Frank Sirocko
Biographic Data
| ID | 2738157 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Frank Sirocko |
| GIVEN NAMES | Frank |
| FAMILY NAME | Sirocko |
| SIGNATURE | SIROCKO F |
| AFFILIATIONS | Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3131-0613 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 68 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 22 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1991 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Holocene and Late Pleistocene Flood Events in Central Europe Reconstructed from Eifel Maar Lake Sediments
Severe floods such as in the Ahr valley in July 2021 are one of the leading causes of fatalities from natural disaster. Riverine and lacustrine floods are caused by a sudden flux of water masses from heavy rainfall or snowmelts. These surface water runoff events significantly enhance erosion of detrital material in the catchment, which is then deposited in natural sinks such as lakes. We reconstructed flood phases from Eifel maar lakes over the l…
A Cryptotephra Layer in Sediments of an Infilled Maar Lake from the Eifel (Germany)
We analyzed mineralogical characteristics, and major as well as rare earth element concentrations, from a cryptotephra layer in sediments of the infilled maar of Auel (Eifel, Germany). The results of detailed geochemical analyses of clinopyroxenes and their glassy rims from the Auel cryptotephra layer showed that they are similar to those from the thick Campanian Ignimbrite tephra occurrence in a loess section at Urluia (Romania). Both tephras sh…
Vegetation Patterns during the Last 132,000 Years
Seven published and four new pollen records from well-dated sediment cores from six Pleistocene and Holocene maar structures located in the Eifel, Germany, are combined to a pollen stack that covers the entire last 132,000 years. This stack is complemented by new macroremain data from one additional sediment core. The pollen data included into the stack show consistently that the Eifel was covered by a dense forest during the Eemian, early Marine…
Relation between Central European Climate Change and Eifel Volcanism during the Last 130,000 Years
The analysis of tephra layers in maar lake sediments of the Eifel shows 14 well-visible tephra during the last glacial cycle from the Holocene to the Eemian (0–130,000 yr b2k). These tephra were analyzed for their petrographic composition, which allows us to connect several tephra to eruption sites. All tephra were dated by application of the ELSA-20 chronology, developed using the late Pleistocene infilled maar lake of Auel and the Holocene lake…
Fine-Tuning of Sub-Annual Resolution Spectral Index Time Series from Eifel Maar Sediments, Western Germany, to the NGRIP δ18O Chronology, 26–60 ka
Recent technological advancements in spectral imaging core-scanning techniques have proved to be a promising tool to study lake sediments at extremely high resolution. We used this novel analytical approach to scan core AU3 of the Pleistocene Auel maar, Western Germany. The resulting ultra-high-resolution RABD670 spectral index, a proxy for the lake’s primary production, shows an almost complete succession of Greenland Interstadials of the NGRIP …
Evidence for an Extreme Cooling Event Prior to the Laschamp Geomagnetic Excursion in Eifel Maar Sediments
We present a timeseries of flood and slumping phases in central Europe for the past 65,000 years from event layers in sediment cores from infilled Eifel maar basins (Germany). Palynological, petrographic and organic carbon (chlorins) records are used to understand the precise timing of these events. Periods of increased flood activity seem to coincide with Heinrich stadials in marine sediment records, which are associated with cold and more arid …
Bioproductivity and vegetation changes documented in Eifel maar lake sediments (western Germany) compared with speleothem growth indicating three warm phases during the last glacial cycle
Understanding supra-regional climate variability such as the changes in the North Atlantic realm is important to identify the drivers of the climate system. In this study maar lake sediments from the Eifel (western Germany) were analysed with a multi-proxy approach and compared to central and western European speleothem growth phases. Corg (chlorins) and the pollen assemblage were analysed from two sediment cores of the Hoher List infilled maar l…
Vegetation Dynamics and Megaherbivore Presence of MIS 3 Stadials and Interstadials 10–8 Obtained from a Sediment Core from Auel Infilled Maar, Eifel, Germany
We present a record of pollen and spores of coprophilous fungi from a sediment core from Auel infilled maar, Eifel, Germany, covering the period from 42,000 to 36,000 yr b2k. We can show that vegetation cover was dominated by a boreal forest with components of steppe and cold-temperate wood taxa. The proportion of wood taxa was higher during interstadials, whereas steppe-vegetation became more prominent during stadials. During Heinrich stadial 4,…
Eolian sedimentation in central European Auel dry maar from 60 to 13 ka
The climate in central Europe during the last 60 ka is characterized by rapid temperature and moisture changes and strong cold periods (Heinrich events). All these variations are preserved in sediments of marine and also some terrestrial archives. Here we present a continuous, terrestrial sediment record with almost all Greenland stadials and Heinrich events between 60 and 13 ka visible from carbonate roundness of the Eifel Laminated Sediment Arc…
Annual 14 C Tree-Ring Data Around 400 AD
Two tree-ring series, one from a high-latitude pine tree (located in northern Scandinavia) and one from a mid-latitude oak tree (located in eastern Germany) were analyzed for radiocarbon ( 14 C) at annual resolution. The new records cover the calendar date ranges 290–460 AD and 382–486 AD, respectively, overlapping by 79 yr. The series show similar trends as IntCal13. However, some significant deviations around 400 AD are present with lower Δ 14 …
Danube loess stratigraphy — Towards a pan-European loess stratigraphic model
Ancient DNA Reveals Key Stages in the Formation of Central European Mitochondrial Genetic Diversity
The Origins of Europeans To investigate the genetic origins of modern Europeans, Brandt et al. (p. 257 ) examined ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and were able to identify genetic differences in 364 Central Europeans spanning the early Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Observed changes in mitochondrial haplotypes corresponded with hypothesized human migration across Eurasia and revealed the complexity of the demographic changes and evidence of…
Adaptive cycles’ and climate fluctuations
Dating Bulk Sediments from Limnic Deposits Using a Grain-Size Approach
Radiocarbon measurements on bulk subaqueous sediments typically provide ages significantly older than actual time of deposition. This is generally caused by the presence of reworked organic compounds, which are depleted in 14 C. To explore this issue of age heterogeneity, we collected 4 organic-rich samples from varying depths in a lake sediment core at the Gemündener Maar (Eifel, Germany), a lake of volcanic origin. We divided each sample into 5…
The Palaeoanthropocene - The beginnings of anthropogenic environmental change
Solar and volcanic forcing of precipitation anomalies and flood events in western Central Europe
Palaeobotanical evidence for agricultural activities in the Eifel region during the Holocene
El Niño variability off Peru during the last 20,000 years
Here we present a high‐resolution marine sediment record from the El Niño region off the coast of Peru spanning the last 20,000 years. Sea surface temperature, photosynthetic pigments, and a lithic proxy for El Niño flood events on the continent are used as paleo–El Niño–Southern Oscillation proxy data. The onset of stronger El Niño activity in Peru started around 17,000 calibrated years before the present, which is later than modeling experiment…
Climate change at the 4.2 ka BP termination of the Indus valley civilization and Holocene south Asian monsoon variability
Planktonic oxygen isotope ratios off the Indus delta reveal climate changes with a multi‐centennial pacing during the last 6 ka, with the most prominent change recorded at 4.2 ka BP. Opposing isotopic trends across the northern Arabian Sea surface at that time indicate a reduction in Indus river discharge and suggest that later cycles also reflect variations in total annual rainfall over south Asia. The 4.2 ka event is coherent with the terminati…
A 5000-yr Record of Climate Change in Varved Sediments from the Oxygen Minimum Zone off Pakistan, Northeastern Arabian Sea
The upper Holocene marine section from a kasten core taken from the oxygen minimum zone off Karachi (Pakistan) at water depth 700 m contains continuously laminated sediments with a sedimentation rate of 1.2 mm/yr and a unique record of monsoonal climatic variability covering the past 5000 years. Our chronostratigraphy is based on varve counts verified by conventional and AMS 14 C dating. Individual hemipelagic varve couplets are about 0.8–1.5 mm …
Century-scale events in monsoonal climate over the past 24,000 years
Atmospheric summer circulation and coastal upwelling in the Arabian Sea during the Holocene and the last glaciation
Accumulation rates of biogenic and lithogenic components were studied in 39 turbidite-free, well-dated sediment cores from the northern Indian Ocean to define the proportions of fluvial and eolian input and to reconstruct Quaternary patterns of coastal upwelling. The majority of dust deposited in the western Arabian Sea during the Holocene (about 100 × 10 6 t yr −1 ) is advected from Arabia by northwesterly winds, which overlie the low-level sout…
The Palaeoanthropocene - The beginnings of anthropogenic environmental change
Adaptive cycles’ and climate fluctuations
Annual 14 C Tree-Ring Data Around 400 AD
Two tree-ring series, one from a high-latitude pine tree (located in northern Scandinavia) and one from a mid-latitude oak tree (located in eastern Germany) were analyzed for radiocarbon ( 14 C) at annual resolution. The new records cover the calendar date ranges 290–460 AD and 382–486 AD, respectively, overlapping by 79 yr. The series show similar trends as IntCal13. However, some significant deviations around 400 AD are present with lower Δ 14 …
Palaeobotanical evidence for agricultural activities in the Eifel region during the Holocene
Dating Bulk Sediments from Limnic Deposits Using a Grain-Size Approach
Radiocarbon measurements on bulk subaqueous sediments typically provide ages significantly older than actual time of deposition. This is generally caused by the presence of reworked organic compounds, which are depleted in 14 C. To explore this issue of age heterogeneity, we collected 4 organic-rich samples from varying depths in a lake sediment core at the Gemündener Maar (Eifel, Germany), a lake of volcanic origin. We divided each sample into 5…
Atmospheric summer circulation and coastal upwelling in the Arabian Sea during the Holocene and the last glaciation
Accumulation rates of biogenic and lithogenic components were studied in 39 turbidite-free, well-dated sediment cores from the northern Indian Ocean to define the proportions of fluvial and eolian input and to reconstruct Quaternary patterns of coastal upwelling. The majority of dust deposited in the western Arabian Sea during the Holocene (about 100 × 10 6 t yr −1 ) is advected from Arabia by northwesterly winds, which overlie the low-level sout…
Century-scale events in monsoonal climate over the past 24,000 years
A 5000-yr Record of Climate Change in Varved Sediments from the Oxygen Minimum Zone off Pakistan, Northeastern Arabian Sea
The upper Holocene marine section from a kasten core taken from the oxygen minimum zone off Karachi (Pakistan) at water depth 700 m contains continuously laminated sediments with a sedimentation rate of 1.2 mm/yr and a unique record of monsoonal climatic variability covering the past 5000 years. Our chronostratigraphy is based on varve counts verified by conventional and AMS 14 C dating. Individual hemipelagic varve couplets are about 0.8–1.5 mm …
Climate change at the 4.2 ka BP termination of the Indus valley civilization and Holocene south Asian monsoon variability
Planktonic oxygen isotope ratios off the Indus delta reveal climate changes with a multi‐centennial pacing during the last 6 ka, with the most prominent change recorded at 4.2 ka BP. Opposing isotopic trends across the northern Arabian Sea surface at that time indicate a reduction in Indus river discharge and suggest that later cycles also reflect variations in total annual rainfall over south Asia. The 4.2 ka event is coherent with the terminati…
El Niño variability off Peru during the last 20,000 years
Here we present a high‐resolution marine sediment record from the El Niño region off the coast of Peru spanning the last 20,000 years. Sea surface temperature, photosynthetic pigments, and a lithic proxy for El Niño flood events on the continent are used as paleo–El Niño–Southern Oscillation proxy data. The onset of stronger El Niño activity in Peru started around 17,000 calibrated years before the present, which is later than modeling experiment…
Solar and volcanic forcing of precipitation anomalies and flood events in western Central Europe
Palaeobotanical evidence for agricultural activities in the Eifel region during the Holocene
Ancient DNA Reveals Key Stages in the Formation of Central European Mitochondrial Genetic Diversity
The Origins of Europeans To investigate the genetic origins of modern Europeans, Brandt et al. (p. 257 ) examined ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and were able to identify genetic differences in 364 Central Europeans spanning the early Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Observed changes in mitochondrial haplotypes corresponded with hypothesized human migration across Eurasia and revealed the complexity of the demographic changes and evidence of…
Adaptive cycles’ and climate fluctuations
Dating Bulk Sediments from Limnic Deposits Using a Grain-Size Approach
Radiocarbon measurements on bulk subaqueous sediments typically provide ages significantly older than actual time of deposition. This is generally caused by the presence of reworked organic compounds, which are depleted in 14 C. To explore this issue of age heterogeneity, we collected 4 organic-rich samples from varying depths in a lake sediment core at the Gemündener Maar (Eifel, Germany), a lake of volcanic origin. We divided each sample into 5…
The Palaeoanthropocene - The beginnings of anthropogenic environmental change
Danube loess stratigraphy — Towards a pan-European loess stratigraphic model
Annual 14 C Tree-Ring Data Around 400 AD
Two tree-ring series, one from a high-latitude pine tree (located in northern Scandinavia) and one from a mid-latitude oak tree (located in eastern Germany) were analyzed for radiocarbon ( 14 C) at annual resolution. The new records cover the calendar date ranges 290–460 AD and 382–486 AD, respectively, overlapping by 79 yr. The series show similar trends as IntCal13. However, some significant deviations around 400 AD are present with lower Δ 14 …
Eolian sedimentation in central European Auel dry maar from 60 to 13 ka
The climate in central Europe during the last 60 ka is characterized by rapid temperature and moisture changes and strong cold periods (Heinrich events). All these variations are preserved in sediments of marine and also some terrestrial archives. Here we present a continuous, terrestrial sediment record with almost all Greenland stadials and Heinrich events between 60 and 13 ka visible from carbonate roundness of the Eifel Laminated Sediment Arc…
Evidence for an Extreme Cooling Event Prior to the Laschamp Geomagnetic Excursion in Eifel Maar Sediments
We present a timeseries of flood and slumping phases in central Europe for the past 65,000 years from event layers in sediment cores from infilled Eifel maar basins (Germany). Palynological, petrographic and organic carbon (chlorins) records are used to understand the precise timing of these events. Periods of increased flood activity seem to coincide with Heinrich stadials in marine sediment records, which are associated with cold and more arid …
Bioproductivity and vegetation changes documented in Eifel maar lake sediments (western Germany) compared with speleothem growth indicating three warm phases during the last glacial cycle
Understanding supra-regional climate variability such as the changes in the North Atlantic realm is important to identify the drivers of the climate system. In this study maar lake sediments from the Eifel (western Germany) were analysed with a multi-proxy approach and compared to central and western European speleothem growth phases. Corg (chlorins) and the pollen assemblage were analysed from two sediment cores of the Hoher List infilled maar l…
Vegetation Dynamics and Megaherbivore Presence of MIS 3 Stadials and Interstadials 10–8 Obtained from a Sediment Core from Auel Infilled Maar, Eifel, Germany
We present a record of pollen and spores of coprophilous fungi from a sediment core from Auel infilled maar, Eifel, Germany, covering the period from 42,000 to 36,000 yr b2k. We can show that vegetation cover was dominated by a boreal forest with components of steppe and cold-temperate wood taxa. The proportion of wood taxa was higher during interstadials, whereas steppe-vegetation became more prominent during stadials. During Heinrich stadial 4,…
A Cryptotephra Layer in Sediments of an Infilled Maar Lake from the Eifel (Germany)
We analyzed mineralogical characteristics, and major as well as rare earth element concentrations, from a cryptotephra layer in sediments of the infilled maar of Auel (Eifel, Germany). The results of detailed geochemical analyses of clinopyroxenes and their glassy rims from the Auel cryptotephra layer showed that they are similar to those from the thick Campanian Ignimbrite tephra occurrence in a loess section at Urluia (Romania). Both tephras sh…
Vegetation Patterns during the Last 132,000 Years
Seven published and four new pollen records from well-dated sediment cores from six Pleistocene and Holocene maar structures located in the Eifel, Germany, are combined to a pollen stack that covers the entire last 132,000 years. This stack is complemented by new macroremain data from one additional sediment core. The pollen data included into the stack show consistently that the Eifel was covered by a dense forest during the Eemian, early Marine…
Relation between Central European Climate Change and Eifel Volcanism during the Last 130,000 Years
The analysis of tephra layers in maar lake sediments of the Eifel shows 14 well-visible tephra during the last glacial cycle from the Holocene to the Eemian (0–130,000 yr b2k). These tephra were analyzed for their petrographic composition, which allows us to connect several tephra to eruption sites. All tephra were dated by application of the ELSA-20 chronology, developed using the late Pleistocene infilled maar lake of Auel and the Holocene lake…
Fine-Tuning of Sub-Annual Resolution Spectral Index Time Series from Eifel Maar Sediments, Western Germany, to the NGRIP δ18O Chronology, 26–60 ka
Recent technological advancements in spectral imaging core-scanning techniques have proved to be a promising tool to study lake sediments at extremely high resolution. We used this novel analytical approach to scan core AU3 of the Pleistocene Auel maar, Western Germany. The resulting ultra-high-resolution RABD670 spectral index, a proxy for the lake’s primary production, shows an almost complete succession of Greenland Interstadials of the NGRIP …
Holocene and Late Pleistocene Flood Events in Central Europe Reconstructed from Eifel Maar Lake Sediments
Severe floods such as in the Ahr valley in July 2021 are one of the leading causes of fatalities from natural disaster. Riverine and lacustrine floods are caused by a sudden flux of water masses from heavy rainfall or snowmelts. These surface water runoff events significantly enhance erosion of detrital material in the catchment, which is then deposited in natural sinks such as lakes. We reconstructed flood phases from Eifel maar lakes over the l…
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (21 works) · Geology (13 works) · Geography (11 works) · Maar (11 works) · Physical geography (11 works) · Volcano (11 works) · Paleontology (10 works) · Holocene (9 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (8 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (8 works)