1. HIGH RESOLUTION STUDIES WITH BIOMARKERS IN PALEOCEANOGRAPHY
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY
INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
SPANISH COUNCIL FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (CSIC)
BARCELONA

2. WE ARE NOW THIS PEOPLE JOAN O. GRIMALT (Profesor de investigación)
JORDI F. LOPEZ (Contracted post-doct)
CONSTANCIA LOPEZ-MARTINEZ (Ph.D. student)
MONTSERRAT FERRER (Ph.D. student)
BELEN MARTRAT (Ph.D. student)
TERESA RODRIGUES (Ph.D. student)
MONTSERRAT ESPARZA (Ph.D. student)
BEATRIZ LUENGO (technician)

3. THIS PEOPLE HAS ALSO BEEN
ANTONI ROSELL-MELE, 1994 (in Bristol)
JOAN VILLANUEVA. PhD. 1995
CARLES PELEJERO. PhD. 2000
ISABEL CACHO. PhD. 2000
EVA CALVO. PhD. 2001

4. HIGH RESOLUTION STUDIES WITH BIOMARKERS IN PALEOCEANOGRAPHY
Work with sediments Analysis of major compounds Analysis of stable compounds under early diagenesis

5. wind, rivers, vegetation changes
BIOMARKERS
n-ALKANES
Higher plant inputs
wind, rivers, vegetation changes
n-ALKAN-1-OLS
Marine productivity,
Water masses
ALKENONES and STEROLS
UK’37 =
C37:2
C37:3 + C37:2
SST
UK’37 = SST

6. -150
-100
-50 50
100
150
ODP-977
ODP-1060c MD MD

7. testigo ODP-977A (la cuenca de Alboran)
Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
NorthGRIP
GRIP
ODP-980
Velay MD
T. Philippon
ODP-977A
testigo ODP-977A (la cuenca de Alboran)

8. testigo ODP-977A (la cuenca de Alboran)
Abrupt Temperature Changes in
the Western Mediterranean over
the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
ODP-977A
altura (m)
B. M.
testigo ODP-977A (la cuenca de Alboran)

9. Abrupt Temperature Changes in
the Western Mediterranean over
the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
Corriente de las Azores
Corriente de las Canarias
Modified Atlantic water
(MAW)
altura (m)
B. M.
Modelo de circulación oceánica alrededor de la Península Ibérica (aguas superficiales)

10. materiales y métodos: alquenonas C37
Abrupt Temperature Changes in
the Western Mediterranean over
the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
Alquenona diinsaturada
Alquenona triinsaturada
retention time
respuesta
SST=10.4ºC
SST=20.8ºC
Alquenona tetrainsaturada
materiales y métodos: alquenonas C37

11. materiales y métodos: alquenonas C37
Abrupt Temperature Changes in
the Western Mediterranean over
the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
Alquenona diinsaturada
Alquenona triinsaturada
Alquenona tetrainsaturada
Brassell et al., 1986, Nature
Müller et al., 1998, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta
materiales y métodos: alquenonas C37

12. Registros ODP-977A versus hielo de Groenlandia
Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
GRIP-GISP2
NorthGRIP MD
ODP-977A
Registros ODP-977A versus hielo de Groenlandia

13. Registros ODP-977A versus hielo de Groenlandia (-1 climate cycle)
Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
Registros ODP-977A versus hielo de Groenlandia (-1 climate cycle)
Grootes et al., 1993, Nature MD
Cacho et al., 1999, Paleoceanography

14. Registros ODP-977A versus hielo de Groenlandia (-1 climate cycle)
Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
Registros ODP-977A versus hielo de Groenlandia (-1 climate cycle)
Dansgaard et al., 1993, Nature
North GRIP members, 2004, Nature
ODP-977A

15. Registros ODP-977A versus hielo de Groenlandia ¿? (-2 climate cycle)
Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
Registros ODP-977A versus hielo de Groenlandia ¿? (-2 climate cycle)
Berger, 1978, J. Atmos. Sci.
ODP-977A

16. ODP-977A versus detritos líticos en el Atlántico Norte
Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
ODP-980
ODP-977A
ODP-977A versus detritos líticos en el Atlántico Norte

17. ODP-977A versus detritos líticos (-1 climate cycle)
Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
ODP-977A versus detritos líticos (-1 climate cycle)
McManus et al., 1999, Science
ODP-977A
Perez-Folgado et al., 2003, Mar. Micropaleontol.

18. ODP-977A versus detritos líticos (-2 climate cycle)
Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
ODP-977A versus detritos líticos (-2 climate cycle)
McManus et al., 1999, Science
ODP-977A

19. Registros ODP-977A versus polen Mediterráneo
Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
Velay
T. Philippon
ODP-977A
Registros ODP-977A versus polen Mediterráneo

20. ODP-977A versus polen Mediterráneo (-1 climate cycle)
Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
ODP-977A versus polen Mediterráneo (-1 climate cycle)
Reille et al., 2000, Quat. Sci.
Tzedakis et al., 2003, Earth. Planet. Sci. Lett.
ODP-977A

21. ODP-977A versus polen Mediterráneo (-2 climate cycle)
Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
ODP-977A versus polen Mediterráneo (-2 climate cycle)
Reille et al., 2000, Quat. Sci.
Tzedakis et al., 2003, Earth. Planet. Sci. Lett.
ODP-977A

22. Variabilidad climática a escala milenaria (-1 ciclo climático)
Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
Variabilidad climática a escala milenaria (-1 ciclo climático)
Berger, 1978, J. Atmos. Sci.
ODP-977A

23. Variabilidad climática a escala milenaria (-2 ciclo climático)
Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
Variabilidad climática a escala milenaria (-2 ciclo climático)
Berger, 1978, J. Atmos. Sci.
ODP-977A

24. Abrupt Temperature Changes in
the Western Mediterranean over
the Past 250,000 Years
Martrat et al., 2004, Science
Over the last years abrupt climatic changes were more common at warmings than at coolings.
Some of the most promiment changes occurred in the interglacial periods, after long periods of stability.
After the last years the climate was at relatively stable warm periods (interglacials or interstadials) while the duration of the glacial periods was shorter.

25. Atmospheric CO2 content
150
200
250
300
350
400
PRESENT LEVEL
90 ppm
INTERGLACIAL
Atmospheric CO2 (ppm)
90 ppm
GLACIAL

26. CO2 increase in the atmosphere is changing the climatic conditions of the planet
Average atmospheric temperature is increasing
Ice melting could lead to disturbance (interruption) of thermohaline circulation
There are not examples in the recent past (last years) of a climatic situation with the present atmospheric composition in our planet
We live within a climatic experiment in which our planet (and ourselves) are the experimental objects
CO2 keeps increasing 1.5 ppm per year at least

27. PUBLICATIONS
In the last 10 years ( ) the group has published 50 papers in the leading international literature on paleoceanography
Three relevant publications in 2004:
B. Martrat, J.O. Grimalt, C. Lopez-Martinez, I. Cacho, F.J. Sierro, J.A. Flores, R. Zahn, M. Canals, J.H. Curtis and D.A. Hodell Abrupt Temperature Changes in the Western Mediterranean over the Past 250,000 Years. Science 306, (2004)
J.F. Lopez and J.O. Grimalt. Phenyl- and cyclopentylimino derivatization for double bond location in unsaturated C37-C40 alkenones by GC-MS. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry 15, (2004)
M.J. Vautravers, N.J. Shackleton, C. Lopez-Martinez and J.O. Grimalt. Gulf stream variability during marine isotope stage 3. Paleoceanography 19, PA2011, doi: /2003PA (2004)