Name:              Anna Vehlow (ESSReS PhD student)
Institute:          Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research
Department:    Geophysics
Phone:             +49-(0)471-4831-1237

Email:              anna.vehlow(at)awi.de
Web link:         http://www.awi.de/en/research/research_divisions/geosciences/geophysics/

 

PhD-project title: The role of the Agulhas Ridge as a barrier to bottom currents during the past 4 Myr.

The Agulhas Ridge is located in the South Atlantic Ocean, near the tip of South Africa. This prominent topographic feature characterises the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone (AFFZ), which was created during the separation of South America and Africa as part of the Gondwana break-up. The Agulhas Ridge represents a barrier for the spreading water masses and hence the exchange of energy and heat between low and high latitudes. The major aim of this research is the reconstruction of the detailed influence of the ridge on the circulation of water masses and hence deposition and re-deposition of sediments during the Pliocene and Quaternary. Sediment echosounder data (Parasound) and geological data from three ODP sites (Leg 177) will form the basis of this project.

Start of doctoral thesis: 1st October 2011

Thesis Committee:

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. V. Unnithan (JUB)
Co-Supervisor: Dr. Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben AWI)
Further Members: Dr. Frank Niessen (AWI), Dr. R. Spielhagen (IfM-GEOMAR)

 

Committee Meetings: 11.05.2012