Jens Zinke

University of Leicester | LE · School of Geography Geology and Environment

Increasing intensity of marine heatwaves has caused widespread mass coral bleaching events, threatening the integrity and functional diversity of coral reefs. Here we demonstrate the role of inter-ocean coupling in amplifying thermal stress on reefs in the poorly studied southeast Indian Ocean (SEIO), through a robust 215-year (1795–2010) geochemic...

Episodic anomalously warm sea surface temperature (SST) extremes, or marine heatwaves (MHWs), amplify ocean warming effects and may lead to severe impacts on marine ecosystems. MHW-induced coral bleaching events have been observed frequently in recent decades in the southeast Indian Ocean (SEIO), a region traditionally regarded to have resilience t...

The Agulhas Current (AC) off the southern tip of Africa is one of the strongest western boundary currents and a crucial choke point of inter-ocean heat and salt exchange between the Indian Ocean and the southern Atlantic Ocean. However, large uncertainties remain concerning the sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity (SSS) variability in the AC...

Aim To describe, model and assess the relative importance of environmental and climatic factors likely influencing the regional distribution of coral cover and assemblages with contrasting life histories and susceptibilities to bleaching. Location We compiled the first comprehensive empirical dataset for coral communities in the south‐eastern Indi...

Event stratigraphy is used to help characterise the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphic concept, based on analogous deep-time events, for which we provide a novel categorization. Events in stratigraphy are distinct from extensive, time-transgressive ‘episodes’ – such as the global, highly diachronous record of anthropogenic change, termed here an...

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a worldwide climate phenomenon impacting temperatures and precipitation regimes across the globe. Previous studies have shown this climate phenomenon to influence Malaysian Borneo's hydroclimate. In the context of a changing climate and increasingly strong extreme ENSO events, understanding the influence o...

We synthesize research from complementary scientific fields to address the likely future extent and duration of the proposed Anthropocene epoch. Intensification of human-forced climate change began from about 1970 onwards with steepening increases in greenhouse gases, ocean acidification, global temperature and sea level, along with ice loss. The r...

Applying the basic principles of carbon chemistry and physics, along with a comprehensive understanding of past climate change, Steffen and colleagues confirmed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, in 2018, that fossil fuel usage and resulting carbon emissions will cause substantial global warming into future millennia. The c...

A common sense: The Anthropocene was originally understood by Crutzen as not only representing humanity’s influence on Earth’s geological record (he was well aware of earlier anthropogenic impacts), but also reflecting a system with physical characteristics that had, since widespread industrialization, departed from the prolonged, relatively stable...

The southwestern tropical Pacific is a key center for the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), which regulates global climate. This study introduces a groundbreaking 627-year coral Sr/Ca sea surface temperature reconstruction from Fiji, representing the IPO’s southwestern pole. Merging this record with other Fiji and central tropical Pacific rec...

The "Great Acceleration" beginning in the mid-20th century provides the causal mechanism of the Anthro-pocene, which has been proposed as a new epoch of geological time beginning in 1952 CE. Here we identify key parameters and their diagnostic palaeontological signals of the Anthropocene, including the rapid breakdown of discrete biogeographical ra...

Abstract: The “Great Acceleration” of the mid-20th century provides the causal mechanism of the Anthropocene, which has been proposed as a new epoch of geological time beginning in 1952 CE. Here we identify key parameters and their diagnostic palaeontological signals of the Anthropocene, including the rapid breakdown of discrete biogeographical ran...

The remineralization of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon (tDOC) plays an important role in coastal carbon and nutrient cycling, and can affect primary productivity and seawater pH. However, the fate of tDOC in the ocean remains poorly understood. Southeast Asia’s Sunda Shelf Sea receives around 10% of global tDOC input from peatland-draining ri...

Sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the south-eastern tropical Indian Ocean is crucial for rainfall variability in Indian Ocean rim countries. A large body of literature has focused on zonal variability associated with the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), but it is unclear whether meridional shifts in the position of the Intertropical Convergenc...

The Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) has concluded that the Anthropocene represents geological reality and should be linked with the plethora of stratigraphic proxies that initiate or show marked perturbations at around the 1950s, and should be defined using a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP). We propose formalizing the Anthropoc...

This part of the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) submission proposes that the base of the Anthropocene should be defined as series/epoch, terminating the Holocene Series/Epoch with a single Crawfordian stage/age using a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in an annually varved Crawford Lake core, Ontario, Canada, defined at 17.5 cm...

The increasing demand for wood, pasture, and palm oil drives deforestation and stands as the largest threats to rainforests. Whilst many consequences of deforestation are well understood, the effects on coastal ecosystems remain less clear. This issue is very apparent in Malaysian Borneo where the lack of historical deforestation data makes charact...

Abstract: We synthesize research from complementary scientific fields to address the likely extent and duration of the proposed Anthropocene epoch. Ongoing intensification of human-forced climate change began in the mid-20th century, with steepening increases in greenhouse gases, ocean acidification, global temperature and sea level, along with the...

This is the Executive Summary of a report produced by the membership of the Anthropocene Working Group as part of a submission to the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy to seek formalisation of the Anthropocene as an epoch of geological time. It summarises the content of two reports and their associated appendices which provide a background t...

Fly-ash particles formed during industrial fossil-fuel combustion show a globally observed rapid increase in concentration within natural archives post-1950 and have been proposed as a marker for the Anthropocene Epoch. Here, we present the first record of fly-ash particles incorporated into coral skeletons. Particles are present in Mediterranean c...

Coral reefs are facing severe threats and are at risk of accelerated decline due to climate change‐induced changes in their environment. Ongoing efforts to understand the mechanisms of coral response to warming rely on multiple sources of temperature data. Yet, it remains uncertain whether the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data used for coral reef...

Identifying locations of refugia from the thermal stresses of climate change for coral reefs and better managing them is one of the key recommendations for climate change adaptation. We review and summarize approximately 30 years of applied research focused on identifying climate refugia to prioritize the conservation actions for coral reefs under...

The response of the hydrological cycle to anthropogenic climate change, especially across the tropical oceans, remains poorly understood due to the scarcity of long instrumental temperature and hydrological records. Massive shallow-water corals are ideally suited to reconstructing past oceanic variability as they are widely distributed across the t...

Logging of tropical primary forests is a widely acknowledged global issue threatening biodiversity hotspots and indigenous communities leading to significant land erosion and decreased soil stability. The downstream effects of logging on human coastal communities include poor water quality and increased sedimentation. Quantifying the impacts of his...

Swindles et al. (2023) correctly point out that there are many conceptions of the ‘Anthropocene’ in use, and they argue that this flexibility in terminology is desirable. We agree that the multiple uses of this term have stimulated much scholarly debate, but we contend that precision in terminology is far more desirable than vagueness, and promotes...

Merritts et al. (2023) misrepresent Paul Crutzen’s Anthropocene concept as encompassing all significant anthropogenic impacts, extending back many millennia. Crutzen’s definition reflects massively enhanced, much more recent human impacts that transformed the Earth System away from the stability of Holocene conditions. His concept of an epoch (henc...

The proposed Anthropocene Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) candidate site of West Flower Garden Bank (27.8762°N, 93.8147°W) is an open ocean location in the Gulf of Mexico with a submerged coral reef and few direct human impacts. Corals contain highly accurate and precise (<±1 year) internal chronologies, similar to tree rings, a...

Corals are unique in the suite of proposed Anthropocene Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) archives, as living organisms that produce aragonite exoskeletons preserved in the geological record that contain highly accurate and precise (<±1 year) internal chronologies. The GSSP candidate site North Flinders Reef in the Coral Sea (Aust...

Corals are unique in the suite of proposed Anthropocene Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) archives, as living organisms that produce aragonite exoskeletons preserved in the geological record that contain highly accurate and precise (<±1 year) internal chronologies. The GSSP candidate site North Flinders Reef in the Coral Sea (Aust...

Proxy reconstructions suggest that mid-Holocene East African temperatures were warmer than today between 8 and 5 ka BP, but climate models cannot replicate this warming. Precessional forcing caused a shift of maximum insolation from boreal spring to fall in the mid-Holocene, which may have favored intense warming at the start of the warm season. He...

Logging of tropical primary forests is a widely acknowledged global issue threatening biodiversity hotspots and indigenous communities leading to significant land erosion and decreased soil stability. The downstream effects of logging on human coastal communities include poor water quality and increased sedimentation. Quantifying the impacts of his...

Event stratigraphy is used to help characterise the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphic concept, based on analogous deep-time events, for which we provide a novel categorization. Events in stratigraphy are distinct from extensive, time-transgressive ‘episodes’ – such as the global, highly diachronous record of anthropogenic change, termed here an...

Event stratigraphy is used to help characterise the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphic concept, based on analogous deep-time events, for which we provide a novel categorization. Events in stratigraphy are distinct from extensive, time-transgressive ‘episodes’ – such as the global, highly diachronous record of anthropogenic change, termed here an...

We examine three distinctive biostratigraphic signatures of humans associated with hunting and gathering , landscape domestication and globalization. All three signatures have significant fossil records of regional importance that can be correlated interregionally and help describe the developing pattern of human expansion and appropriation of reso...

The response of the hydrological cycle to anthropogenic climate change, especially across the tropical oceans, remains poorly understood due to the scarcity of long instrumental temperature and hydrological records. Massive shallow-water corals are ideally suited to reconstructing past oceanic variability as they are widely distributed across the t...

The Mediterranean Sea is one of the world regions most affected by anthropogenic climate change. Developing climate archives in this sea is essential to reconstruct past environmental and ecological conditions, especially during the last decades which are characterized by a sharp increase in summer heat waves and widespread ecological impacts. We u...

Internal water in cold‐water and tropical coral skeletons was extracted and measured for its oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios. Water was extracted by crushing pieces of coral hard tissue in a percussion device connected to either a cavity‐ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) system or an isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) system. Despite most sample...

Extinction, coupled with many other biological signals, is a major geological indicator of the Anthropocene. The introduction of non-native species, deforestation, depletion of fisheries and modification of coastal environments, domestication of animals, and the reconfiguration of terrestrial ecosystems are all evident in the geological record and...

The Anthropocene was conceptualized in 2000 to reflect the extensive impact of human activities on our planet, and subsequent detailed analyses have revealed a sub- stantial Earth System response to these impacts begin- ning in the mid-20th century. Key to this understanding was the discovery of a sharp upturn in a multitude of global socio-economi...

Small changes in Pacific temperature gradients connected with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influence the Walker Circulation and are related to global climate anomalies. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to develop robust indices of their past behavior. Here, we reconstruct the difference in sea surface temperature between the west...

The Agulhas Current (AC) off the southern tip of Africa is one of the strongest western boundary currents and a crucial chokepoint of inter-ocean heat and salt exchange between the Indian and the South Atlantic Ocean. However, large uncertainties remain concerning the sea surface temperature and salinity variability in the AC region and their drivi...

Here, we reconstruct the difference in sea surface temperature between the west and central Pacific during ENSO based on the Last Millennium Paleo Hydrodynamics Data Assimilation since 1000 AD. We demonstrate that the strength of the West Pacific Gradient (WPG) is related to stronger atmospheric circulation and remote precipitation anomalies during...

The term Anthropocene initially emerged from the Earth System science community in the early 2000s, denoting a concept that the Holocene Epoch has terminated as a consequence of human activities. First associated with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, it was then more closely linked with the Great Acceleration in industrialization and globali...

Extreme climate events, such as the El Niños in 1997/1998 and 2015/16, have led to considerable forest loss in the Southeast Asian region following unprecedented drought and wildfires. In Borneo, the effects of extreme climate events have been exacerbated by rapid urbanization, accelerated deforestation and soil erosion since the 1980s. However, st...

Sea surface salinity (SSS) is an important variable in the global ocean circulation. However, decadal to interdecadal changes in SSS are not well understood due to the lack of instrumental data. Here we reconstruct SSS from a paired, bimonthly resolved coral δ¹⁸O and Sr/Ca record from La Reunion Island that extends from 1913 to 1995. Coral Sr/Ca co...

1.3.-2 Palaeoclimate reconstruction using aquatic high-resolution archives 26 between 3°C and 10°C. We suggest that this is not only related to occurring vital effect during elemental incorporation of the corals, but also due to oceanographic changes. Reconstructed temperatures and Ba/ Ca ratios show an 11-year variability. We suggest that this var...

Palaeoclimate reconstructions are crucial to understand the climatic and oceanic system. Coral geochemical proxy archives provide excellent high-resolution reconstructions of several climatic and hydrological parameters. Here, we investigate subfossil (~6200-7100 years old) Siderastrea sp. and Pseudodiploria sp. corals from a pristine Mid-Holocene...

For reefs in South East Asia the synergistic effects of rapid land development, insufficient environmental policies and a lack of enforcement has led to poor water quality and compromised coral health from increased sediment and pollution. Those inshore turbid coral reefs, subject to significant sediment inputs, may also inherit some resilience to...

Despite shallow coral reefs are mainly restricted to tropical and subtropical marine environments, relict reef-builder corals can be also found in temperate seas like the Mediterranean Sea. The aim of this presentation is to show the preliminary results of an ongoing interdisciplinary project studying the Mediterranean endemic coral Cladocora caesp...

Here we report seasonally resolved sea surface temperatures for the southern Mozambique Channel in the SW Indian Ocean based on multi-trace-element temperature proxy records preserved in two Porites sp. coral cores. Particularly, we assess the suitability of both separate and combined Sr/Ca and Li/Mg proxies for improved multielement SST reconstruc...

For reefs in SE Asia the synergistic effects of rapid land-development, insufficient environmental policies and a lack of enforcement has led to poor water quality and compromised coral health from increased sediment and pollution. Those inshore turbid coral reefs, subject to significant sediment inputs, may also inherit some resilience to the effe...

For reefs in SE Asia the synergistic effects of rapid land-development, insufficient environmental policies and a lack of enforcement has led to poor water quality and compromised coral health from increased sediment and pollution. Those inshore turbid coral reefs, subject to significant sediment inputs, may also inherit some resilience to the effe...

Here we report seasonally resolved sea surface temperatures for the southern Mozambique Channel in the SW Indian Ocean based on multi-trace element temperatures proxy records preserved in two Porites sp. coral cores. Particularly, we assess the suitability of both separate and combined Sr/Ca and Li/Mg proxies for improved multi-element SST reconstr...

We reconstruct the spatio-temporal dynamics of sea surface temperature, light availability and oxygen isotopic composition of seawater based on paired stable isotope (oxygen, carbon) and Sr/Ca measurements on coral cores obtained from three sites within the Miri-Sibuti Coral Reef National Park, Borneo, Malaysia. Our results reveal distinct seasonal...

Tropical Coral Archives—Reconstructions of Climate and Environment Beyond the Instrumental Record at Society-Relevant Timescales; Bremen, Germany, 28 September 2017

The only low latitude pathway of heat and salt from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean, known as Indonesian Throughflow (ITF), has been suggested to modulate Global Mean Surface Temperature (GMST) warming through redistribution of surface Pacific Ocean heat. ITF observations are only available since ~1990s and thus its multi-decadal variability...

The western Indian Ocean has been warming faster than any other tropical ocean during the 20th century, and is the largest contributor to the global mean sea surface temperature (SST) rise. However, the temporal pattern of Indian Ocean warming is poorly constrained and depends on the historical SST product. As all SST products are derived from the...

Reproducible climate reconstructions of the Common Era (1 CE to present) are key to placing industrial-era warming into the context of natural climatic variability. Here we present a community-sourced database of temperature-sensitive proxy records from the PAGES2k initiative. The database gathers 692 records from 648 locations, including all conti...