Geophysics of Polar Regions

The polar regions act as main drivers of the global climatic evolution. For the understanding and reconstruction of short- and long-time scaled processes, e.g. between tectonic evolution and ice-sheet and ocean circulation dynamics, we deploy geophysical methods and derive models of the development of glacial-sedimentary and tectonic processes.

Working Area

I mainly work in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. The focus is on West Antarctica which reacts very sensitively to climatic variations in the geological past and the present accelerating climate change. We link seismic profile data with drill hole information and reconstruct ice-sheet dynamics of the past since the beginning of Antarctica’s glaciation, including taking account of tectonic changes.

Methods

We use marine seismic survey methods with state-of-the-art hydrophone cables and recording systems. For imaging the deep Earth’s crust, we also use ocean-bottom seismometers. We further measure gravimetric and magnetic data from the ship, airplanes and helicopters. In cooperation with University of Bremen, we derive geothermal heat flow in the polar regions.