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Dr Sebastian Breitenbach

Associate Professor

Department: Geography and Environmental Sciences

I am head of the EnMaR (Environmental monitoring and reconstruction) research group.

I am a palaeoclimatologist with strong affinity to caves and carbonates. I use carbonate chemistry and stable isotope geochemistry as tools to reconstruct past environmental and climate conditions. Ideally I then use these reconstructions to inform archaeologists, anthropologists and other interested parties and the public about the influence that climate has on society. To this end I follow a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach and work closely with experts from a broad range of research fields.

My research is globally spread as I select sites that are best suited for the research question at hand. Among other places, I work in Germany, Siberia, India, New Zealand, and Belize.

I am currently establishing clumped isotope thermometry in our new stable isotope laboratory.

Email Sebastian

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

I am a palaeoclimatologist with strong affinity to caves and carbonates. My research interest includes palaeoclimatology, geothermometry, geochronology, climate-human interaction, geochemistry, continental environmental change, and human adaptation/behaviour in response to climate change.

Key Publications

Arctic speleothems reveal nearly permafrost-free Northern Hemisphere in the late Miocene, Vaks, A., Mason, A., Breitenbach, S., Giesche, A., Osinzev, A., Adrian, I., Kononov, A., Umbo, S., Lechleitner, F., Rosensaft, M., Henderson, G. 1 Jul 2025, In: Nature Communications
A six-million-year speleothem derived clumped isotope temperature record of continental Eurasia, Umbo, S., Modestou, S., Opel, T., Lechleitner, F., Vaks, A., Golan, T., Mason, A., Margerum, J., Kwiecien, O., Osintsev, A., Breitenbach, S. 15 Mar 2025, EGU General Assembly 2025
Classic Maya response to multiyear seasonal droughts in Northwest Yucatán, Mexico, James, D., Carolin, S., Breitenbach, S., Hoggarth, J., Lases-Hernández, F., Endsley, E., Curtis, J., Gallup, C., Milbrath, S., Nicolson, J., Rolfe, J., Kwiecien, O., Ottley, C., Iveson, A., Baldini, J., Brenner, M., Henderson, G., Hodell, D. 15 Aug 2025, In: Science advances
Khuit Agui (Khuit Cave): A paleoenvironmental and archaeological treasure trove in northern Mongolia, Box, M., Serdyanjiv, N., Dashtseren, A., Sandag, K., Kononov, A., Gutareva, O., Osintsev, A., Sokol'nikov, D., Kwiecien, O., Breitenbach, S. 30 Jun 2025, In: Quaternary Newsletter
Late miocene speleothems show significant warming, temperate vegetation, and wildfires in Arctic Siberia, Umbo, S., Panitz, S., Homann, J., McCoy, J., Pound, M., Opel, T., Lechleitner, F., Vaks, A., Osintzev, A., Adrian, I., Kononov, A., Breitenbach, S. 4 Aug 2025, In: Scientific Reports
Multi-domain magnetic particles in speleothems as a proxy for past cave-stream flooding: A 33 kyr record from central North Island, Aotearoa New Zealand, Fox, B., Lascu, I., Harrison, R., Pearson, A., Hellstrom, J., Breitenbach, S., Einsle, J., Muraszko, J., Hartland, A. 15 May 2025, In: Quaternary Science Reviews
New high-precision U–Th dates for speleothems from the Assynt caves and their significance for past environmental change, Breitenbach, S., Lawson, T., Atkinson, T., Fox, B., Kwiecien, O., Henderson, G. 1 Jan 2025, In: Cave and Karst Science
Newly dated permafrost deposits and their paleoecological inventory reveal an Eemian much warmer than today in Arctic Siberia, Schirrmeister, L., Fuchs, M., Opel, T., Andreev, A., Kienast, F., Schneider, A., Nazarova, L., Frolova, L., Kuzmina, S., Kuznetsova, T., Tumskoy, V., Matthes, H., Lohmann, G., Grosse, G., Kunitsky, V., Meyer, H., Zimmermann, H., Herzschuh, U., Böhmer, T., Umbo, S., Modestou, S., Breitenbach, S., Pismeniuk, A., Schwamborn, G., Kusch, S., Wetterich, S. 8 Jul 2025, In: Climate of the Past
Reconstruction of Holocene and Last Interglacial vegetation dynamics and wildfire activity in southern Siberia, Margerum, J., Homann, J., Umbo, S., Nehrke, G., Hoffmann, T., Vaks, A., Kononov, A., Osintsev, A., Giesche, A., Mason, A., Lechleitner, F., Henderson, G., Kwiecien, O., Breitenbach, S. 20 Mar 2025, In: Climate of the Past
Seasonally-resolved stratigraphy at Jwalapuram India shows regional surface warming after the Toba volcanic super-eruption, Jha, G., Costa, M., Tsoupra, A., Dias, C., Kwiecien, O., Longman, J., Breitenbach, S., Ditchfield, P., Jha, D., Rudd, R., Anilkumar, D., Paladugu, R., Shree, S., Achyuthan, H., Raj, R., Krishnan, K., Boivin, N., Roberts, P., Petraglia, M. 7 Apr 2025, In: PNAS Nexus

PGR Supervision

Maria Box Interglacial environmental changes in the permafrost region of northern Mongolia Start Date: 01/10/2023
Jade Margerum Regional interglacial climate and environment of continental Siberia during the past 600,000 years. Start Date: 01/10/2021