Project Details
Projekt
Trends, rhythms and events in East African climate: statistical analysis of the paleoclimare records of the long sediment cores of the Chew Bahir basin
Applicant
Professor Dr. Martin Trauth
Subject Area
Palaeontology
Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
Term
from 2017 to 2021
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 337352542
This proposal seeks funding to statistically analyze the long (~278 m) sediment record of the Chew Bahir basin, as part of the ICDP-funded Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP). The aim of the project is (1) to establish a robust age-depth model for the sediment cores, (2) to correlate the Chew Bahir record with other records within and outside HSPDP, (3) to detect trends, rhythms and events in the environmental record of the basin, and (4) identify recurrent, characteristic types of climate transitions in the time series, as compared with the ones of the other HSPDP sites and climate records outside HSPDP. This task is handled by a doctoral student, who will work in a team of specialists in the field of mathematical geosciences at the University of Potsdam and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, but will benefit also from the larger Chew Bahir and HSPDP projects. The Doctoral Student, expected to be trained as an earth scientists with a pronounced fascination with mathematical methods, will use linear techniques to establish an age model and to detect climate shifts and cycles. He/she is expected to understand the sediment and proxy forming processes in the basin as well as he/she is expected to be equipped with solid knowledge in statistics and programming. He/she will use nonlinear methods to detect more complex or hidden processes within the data. The results of the project will help to illuminate the role of climate change (timing, nature, abruptness, magnitude, and synchronicity of these shifts especially the transitions between Glacial and Interglacial) in the evolution of mammalian (including hominin taxa) during the Pleistocene.
DFG Programme
Infrastructure Priority Programmes
Co-Investigator
Privatdozent Dr. Norbert Marwan
Cooperation Partner
Dr. Nadine Berner
