Collaborative Research Center 261 (SFB 261)

Between 1989 and 2001 the Collaborative Research Center (Sonderforschungsbereich) 261 at the University of Bremen ("The South Atlantic in the Late Quaternary: Reconstruction of material budget and current system") carried out extensive geological, geophysical and geochemical investigations on the various current and production systems of the South Atlantic. The central theme of this research was the reconstruction of current and productivity systems in the South Atlantic for the last 300,000 years.

The main results of the Collaborative Research Center have been published in the following books:

The South Atlantic in the Late Quaternary

edited by Gerold Wefer, Stefan Mulitza and Volker Ratmeyer

The South Atlantic plays a significant role as a link between the Antarctic Ocean and the North Atlantic, both in terms of the heat budget of the North Atlantic and the circulation of the entire ocean. The heat and mass exchanges between the Antarctic Ocean and the South Atlantic during the Late Quaternary have been investigated over the past ten years, including their impact on world climate. This has required the study of present-day early diagenetic processes in the water column and sediments, as well as sediment properties that have a close relationship to environmental parameters ("proxies"), which can be used to decipher past conditions (temperature, salinity, productivity, etc. ). The interdisciplinary research project "The South Atlantic in the Late Quaternary - Reconstruction of material budgets and current systems" was a long-term scientific program at Bremen University. This program benefited from the sample material gained on several expeditions with the research vessels Meteor and Polarstern. This book presents the summarized results of the various topics of study in 30 articles arranged in seven sections.

Use of Proxies in Paleoceanography

edited by Gerhard Fischer and Gerold Wefer

The book is on methods of reconstruction of past climate, climate changes, oceanography of the South Atlantic (including the Southern Ocean) and the cycling of biochemical components in the ocean. Information about past ocean conditions is provided by so-called paleoceanographic proxies (parameters with approximate unobservable environmental variables, e.g. surface water temperature). Use of proxies and their development has been a major theme of the Collaborative Research Project at the University of Bremen for almost 10 years. In this volume we summarize our results in relation to these proxy studies. Each chapter gives an overview of a specific proxy, provides particular findings obtained in the South Atlantic and ends with an outlook on future perspectives with respect to the proxy described. Therefore it is suitable for lecturers, graduate students and scientists working in the field of climate reconstruction from ocean sediments.

The South Atlantic - Present and Past Circulation

edited by Gerold Wefer, Wolfgang H. Berger et al.

The book presents results of recent projects in oceanography and marine geosciences (e.g. WOCE, JGOFS, PAGES, ODP) regarding present and past circulation in the South Atlantic. The objective of the book is to integrate results from both oceanographic and geological studies. As the connecting link between the Antarctic and the North Atlantic, the South Atlantic plays a crucial role with regard to the heat budget of the North Atlantic and to the biogeochemical budget of the global ocean. New results from studies of meridional water mass and heat transports are presented. The central theme of geological investigations is the reconstruction of current and productivity systems in the South Atlantic during the late Quaternary.