Eutrophication not only is a present-day anthropogenic phenomenon in the southern Baltic but also occurred over the past few millennia, with cyanobacterial blooms during times of climate warming.
paleoclimatology & paleoceanography
The Akkadian Empire—Felled by Dust?
Chemical measurements of a stalagmite from a cave in Iran reveal a large uptick in dust activity in northern Mesopotamia roughly 4,200 years ago, coincident with the decline of the Akkadian Empire.
Investigating the Northern Indian Ocean’s Puzzling Geodynamics
International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Proposal Nurturing Workshop on Indian Ocean; Goa, India, 17–18 September 2018
Huge Global Tsunami Followed Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Impact
The cataclysmic Chicxulub impact roughly 66 million years ago spawned a tsunami that produced wave heights of several meters in distant waters, new simulations suggest.
Tiny Marine Shells Reveal Past Patterns in Ocean Dynamics
A 400,000-year calcium carbonate record from the ocean floor sheds light on deep-ocean circulation and on mechanisms driving climate patterns and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.
How Did Life Recover After Earth’s Worst-Ever Mass Extinction?
Ocean animals at the top of the food chain recovered first after a cataclysm at the end of the Permian period. The extinction was triggered by events resembling the changes brewing in today’s oceans.
Severe Drought May Have Helped Hasten Ancient Maya’s Collapse
Chemical signatures from sediments in lake cores reveal that the centuries-long drought during the fall of Classic Maya civilization was worse than researchers had imagined.
How Paleofire Research Can Better Inform Ecosystem Management
Global Paleofire Working Group 2: Paleofire Knowledge for Current and Future Ecosystem Management; Saint-Hippolyte, Quebec, Canada, 10–14 October 2017
Radiocarbon in the Oceans
Offsets in radiocarbon concentration within the ocean or between the ocean and the atmosphere are particularly useful proxies for a variety of studies.
Reconstructing Climate and Environment from Coral Archives
Tropical Coral Archives—Reconstructions of Climate and Environment Beyond the Instrumental Record at Society-Relevant Timescales; Bremen, Germany, 28 September 2017
