Former Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Stein

Overall goal of our research is the reconstruction of paleoclimate and paleoceanography of the High Northern Latitudes on different time scales, i.e., the long-term evolution from Greenhouse to Icehouse conditions during late Cretaceous/Early Cenozoic times and the short-term centennial-millenial variability. Of special interest are the history of circum-Arctic ice sheets and the Arctic Ocean organic carbon cycle (marine vs. terrigenous organic carbon flux; reconstruction of surface-water productivity, sea-ice cover, oxygenation of water masses). Large part of the research is embedded in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP).

Working Area

Arctic Ocean and adjacent marginal seas, North Atlantic, North Pacific/Bering Sea

Methods

Sedimentological and mineralogical investigations (X-Ray diffraction, MSCL logging, XRF scanning, microscopy, grain size) of terrigenous sediment fraction; determination of organic geochemical bulk parameters and biomarkers by means of elemental analysis, Rock-Eval pyrolysis, and GC and GC/MS techniques