Meeting

QUEST workshop at Waikato University

Fieldwork, Meeting, News, Outreach

From 9 to 11 September 2019, the Waikato University QUEST partner organized a workshop on Quantitative palaeoclimate reconstructions using speleothems in the Avantidrome, Cambride (New Zealand). QUEST project partners as scientists from the field were invited to share progress and prospects beyond the timeline of the existing QUEST funding. Up to 15 scientists participated and presented and discussed updates of their research. Highlight was the presentation of a new prototype of an auto-sampler. The last day of workshop led to the Waipuna cave, with intensive sampling and in-situ measurements of drip water.

  • QUEST-Workshop in the Avantidrome, Cambridge (New Zealand).
    QUEST-Workshop in the Avantidrome, Cambridge (New Zealand).
  • Presentation of the new auto sampler during the QUEST workshop in Cambridge (NZ).
    Presentation of the new auto sampler during the QUEST workshop in Cambridge (NZ).
  • Fieldtrip at Waikato workshop to the Waipuna cave.
    Fieldtrip at Waikato workshop to the Waipuna cave.
  • Rainwater sampling at the Waipuna cave.
    Rainwater sampling at the Waipuna cave.
  • Data collection at the Wapuna Cave meteo station.
    Data collection at the Wapuna Cave meteo station.
  • Sampling in the Waipuna Cave.
    Sampling in the Waipuna Cave.
  • In the Waipuna Cave.
    In the Waipuna Cave.


Meet QUEST at EGU 2018

EGU, Meeting, News, Outreach

With the EGU General Assembly coming up next month, we have rounded up the first-author presentations from the people involved in QUEST. Most of the action takes place during Thursday and Friday (barring David Hodell’s presentation on Tuesday) and in Hall X5 and Room F2. Be sure to note this down in your calendar for the EGU week!

The topics are many, interesting, and diverse — they are sure to spark off interesting discussions and debate. Share this post with your colleagues and spread the word!

CL 1.11

Novel and quantitative methods for continental palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.

Orals: Thu, 12 Apr, 10:30–12:00 / Room 0.14
Posters: Attendance Thu, 12 Apr, 17:30–19:00 / Hall X5

IDTITLE & QUEST AUTHORSTYPE &
LOCATION
13780Towards a quantitative proxy of cave dripwater hydrology
Adam Hartland, Beth Fox, Sebastian Breitenbach		Poster, X5.251
12744Local and distant Pacific climate signals in cave hydrochemistry: Waipuna cave, New Zealand
Cinthya Nava, Adam Hartland, Bethany Fox, Sebastian Breitenbach		Poster, X5.250
979335,000 years of hydrological variability in northern New Zealand from speleothem magnetism
Bethany Fox, Ioan Lascu, Sebastian Breitenbach, Adam Hartland		Poster, X5.246
9046Tracing past shifts of the boundary between maritime and continental climate over Central Europe
Sebastian Breitenbach, Norbert Marwan		Poster, X5.245
15956Is this an event? - Detecting abrupt changes in palaeoclimate records
Bedartha Goswami, Sebastian Breitenbach, Norbert Marwan		Poster, X5.244

NP 2.4

New model and data-based approaches to study climate behavior

Orals: Fri, 13 Apr, 08:30–12:00 / Room M1
Posters: Attendance Fri, 13 Apr, 13:30–15:00 / Hall X4

IDTITLE & QUEST AUTHORSTYPE &
LOCATION
6190Detecting abrupt transitions during the Late Quaternary in southern Ethiopia using Recurrence Quantification Analyses
Hauke Krämer, Norbert Marwan		Oral, Room M1
15457Identifying sudden dynamical shifts in time series with uncertainties
Bedartha Goswami, Sebastian Breitenbach, Norbert Marwan		Poster, X4.277

 CL 1.17

The speleothem archive: understanding processes and interpreting Quaternary climate change

Orals: Thu, 12 Apr, 13:30–17:00 / Room 0.14
Posters:  Attendance Thu, 12 Apr, 17:30–19:00 / Hall X5

IDTITLE & QUEST AUTHORSTYPE &
LOCATION
16111Application of lignin analysis to flowstone, stalagmite and drip water samples – potentials of a new proxy
Inken Heidke, Denis Scholz, Thorsten Hoffmann		Poster, X5.286

CL1.06/GM8.12/HS1.19

Tackling past hydrological cycles – from local and regional to global scales (co-organized)

Orals: Fri, 13 Apr, 08:30–10:00 / Room F2
Posters:  Attendance Fri, 13 Apr, 17:30–19:00 / Hall X5

IDTITLE & QUEST AUTHORSTYPE &
LOCATION
19020Last Glacial Period hydrology of Lake Peten Itza (Guatemala) constrained with triple oxygen and hydrogen isotopes
Thomas Bauska, David Hodell		Oral,Room F2

CL 1.31

Climate response to orbital forcing (including Milutin Milankovic Medal Lecture)

Orals: Tue, 10 Apr, 13:30–17:00 / Room F2
Posters:  Attendance Tue, 10 Apr, 17:30–19:00 / Hall X5

IDTITLE & QUEST AUTHORSTYPE &
LOCATION
3858Integrating suborbital climate variability with classical Milanković theory
David Hodell		Oral, Room F2

EGU 2018 Session SC1.10/CL6.06/GM12.4/SSP2.20

EGU, Meeting, News

We´d like to invite everybody interested in innovative and quantitative methods for continental palaeoenvironmental reconstructions to attend our short course (details below) at the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union, 8-13 April 2018.

SC1.10/CL6.06/GM12.4/SSP2.20 
Age Models and geochronology: An introductory course to different age-depth modelling approaches (co-organized)

Convener: Carole Nehme 
Co-Conveners: Sebastian F.M. Breitenbach , Michael Dietze , Annegret Larsen 

Abstract:
In an era of science that uses numerical models to better understand physical processes occurring on Earth, there is an increasing demand for robust empirical datasets to constrain these simulations. Generating robust datasets, especially data sets that express stratigraphic positions of sedimentary deposits as ages, often involves the use of multiple, independent geochronological techniques (e.g. different kinds of radioisotopic dating, magneto-, bio-, cyclostratigraphy and sedimentologic relationships along the succesion). The integration of these different kinds of geochronological information often poses challenges.

Age-depth models are the ultimate result of the integration of different geochronological techniques, and range from linear interpolation to more complex Bayesian techniques. Invited speakers Christian Zeeden and David De Vleeschouwer will share their experience in several modelling concepts and their application in a range of paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic records. The Short Course will provide an introduction to the field of (Bayesian) age-depth models and will highlight the assumptions, benefits and limitations of different model approaches. It will prepare the participants from CL, GM and SSP divisions for independent application of suitable age-depth models to their data.

 

We hope you will enjoy this short course.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Hope to see you in Vienna and

Merry Christmas!
Seb, Carole, Michael and Annegret

Short course page at the EGU website:
http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2018/session/28970

EGU 2018 Session CL1.11

EGU, Meeting, News

We´d like to invite everybody interested in innovative and quantitative methods for continental palaeoenvironmental reconstructions to submit abstracts for our session (details below) at the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union, 8-13 April 2018.

CL1.11 
Novel and quantitative methods for continental palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.

Convener: Jessica Oster 
Co-Conveners: Sebastian F.M. Breitenbach , Bethany Fox , Adam Hartland

Abstract:
In recent decades, quantitative methods have become increasingly important in the field of palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstruction, due to the need for comparison between different records and to provide boundary conditions for computational modelling. Continental environmental archives (e.g. speleothems, lake sediments, ice, or land snails) are often highly temporally resolved (subdecadal to seasonal) and may provide more direct information about atmospheric processes than marine archives. The wide variety of archive types available on land also allows for intercomparison and ground-truthing of results from different techniques and different proxies, and multi-proxy reconstructions from the same archive can disentangle local and supra-regional environmental conditions.

This session aims to highlight recent advances in the use of innovative and quantitative proxies to reconstruct past environmental change on land. We welcome studies of any continental archive, including but not limited to carbonates (caves, paleosols, snails), sediments (lakes, rivers, alluvial fans), ice, and biological proxies (tree rings, fossil assemblages, plant biomarkers). We particularly encourage studies involving the calibration of physical and chemical proxies that incorporate modern transfer functions, forward modeling and/or geochemical modeling to predict proxy signals, and quantitative estimates of past temperature and precipitation amounts. We also welcome reconstructions of temperature and hydrologic variability over large spatial scales, including paleoclimate data assimilation studies. This session will provide a forum for discussing recent innovations and future directions in the development of terrestrial palaeoenvironmental proxies on seasonal to multi-millennial timescales.

We hope you will enjoy this session.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Hope to see you in Vienna and

Merry Christmas!
Seb, Beth, Jessica and Adam

Session page at the EGU website:
http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2018/session/28897

Workshop on palaeoclimate time series analysis and statistics in Potsdam

Meeting, News, Outreach
Last week, representatives of all QUEST collaborators met on the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam for the QUEST Workshop on palaeoclimate time series analysis and statistics to disseminate our results, first among ourselves, and then to a public audience. We would like to thank all participants for their contributions and lively discussions.
The workshop was very nicely organized by Bedartha and Norbert. Beth came all the way from New Zealand, while David came from Great Britain, Inken from Mainz, and Seb and Cinthya from Bochum. We started with a short summary of ongoing work and activities in the different laboratories. An important point raised and discussed were the planned secondments (Cinthya and Inken had aleady packed for their secondments to Waikato!) and under which conditions Thomas can actively participate to QUEST. We then got quick updates from the different laboratories, all make good progress with respect to quantification of proxy data. A cosy workshop dinner in Old Town Potsdam facilitated more discussions of ideas and thoughts.
On Thursday and Friday we had several lectures and hand-on sessions, open to the public. Colleagues from as far as Australia learned about agemodeling, recurrence analysis and other innovative statistical tools developed at PIK Potsdam. Hands-on sessions gave the opportunity to discuss the complexities of unpublished data and the subtilities hidden inside the obvious.
The workshop also served as a platform to strike new collaborations and to exchange ideas how to extract a wealth of information from multi-proxy data.
The next workshop will take us to the Antipodes.

Lab meeting at JGU Mainz

Meeting, News

Adam is currently visiting the JGU Mainz lab, testing various fluid compositions (see proof in figure). Denis and (now Dr.) Max were very helpful in explaining the artificial cave and issues related with precipitating carbonates.

Seb and Matthias joined from RUB to discuss experiments that Matthias will conduct during his MSc thesis in Mainz and to plan the field and lab work in New Zealand later this year. Cinthya, Inken, and Max will visit Waikato in winter and perform experiments in Adam´s lab, take care of the monitoring and to take samples from speleothems.

A very long, but productive day was concluded with dinner and beer at the Main terraces.

Adam and Deniz during fluid testing.

Adam and Denis during fluid testing.

QUEST at EGU 2017

Meeting, News, Outreach

With several poster and oral presentations the QUEST team has presented its work at the general assembly of the European Geoscience Union in Vienna, April 24–28, 2017.

EGU2017

Sebastian explaining the poster “Quantitative Palaeoenvironments from Speleothems (QUEST): magnetic properties of two New Zealand speleothems” at the EGU conference 2017.

Meet QUEST at EGU 2017

Meeting, News, Outreach

We will present our work at the EGU conference in Vienna:

Monday, 24 April

  • D. Eroglu, N. Marwan: Multiplex Recurrence Networks
    17:30–19:00, Hall X4, Poster session NP4.1

Tuesday, 25 April

  • I. Heidke, S. A. Mischel, D. Scholz, T. Hoffmann: Analysis of lignin oxidation products in a stalagmite from the Herbstlabyrinth-Adventshöhle in Germany and comparison with δ13C and other vegetation proxies
    8:45-9:00, Room F2, Talk CL1.13
  • B. Fox, I. Lascu, S. Breitenbach, A. Hartland: Quantitative Palaeoenvironments from Speleothems (QUEST): magnetic properties of two New Zealand speleothems
    17:30-19:00, Hall X5, Poster session CL1.13
  • S. Riechelmann, S.F.M. Breitenbach, A. Schröder-Ritzrau,  A. Immenhauser: High resolution pCO2 monitoring reveals ventilation of Bunker Cave (NW Germany) and its impact on speleothem growth
    17:30-19:00, Hall X5, Poster session CL1.13
  • M. Magiera, A. M. Erhardt, A. Hartland, O. Kwiecien, H. Cheng, A. Immenhauser, A. Turchyn, S.F.M. Breitenbach: Indian Summer Monsoon dynamics during Termination II and MIS 5e
    17:30-19:00, Hall X5, Poster session CL1.13
  • C. Nehme, S. Verheyden, S. F. M. Breitenbach, D. P. Gillikin, A. Verheyden, H. Cheng, L. Edwards, J. Hellstrom, S. R. Noble, A. R. Farrant, D. Sahy, T. Goovaerts, G. Salem, P. Claeys: Climatic variability during the penultimate interglacial (MIS 7) and glacial (MIS 6) periods recorded in a speleothem from Kanaan cave, Lebanon (Central Levant)
    17:30-19:00, Hall X5, Poster session CL1.13
  • M. Weber, D. Scholz, J. A. Wassenburg, K. P. Jochum, S. Breitenbach: Application of LA-MC-ICP-MS for analysis of Sr isotope ratios in speleothems
    17:30-19:00, Hall X5, Poster session CL1.13