B1: Oxygen deficiency through time

(H. Brumsack, Oldenburg; J. Erbacher, Hannover)

Earth history is characterized by a number of dysoxic or anoxic phases and events, which are linked to a variety of environmental conditions and factors influencing ocean circulation. Today, marine areas with oxygen-poor conditions are of limited geographical extent and are restricted to marginal or isolated basins and upwelling zones. The Mesozoic and Paleozoic, however, experienced a series of environmental changes leading to widespread oxygen deficiency, sometimes even on a global scale. The significance of the burial of large amounts of organic matter in deep-sea sediments for the global carbon cycle and the nature of the paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic conditions leading to marine oxygen deficiency are the focus of this session. We anticipate bringing together scientists studying organic-rich sediments and black shales from the present and the past and hope to attract a broad field of expertise.