PD Dr. Matthias Zabel

• Research Interests
• Peer-reviewed publications
• Books and Chapters
• Research Projects
• Expeditions
• CV

• Teaching Experience
• Meteor 84-1 (DARC-SEAS)

MARUM - Inorganic Geochemistry Lab

(selection in chronological order; * designates paper as senior and/or corresponding author)

2010 - ...

Ristova PP, Wenzhöfer F, Ramette A, Zabel M, Fischer D, Kasten S, Boetius A (2012) Bacterial diversity and biogeochemistry of different chemosynthetic habitats of the REGAB cold seep (West African margin, 3160 m water depth). Biogeosciences, 9:5031-5048.

Just J, Heslop D, von Dobeneck T, Bickert T, Dekkers MJ, Frederichs T, Meyer I, Zabel M (2012) Multi-proxy characterization and budgeting of terrigenous end-members at the NW African continental margin. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., doi:10.1029/2012GC004148.

*Kallweit W, Mollenhauer G, Zabel M (2012) Multi-proxy reconstruction of terrigenous input and sea-surface temperatures in the eastern Gulf of Guinea over the last ~35ka. Mar. Geol., 319-322:35-46.

Fischer D, Sahling H, Nöthen K, Bohrmann G, Zabel M, Kasten S (2012) Interaction between hydrocarbon seepage, chemosynthetic communities, and bottom water redox at cold seeps of the Makran accretionary prism: insights from habitat-specific pore water sampling and modeling. Biogeosciences, 9:2013-2031.

Bloemsma MR, Zabel M, Stuut JB, Tjallingii R, Collins JA, Weltje GJ (2012) Modelling joint variability of grain size and chemical composition in sediments. Sed. Geol., 280:135-148.

Plewa K, Meggers H, Kuhlmann H, Freudenthal T, Zabel M, Kasten S (2012) Geochemical distribution patterns as indicators for productivity and terrigenous input off NW Africa. Deep-Sea Res. I., 66:51-66.

Govin A, Holzwarth U, Heslop D, Ford Keeling L, Zabel M, Mulitza S, Collins JA, Chiessi CM (2012) Distribution of major elements in Atlantic surface sediments (36°N-49°S): imprint of terrigenous input and continental weathering. G-cubed, 13, doi:10.1029/2011GC003785.

Lin Y-S, Heuer VB, Goldhammer T, Kellermann M, Zabel M, Hinrichs K-U (2012) Molecular hydrogen in a subseafloor sediment transect off Namibia. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta., 77:186-201.

Schubotz F, Lipp JS, Elvert M, Kasten S, Prieto-Mollar X, Zabel M, Bohrmann G, Hinrichs K-U (2011) Petroleum degradation and associated microbial signatures at the Chapopote asphalt volcano, Southern Gulf of Mexico. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 75:4377-4398.

*Goldhammer T, Brunner B, Bernasconi SM, Ferdelman TG, Zabel M (2011) Phosphate oxygen isotopes: New insights into sedimentary phosphorus cycling in the Benguela upwelling system. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 75:3741-3756.

*Goldhammer T, Max T, Brunner B , Einsiedl F, Zabel M (2011) Marine sediment pore-water profiles of phosphate δ18O using a refined micro-extraction. Limnol. Oceanogr. Methods., 9:110-120.

Collins JA, Schefuß E, Heslop D, Mulitza S, Prange M, Zabel M, Tjallingii R, Dokken TM, Huang E, Mackensen A, Schulz M, Tian J, Zarriess M, Wefer G (2011) Interhemispheric symmetry of the tropical African rainbelt over the past 23,000 years. Nature Geosci., 4:42-45.

Blumenberg M, Mollenhauer G, Zabel M, Reimer A, Thiel V (2010) Decoupling of bio- and geohopanoids in sediments of the Benguela Upwelling System (BUS). Org. Geochem., 41:1119-1129.

*Goldhammer T, Brüchert V, Ferdelman TG, Zabel M (2010) Microbial sequestration of phosphorus in anoxic upwelling sediments. Nature Geosci., 3(8):557-561.

Holmkvist L, Arning ET, Küster-Heins K, Vandieken V, Peckmann J, Zabel M, Jørgensen BB (2010) Phosphate geochemistry, mineralization processes, and Thioploca distribution in shelf sediments off central Chile. Mar. Geol., 277:61-72.

Jaeschke A, Abbas B, Zabel M, Hopmanns EC, Schouten S, Sinninghe Damste JS (2010) Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (annamox) in continental shelf and slope sediments off northwest Africa. Limnol. Oceanogr., 55(1):365-376.

*Küster-Heins K, Steinmetz E, de Lange GJ, Zabel M (2010) Phosphorus cycling in marine sediments from the continental slope off Namibia. Mar. Geol., 274:95-106.

*Küster-Heins K, de Lange GJ, Zabel M (2010) Benthic phosphorus and iron budgets for three NW African slope sediments: a balance approach. Biogeosci., 7:469-480.

Mulitza S, Heslop D, Pittauerova D, Fischer HW, Meyer I, Stuut J-B, Zabel M, Mollenhauer G, Collins JA, Kuhnert H, Schulz M (in press) Increase in African dust flux at the onset of commercial agriculture in the Sahel region. Nature, 466(7303):226-228.

Pape T, Kasten S, Zabel M, Bahr A, Abegg F, Hohnberg H-J, Bohrmann G (2010) Gas hydrates in shallow deposits of the Amsterdam mud volcano, Anaximander Mountains, Northeastern Mediterranean Sea. Geo-Mar. Lett.., 30(3-4):187-206.

*Seiter K, Hensen C, Zabel M (2010) Coupling of benthic oxygen uptake and silica release: implications for estimating biogenic particle fluxes to the seafloor. Geo-Mar. Lett., 30(5):493-509

2005 - 2009

Lohmann R, Bollinger K, Cantwell M, Feichter J, Fischer-Bruns I, Zabel M (2009) Fluxes of soot black carbon to South Atlantic sediments. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles, doi:10.1029/2008GB003253

Mulitza S, Prange M, Stuut J-B, Zabel M, Dobeneck Tv, Intabi C, Nizou J, Schulz M (2008) Sahel megadroughts triggered by glacial slowdowns of Atlantic meridional overturning. Paleoceanogr., 23, PA4206, doi:10.1029/2008PA001637

*Aspetsberger F, Zabel M, Ferdelman T, Struck U, Mackensen A, Ahke A, Witte U (2007) Instantaneous benthic response to different organic matter quality: In situ experiments in the Benguela Upwelling System. Mar. Biol. Res., 3:342-356.

Mollenhauer G, Inthorn M, Zabel M, Sinninghe Damsté JS & TI Eglinton (2007) Aging of marine organic matter during cross-shelf lateral transport in the Benguela upwelling system revealed by compound-specific radiocarbon dating. G-cubed, 8(9), doi:10.1029/2007GC001603.

*Inthorn M, Rutgers van der Loeff M, Zabel M (2006) A study of particle exchange at the sediment–water interface in the Benguela upwelling area based on 234Th/238U disequilibrium. Deep-Sea Res. I, 53:1742-1761.

*Inthorn M, Mohrholz V, Zabel M (2006) Nepheloid layer distribution in the Benguela upwelling area offshore Namibia. Deep-Sea Res. I, 53:1423-1438.

*Inthorn M, Wagner T, Scheeder G, Zabel M (2006) Lateral transport controls distribution, quality and burial of organic matter along continental slopes in high-productivity areas. Geology, 34:205-208.

Rickaby REM, Shaw S, Bennitt G, Kennedy H, Zabel M, Lennie A (2006) Potential of ikaite to record the evolution of oceanic d18O. Geology, 34(6):497-500.

*Seiter K, Hensen C, Zabel M (2005): Benthic carbon mineralization on a global scale. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles, 19, GB1010, doi:10.1029/2004GB002225.

Stuut J-B, Zabel M, Ratmeyer V, Helmke P, Schefuß E, Lavik G, Schneider R (2005) Provenance of present-day dust collected off NW Africa. J. Geophys. Res., 110, No. D4, D04202, 10.1029/2004JD005161.

2000 - 2004

*Seiter K, Hensen C, Schröter J, Zabel M (2004): Organic carbon content in surface sediments - defining regional provinces. Deep-Sea Res. I, 51:2001-2026.

Abouchami W, Zabel M (2003): Climate forcing of the Pb isotope record of terrigenous input into the Equatorial Atlantic. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 213:221-234.

Hensen C, Zabel M, Pfeifer K, Schwenk T, Kasten S, Riedinger N, Schulz HD, Boetius A (2003): Control of anaerobic methane oxidation by sedimentary events - reconstruction of time scales and quantitative importance. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 67:2631-2647.

Licari L, Schumacher S, Wenzhöfer F, Zabel M, Mackensen A (2003): Communities and microhabitats of living benthic foraminifera from tropical east Atlantic: impact of different productivity regimes. J. Foram. Res., 33:10-31.

Zabel M, Schulz HD (2001): Importance of submarine landslides for non-steady state conditions in pore water systems - lower Zaire (Congo) deep-sea fan. Mar. Geol., 176:87-99.

Zabel M, Schneider RR, Wagner T, Adegbie AT, deVries U, Kolonic S (2001): Late Quaternary climate changes in central Africa as inferred from terrigenous input to the Niger Fan. Quaternary Res., 56:207-217.

Freudenthal T, Wagner T, Wenzhöfer F, Zabel M, Wefer, G (2001): Early diagenetic fractionation of stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes in marine sediments in the Canary Islands region. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 65:1795-1808.

Kasten S, Haese RR, Zabel M, Rühlemann C, Schulz HD (2001): Barium peaks at glacial terminations in sediments of the equatorial Atlantic Ocean - Relicts of deglacial productivity pulses? Chem. Geol., 175:635-651.

Hensen C, Zabel M, Schulz HD (2000): A comparison of benthic nutrient fluxes from deep-sea sediments off Namibia and Argentina. Deep-Sea Res. II, 47:2029-2050.

1994 - 1999

Zabel M, Bickert T, Dittert L, Haese RR (1999): The significance of the sedimentary Al/Ti ratio as indicator for reconstructions of the terrestrial input to the equatorial Atlantic. Paleoceanography, 14:789-799.

Zabel M, Dahmke A, Schulz HD (1998): Regional distribution of phosphate and silicate fluxes through the sediment-water interface: the eastern South Atlantic. Deep-Sea Res. I, 45:277-300. (pdf)

Niewöhner C, Hensen C, Kasten S, Zabel M, Schulz HD (1998): Deep sulfate reduction completely mediated by anaerobic methane oxidation in the upwelling area off Namibia. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 62:455-464.

Hensen C, Landenberger H, Zabel M, Schulz HD (1998): Qualification of diffusive benthic fluxes of nitrate, phosphate and silicate in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 12:193-210.

Hensen C, Landenberger H, Zabel M, Glud RN, Gundersen JC, Schulz HD (1997): Simulation of early diagenetic processes in continental slope sediments off Southwest Africa: The Computer model CoTAM tested. Mar. Geol., 144:191-210.

Schulz HD, Dahmke A, Schinzel U, Wallmann K, Zabel M (1994): Early diagenetic processes, fluxes and reaction rates in sediments of the South Atlantic. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 58:2041-2060.

Zabel M, Hensen C (2002) The importance of mineralisation processes in surface sediments at continental margins. in: Wefer G, Billet D, Hebbeln D, Joergensen B, Schlüter M, van Weering TJ (eds), Ocean Margin Systems, Springer Verlag, Berlin, pp 253-267.

Zabel M, Wagner T, DeMenocal P (2004) Terrigenous signals in sediments of the low latitude Atlantic - implications to environmental variations during the late Quaternary: Part II: Lithogenic matter. in: Wefer G, Mulitza S, Ratmeyer V (eds): The South Atlantic in the Late Quaternary: Reconstruction of Mass Budget and Current Systems, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, pp 323-345.

Zabel M, Hensen C (2006) Quantification and regionalization of benthic reflux.- in: Schulz HD, Zabel M (eds): Marine Geochemistry, Springer, Heidelberg, NY, 2. Ed., 429-456.

Publications in rev., subm., or in prep.

Wagner T, Kallweit W, Talbot HM, Mollenhauer G, Boom A, Zabel M (in rev.) Microbial biomarker evidence for recent and past glacial organic carbon transport from Amazon wetlands to the shelf and deep sea fan. Org. Geochem.

Collins JA, Govin A, Mulitza S, Heslop D, Zabel M, Hartmann J, Röhl U, Wefer G (in rev.) Abrupt shifts of the Sahara-Sahel boundary during Heinrich Stadials. Climate of the Past.

Pop Ristova P, Wenzhöfer F, Ramette A., Zabel M, Fischer D, Kasten S, Boetius A (subm.) Biogeochemical activities and factors shaping the associated bacterial diversity at the gigantic pockmark Regab.

Govin A, Collins JA, Heslop D, Zabel M, Mulitza S, Tjallingii R, Röhl U (subm.) Western African climate (21°N-20°S) inferred from marine terrigenous sediments: orbital- versus millennial-scale variability during the last 145 ka

Lopes dos Santos R, Govin A, Castañeda IS, Zabel M, Schefuß E, Mulitza S, Sinninghe Damsté JS, Schouten S (in prep.) Millennial-scale relationship between primary productivity and Sahara dust input in the eastern tropical North Atlantic during the late Quaternary.

Zabel M, Kasten S (in prep.) Geochemistry and origin of high saline pore fluids from the Chapopote asphalt volcano – Southern Gulf of Mexico.

Recent Projects

Completed Projects

• 2009-2012 N/P/Fe-biogeochemistry in benthic boundary layer and surface sediments (DFG - Marum GB2)
• 2011 WTZ Südl. Afrika Ausbildungsfahrt mit dem Forschungsschiff MERIAN in Namibia (MSM 19/1c) - SPACES (BMBF 030822A)
• 2011 DARCSEAS I RV METEOR cruise M84/1 in context with the ERC-project DarcLife (DFG)
• 2008-2011 Terrigenous climate signals in deep-sea sediments: Assessment and quantification of alteration processes on primary signals (DFG - EUROPROX Proj. III-17)
• 2005-2009 Balancing of the benthic carbon cycle - a scientific synthesis (DFG)
• 2005-2009 Simulation of biogeochemical processes in the marine subsurface: understanding carbon-flow and identification of process-specific biosignatures (DFG - RCOM B2)
• 2005-2009 Quantification of emissions of fluids and gas at cold seeps (DFG - RCOM E3)
• 2005-2008 Phosphor-cycle and phosphorite formation in marine sediments of high productive areas (DFG - EUROPROX Proj. II-9)
  2002-2004 Geochemical Studies on Sediments of the Chinese Seas (BMBF - IB)
• 2002-2003 Quantification and Characterization of Benthic Flux Rates Based on Their Regional and Global Patterns - Implication for the Ocean Budgets (DFG)
• 2002-2003 Geochemical Gradients and Microbial Activity (BMBF - "Gas Hydrates in Hemipelagic Sediments - A Pilot Study in the Lower Congo Basin", Proj. D)
• 2001-2005 Origins, Reactivity, and Transport of Particulate Organic Material in the Benthic Boundary Layer in High Productive Systems (DFG - RCOM B2)
• 2001-2004 Non-steady state sedimentation, its documentation and preservation in the solid phase (DFG - European College for Graduates "Proxies in Earth History" Proj. I-9)
• 2001-2004 Modeling of steady and non-steady state diagenetic processes (DFG - European College for Graduates "Proxies in Earth History", Proj. 10)
• 2000-2002 Quantification and Characterization of Benthic Flux Rates Based on Their Regional and Global Patterns - Implication for the Ocean Budgets (DFG)
• 2000 RV METEOR expedition: "Structure and Evolution of the Southwest African Continental Margin - A Combined Seismic and Geological-Geochemical Study off the Congo Mouth and in the Field of ODP Leg 175" (DFG)
• 1998 Supplement for RV SONNE Cruise SO129 in BIGSET (BMBF)
• 1997 Supplement for RV SONNE Cruise SO118 in BIGSET (BMBF)
• 1997-1999 Atlantic Data Base for Exchange Processes at the Deep Sea Floor (EU-ENRICH) - Contractor: K. Lochte (IOW), 18 international participants
• 1996-1999 Interactions Between Saisonality of Benthic Transformation Rates, Particle Flux and Trace Element Distribution in Deep-Sea Sediments (BMBF - BIGSET Proj. 6)
• 1995-1997 Fluxes Through the Sediment-Water Interface - Global Distribution Patterns and Their Importance on the Ocean Budget (DFG / BMBF - JGOFS III)

(* leader of the group "marine geochemistry")