NECLIME related projects
 

Armenia

The Environment of Early Man in Armenia - Climate and Vegetation Reconstruction of the Early Pleistocene (Gabrielyan, Bruch)

This project aims to reconstruct the Early Pleistocene environment in Armenia in order to understand the prerequisites for the first appearance of Humans in this area. This will help to localise possible archaeological sites in the future and to reconstruct the habitat of Early Man. Moreover, the results will also be put into a global perspective.
All over the territory of Armenia Pleistocene lake sediments (diatomites) occur that give evidence of a fast changing setting of lake environments since at least 2 million years. These habitats are known now by archaeologists to be favoured in Armenia by early humans at least since Middle Pleistocene. Additionally, these sequences are perfectly suitable for palaeoenvironmental studies as they are yielding various fossil remains, which can give valuable information about the flora and fauna of the period, and about climate, vegetation and lake history.
The main goals of the project are to reconstruct in detail the early Pleistocene vegetation and climate history in Armenia based on various fossil plant remains (leaves, fruits and seeds, pollen, phytoliths). Moreover, other fossil groups (diatoms, molluscs, fishes, insects) will help to identify the entire environment in and around the lake(s) in order to draw a complete picture of how suitable the landscape was for human occupation at that time.
Quantitative climate data derived from fossil floras will serve for the understanding of the regional climate development in high-resolution, and also for a correlation of the Armenian climate and vegetation history with the global record. Studies on the vegetation development, the history of landscape openness and its dependence on climate parameters will shed light on the development of grasslands in Armenia during late Neogene, which seems to be an important factor in human evolution and dispersal. However, the expected results will be not only of regional importance but also will serve for a better understanding of the global climate system in general and the interaction between climate and vegetation.

Bulgaria

An Oligocene “volcanoe” flora from the NE Rhodopes – taxonomic inventory, palaeo-ecology and climate (Bozukov, Ivanov, Mosbrugger, Utescher)

Funded by the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum.

Ecosystem and climate evolution in the Neogene of Bulgaria (Ashraf, Bozukov, Djorgova, Hristova, Ivanov, Mosbrugger, Tsenov, Utescher)

Ecosystem and climate evolution in the Neogene of Bulgaria are reconstructed based on palynological records from continental and marginal marine basins in Bulgaria. Short-term changes of climate and vegetation observed in the cyclic sequences represent a special focus of the study.
Funded up to 2007: DFG AS 103/3-1 - Bul 113 / 139 / 0-1

Neogene biodiversity and vegetation analysis in Bulgaria (Ivanov)

Funded by National Science Fund (NSF) of Bulgaria; B-1525.

P.R.China

Oligocene fossil plants and paleoenvironment of Gansu Province, NW China (Defei Yan, Bainian Sun, Guangpu Xie)

The project aims to synthetically study fossil plants and environmental change in Paleogene by use of angiosperm compression fossils from the Oligocene in Gansu Province, NW China. The research makes use of fossils plants to study the influences of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau uplift on fossil plants in Paleogene and investigates biological information and environmental data about the greenhouse effect qualitatively and quantitatively. It analyzes the coexistence characteristics of fossil plants to discuss the flora composition of paleovegetations and the diversity of fossil plants, and investigates coupling process between fossil plants and palaeoenvironmental change.


Oligocene-Miocene fossil plants and paleoenvironment of the Qaidam Basin in Qinghai Province, NW China (Defei Yan, Bainian Sun, Hong Li)

The project studies on the fossil plants from the Oligocene-Miocene in the Qaidam Basin, Qinghai Province, NW China. It includes investigating cuticular micro-structure of angiosperm plant fossils, analyzing stomatal parameters and carbon isotope of fossils systemically, and comparing fossil plant with its nearest living relative species to obtain information of palaeo-CO2 concentration and environmental change which were recorded in fossil plants in geological time.

Quantitative reconstruction of Neogene climate patterns in Northern China based on the plant fossil record (Liu, Utescher, Zhe-Kun)

The Miocene climate evolution in North China is discussed by means of comparisons in seven climate parameters quantitatively reconstructed by the Coexistence Approach on 34 carefully selected macro- and microfloras over North China. North China is an ideal region for study of the origin of East Asian monsoon system. Therefore the studies have a special focus on the evolution of precipitation patterns during the Neogene.

Quantitative reconstruction of paleoclimate based on the Tertiary plant fossils from the eastern margin of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (Xie Sanping)

This investigation aims to obtain the quantitative climate signals based on the Tertiary fossil plants from the eastern margin of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Taxa-dependent methodology (e.g. Nearest Living Relatives, Coexist Analysis) and taxa-independent mothodolgy (e.g. CLAMP, Leaf Margin Analysis) will be used in this project. This paleobotanical result will provide additional evidence for the study of the monsoon evolution and the uplift of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Study on environmental palaeobotany based on Miocene Fagaceae and Betulaceae from Lincang of Yunnan Province (Xie Sanping)

This study investigates the Miocene Fagaceae and Betulaceae fossil plants from Lincang of Yunnan Province, China with the interdisciplinary methodologies of plant anatomy, organic geochemistry and statistics. We expect to select out some sensitive species to environmental changes and get the linkage among phytophysiological characters, climate changes and Cenozoic tectonics.

Palaeoclimatic implication of plant fossil cuticles from the Neogene in Tengchong and Longchuan of West Yunnan, China  (Sun Bainian et al.)

2008-2010, the National Nature Science Fundation of China.
 

Shangwan Basin, Shandong Province, E China; Middle Miocene (Liang, Li, Sun)

Studies on some cuticles of plant fossils from the Neogene in Ninghai of East Zhejiang, China (Sun Bainian et al.)

2007-2009; the Foundation of the State Key Laboratory of Paleobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Yuanmou Basin, Yunnan Province, SW China; Mid-Late Pliocene (Liu)

Yushe Basin, Shanxi Province, N. China; Mid-Late Pliocene (Liu)


Denmark

Climate signals obtained from continental proxies in the context of eustatic sea level change. A case study from the Cenozoic of Jutland (Dybkjaer, Larsson-Lindgren, Rasmussen, Utescher, Vajda)

Detailed climate and vegetation records reconstructed from microfloras are analysed in the context of a well established sequence-stratigraphical concept.

Germany

Detailed palaeoclimate evolution in the Cenozoic of Northern Germany (Ashraf, Mosbrugger, Pross, Wilde, Utescher)

Quantitative palaeoclimate records are reconstructed from the palynological record of continental series adjacent to the North Sea facies realm. The results obtained testify correlations with marine signals derived from stable isotopes. Continental curves allow to quantify climate change at different scales - also orbital - with respect to various variables.
Funded up to 2010: DFG Mo 412/240-1

Finger prints of the Gulf Stream intensity in the Cenozoic - A view on continental climate and biodiversity on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean (Böhme, Hickler, Micheels, Mosbrugger, Portmann, Utescher; cooperation partners: Liu, Manchester, Spicer)

In the proposed project finger prints of the Northern Atlantic circulation on continental climate and its changing intensity during the Cenozoic is analysed comparing two transects in Western Eurasia and Northern America. Quantitative climate and plant diversity gradients derived from the palaeobotanical record are reconstructed for the Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, and early to middle Pliocene in order to identify longitudinal anomalies between both continental areas. Palaeo-precipitation and temperatures are calculated using the Coexistence Approach combined with a calibration procedure recently developed. Biodiversity gradients are reconstructed using bioclimatic affinity groups of arboreal taxa. In order to identify causalities related to the development of the Gulf Stream intensity in the Cenozoic, we perform palaeoclimate modelling sensitivity experiments with an earth system model of intermediate complexity. The comparison of model and proxy data improves the interpretation of the patterns obtained from the fossil record. The analysis of the Gulf Stream and its impact on continental climates in past hothouse phases can provide valuable insights in future system change.
Grant: Mi-926 / 8-1.

UCCC - Understanding Cenozoic Climate Cooling: The Role of the Hydrological Cycle, the Carbon Cycle, and Vegetation Changes (Bickert, Dupont, Francois, Junclaus, Lohmann, Micheels, Mosbrugger, Schefuß, Schultz)

DFG-Research Unit (FOR 1070); funded by the German Research Foundation.
http://www.cenozoic-climate-cooling.org/
http://www.bik-f.de/root/index.php?page_id=77&projectID=62

Diversification and Climate Change in the Cenozoic (Klussmann-Kolb,Muellner)

http://www.bik-f.de/root/index.php?page_id=39&groupID=1

Westlausitz, Sachsen; Late Miocene, Pontian (Walther)

Results concerning the topics: Taxonomy, Nearest Living Relaitves, Climate. Temperate conditions with MAT 10 to 14°C and MAP 900 to 1000 mm (see Walther & Eichler, in press).

Hungary

Early Oligocene terrestrial climate of the Hungarian Palaeogene Basin and its surrounding area adopting fossil plant assemblages (Erdei, Hably, Roth-Nebelsick, Tamás, Utescher)

Well-dated and documented fossil leaf assemblages from the Hungarian Oligocene are compared to contemporaneous floras from the Tethys and Paratethys (localities from Italy, Serbia, Bulgaria, Austria) and from the “stable Europe” (e.g. localities from Germany). Using a morphometric approach we have the opportunity to refine quantitative climate reconstruction and indicate possible microclimatic or habitat variations. Using stomatal details we try to track habitat variations among sites.


Italy

Pliocene-Pleistocene climatic trends on a latitudinal gradient from NW Germany to Central Italy (Bertini, Bruch, Martinetto, Utescher)

Plio- to Pleistocene floras of Italy and Germany are studied using quantitative techniques for climate and vegetation reconstruction. The project aims at the analysis of climate and vegetation evolution at the onset of the Pleistocene glaciation in studying change on a latitudinal gradient from 52°N to 44°N and implications for scenarios of future climate change.

Poland

Central Poland; Middle Miocene (Kohlman-Adamska, Ziembinska-Tworzydlo)

NE Poland, Paleogene and Neogene (Slodkowska)

Palynological research Neogene deposits of the western Poland (Slodkowska)

Poznań Formation (Middle Miocene to Pliocene) investigation (Slodkowska)


Romania

Neogene Climate Patterns and Development in Romania (S. Iamandei, E. Iamandei, Bruch)

Based on the extensive book of Givulescu (1997) as a critical synthesis of all the paleobotanical studies of the Tertiary of North-western part of Romania and other partial unpublished papers of Stefârta (1997) and some of the authors, the scientific evaluation of the Romanian Neogene Flora allows a detailed climatic quantification in space and time and better understanding of the Neogene paleoclimate in Europe.

Russia

Biodiversity of Vitaceae in Northern Eurasia during the Neogene in relation to climate changes (Gromyko, Herzog, Micheels, Muellner, Popova, Uhl, Utescher)

Fossil plant records belonging to the family Vitaceae are widely found in Northern Eurasia. It has been
proposed that Vitaceae was one of the dominant floras in this region during the Neogene (Nikitin, 2006).
Therefore, the identification of species of Vitaceae existing during the Neogene in Northern Eurasia is a
prerequisite for the complete reconstruction of the Neogene climate. We currently apply the coexistance
approach to reconstruct palaeoclimate in Western Siberia based on fossil plant records (Mosbrugger and
Utescher, 1997) in the framework of a DAAD research grant (Popova et al., in prep.). Palaeoclimatic
conditions in this region are poorly understood. In this proposed project, we aim to perform analyses of
biodiversity of extinct species of Vitaceae and include this data in Neogene climate reconstructions. We
compare these results with existing biodiversity data of this family under modern climate conditions. For
the first time, the combination of morphology, anatomy and biomolecular data together with fossil data is
analysed for three genera of Vitaceae and incorporated with modelled and existing climate data.
Funded by the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt M.

Cenozoic palaeoclimate and vegetation evolution in Western Siberia and the Far East (Popova, Utescher)

The diverse carpological record of Siberia and the Far East is studied. 7 time slicest are regarded covering the time-span from late Eocene to late Pliocene to reconstruct climate and vegetation change. Results are discussed in the context of the actual NECLIME data set.
Grants: DAAD; Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt M.

Ecology of Krugloye Lake, North-Western Kazakhstan; Early Miocene (Samsonov)


Ukraine

Cenozoic vegetation and climate evolution of Ukraine (Molchanov, Syabryaj, Utescher) 

The Neogene floral record is analysed in detail to study floral change in the context of a changing palaeoclimate. Global signals and regional patterns detected  are discussed in the context of palaeogeographical changes in the Eastern Paratethys.