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- ItemAbrupt sand-dune accumulation at the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau challenges the wet MIS3a inferred from numerous lake-highstands([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2016) Long, Hao; Fuchs, Markus; Yang, Linhai; Cheng, HongyiWe report on hollow shell-shell nanogels with two polymer shells that have different volume phase transition temperatures. By means of small angle neutron scattering (SANS) employing contrast variation and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations we show that hollow shell-shell nanocontainers are ideal systems for controlled drug delivery: The temperature responsive swelling of the inner shell controls the uptake and release, while the thermoresponsive swelling of the outer shell controls the size of the void and the colloidal stability. At temperatures between 32 °C < T < 42 °C, the hollow nanocontainers provide a significant void, which is even larger than the initial core size of the template and they possess a high colloidal stability due to the steric stabilization of the swollen outer shell. Computer simulations showed, that temperature induced switching of the permeability of the inner shell allows for the encapsulation in and release of molecules from the cavity.
- ItemA tale of shifting relations: East Asian summer and winter monsoon variability during the Holocene([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2021) Kaboth-Bahr, Stefanie; Bahr, André; Zeeden, Christian; Yamoah, Kweku A.; Lone, Mahjoor Ahmad; Chuang, Chih-Kai; Löwemark, Ludvig; Wei, Kuo-YenUnderstanding the dynamics between the East Asian summer (EASM) and winter monsoon (EAWM) is needed to predict their variability under future global warming scenarios. Here, we investigate the relationship between EASM and EAWM as well as the mechanisms driving their variability during the last 10,000 years by stacking marine and terrestrial (non-speleothem) proxy records from the East Asian realm. This provides a regional and proxy independent signal for both monsoonal systems. The respective signal was subsequently analysed using a linear regression model. We find that the phase relationship between EASM and EAWM is not time-constant and significantly depends on orbital configuration changes. In addition, changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning circulation, Arctic sea-ice coverage, El Niño-Southern Oscillation and Sun Spot numbers contributed to millennial scale changes in the EASM and EAWM during the Holocene. We also argue that the bulk signal of monsoonal activity captured by the stacked non-speleothem proxy records supports the previously argued bias of speleothem climatic archives to moisture source changes and/or seasonality.
- ItemInsolation-paced sea level and sediment flux during the early Pleistocene in Southeast Asia([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2021) Vaucher, Romain; Dashtgard, Shahin E.; Horng, Chorng-Shern; Zeeden, Christian; Dillinger, Antoine; Pan, Yu-Yen; Setiaji, Romy A.; Chi, Wen-Rong; Löwemark, LudvigGlobal marine archives from the early Pleistocene indicate that glacial-interglacial cycles, and their corresponding sea-level cycles, have predominantly a periodicity of ~ 41 kyrs driven by Earth’s obliquity. Here, we present a clastic shallow-marine record from the early Pleistocene in Southeast Asia (Cholan Formation, Taiwan). The studied strata comprise stacked cyclic successions deposited in offshore to nearshore environments in the paleo-Taiwan Strait. The stratigraphy was compared to both a δ18O isotope record of benthic foraminifera and orbital parameters driving insolation at the time of deposition. Analyses indicate a strong correlation between depositional cycles and Northern Hemisphere summer insolation, which is precession-dominated with an obliquity component. Our results represent geological evidence of precession-dominated sea-level fluctuations during the early Pleistocene, independent of a global ice-volume proxy. Preservation of this signal is possible due to the high-accommodation creation and high-sedimentation rate in the basin enhancing the completeness of the stratigraphic record.
- ItemEvaluation of single-sided nuclear magnetic resonance technology for usage in geosciences(Bristol : IOP Publ. Ltd., 2022) Costabel, Stephan; Hiller, Thomas; Dlugosch, Raphael; Kruschwitz, Sabine; Müller-Petke, MikeBecause of its mobility and ability to investigate exposed surfaces, single-sided (SiS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology enables new application fields in geosciences. To test and assess its corresponding potential, we compare longitudinal (T 1) and transverse (T 2) data measured by SiS NMR with those of conventional geoscientific laboratory NMR. We use reference sandstone samples covering a broad range of pore sizes. Our study demonstrates that the lower signal-to-noise ratio of SiS NMR data generally tends to slightly overestimated widths of relaxation time distributions and consequently pore size distributions. While SiS and conventional NMR produce very similar T 1 relaxation data, unbiased SiS NMR results for T 2 measurements can only be expected for fine material, i.e. clayey or silty sediments and soils with main relaxation times below 0.05s . This limit is given by the diffusion relaxation rate due to the gradient in the primary magnetic field associated with the SiS NMR. Above that limit, i.e. for coarse material, the relaxation data is strongly attenuated. If considering the diffusion relaxation time of 0.2 s in the numerical data inversion process, the information content >0.2s is blurred over a range larger than that of conventional NMR. However, our results show that principle range and magnitudes of the relaxation time distributions are reconstructed to some extent. Regarding these findings, SiS NMR can be helpful to solve geoscientific issues, e.g. to assess the hydro-mechanical properties of the walls of underground facilities or to provide local soil moisture data sets for calibrating indirect remote techniques on the regional scale. The greatest opportunity provided by the SiS NMR technology is the acquisition of profile relaxation data for rocks with significant bedding structures at the μm scale. With this unique feature, SiS NMR can support the understanding and modeling of hydraulic and diffusional anisotropy behavior of sedimentary rocks.
- ItemPorosity and distribution of water in perlite from the island of Milos, Greece(Berlin : SpringerOpen, 2014) Kaufhold, Stephan; Reese, Anke; Schwiebacher, Werner; Dohrmann, Reiner; Grathoff, Georg H.; Warr, Laurence N.; Halisch, Matthias; Müller, Cornelia; Schwarz-Schampera, Ulrich; Ufer, KristianA perlite sample representative of an operating mine in Milos was investigated with respect to the type and spatial distribution of water. A set of different methods was used which finally provided a consistent view on the water at least in this perlite. Infrared spectroscopy showed the presence of different water species (molecular water and hydroxyl groups / strongly bound water). The presence of more than 0.5 mass% smectite, however, could be excluded considering the cation exchange capacity results. The dehydration measured by thermal analysis occurred over a wide range of temperatures hence confirming the infrared spectroscopical results. Both methods point to the existence of a continuous spectrum of water binding energies. The spatial distribution of water and/or pores was investigated using different methods (CT: computer tomography, FIB: scanning electron microscopy including focused ion beam technology, IRM: infrared microscopy). Computer tomography (CT) showed large macropores (20 – 100 μm) and additionally revealed a mottled microstructure of the silicate matrix with low density areas up to a few μm in diameter. Scanning electron microscopy (FIB) confirmed the presence of μm sized pores and IRM showed the filling of these pores with water. In summary, two types of pores were found. Airfilled 20 – 100 μm pores and μm-sized pores disseminated in the glass matrix containing at least some water. Porosity measurements indicate a total porosity of 26 Vol%, 11 Vol% corresponding to the μm-sized pores. It remains unsolved wether the water in the μm-sized pores entered after or throughout perlite formation. However, the pores are sealed and no indications of cracks were found which indicated a primary source of the water, i.e. water was probably entrapped by quenching of the lava. The water in these pores may be the main reason for the thermal expandability which results in the extraordinarily porous expanded perlite building materials.
- ItemSmoothed millennial-scale palaeoclimatic reference data as unconventional comparison targets: Application to European loess records([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2020) Zeeden, Christian; Obreht, Igor; Veres, Daniel; Kaboth-Bahr, Stefanie; Hošek, Jan; Marković, Slobodan B.; Bösken, Janina; Lehmkuhl, Frank; Rolf, Christian; Hambach, UlrichMillennial-scale palaeoclimate variability has been documented in various terrestrial and marine palaeoclimate proxy records throughout the Northern Hemisphere for the last glacial cycle. Its clear expression and rapid shifts between different states of climate (Greenland Interstadials and Stadials) represents a correlation tool beyond the resolution of e.g. luminescence dating, especially relevant for terrestrial deposits. Usually, comparison of terrestrial proxy datasets and the Greenland ice cores indicates a complex expression of millennial-scale climate variability as recorded in terrestrial geoarchives including loess. Loess is the most widespread terrestrial geoarchive of the Quaternary and especially widespread over Eurasia. However, loess often records a smoothed representation of millennial-scale variability without all fidelity when compared to the Greenland data, this being a relevant limiting feature in integrating loess with other palaeoclimate records. To better understand the loess proxy-response to millennial-scale climate variability, we simulate a proxy signal smoothing by natural processes through application of low-pass filters of δ18O data from Greenland, a high-resolution palaeoclimate reference record, alongside speleothem isotope records from the Black Sea-Mediterranean region. We show that low-pass filters represent rather simple models for better constraining the expression of millennial-scale climate variability in low sedimentation environments, and in sediments where proxy-response signals are most likely affected by natural smoothing (by e.g. bioturbation). Interestingly, smoothed datasets from Greenland and the Black Sea-Mediterranean region are most similar in the last ~15 ka and between ~50–30 ka. Between ~30–15 ka, roughly corresponding to the Last Glacial Maximum and the deglaciation, the records show dissimilarities, challenging the construction of robust correlative time-scales in this age range. From our analysis it becomes apparent that patterns of palaeoclimate signals in loess-palaeosol sequences often might be better explained by smoothed Greenland reference data than the original high-resolution Greenland dataset, or other reference data. This opens the possibility to better assess the temporal resolution and palaeoclimate potential of loess-palaeosol sequences in recording supra-regional climate patterns, as well as to securely integrate loess with other chronologically better-resolved palaeoclimate records. © 2020, The Author(s).
- Item“Climatic fluctuations in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert during the past 215 ka”([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2019) Ritter, Benedikt; Wennrich, Volker; Medialdea, Alicia; Brill, Dominik; King, Georgina; Schneiderwind, Sascha; Niemann, Karin; Fernández-Galego, Emma; Diederich, Julia; Rolf, Christian; Bao, Roberto; Melles, Martin; Dunai, Tibor J.Paleoclimate records from the Atacama Desert are rare and mostly discontinuous, mainly recording runoff from the Precordillera to the east, rather than local precipitation. Until now, paleoclimate records have not been reported from the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert (<2 mm/yr). Here we report the results from multi-disciplinary investigation of a 6.2 m drill core retrieved from an endorheic basin within the Coastal Cordillera. The record spans the last 215 ka and indicates that the long-term hyperarid climate in the Central Atacama witnessed small but significant changes in precipitation since the penultimate interglacial. Somewhat ‘wetter’ climate with enhanced erosion and transport of material into the investigated basin, commenced during interglacial times (MIS 7, MIS 5), whereas during glacial times (MIS 6, MIS 4–1) sediment transport into the catchment was reduced or even absent. Pelagic diatom assemblages even suggest the existence of ephemeral lakes in the basin. The reconstructed wetter phases are asynchronous with wet phases in the Altiplano but synchronous with increased sea-surface temperatures off the coasts of Chile and Peru, i.e. resembling modern El Niño-like conditions.