C4T
Climate Change across Cenozoic cooling steps reconstructed with clumped isotope thermometry
Main content
Main objectives: Clumped isotope thermometry is a novel technique to reconstruct past temperatures, based on the ordering of isotopes within molecules. Within C4T and the partner-project CLIP, we will work towards improving this innovative technique to make it applicable to reconstructions of past ocean temperatures using fossil shells of foraminifera. C4T will mainly focus on 1) decreasing the necessary sample size as much as possible and 2) investigating secondary influences besides temperature. We will then apply this new tool to understand how global climate changed during major climate reorganizations during the Cenozoic, such as the Antarctic glaciation at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary and the middle Miocene climate transition. Specifically, the proxy allows us to reconstruct ocean temperature and global ice volume changes across these major glaciation events.
Funding: ERC
Project Period: 2015 –2020
Project Coordinator: Nele Meckler
People involved at UiB: Alison Piasecki, Thomas Leutert
