Sebastian Teichert

• Exploring the potential of coralline algae as climate proxy and for climate model evaluation: a Southern Hemisphere case study of New Zealand

  (Third Party Funds Single)

  Term: 1. February 2021 - 31. January 2024
  Funding source: DFG-Einzelförderung / Sachbeihilfe (EIN-SBH)
  Abstract

  Coupled atmosphere/ocean general circulation models, or global climate models (GCMs) in short, are our most important tools for projecting climate into the future. In addition, they provide input for regional atmospheric models that translate global climate change to regional and local scales where humans face the impacts. Owing to this importance, GCMs must be evaluated against the observed past climate as thoroughly as possible, where one focus is the so-called historical period from 1850 to present. However, the evaluation task is difficult for the period of World War II and earlier due to a frequent lack of reliable observations. The outlined problem is exacerbated for the Southern Hemisphere, which has been notoriously understudied in comparison to the climate of the Northern Hemisphere. --- The present project proposes to utilize a rather recently discovered proxy archive (crustose coralline algae, CCA) for extending the observational record of the climatic environment of New Zealand back to ~1850, and exploit the new data set for the benefit of GCM evaluation, regional atmospheric modeling, and improved understanding of climate system functioning. CCA has a number of advantages compared to other proxy archives (e.g., easy retrieval, high temporal resolution, worldwide distribution). In the first part we will collect CCA offshore New Zealand and extract geochemical signals that allow us to reconstruct ocean temperatures back to the 19th century (the large-scale signal). Second, this new information will be employed in GCM evaluation to reveal their skill of representing large-scale climate of New Zealand. And third, regional numerical atmospheric modeling will be conducted to test whether the addition of the CCA-based criterion to the GCM evaluation ultimately adds value to regional climate modeling. A focus here will be on high-altitude climate and glacier variability in the Southern Alps (the impact signal). The regional modeling will also allow us to unravel the physical mechanisms that determine the potential of CCA as a climate proxy in New Zealand. --- The proposed project bundles the expertise of three partners across the fields of paleoclimate, Southern Hemisphere climatology and measurements, and climate modeling, which strongly supports the project goals due to the collaboration. The implications of the potential results, however, will go beyond the specific case study. Results will demonstrate how to rigorously combine the GCM and climate proxy worlds in a systematic framework, highlighting the role of CCA, and how the said combination can enhance regional climate modeling down to the local scale. These points are of generic importance for climate modeling and climate impact research.
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Bachelor

• Paläobiologie I – Allgemeine Paläontologie
• Geländeübung zur Paläoumwelt I
• Geowissenschaftliche Arbeitsmethoden – Geländeübungen I
• Geowissenschaftliche Arbeitsmethoden II – Geländeübung II
• Geowissenschaftliche Geländeübungen I für Biologen

Master

• Oceanography
• Proxies in Palaeoenvironmental Reconstructions
• Computers in Geosciences

Weitere

• International Course on Carbonate Microfacies (“Flügel-Course”)

• “Popcorn Beach”, Rhodoliths at “Frag doch mal die Maus”, 1st October 2022
• “Leben unter dem Eis: Die Riffe Spitzbergens”, invited talk at “Collegium Alexandrinum”, Zentrum für Medizinische Physik und Technik, Erlangen, 9th June 2022
• “Rotalgen bilden den Kleber der Korallenriffe”, article by Anna Bolten, Bild der Wissenschaft, 23rd October 2020
• „Riffe in der Arktis? Wenn Algen die Rolle von Korallen einnehmen“, invited talk at ARDalpha Campus TALKS, 26th March 2019
• „Die Riffe der Arktis – Faszinierende Ökosysteme nördlich des Polarkreises“, invited talk at Naturhistorische Gesellschaft, Katharinensaal, Nürnberg, 22nd November 2018
• „Das ist eine Handvoll Sand aus Australien. Schau dir an, was alles darin steckt: Geheime Spuren im Sand“, article by Annika Peißker, Nürnberger Nachrichten and Erlanger Nachrichten, 21st July 2018
• “Die Riffe der Arktis – Faszinierende Ökosysteme nördlich des Polarkreises”, invited talk at Naturhistorische Gesellschaft, Katharinensaal, Nürnberg, 22nd November 2018, 19:30
• “Tauchfahrt ins Archiv der Arktis”, article by Viola Kiel and Solvin Zankl, GEO magazine, October 2017
• “Science Sets Sail”, cruise leader Leg 1 (Kiel – Møn – Malmø – Bornholm – Riga), 15th – 25th July 2017
• “Auf der Suche nach Leben unter dem Eis”, article by Christina Merkel, “Hochschule & Wissen”, Nürnberger Zeitung, 31st May 2017
• “Die Riffe der Arktis: Wie entsteht Leben in der Ödnis?”, invited talk at “Wissenschaft im Schloss”, Senatssaal Kollegienhaus, Erlangen, 29th May 2017
• “Rotalgen sind die Baumeister der Arktis”, article by Matthias Orgeldinger, “Natur & Wissen”, Nürnberger Zeitung, 16th February 2015
• “Rhodolithe, außergewöhnliche Kalkalgen aus der Arktis”, invited talk at Naturhistorische Gesellschaft, Katharinensaal, Nürnberg, 27th February 2014

• Habitat characteristics and carbonate cycling of macrophyte-supported polar carbonate factories (Svalbard) – Cruise No. MSM55 – June 11 – June 29, 2016 – Reykjavik (Iceland) – Longyearbyen (Norway)

• Aquatic Botany
• Biogeosciences
• Bulletin of Marine Science
• Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
• Facies
• Frontiers in Marine Science
• Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
• Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
• Journal of Phycology
• Marine Biodiversity
• Marine Ecology Progress Series
• Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
• Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology
• Polar Biology
• Progress in Earth and Planetary Science
• Scientific Reports