the sea and deliver sediments, winds always blow off land masses and deposit dust in the ocean. Using such marine archives of sediment deposition, I try to reconstruct past environmental conditions in dust-source regions.
2) the marine-environmental effects that dust has are most likely enormous. Desert dust contains all kinds of nutrients and metals, from which marine life can profit. In a couple of projects I am trying to answer the question if dust can be used as an artifical fertiliser for the ocean. We think that this is happening in nature, and should this be the case, we could potentially apply it as a means to combat climate change.
Much more information on dust-related studies at NIOZ can be found at the institute's dustiest website at www.nioz.nl/dust .
In addition, we are regularly publishing dusty news in the NIOZ dust-blog
Alternatively, you can find more dusty info on my personal website at: www.stuut.tv
Linked news
Thursday 23 May 2019
Sugar molecule contributes to reconstruction of prehistoric fire
Little is currently known about how early humans first used fire. That will now change thanks to a new proxy, a measurable substance that can be used to demonstrate forest fires in a distant past. The proxy is the organic substance levoglucosan, a…
Wednesday 12 December 2018
Reuzenstof uit Sahara beïnvloedt atmosfeer en oceaan tot in Cariben
Saharastof verspreidt zich met de passaatwinden duizenden kilometers vanuit het brongebied in westelijke richting over de Atlantische Oceaan. Een nieuw inzicht daarbij is dat óók de grote fractie van het stof (tot ca. een halve millimeter in…
Linked blogs
Tuesday 05 November 2019
Expedition 64PE464: DUST2019
From 11 to 23 November 2019 we have been chasing Saharan dust once more.
On 11 November RV Pelagia has left the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain) to sail south for a two-week expedition to service both the dust-collecting buoys "Carmen" and…
Monday 01 July 2019
DUST | Loooooong tropical-cyclone records
In their new paper that appeared today in the open-access journal Geophysical Research Letters, Jan-Berend Stuut and colleagues present one of the longest existing continuous records (5.3 Million years) of climate history of the northwestern part of…
Tuesday 23 April 2019
DUST | Spring dust is in the air!
Not only spring is in the air; a lot of Saharan dust is presently also blowing towards northern Europe.
The distance between the sources in northern Africa and The Netherlands is so large that the material is predominantly very fine grained: clay…
Thursday 13 December 2018
DUST | Giant dust particles in new Science paper
In their new paper that appeared today in the open-access version of Science, Michèlle van der Does and colleagues show how so-called "giant dust particles" defy gravity and are blown through the atmosphere across distances of several thousands of…
Friday 07 December 2018
DUST | PhD Defence Michèlle van der Does
As of today, Michèlle van der Does may call herself a PhD; she successfully defended her thesis "Saharan dust from a marine perspective: transport and deposition along a transect in the Atlantic Ocean" at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. A committee…
Sunday 04 November 2018
Expedition MSM79: chasing Saharan dust
From 9 November until 3 December this year, four NIOZ colleagues have joined expedition MSM79 on board the German research vessel Maria S. Merian, sailing from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain) to Mindelo on Sao Vicente (Cape Verde).
Through this…
Tuesday 16 October 2018
PhD defence Laura Korte
From this day on, Laura Korte may call herself a PhD; she successfully defended her thesis “Saharan dust deposition in the equatorial North Atlantic Ocean and its impact on particle export fluxes” at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. A committee of…
Wednesday 08 August 2018
NIOZ@SEA | Saharan dust in the Mediterranean
Research expedition 64PE443 onboard RV Pelagia takes place from 9 to 13 August 2018 and is dedicated to recovering a set of geodetic instruments that have been recording sea-floor movements related to the activity of Mount Etna, as well as to…
Wednesday 04 July 2018
Saharan dust at the source
In their new paper, Michèlle van der Does and colleagues show how the so-called radiogenic isotopes of Sr, Nd, and Hf, as well as a suite of rare-earth elements can be used to demonstrate the Saharan origin of sediments collected while sinking…
Thursday 31 May 2018
Ballasting potential of Saharan dust
In their new paper, Helga van der Jagt (AWI-Bremerhaven, Germany) and colleagues show how Saharan dust particles and marine snow can increase the export of organic matter from the surface ocean towards the sea floor. This process is essential for the…
NIOZ publications
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2019
de Bar, M.W.; Ullgren, J.E.; Thunnell, R.C.; Wakeham, S.G.; Brummer, G.-J. A.; Stuut, J.-B.W.; Sinninghe Damsté, J.S; Schouten, S. (2019). Long-chain diols in settling particles in tropical oceans: insights into sources, seasonality and proxies. Biogeosciences 16(8): 1705-1727. https://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-1705-2019De Deckker, P.; Arnold, L.J.; van der Kaars, S.; Bayon, G.; Stuut, J.-B.W.; Perner, K.; Lopes dos Santos, R.; Uemura, R.; Demuro, M. (2019). Marine isotope stage 4 in Australasia: A full glacial culminating 65,000 years ago – Global connections and implications for human dispersal. Quat. Sci. Rev. 204: 187-207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.11.017De Deckker, P.; Barrows, T.T.; Stuut, J.-B.W.; van der Kaars, S.; Ayress, M. A.; Rogers, J.; Chaproniere, G. (2019). Land–sea correlations in the Australian region: 460 ka of changes recorded in a deep-sea core offshore Tasmania. Part 2: the marine compared with the terrestrial record. Aust. J. Earth. Sci. 66(1): 17-36. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08120099.2018.1495101Guerreiro, C.V.; Baumann, K.-H.; Brummer, G.-J. A.; Korte, L.F.; Sá, C.; Stuut, J.-B.W. (2019). Transatlantic gradients in calcifying phytoplankton (coccolithophore) fluxes. Prog. Oceanogr. 176: 102140. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2019.102140
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2018
Bom, R.A.; Philippart, C.J.M.; van der Heide, T.; de Fouw, J; Camphuysen, C.J.; Dethmer, K.; Folmer, E.O.; Stocchi, P.; Stuut, J.-B.; van der Veer, H.W.; Al Zakwani, I. (2018). Barr Al Hikman: a pristine coastal ecosystem in the Sultanate of Oman: Current state of knowledge and future research challenges. NIOZ-rapport, 2018(1). NIOZ Royal Institute for Sea Research: Texel. 61 pp.Granger, R.; Meadows, M.E.; Hahn, A.; Zabel, M.; Stuut, J-B W.; Herrmann, N.; Schefuß, E. (2018). Late-Holocene dynamics of sea-surface temperature and terrestrial hydrology in southwestern Africa. Holocene 28(5): 695-705. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683617744259Schreuder, L.T.; Hopmans, E.C.; Stuut, J.-B.W.; Sinninghe Damsté, J.S.; Schouten, S. (2018). Transport and deposition of the fire biomarker levoglucosan across the tropical North Atlantic Ocean. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 227: 171-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2018.02.020Schreuder, L.T.; Stuut, J.-B. W.; Korte, L.F.; Sinninghe Damsté, J.S.; Schouten, S. (2018). Aeolian transport and deposition of plant wax n-alkanes across the tropical North Atlantic Ocean. Org. Geochem. 115: 113-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2017.10.010van der Does, M.; Knippertz, P.; Zschenderlein, P.; Harrison, G.R.; Stuut, J.-B.W. (2018). The mysterious long-range transport of giant mineral dust particles. Science Advances 4(12): eaau2768. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau2768van der Does, M.; Pourmand, A.; Sharifi, A.; Stuut, J.-B.W. (2018). North African mineral dust across the tropical Atlantic Ocean: Insights from dust particle size, radiogenic Sr-Nd-Hf isotopes and rare earth elements (REE). Aeolian Research 33: 106-116. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aeolia.2018.06.001van der Jagt, H.; Friese, C.; Stuut, J-B W.; Fischer, G.; Iversen, M.H. (2018). The ballasting effect of Saharan dust deposition on aggregate dynamics and carbon export: Aggregation, settling, and scavenging potential of marine snow. Limnol. Oceanogr. 63(3): 1386-1394. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lno.10779
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2017
Bernhardt, A.; Schwanghart, W.; Hebbeln, D.; Stuut, J-B W.; Strecker, M.R. (2017). Immediate propagation of deglacial environmental change to deep-marine turbidite systems along the Chile convergent margin. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 473: 190-204. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.05.017Friese, C.A.; van Hateren, J.A.; Vogt, C.; Fischer, G.; Stuut, J.-B.W. (2017). Seasonal provenance changes in present-day Saharan dust collected in and off Mauritania. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 17: 10163-10193. https://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-131Guerreiro, C.V.; Baumann, K.-H.; Brummer, G.-J. A.; Fischer, G.; Korte, L.F.; Merkel, U.; Sá, C.; de Stigter, H.; Stuut, J.-B.W. (2017). Coccolithophore fluxes in the open tropical North Atlantic: influence of thermocline depth, Amazon water, and Saharan dust. Biogeosciences 14(20): 4577-4599. https://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-4577-2017Korte, L.F.; Brummer, G.-J. A.; van der Does, M.; Guerreiro, C.V.; Hennekam, R.; van Hateren, J.A.; Jong, D.; Munday, C.I.; Schouten, S.; Stuut, J-B W. (2017). Downward particle fluxes of biogenic matter and Saharan dust across the equatorial North Atlantic. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 17(9): 6023-6040. https://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6023-2017Wu, J.; Liu, Z.; Stuut, J-B W.; Zhao, Y.; Schirone, A.; de Lange, G.J. (2017). North-African paleodrainage discharges to the central Mediterranean during the last 18,000 years: A multiproxy characterization. Quat. Sci. Rev. 163: 95-113. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.03.015
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2016
Friese, C.A.; van der Does, M.; Merkel, U.; Iversen, M.H.; Fischer, G.; Stuut, J-B W. (2016). Environmental factors controlling the seasonal variability in particle sizedistribution of modern Saharan dust deposited off Cape Blanc. Aeolian Research 22: 165–179. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aeolia.2016.04.005McKay, C.L.; Filipsson, H.L.; Romero, O.E.; Stuut, J.-B. W.; Bjorck, S. (2016). The interplay between the surface and bottom water environment within the Benguela Upwelling System over the last 70 ka. Paleoceanography 31(2): 266–285. dx.doi.org/10.1002/2015PA002792van der Does, M.; Korte, L.F.; Munday, C.I.; Brummer, G.-J. A.; Stuut, J-B W. (2016). Particle size traces modern Saharan dust transport and deposition across the equatorial North Atlantic. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 16: 13697–13710. dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13697-2016
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2015
Carreira, C; Piel, T; Staal, M.; Stuut, J.-B; Middelboe, M.; Brussaard, C.P.D. (2015). Microscale spatial distributions of microbes and viruses in intertidal photosynthetic microbial mats. SpringerPlus 4: 239. dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40064-015-0977-8
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2014
De Deckker, P.; Munday, C.I.; Brocks, J.; O'Loingsigh, T.; Allison, G.E.; Hope, J.; Norman, M.; Stuut, J.-B.; Tapper, N.J.; van der Kaars, S. (2014). Characterisation of the major dust storm that traversed over eastern Australia in September 2009; a multidisciplinary approach. Aeolian Research 15: 133-149. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aeolia.2014.07.003Deplazes, G.; Lückge, A.; Stuut, J.-B.; Pätzold, J.; Kuhlmann, H.; Husson, D.; Fant, M.; Haug, G.H. (2014). Weakening and strengthening of the Indian monsoon during Heinrich events and Dansgaard-Oeschger oscillations. Paleoceanography 29(2): 99-114. dx.doi.org/10.1002/2013PA002509Just, J.; Schefuß, E.; Kuhlmann, H.; Stuut, J.B.W.; Pätzold, J. (2014). Climate induced sub-basin source-area shifts of Zambezi River sediments over the past 17 ka. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 410: 190-199. hdl.handle.net/10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.05.045Knippertz, P.; Stuut, J.-B. (2014). Mineral Dust : A Key Player in the Earth System. Springer: Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London. ISBN 9789401789783. I-XXV; 1-509 pp. hdl.handle.net/10.1007/978-94-017-8978-3Knippertz, P.; Stuut, J.-B. (2014). Introduction, in: Knippertz, P. et al. Mineral Dust : A Key Player in the Earth System. pp. 1-14. hdl.handle.net/10.1007/978-94-017-8978-3_1Snik, F.; Rietjens, J.H.H.; Apituley, A.; Volten, H.; Mijling, B.; Di Noia, A.; Heikamp, S.; Heinsbroek, R.C.; Hasekamp, O.P.; Smit. , J.M.; Vonk, J.; Stam, D.M.; van Harten, G.; de Boer, J.; Keller, C.U.; iSPEX citizen scientists; Stuut, J.B.W.; Wernand, M.R.; Philippart, C.J.M. (2014). Mapping atmospheric aerosols with a citizen science network of smartphone spectropolarimeters. Geophys. Res. Lett. 41(20): 7351–7358. hdl.handle.net/10.1002/2014GL061462Stuut, J.-B. (2014). Subaquatic Dust Deposits, in: Knippertz, P. et al. Mineral Dust : A Key Player in the Earth System. pp. 443-462. hdl.handle.net/10.1007/978-94-017-8978-3_17Stuut, J.-B.W.; Temmesfeld, F.; De Deckker, P. (2014). A 550 ka record of aeolian activity near North West Cape, Australia: inferences from grain-size distributions and bulk chemistry of SE Indian Ocean deep-sea sediments. Quat. Sci. Rev. 83: 83-94. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.11.003
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2013
Lengger, S.K.; Kraaij, M.; Tjallingii, R.; Baas, M.; Stuut, J.-B.; Hopmans, E.C.; Sinninghe Damsté, J.S.; Schouten, S. (2013). Differential degradation of intact polar and core glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether lipids upon post-depositional oxidation. Org. Geochem. 65: 83-93. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2013.10.004McGee, D.; deMenocal, P.B.; Winckler, G.; Stuut, J.B.W.; Bradtmiller, L.I. (2013). The magnitude, timing and abruptness of changes in North African dust deposition over the last 20,000 yr. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 371: 163-176. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.054Meyer, I.; Davies, G.R.; Vogt, C.; Kuhlmann, H.; Stuut, J.B.W. (2013). Changing rainfall patterns in NW Africa since the Younger Dryas. Aeolian Research 10: 111-123. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aeolia.2013.03.003Weldeab, S.; Stuut, J.-B.W.; Schneider, R.R.; Siebel, W. (2013). Holocene climate variability in the winter rainfall zone of South Africa. Clim. Past 9: 2347-2364. hdl.handle.net/10.5194/cp-9-2347-2013
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2012
Bertrand, S.; Hughen, K.A.; Lamy, F.; Stuut, J.-B.W.; Torrejón, F.; Lange, C.B. (2012). Precipitation as the main driver of Neoglacial fluctuations of Gualasglacier, Northern Patagonian Icefield. Clim. Past 8(2): 519-534. dx.doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-519-2012Bloemsma, M.R.; Zabel, M.; Stuut, J.B.W.; Tjallingii, R.; Collins, J.A.; Weltje, G.J. (2012). Modelling the joint variability of grain size and chemical composition in sediments. Sediment. Geol. 280: 135-148. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2012.04.009Thierens, M.; Pirlet, H.; Colin, C.; Latruwe, K.; Vanhaecke, F.; Lee, J.R.; Stuut, J.-B.; Titschaeck, J.; Titschack, J.; Huvenne, V.; Dorschel, B.; Wheeler, A.J.; Henriet, J.P. (2012). Ice-rafting from the British-Irish ice sheet since the earliest Pleistocene (2.6 million years ago): implications for long-term mid-latitudinal ice-sheet growth in the North Atlantic region. Quat. Sci. Rev. 44: 229-240. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.12.020
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2011
Filipsson, H.L.; Romero, O.E.; Stuut, J.B.W. (2011). Relationships between primary productivity and bottom-water oxygenation off northwest Africa during the last deglaciation. J. Quaternary Sci. 26(4): 448-456. dx.doi.org/10.1002/jqs.1473Hamza, W.; Enan, M.R.; Al-Hassini, H.; Stuut, J.B.; de-Beer, D. (2011). Dust storms over the Arabian Gulf: a possible indicator of climate changes consequences. Aquat. ecosyst. health manag. 14(3): 260-268. dx.doi.org/10.1080/14634988.2011.601274Meyer, I.; Davies, G.R.; Stuut, J.B.W. (2011). Grain size control on Sr-Nd isotope provenance studies and impact on paleoclimate reconstructions: An example from deep-sea sediments offshore NW Africa. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 12. dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010GC003355Mohtadi, M.; Oppo, D.W.; Steinke, S.; Stuut, J.B.W.; De Pol-Holz, R.; Hebbeln, D.; Lückge, A.; Stuut, J.B.W.; De-Pol-Holz, R. (2011). Glacial to Holocene swings of the Australian-Indonesian monsoon. Nature Geoscience 4(8): 540-544. dx.doi.org/10.1038/NGEO1209Saukel, C.; Lamy, F.; Stuut, J.B.W.; Tiedemann, R.; Vogt, C. (2011). Distribution and provenance of wind-blown SE Pacific surface sediments. Mar. Geol. 280(1-4): 130-142. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2010.12.006Skonieczny, C.; Bory, A.; Bout-Roumazeilles, V.; Abouchami, W.; Galer, S.J.G.; Crosta, X.; Stuut, J.B.; Meyer, I.; Chiapello, I.; Podvin, T.; Chatenet, B.; Diallo, A.; Ndiaye, T. (2011). The 7-13 March 2006 major Saharan outbreak: Multiproxy characterization of mineral dust deposited on the West African margin. J. Geophys. Res. 116. dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016173
Linked projects
TRAFFIC_Transatlantic fluxes of Saharan dust
Supervisor
Jan Berend Stuut
Funder
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
Project duration
31 Dec 2012 - 31 Dec 2017
DustTraffic: Transatlantic fluxes of Saharan dust: changing climate through fertilising the ocean?
Supervisor
Jan Berend Stuut
Funder
European Community || European Research Council
Project duration
1 Oct 2012 - 30 Sep 2017
