My group and I work on climate reconstructions from marine sediments and stalagmites (cave dripstones) with a variety of geochemical methods. Recently I have focused on novel techniques to reconstruct past temperatures, most importantly clumped isotope thermometry. This method takes advantage of the fact that the distribution of isotopes within molecules depends on the formation temperature. Our state-of-the-art equipment at the stable isotope facility Farlab is specifically targeting samples where only limited material is available. This allows us to apply the method to marine microfossils (foraminifera) in order to reconstruct temperature changes in the ocean (project DOTpaleo, funded by the Norwegian Research Council, and earlier projects C4T, funded by the European Research Council and CLIP, funded by the Trond Mohn Foundation). See our latest paper in Science here, showing the evolution of deep ocean temperature in the Atlantic Ocean across the last 65 million years.

In addition, with Yves Krüger we have established a technique that allows constraining growth temperatures of stalagmites by studying ancient drip water trapped as fluid inclusions within the calcite matrix. We are further developing this fluid inclusion microthermometry method in the project FluidMICS, funded by the European Research Council, and apply it to reconstruct temperature changes in the tropics and subtropics. Check out our latest article in Nature Communications by PhD candidate Marit Løland.

In addition, we reconstruct past climate with stalagmites in South Africa to udnerstand the relationship between climate and the development of early Homo Sapiens in collaboration with colleagues at the SapienCE Center. 

Public lecture during Bjerknes Centre's Anniversary 2020: "Dryppsteinenes hemmeligheter" (in Norwegian)

Podcast forskning i front, UiB, 2016 on clumped isotope thermometry

Some recent publications (see CV and CRIStin for extended list):

Løland, M. H., Krüger, Y. , Fernandez, A. , Buckingham, F.,  Carolin, S. A., Sodemann, H., Adkins, J. F., Cobb, K. M., Meckler, A. N., 2022, Evolution of tropical land temperature across the last glacial termination, Nature Communications 13:5158

(Tropical temperature evolution across the last glacial termination from speleothem fluid inclusion microthermometry; find the paper here)

 

Meckler, A.N., Sexton, P., Piasecki, A.M., Leutert, T.J., Marquardt, J., Ziegler, M., Agterhuis, T., Lourens, L.J., Rae, J.W.B., Barnet, J., Tripati, A., Bernasconi, S.M., 2022, Cenozoic evolution of deep ocean temperature from clumped isotope thermometry, Science 377, 86-90

(Development of deep ocean temperature in the Atlantic Ocean across the last 65 million years; free access to the publication here)

Leutert, T.J., Auderset, A., Martínez-García, A., Modestou, S.E., Meckler, A.N., 2020, Coupled Southern Ocean cooling and Antarctic ice sheet expansion during the middle Miocene, Nature Geoscience 13, 634–639

(Reconstruction of sea surface temperature changes across a period of rapid ice expansion on Antarctica in the middle Miocene)

Meinicke, N., Ho, S.L.,Hannisdal, B., Nürnberg, D., Tripati, A., Schiebel, R., Meckler, A.N., 2020, A robust calibration of the Δ47-T relationship for foraminifers, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 270, 160-183.

(Calibration of the clumped isotope signal in planktic foraminifera)

Leutert, T.J., Sexton, P.F., Tripati, A., Piasecki, A., Ho, S.L., Meckler, A.N., 2019, Diagenetic effects on clumped isotope temperatures in fossil benthic and planktic foraminifera, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 257, 354-372.

(how stable is the clumped isotope signal when foraminifera are stored in sediments over 40 million years?)

Piasecki, A., Marchitto, T., Bernasconi,. S.M., Grauel, A.-L., Tisserand, A., Meckler, A.N., 2019, Application of Clumped Isotope Thermometry to Benthic Foraminerfera, G-cubed, doi: 10.1029/2018GC007961.

(calibration of the clumped isotope signal in benthic foraminifera)

Meckler, A.N., Affolter, S., Dublyansky, Y.V., Krüger, Y., Vogel, N., Bernasconi, S.M., Frenz, M., Kipfer, R., Leuenberger, M., Spötl, C., Carolin, S., Cobb, K.M., Moerman, J., Adkins, J.F., Fleitmann, D., 2015, Glacial–interglacial temperature change in the tropical West Pacific: A comparison of stalagmite-based paleo-thermometers, Quaternary Science Reviews 127, 90-116.

(Temperature proxy comparison in stalagmites and new estimates for glacial-interglacial temperature change in the terrestrial tropics)

Meckler, A.N., Ziegler, M., Millán, I., Breitenbach, S.F.M., Bernasconi, S., 2014, Long-term performance of the Kiel carbonate device with a new correction scheme for clumped isotope measurements, Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 28, 1705-1715.

(Carbonate clumped isotope thermometry: Data processing scheme for small sample measurements and assessment of reproducibility)

Meckler, A.N., Sigman, D.M., Gibson, K.A., François, R., Martínez-García, A., Jaccard, S.L., Röhl, U., Peterson, L.C., Tiedemann, R., Haug, G.H, 2013, Deglacial pulses of deep-ocean silicate into the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean. Nature 495, 495-498.

(Deglacial CO2 change: Indications for a prominent role for ocean circulation)

Meckler, A.N., Clarkson, M.O., Cobb, K.M., Sodemann, H., and Adkins, J.F., 2012, Interglacial hydroclimate in the tropical West Pacific through the late Pleistocene. Science 336, 1301-1304.

(Stalagmite-based climate reconstructions: First long tropical hydroclimate record reaching back to more than 500,000 years ago)

 

From the CRIStin database:

Academic article

• Kocken, Ilja J.; Nooteboom, Peter D.; van der Veen, Kasper et al. (2024). North Atlantic Temperature Change Across the Eocene-Oligocene Transition From Clumped Isotopes. (external link)
• Zhang, Zijian; Zhang, Zhongshi; Nummelin, Aleksi Henrynpoika et al. (2024). Influence of plate reference frames on deep-time climate simulations. (external link)
• Sergiou, Spyros; Geraga, Maria; Pechlivanidou, Sofia et al. (2024). Stratigraphic and paleoceanographic alternations within a Mediterranean semi-enclosed, syn-rift basin during Marine Isotope Stage 5: The Gulf of Corinth, Greece. (external link)
• Braaten, Anna Hauge; Jakob, Kim A.; Ho, Sze Ling et al. (2023). Limited exchange between the deep Pacific and Atlantic oceans during the warm mid-Pliocene and Marine Isotope Stage M2 "glaciation". (external link)
• Maccali, Jenny Marianne; Meckler, Anna Nele; Lauritzen, Stein Erik et al. (2023). Multi-proxy speleothem-based reconstruction of mid-MIS 3 climate in South Africa. (external link)
• van der Ploeg, Robin; Cramwinckel, Margot J.; Kocken, Ilja J. et al. (2023). North Atlantic surface ocean warming and salinization in response to middle Eocene greenhouse warming. (external link)
• Taylor, Victoria Emma; Wilson, P.A.; Bohaty, S.M. et al. (2023). Transient Deep Ocean Cooling in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean at the Eocene-Oligocene Transition. (external link)
• Bremer, Alvaro Fernandez; Loeland, Marit Holten; Maccali, Jenny et al. (2023). Characterization and Correction of Evaporative Artifacts in Speleothem Fluid Inclusion Isotope Analyses as Applied to a Stalagmite From Borneo. (external link)
• Yue, Jiaojiao; Xiao, Jule; Wang, Xu et al. (2022). “Cold and wet” and “warm and dry” climate transitions at the East Asian summer monsoon boundary during the last deglaciation. (external link)
• Løland, Marit Holten; Krüger, Yves Stephan; Fernandez, Alvaro et al. (2022). Evolution of tropical land temperature across the last glacial termination. (external link)
• Moore, Harriet; Crocker, Anya; Belcher, Claire et al. (2022). Hydroclimate variability was the main control on fire activity in northern Africa over the last 50,000 years. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele; Sexton, Philip; Piasecki, Alison et al. (2022). Cenozoic evolution of deep ocean temperature from clumped isotope thermometry. (external link)
• Bernasconi, S.M.; Daeron, Mathieu; Bergmann, Kristin D. et al. (2021). InterCarb: A Community Effort to Improve Interlaboratory Standardization of the Carbonate Clumped Isotope Thermometer Using Carbonate Standards. (external link)
• Meinicke, Niklas; Reimi, Maja A.; Ravelo, A.C. et al. (2021). Coupled Mg/Ca and Clumped Isotope Measurements Indicate Lack of Substantial Mixed Layer Cooling in the Western Pacific Warm Pool During the Last ∼5 Million Years. (external link)
• Jakob, Kim A.; Ho, Sze Ling; Meckler, Anna Nele et al. (2021). Stable Biological Production in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific Across the Plio-Pleistocene Transition (∼3.35–2.0 Ma). (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele; Vonhof, Hubert; Martínez-García, Alfredo (2021). Temperature reconstructions using speleothems. (external link)
• Leutert, Thomas Jan; Modestou, Sevasti Eleni; Bernasconi, Stefano M. et al. (2021). Southern ocean bottom-water cooling and ice sheet expansion during the middle Miocene climate transition. (external link)
• Modestou, Sevasti Eleni; Leutert, Thomas Jan; Bremer, Alvaro Fernandez et al. (2020). Warm Middle Miocene Indian Ocean Bottom Water Temperatures: Comparison of Clumped Isotope and Mg/Ca‐Based Estimates. (external link)
• Caldarescu, Diana Elena; Sadatzki, Henrik; Dahl, Carin Andersson et al. (2020). Clumped isotope thermometry in bivalve shells: a tool for reconstructing seasonal upwelling. (external link)
• Salomon, Eric; Rotevatn, Atle; Kristensen, Thomas Berg et al. (2020). Fault-controlled fluid circulation and diagenesis along basin-bounding fault systems in rifts - Insights from the East Greenland rift system. (external link)
• Leutert, Thomas Jan; Auderset, Alexandra; Martínez-García, Alfredo et al. (2020). Coupled Southern Ocean cooling and Antarctic ice sheet expansion during the middle Miocene. (external link)
• Meinicke, Niklas; Ho, Sze Ling; Hannisdal, Bjarte et al. (2020). A robust calibration of the clumped isotopes to temperature relationship for foraminifers. (external link)
• Piasecki, Alison; Bernasconi, Stefano M.; Grauel, Anna-Lena et al. (2019). Application of Clumped Isotope Thermometry to Benthic Foraminifera. (external link)
• Leutert, Thomas Jan; Sexton, Philip; Tripati, Aradhna et al. (2019). Sensitivity of clumped isotope temperatures in fossil benthic and planktic foraminifera to diagenetic alteration. (external link)
• Deplazes, Gaudenz; Meckler, Anna Nele; Peterson, Larry C et al. (2019). Fingerprint of tropical climate variability and sea level in sediments of the Cariaco Basin during the last glacial period. (external link)
• Bernasconi, Stefano M.; Muller, Inigo A; Bergmann, Kristin D et al. (2018). Reducing Uncertainties in Carbonate Clumped Isotope Analysis Through Consistent Carbonate-Based Standardization. (external link)
• Bischoff, Tobias; Schneider, Tapio; Meckler, Anna Nele (2017). A conceptual model for the response of tropical rainfall to orbital variations. (external link)

Academic lecture

• Meckler, Anna Nele (2023). A new look at old climate: Insights into past ocean temperature from clumped isotope thermometry in foraminifera. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele; Sexton, Philip; Piasecki, Alison et al. (2022). Cenozoic evolution of deep ocean temperature from clumped isotope thermometry. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele; Marquardt, Johanna Christine; Leutert, Thomas Jan et al. (2022). Cenozoic evolution of deep ocean temperature. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele (2022). Reconstructing ocean temperatures through the Cenozoic with clumped isotope thermometry. (external link)
• Taylor, Victoria Emma; Meckler, Anna Nele (2022). Deep-sea temperature change across the Eocene-Oligocene Transition. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele (2021). Cenozoic evolution of deep-sea temperature from clumped isotope thermometry. (external link)
• Salomon, Eric; Rotevatn, Atle; Kristensen, Thomas Berg et al. (2019). Fluid circulation and fault-controlled diagenesis along a major syn-rift border fault system – the Dombjerg Fault and the Wollaston Forland Basin, NE Greenland. (external link)
• Salomon, Eric; Rotevatn, Atle; Kristensen, Thomas Berg et al. (2019). Fluid circulation and fault-controlled diagenesis along a major syn-rift border fault system – the Dombjerg Fault and the Wollaston Forland Basin, NE Greenland. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele; Meinicke, Niklas; Leutert, Thomas Jan et al. (2019). Clumped isotope thermometry in Cenozoic paleoceanography. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele; Meinicke, Niklas; Leutert, Thomas Jan et al. (2019). Clumped isotope-based paleoceanography through the Cenozoic. (external link)
• Bischoff, Tobias; Schneider, Tapio; Meckler, Anna Nele (2017). A Conceptual Model for the Response of Tropical Rainfall to Orbital Variations. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele (2017). Clumped isotope thermometry as a new tool to distinguish temperature and ice volume changes across critical Cenozoic boundaries. (external link)
• Langebroek, Petra; Nisancioglu, Kerim Hestnes; Lunt, Daniel J. et al. (2017). Elevated topography enables Greenland ice to originiate during the Eocene-Oligocene transition. (external link)
• Langebroek, Petra; Nisancioglu, Kerim Hestnes; Lunt, Daniel J. et al. (2017). On the possibility of ice on Greenland during the Eocene-Oligocene transition. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele; Bernasconi, Stefano M.; Ziegler, Martin et al. (2016). Clumped isotope thermometry as new tool for paleoceanography. (external link)

Poster

• Braaten, Anna Hauge; Jakob, Kim A.; Ho, Sze Ling et al. (2022). Limited Exchange Between the Deep Pacific and Atlantic Oceans During the Warm mid-Pliocene and MIS M2 "Glaciation". (external link)
• Løland, Marit Holten; Krüger, Yves Stephan; Fernandez, Alvaro et al. (2022). New constraints on the deglacial temperature evolution in the West Pacific Warm Pool from a Borneo speleothem. (external link)
• Taylor, Victoria Emma; Piasecki, Alison; Bohaty, Steven M. et al. (2022). Deep-sea temperature change across the Eocene-Oligocene Transition. (external link)
• Demurtas, Matteo; Rotevatn, Atle; Sharp, Ian et al. (2022). Architecture, fluid flow and deformation along a rift-bounding fault system, the Helmsdale Fault (Scotland). (external link)
• Caldarescu, Diana Elena; Meckler, Anna Nele; Andersson, Carin et al. (2019). Temperature and salinity reconstructions using carbonate clumped isotope thermometry in modern bivalve shells. (external link)
• Caldarescu, Diana Elena; Meckler, Anna Nele; Andersson, Carin et al. (2019). Temperature and salinity reconstructions using carbonate clumped isotope thermometry in modern bivalve shells . (external link)
• Meinicke, Niklas; Reimi, Maria A; Ravelo, Ana Christina et al. (2019). Coupled Mg/Ca and clumped isotope measurements confirm stable Western Pacific Warm Pool sea surface temperatures over the last 6 Myrs. (external link)
• van der Ploeg, Robin; Cramwinckel, Margot J; Kocken, Ilja et al. (2018). North Atlantic sea surface temperature reconstruction for the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele; Meinicke, Niklas; Piasecki, Alison et al. (2017). Calibration of the clumped isotope thermometer for planktonic and benthic foraminifera. (external link)
• Leutert, Thomas Jan; Sexton, Philip; Tripati, Aradhna et al. (2017). Constraining the effects of diagenetic alteration on the clumped isotope paleothermometer. (external link)
• Leutert, Thomas Jan; Sexton, Philip; Tripati, Aradhna et al. (2017). Constraining the effects of diagenetic alteration on the clumped isotope paleothermometer. (external link)

Lecture

• Meckler, Anna Nele (2022). New Tools For Old Climate. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele (2017). C4T: Climate change across Cenozoic cooling steps reconstructed with clumped isotope thermometry. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele (2017). A new way to reconstruct old climate. (external link)

Abstract

• Demurtas, Matteo; Rotevatn, Atle; Sharp, Ian et al. (2022). Fault-Controlled Fluid Flow Along a Basin-Bounding Fault System: the Helmsdale Fault (Scotland). (external link)

Academic literature review

• Hollis, Christopher J.; Jones, Tom Dunkley; Anagnostou, Eleni et al. (2019). The DeepMIP contribution to PMIP4: Methodologies for selection, compilation and analysis of latest Paleocene and early Eocene climate proxy data, incorporating version 0.1 of the DeepMIP database. (external link)

Popular scientific lecture

• Meckler, Anna Nele (2017). New ways to reconstruct old climate. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele (2017). Natürliche Datenlogger im Untergrund: Rekonstruktion von quartären Temperaturschwankungen mit Stalagmiten. (external link)
• Meckler, Anna Nele (2016). Climate detectives: deciphering clues from underground. (external link)

Popular scientific article

• Meckler, Anna Nele (2016). An extended yardstick for climate variability. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

I am currently leading two research projects:

In the DOTpaleo project (2021-2026) we reconstruct deep ocean temperatures across the early part of the Cenozoic and combine these findings with climate model simulations to understand how the climate system and the ocean function under medium to extreme greenhouse conditions (funded by the Norwegian Research Council).

In the FluidMICS project (2021-2026) we further develop and apply an exciting new method to reconstruct low latitude land temperatures from the physical properties of fluid inclusions in stalagmites. The goal is to derive exceptionally precise temperature reconstructions that allow us to answer many climate questions, such as the sensitivity of tropical climate to greenhouse gases or its relationship to changes at the poles. This project is funded by the European Research Council.

Masterprosjekter er tilgjengelig innenfor klimarekonstruksjon med marine sedimenter eller stalagmitter. Vi bruker avanserte metoder for å rekonstruere fortidstemperaturer, sammen med mer tradisjonelle metoder som for eksempel oksygenisotopanalyser.  Masteroppgaver er vanligvis knyttet til et forskningsprosjekt med flere involverte.

Stalagmitter vi jobber med er enten fra Borneo (Sørøst Asia), hvor vi ser på tropiske klimaendringer gjennom kvartærperioden, eller fra Sørafrika, hvor vi samarbeider med arkeologene i SapienCE for å finne ut hvordan klima har påvirket menneskets utviklingen.

Marine sedimenter bruker vi for å rekonstruere fortidstemperaturer i tidligere varme perioder gjennom Kenozoikum for å bedre forstå hvordan klimasystemet fungerer under høy CO₂ konsentrasjon i atmosfaren. Her anvender vi isotopklyngetermometri på mikrofossiler (foraminiferer).

Eksempler av tidligere masterprosjekter:

Julie Knutsen - Southern Ocean temperature during the middle Miocene reconstructed with clumped isotope thermometry (2020)

Marit Løland - Last Glacial Maximum to Holocene temperature change in the tropics determined from stalagmite fluid inclusions (2020)

Torill Brekken - New methods for temperature reconstructions from stalagmites (2019)

Anna Hauge Braaten - Reconstructing North Atlantic sea surface temperatures during Marine Isotope Stage M2 with clumped isotope thermometry (2018)

Diana Caldarescu - Seasonal temperature and salinity reconstructions in the Gulf of Panama based on clumped isotope thermometry in bivalve shells (2018)

Kristine Sleen Jenssen - Reconstructing Middle Miocene tropical sea surface temperatures with clumped isotope thermometry (2017)