The Clivamp paleo-database contains proxies on climatic and hydrographic changes in the Mediterranean since the Last Glacial Maximum (18000 yrBP).
S. De Rijk and E.J. Rohling, Dep. of Oceanography, Southampton.
The main objective of Clivamp (Climatic Variability of Mediterranean Paleo-circulation, MAST-3) is to investigate long term variations of the thermohaline circulation of the Mediterranean Sea on time scales ranging from interannual up to changes during ice ages. Studying the different states of the Mediterranean Sea from the Last Glacial Maximum to today, the focus will be portrayed on the paleo-circulation and the processes affecting ventilation and watermass overturning.
Two major disciplines are involved in this project: the physical oceanographers and marine
geologists. The physical oceanographers model the modern, seasonal, and the interannual
variations of the Mediterranean (special emphasis on the Straits). Marine geologists provide
dimensions of past sea level changes, SST and evaporation trends. The physical oceanographers
use these dimensions to perform major forcing on their models and simulate past conditions, and
test the sensitivity of Mediterranean circulation to climatic change. On the other side the marine
geologists will collect all available palaeoceanographic and palaeoclimatological evidence from
the Mediterranean basin in a comprehensive database. The results of the database offer paleo-scenario's, which will be compared with the models of the physical oceanographers.
Structure of the database
The Clivamp multi-proxy-database is composed in Paradox 7.0 for Windows environments.
Paradox is a versatile, easy-to-use database management system. The proxy data (e.g.
foraminifera, pollen, nannofossils, stable isotopes, or chemical properties) are stored in tables
where each record represents one sample. The 'age-model' is a set of tables containing the
stratigraphic framework of each core and full details on dated levels (AMS14C, biostratigraphy or
theprachronology). In another set of tables the meta-data is summarized, which includes
information on site location (coordinates, waterdepth etc), lithological description, methods used
(sieve fractions, name of laboratory etc) and full references.
All tables are linked, providing the opportunity to extract specific information from different
tables concerning one core, a specific region or a certain time. At present Clivamp database
contains proxies of 103 cores from the eastern and western Mediterranean. At this moment the
database stores most of the available planktonic and benthonic foraminiferal, and stable isotope
records. The next step is to incorporate pollen and chemical properties into the Clivamp database.
All data loaded in the Clivamp paleo-database are either based on original datasets obtained via
personal communication with authors or copied from data-tables in papers. The database
structure allows a distinct separation between 'raw' data and the interpretations in terms of
climate and hydrographic changes. Therefore the database offers the possibility of updates if new
techniques become available or existing interpretations are modified.
Output
The structure of the database can produce the following output:
- graphs showing depth versus proxy, allowing evaluation of selected records.
- graphs showing modern distribution of a proxy in relation to environmental parameters to construct a modern analogue.
- maps depicting spatial distribution of proxy and inferred parameters during selected time slices.
- temporal and spatial variations of proxies and inferred parameters.
Accessibility
Ultimately, the database will be made accessible for the scientific community, 6 months after
finalisation of the Clivamp programme, approximately summer 1999. Regular updates of these
pages will keep you informed of the progress of the Clivamp paleo-database. It is the intention
of the Clivamp programme to update and support its paleo-database after its release.
Do you want to submit data?
The database contains original data sets from published papers. If you are interested in
submitting data of one of your publications to the Clivamp paleo-database, please contact Sacha
De Rijk.
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