Research project IGV| Calibrating a million years of Arctic Ocean climate history using nannofossils and ancient DNA
This project aims to further develop geochronological tools for dating Arctic Ocean sediments and has two main hypotheses:
I. Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy can anchor Pleistocene chronologies in Arctic Ocean sediments, providing the foundation for developing orbitally-tuned age models and calibrating other geochronological tools
II. Ancient DNA (aDNA) from calcite producing microplankton can provide ‘paleogenomic’ biostratigraphic age control in regions of the Arctic where carbonate microfossils are not preserved in the sediments.
Project description
Arctic marine sediments contain the most direct and continuous archives of sea ice and icesheet variability across Quaternary glacial cycles. These records are important for deciphering the dynamics of the Arctic cryosphere and establishing tele-connections with the global climate system. Currently, we cannot use these archives to their full potential because of one primary problem: existing age-models for individual records are highly uncertain. The recent discovery of a suite of previously overlooked biostratigraphic age markers in the Arctic Ocean, and recent advances in DNA-based approaches to characterizing past biodiversity, now allow us to change this. In this project, calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy will be combined with studies on ancient DNA preserved in marine sediments to provide critical biostratigraphic age-control for Quaternary age Arctic sediments. This will transform existing archives with ‘floating’ or uncertain age models into climatically useful time series. The project will make use of Stockholm University’s extensive collection of marine cores from the Arctic Ocean, and combines conventional techniques of micropaleontology with the rapidly emerging field of palaeogenomics
Project members
Members
Matthew O'Regan
Professor of Marine geology
