Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

All Outputs (52)

Abrupt climate change at the MIS 5/4 transition recorded in a speleothem from the Eastern Mediterranean (2024)
Journal Article
Paine, A. R., Baldini, J. U., Ünal-İmer, E., Wadsworth, F. B., Iveson, A. A., Humphreys, M. C., Brown, R. J., Müller, W., & Ottley, C. J. (2024). Abrupt climate change at the MIS 5/4 transition recorded in a speleothem from the Eastern Mediterranean. Quaternary Science Reviews, 339, Article 108841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108841

The marine isotope stage (MIS) 5a to 4 transition (∼74 ka) was associated with rapid ice sheet expansion, declining moisture availability globally, and significant upheaval of terrestrial ecosystems across the northern hemisphere. Here, we present pr... Read More about Abrupt climate change at the MIS 5/4 transition recorded in a speleothem from the Eastern Mediterranean.

Martian cave detection via machine learning coupled with visible light imagery (2024)
Journal Article
Watson, T. H., & Baldini, J. U. (2024). Martian cave detection via machine learning coupled with visible light imagery. Icarus, 411, Article 115952. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2024.115952

Cave entrances on Mars, formed from lava tube collapses, are key to the future exploration of the planet. They represent valuable exploration targets for signs of life and could provide shelter for prospective human endeavours. In this survey, a conv... Read More about Martian cave detection via machine learning coupled with visible light imagery.

Sensitivity of Neoproterozoic snowball-Earth inceptions to continental configuration, orbital geometry, and volcanism (2023)
Journal Article
Eberhard, J., Bevan, O. E., Feulner, G., Petri, S., van Hunen, J., & Baldini, J. U. L. (2023). Sensitivity of Neoproterozoic snowball-Earth inceptions to continental configuration, orbital geometry, and volcanism. Climate of the Past, 19(11), 2203-2235. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2203-2023

The Cryogenian period (720–635 million years ago) in the Neoproterozoic era featured two phases of global or near-global ice cover termed “snowball Earth”. Climate models of all kinds indicate that the inception of these phases must have occurred in... Read More about Sensitivity of Neoproterozoic snowball-Earth inceptions to continental configuration, orbital geometry, and volcanism.

Decline in seasonal predictability potentially destabilized Classic Maya societies (2023)
Journal Article
Braun, T., Breitenbach, S. F., Skiba, V., Lechleitner, F. A., Ray, E. E., Baldini, L. M., …Marwan, N. (2023). Decline in seasonal predictability potentially destabilized Classic Maya societies. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), Article 82. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00717-5

Classic Maya populations living in peri-urban states were highly dependent on seasonally distributed rainfall for reliable surplus crop yields. Despite intense study of the potential impact of decadal to centennial-scale climatic changes on the demis... Read More about Decline in seasonal predictability potentially destabilized Classic Maya societies.

Drought-Induced Civil Conflict Among the Ancient Maya (2022)
Journal Article
Kennett, D., Masson, M., Peraza Lope, C., Serafin, S., George, R., Spencer, T., …Hodell, D. (2022). Drought-Induced Civil Conflict Among the Ancient Maya. Nature Communications, 13, Article 3911. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31522-x

The influence of climate change on civil conflict and societal instability in the premodern world is a subject of much debate, in part because of the limited temporal or disciplinary scope of case studies. We present a transdisciplinary case study th... Read More about Drought-Induced Civil Conflict Among the Ancient Maya.

Detecting and quantifying palaeoseasonality in stalagmites using geochemical and modelling approaches (2021)
Journal Article
Baldini, J. U., Lechleitner, F. A., Breitenbach, S. F., van Hunen, J., Baldini, L. M., Wynn, P. M., …Fohlmeister, J. (2021). Detecting and quantifying palaeoseasonality in stalagmites using geochemical and modelling approaches. Quaternary Science Reviews, 254, Article 106784. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106784

Stalagmites are an extraordinarily powerful resource for the reconstruction of climatological palaeoseasonality. Here, we provide a review of different types of seasonality preserved by stalagmites and methods for extracting this information. A new d... Read More about Detecting and quantifying palaeoseasonality in stalagmites using geochemical and modelling approaches.

Volcanism and global plague pandemics: Towards an interdisciplinary synthesis (2020)
Journal Article
Fell, H. G., Baldini, J. U., Dodds, B., & Sharples, G. J. (2020). Volcanism and global plague pandemics: Towards an interdisciplinary synthesis. Journal of Historical Geography, 70, 36-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhg.2020.10.001

Understanding the prevalence and dissemination of bacterial pathogens such as Yersinia pestis, the bacterial agent of plague, is key to identifying the origins and demographic impact of historic pandemic episodes and mitigating future risk. Climate m... Read More about Volcanism and global plague pandemics: Towards an interdisciplinary synthesis.

Intertropical convergence zone variability in the Neotropics during the Common Era (2020)
Journal Article
Asmerom, Y., Baldini, J., Prufer, K., Polyak, V., Ridley, H., Aquino, V., …Kennett, D. (2020). Intertropical convergence zone variability in the Neotropics during the Common Era. Science Advances, 6(7), Article eaax3644. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax3644

Large changes in hydroclimate in the Neotropics implied by proxy evidence, such as during the Little Ice Age, have been attributed to meridional shifts of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), although alternative modes of ITCZ variability have... Read More about Intertropical convergence zone variability in the Neotropics during the Common Era.

North Iberian temperature and rainfall seasonality over the Younger Dryas and Holocene (2019)
Journal Article
Baldini, L. M., Baldini, J. U. L., McDermott, F., Arias, P., Cueto, M., Fairchild, I. J., Hoffmann, D. L., Mattey, D. P., Muller, W., Nita, D. C., Ontanon, R., Garcia-Monco, C., & Richards, D. A. (2019). North Iberian temperature and rainfall seasonality over the Younger Dryas and Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 226, Article 105998. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.105998

Several stalagmite records have yielded important but discontinuous insights into northern Iberian climate since the Last Glacial. Here we present the first continuous Iberian stalagmite-based reconstruction of climate since the Bølling-Allerød inter... Read More about North Iberian temperature and rainfall seasonality over the Younger Dryas and Holocene.

Towards organic carbon isotope records from stalagmites: coupled d13C and 14 C analysis using wet chemical oxidation (2019)
Journal Article
Lechleitner, F. A., Lang, S. Q., Haghipour, N., McIntyre, C., Baldini, J. U., Prufer, K. M., & Eglinton, T. I. (2019). Towards organic carbon isotope records from stalagmites: coupled d13C and 14 C analysis using wet chemical oxidation. Radiocarbon, 61(3), 749-764. https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2019.35

Speleothem organic matter can be a powerful tracer for past environmental conditions and karst processes. Carbon isotope measurements (δ13C and 14C) in particular can provide crucial information on the provenance and age of speleothem organic matter,... Read More about Towards organic carbon isotope records from stalagmites: coupled d13C and 14 C analysis using wet chemical oxidation.

Evaluating the significance of the contrail effect on diurnal temperature range using the Eyjafjallajökull eruption-related flight disruption (2018)
Journal Article
Sandhu, A. S., & Baldini, J. U. (2018). Evaluating the significance of the contrail effect on diurnal temperature range using the Eyjafjallajökull eruption-related flight disruption. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(23), 13,090-13,098. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018gl080899

Meteorological data collected during the post‐9/11 flight grounding in the USA suggested that the removal of contrails increased diurnal temperature range (DTR), but subsequent research has contested this result. The 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption re... Read More about Evaluating the significance of the contrail effect on diurnal temperature range using the Eyjafjallajökull eruption-related flight disruption.

Evaluating the link between the sulphur-rich Laacher See volcanic eruption and the Younger Dryas climate anomaly (2018)
Journal Article
Baldini, J. U., Brown, R. J., & Mawdsley, N. (2018). Evaluating the link between the sulphur-rich Laacher See volcanic eruption and the Younger Dryas climate anomaly. Climate of the Past, 14(7), 969-990. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-969-2018

The Younger Dryas is considered the archetypal millennial-scale climate change event, and identifying its cause is fundamental for thoroughly understanding climate systematics during deglaciations. However, the mechanisms responsible for its initiati... Read More about Evaluating the link between the sulphur-rich Laacher See volcanic eruption and the Younger Dryas climate anomaly.

Sulphate partitioning into calcite: Experimental verification of pH control and application to seasonality in speleothems (2018)
Journal Article
Wynn, P. M., Fairchild, I., Borsato, A., Spötl, C., Hartland, A., Baker, A., …Baldini, J. (2018). Sulphate partitioning into calcite: Experimental verification of pH control and application to seasonality in speleothems. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 226, 69-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2018.01.020

Carbonate-associated sulphate (CAS) is a useful carrier of palaeoenvironmental information throughout the geologic record, particularly through its stable isotope composition. However, a paucity of experimental data restricts quantitative understandi... Read More about Sulphate partitioning into calcite: Experimental verification of pH control and application to seasonality in speleothems.

Ground air: A first approximation of the Earth's second largest reservoir of carbon dioxide gas (2017)
Journal Article
Baldini, J. U., Bertram, R. A., & Ridley, H. E. (2018). Ground air: A first approximation of the Earth's second largest reservoir of carbon dioxide gas. Science of the Total Environment, 616-617, 1007-1013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.218

It is becoming increasingly clear that a substantial reservoir of carbon exists in the unsaturated zone of aquifers, though the total size of this reservoir on a global scale remains unquantified. Here we provide the first broad estimate of the amoun... Read More about Ground air: A first approximation of the Earth's second largest reservoir of carbon dioxide gas.

A regime shift in the Sun-Climate connection with the end of the Medieval Climate Anomaly (2017)
Journal Article
Smirnov, D., Breitenbach, S., Feulner, G., Lechleitner, F., Prufer, K., Baldini, J., …Kurths, J. (2017). A regime shift in the Sun-Climate connection with the end of the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Scientific Reports, 7, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-11340-8

Understanding the influence of changes in solar activity on Earth’s climate and distinguishing it from other forcings, such as volcanic activity, remains a major challenge for palaeoclimatology. This problem is best approached by investigating how th... Read More about A regime shift in the Sun-Climate connection with the end of the Medieval Climate Anomaly.

Molecular signatures of dissolved organic matter in a tropical karst system (2017)
Journal Article
Lechleitner, F., Dittmar, T., Baldini, J., Prufer, K., & Eglinton, T. (2017). Molecular signatures of dissolved organic matter in a tropical karst system. Organic Geochemistry, 113, 141-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2017.07.015

Karst areas are widespread landforms present on all continents, formed by the dissolution of carbonate or evaporite host rock. Little is known about the composition and nature of dissolved organic matter (DOM) as it moves through karst systems, altho... Read More about Molecular signatures of dissolved organic matter in a tropical karst system.

Tropical rainfall over the last two millennia: evidence for a low-latitude hydrologic seesaw (2017)
Journal Article
Lechleitner, F. A., Breitenbach, S. F., Rehfeld, K., Ridley, H. E., Asmerom, Y., Prufer, K. M., …Baldini, J. U. (2017). Tropical rainfall over the last two millennia: evidence for a low-latitude hydrologic seesaw. Scientific Reports, 7, Article 45809. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep45809

The presence of a low- to mid-latitude interhemispheric hydrologic seesaw is apparent over orbital and glacial-interglacial timescales, but its existence over the most recent past remains unclear. Here we investigate, based on climate proxy reconstru... Read More about Tropical rainfall over the last two millennia: evidence for a low-latitude hydrologic seesaw.