Dr. Stefan Mulitza

Anthropocene/Humans & climate

Mulitza, S, Heslop, D, Pittauerova, D, Fischer, HW, Meyer, I, Stuut, JB, Zabel, M, Mollenhauer, G, Collins, JA, Kuhnert, H, Schulz, M (2010) Increase in African dust flux at the onset of commercial agriculture in the Sahel region. Nature 466: 226-228. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09213

Narayan N, Paul A, Mulitza S, Schulz M (2010) Trends in coastal upwelling intensity during the late 20th century. Ocean Science 6:815-823. https://doi.org/10.5194/os-6-815-2010

Castañeda IS, Mulitza S, Schefuss E, Lopes dos Santos RA, Sinninghe Damsté JS, Schouten S (2009) Wet phases in the Sahara/Sahel region and human migration patterns in North Africa. PNAS 106:20159-20163. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0905771106

McGregor HV, Dima M, Fischer HW, Mulitza S (2007) Rapid 20th-century increase in coastal upwelling off northwest Africa. Science 315:637-639. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1134839

Atlantic meridional overturning & ocean temperature/ventilation

Max, L, Nürnberg, D, Chiessi, CM, Lenz, MM, Mulitza, S (2022) Subsurface ocean warming preceded Heinrich Events. Nature Communications 13, 4217. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31754-x

Lynch-Stieglitz J, Schmidt MW, Gene Henry L, Curry WB, Skinner LC, Mulitza S, Zhang R, Chang P (2014) Muted change in Atlantic overturning circulation over some glacial-aged Heinrich events. Nature Geoscience 7:144-150. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2045

Maier, E, Zhang, X, Abelmann, A, Gersonde, R, Mulitza, S, Werner, M, Méheust, M, Ren, J, Chapligin, B, Meyer, H, Stein, R, Tiedemann, R, Lohmann, G (2018) North Pacific freshwater events linked to changes in glacial ocean circulation. Nature 559, 241-245. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0276-y

Rühlemann C, Mulitza S, Müller PJ, Wefer G, Zahn R (1999) Warming of the tropical Atlantic Ocean and slowdown of thermohaline circulation during the last deglaciation. Nature 402:511-514. https://doi.org/10.1038/990069

Atlantic meridional overturning & tropical precipitation

Akabane, TK, Chiessi, CM, Hirota, M, Bouimetarhan, I, Prange, M, Mulitza, S, Bertassoli Jr, DJ, Häggi, C, Staal, A, Lohmann, G, Boers, N, Daniau, AL, Oliveira, RS, Campos, MC, Shi, X, De Oliveira PE (2024) Weaker Atlantic overturning circulation increases the vulnerability of northern Amazon forests. Nature Geoscience. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01578-z

Collins JA, Prange M, Caley T, Gimeno L, Beckmann B, Mulitza S, Skonieczny C, Roche D, Schefuss E (2017) Rapid termination of the African Humid Period triggered by northern high-latitude cooling. Nature Communications 8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01454-y

Mulitza S, Chiessi CM, Schefuß E, Lippold J, Wichmann D, Antz B, Mackensen A, Paul A, Prange M, Rehfeld K, Werner M, Bickert T, Frank N, Kuhnert H, Lynch-Stieglitz J, Portilho-Ramos RC, Sawakuchi AO, Schulz M, Schwenk T, Tiedemann R, Vahlenkamp M, Zhang Y (2017) Synchronous and proportional deglacial changes in Atlantic meridional overturning and northeast Brazilian precipitation. Paleoceanography 32. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017PA003084

Collins, JA, Schefuß, E, Heslop, D, Mulitza, S, Prange, M, Zabel, M, Tjallingii, R, Dokken, TM, Huang, E, Mackensen, A, Schulz, M, Tian, J, Zarriess, M, Wefer, G (2011) Interhemispheric symmetry of the tropical African rainbelt over the past 23,000 years. Nature Geoscience 3. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1039

Paleoceanography of the Last Glacial Maximum

Paul A, Mulitza S, Stein R, Werner M (2021) A global climatology of the ocean surface during the Last Glacial Maximum mapped on a regular grid (GLOMAP). Climate of the Past 17:805-824. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-805-2021

Howe JNW, Piotrowski AM, Noble TL, Mulitza S, Chiessi CM, Bayon G (2016) North Atlantic Deep Water Production during the Last Glacial Maximum. Nature Communications 7. doi:10.1038/ncomms11765

Margo Project Members (2009) Constraints on the magnitude and patterns of ocean cooling at the Last Glacial Maximum. Nature Geoscience 2:127-132. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo411

Lynch-Stieglitz J, Adkins JF, Curry WB, Dokken T, Hall IR, Herguera JC, Hirschi JJ-M, Ivanova EV, Kissel C, Marchal O, Marchitto TM, McCave IN, McManus JF, Mulitza S, Ninnemann U, Peeters F, Yu E-F, Zahn R (2007) Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the Last Glacial Maximum. Science 316:66-69. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1137127

Stable oxygen & carbon isotopes in foraminifera

Chiessi CM, Ulrich S, Mulitza S, Pätzold J, Wefer G (2007) Signature of the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence (Argentine Basin) in the isotopic composition of planktonic foraminifera from surface sediments. Marine Micropaleontology 64:52-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2007.02.002

Mulitza S, Boltovskoy D, Donner B, Meggers H, Paul A, Wefer G (2003) Temperature:δ¹⁸O relationships of planktonic foraminifera collected from surface waters. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 202:143-152. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(03)00633-3

Schmidt GA, Mulitza S (2002) Global calibration of ecological models for planktic foraminifera from coretop carbonate oxygen-18. Marine Micropaleontology 44:125-140. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0377-8398(01)00041-X

Mulitza S, Dürkoop A, Hale W, Wefer G, Stefan Niebler H (1997) Planktonic foraminifera as recorders of past surface-water stratification. Geology 25:335. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1997)025<0335:PFAROP>2.3.CO;2

Software & data compilations

Muglia J, Mulitza S, Repschläger J, Schmittner A, Lembke-Jene L, Lisiecki L, Mix A, Saraswat R, Sikes E, Waelbroeck C, Gottschalk J, Lippold J, Lund D, Martinez-Mendez G, Michel E, Muschitiello F, Naik S, Okazaki Y, Stott L, Voelker A, Zhao N (2023) A global synthesis of high-resolution stable isotope data from benthic foraminifera of the last deglaciation. Scientific Data 10:131. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02024-2

Mulitza S, Bickert T, Bostock HC, Chiessi CM, Donner B, Govin A, Harada N, Huang E, Johnstone H, Kuhnert H, Langner M, Lamy F, Lembke-Jene L, Lisiecki L, Lynch-Stieglitz J, Max L, Mohtadi M, Mollenhauer G, Muglia J, Nürnberg D, Paul A, Rühlemann C, Repschläger J, Saraswat R, Schmittner A, Sikes EL, Spielhagen RF, Tiedemann R (2022) World Atlas of late Quaternary Foraminiferal Oxygen and Carbon Isotope Ratios. Earth System Science Data 14, 2553-2611. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2553-2022

Jonkers L, Cartapanis O, Langner M, McKay N, Mulitza S, Strack A, Kucera M (2020) Integrating palaeoclimate time series with rich metadata for uncertainty modelling: strategy and documentation of the PalMod 130k marine palaeoclimate data synthesis. Earth System Science Data 12:1053-1081. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1053-2020

Langner, M, Mulitza, S (2019) Technical Note: PaleoDataView – A software toolbox for the collection, homogenization and visualization of marine proxy data, Climate of the Past 15, 2067–2072. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-2067-2019

Complete Publication List

Chief Scientist:

• METEOR M65/1
• MARIA S. MERIAN MSM20/3
• MARIA S. MERIAN MSM39

Scientific Crew Member

• RV METEOR: M15, M23, M38, M46, M49, M57, M75
• RV SONNE: SO164 (RASTA)
• RV MARION DUFRESNE: MD 167 RETRO (Co-Chief Scientist)

Master of Marine Geoscience, University of Bremen

• Abrupt, Past and Future Climate Changes
• Marine Ecosystems

• Winner of the ideas competition of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (~15.000 EUR) during the Brazil-Day of the BMBF in Bonn, March 24, 2017