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

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Controls on Speleothem Initial 234U/238U Ratios in a Monsoon Climate, Oster, J., Ronay, E., Sharp, W., Breitenbach, S., Furbish, D. Apr 2023, In: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
Deciphering local and regional hydroclimate resolves contradicting evidence on the Asian monsoon evolution, Wolf, A., Ersek, V., Braun, T., French, A., McGee, D., Bernasconi, S., Skiba, V., Griffiths, M., Johnson, K., Fohlmeister, J., Breitenbach, S., Pausata, F., Tabor, C., Longman, J., Roberts, W., Chandan, D., Peltier, W., Salzmann, U., Limbert, D., Trinh, H., Trinh, A. 14 Sep 2023, In: Nature Communications
Decline in seasonal predictability potentially destabilized Classic Maya societies, Braun, T., Breitenbach, S., Skiba, V., Lechleitner, F., Ray, E., Baldini, L., Polyak, V., Baldini, J., Kennett, D., Prufer, K., Marwan, N. 17 Mar 2023, In: Communications Earth and Environment
Defining paleoclimatic routes and opportunities for hominin dispersals across Iran, Shoaee, M., Breeze, P., Drake, N., Hashemi, S., Vahdati Nasab, H., Breitenbach, S., Stevens, T., Boivin, N., Petraglia, M. 1 Mar 2023, In: PLoS One
Holocene hydroclimate variability along the Southern Patagonian margin (Chile) reconstructed from Cueva Chica speleothems, Nehme, C., Todisco, D., Breitenbach, S., Couchoud, I., Marchegiano, M., Peral, M., Vonhof, H., Hellstrom, J., Tjallingii, R., Claeys, P., Borrero, L., Martin, F. 1 Mar 2023, In: Global and Planetary Change
Past fire dynamics inferred from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and monosaccharide anhydrides in a stalagmite from the archaeological site of Mayapan, Mexico, Homann, J., Karbach, N., Carolin, S., James, D., Hodell, D., Breitenbach, S., Kwiecien, O., Brenner, M., Lope, C., Hoffmann, T. 8 Aug 2023, In: Biogeosciences
Recurring summer and winter droughts from 4.2-3.97 thousand years ago in north India, Giesche, A., Hodell, D., Petrie, C., Haug, G., Adkins, J., Plessen, B., Marwan, N., Bradbury, H., Hartland, A., French, A., Breitenbach, S. 4 Apr 2023, In: Communications Earth and Environment
A simplified isotope dilution approach for the U–Pb dating of speleogenic and other low-232Th carbonates by multi-collector ICP-MS, Mason, A., Vaks, A., Breitenbach, S., Hooker, J., Henderson, G. 17 Jan 2022, In: Geochronology
Drought-Induced Civil Conflict Among the Ancient Maya, Kennett, D., Masson, M., Lope, C., Serafin, S., George, R., Spencer, T., Hoggarth, J., Culleton, B., Harper, T., Prufer, K., Milbrath, S., Russell, B., González, E., McCool, W., Aquino, V., Paris, E., Curtis, J., Marwan, N., Zhang, M., Asmerom, Y., Polyak, V., Carolin, S., James, D., Mason, A., Henderson, G., Brenner, M., Baldini, J., Breitenbach, S., Hodell, D. 19 Jul 2022, In: Nature Communications
Effects of organic matter complexation on partitioning of transition metals into calcite: Cave-analogue crystal growth experiments, Lindeman, I., Hansen, M., Scholz, D., Breitenbach, S., Hartland, A. 15 Jan 2022, In: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

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

Further Information

you can find more about my current work here: https://quest.pik-potsdam.de/

COPRA and other useful tools can be downloaded from: http://tocsy.pik-potsdam.de/copra.php

Qualifications

PhD October 19 2009

Our Staff

Northumbria Open Days

Open Days are a great way for you to get a feel of the University, the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the course(s) you are interested in.

Research at Northumbria

Research is the life blood of a University and at Northumbria University we pride ourselves on research that makes a difference; research that has application and affects people's lives.