Organic geochemical reconstruction of palaeo-environmental conditions during the deposition of Pliocene sapropels in the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

In this thesis, three time-equivalent Mediterranean sapropels of the late Pliocene (2.943 Ma ago) spanning an east-west transect of the entire eastern Mediterranean Sea were studied to obtain detailed insight in past climatic and palaeo-environmental conditions, which have caused their deposition. The sediments originate from a depth of about 80 meters below the seafloor and were recovered during Leg 160 of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). The sapropels and a few centimeters of sediments above and below the sapropels were investigated using different lipid biomarkers. These lipid biomarkers or so-called molecular fossils are specific biochemicals biosynthesized by a class of organisms or even specific organisms, which are useful tools to reconstruct palaeo-environmental conditions, e.g. changes in terrestrial versus marine input, sea surface temperature, phytoplankton assemblage, the presence of photic zone euxinia.