PAGEO: Palaeoecological reconstruction of Global Environmental changes at the Younger Dryas Onset

Research Team Members:

Assoc. Prof. Günther Kletetschka (Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague): head of the Czech team (PI); co-ordination of the team activities, XRF, SEM and EDAX analyses, geochemical analyses of volcanic glass, geochemical and geophysical analysis of impact particles (=micro-spherules or MSPs), analysis of magnetic properties of sediments (magnetic susceptibility, magnetic remanence)

Dr. Daniel Vondrák (Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague): postdoctoral research fellow; correlation of parallel cores and their lithological characterization, age-depth modelling, loss-on-ignition (LOI), analysis of chironomid head capsules (Diptera: Chironomidae) in the sediment cores

Dr. Eva Švecová (Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague): postdoctoral research fellow; XRF scanning of lake sediment cores, microscopic analyses of microparticles including MSPs and pyrite framboids, management of the database of project results with focus on distribution of MSPs and volcanic tephra

MSc. Marian Takáč (Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague): PhD student; robotized geophysical analyses, maintenance of robotized XRF systems, magnetic separation of MSPs, contribution in the labwork and the database creation

MSc. Radana Kavková (Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague): PhD student; magnetic properties of the sediment cores, magnetic and non-magnetic separation of MSPs and their identification using SEM

Prof. Evžen Stuchlík (Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences): co-PI of the project; co-ordination of biological analyses, µXRF and ICP-MS analyses of lake sediments, tephrochronology (volcanic glass separation, microscopic analysis and chemical identification), reconstruction of historical redox conditions (fractionation of Fe, Al, and P), separation of pyrite framboids

Dr. Zuzana Hořická (Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences): senior researcher; analysis of cladoceran remains (Crustacea: Cladocera) in the lake sediment samples, interpretation of biological results with respect to ecology of lake paleoecosystems

Dr. Nancy H. Bigelow (Alaska Quaternary Center, College of Natural Science and Mathematics, University of Alaska Fairbanks): co-ordination of the sediment sampling in Alaska lakes, pollen analyses and reconstruction of historical vegetation cover in the catchments of lakes in Alaska

MSc. Nicholas Hasson (Permafrost Laboratory, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks): PhD student; biogeochemistry of thermokarst lakes, winter methane flux, very-low-frequency geophysics