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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. 20 May 2025, In: Nature Communications
Classic Maya Response to Multi-Year Seasonal Droughts in Northwest Yucatán, Mexico, James, D., Carolin, S., Breitenbach, S., Hoggarth, J., Lases-Hernandez, 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. 6 Jun 2025, In: Science advances
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
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
Seasonal temperature and ventilation changes govern proxy-signal transfer into caves in northern Mongolia, Box, M., Kononov, A., Serdyanjiv, N., Dashtseren, A., Sandag, K., Gutareva, O., Osintsev, A., Sokol’Nikov, D., Margerum, J., Kwiecien, O., Breitenbach, S. 1 Jan 2025, In: Cave and Karst Science
Spatio-temporal dynamics of speleothem growth and glaciation in the British Isles, Panitz, S., Rogerson, M., Longman, J., Scroxton, N., Lawson, T., Atkinson, T., Ersek, V., Baldini, J., Baldini, L., Umbo, S., Lone, M., Henderson, G., Breitenbach, S. 29 Jan 2025, In: Climate of the Past
A 60–50 ka African Humid Period modulated by stadial Heinrich events HE6 and HE5a in northwestern Africa, Nutz, A., Kwiecien, O., Buylaert, J., Guihou, A., Khabouchi, I., Deschamps, P., Breitenbach, S., Poirier, P., Dietrich, P., Kabiri, L., Essafraoui, B., Bodin, S. 1 Feb 2024, In: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
A multi-proxy stalagmite record indicates a shift in forcing of twentieth century drought events in Normandy, Bejarano-Arias, I., Nehme, C., Breitenbach, S., Ionita, M., Baldini, J., Pons-Branchu, E., Modestou, S., Umbo, S., Mouralis, D. 30 Oct 2024, In: Scientific Reports

PGR Supervision

Maria Box Interglacial environmental dynamics 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