Assistant Professor @ VU Amsterdam & @ VUBrussel,
#Paleoclimate, short-term #climate variability 🌦️, mollusks🐚, #running, popular #science, #gamer, plant-based #vegan 🌱
Sharing new #paleoclimate, #geology and #sclerochronology #science papers
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Opinions are my own, facts belong to everyone!
| Pronouns | he/him |
| VUBrussel page | https://amgc.research.vub.be/prof-dr-niels-de-winter |
| VU Amsterdam page | https://research.vu.nl/en/persons/niels-de-winter |
This kind of sad and disgusting shitposting sometimes makes me ashamed to be a man. Big cudos to her for being such a strong women and turning this into something positive! 💪
How I turned online misogyny about my PhD into momentum for my career https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-04129-7
Happy with the publication of this paper in which we demonstrate dietary responses to dry climate in extinct Gomphotherium based on the chemistry of their teeth. This was a very nice collaboration with Spanish and Portuguese colleagues, hope we can do more together in the future!
Abstract. To access the impact of anthropogenic emissions and land use change on Earth's climate and biodiversity, studies into the environment and ecology of natural ecosystems during past warm periods are required. The Miocene Climatic Optimum is a key reference period for future global warming scenarios. However, studies uncovering Miocene climate have heavily favoured marine environments, leaving the impact of warming on terrestrial ecosystems understudied. Here, we present a multi-disciplinary study into the chemical composition of fossil Gomphotherium angustidens (Proboscidea, Mammalia) teeth from the Middle Miocene Vb division (∼ 15.9–16.1 Ma) of western Portugal (Chelas Valley, Lisbon, Lusitanian basin) and their sedimentological context. Trace element and stable isotope compositions in these fossil teeth are compared with similar measurements in molars of a taxonomically related modern African elephant (captive Loxodonta africana). Results reveal seasonal-scale variability in trace elements in both fossil and modern proboscidean tooth enamel, which are interpreted as evidence for seasonal changes in diet. Periodic increases in Na, Fe and Si in G. angustidens demonstrate intake of sediment in the diet during fixed times of the year, a behaviour type previously described in modern elephants during dry seasons. In combination with the heavier carbon and oxygen isotopic composition in G. angustidens compared to L. africana, the terrestrial climate in Miocene Portugal appears characterized by seasonally dry periods, which forced geophagy behaviour of these large mammals and likely had significant consequences for the composition of Miocene ecosystems (e.g., food/water availability and potential seasonal range shifts) in southwestern Europe.
The Huayuan biota exhibits extraordinary biodiversity, illuminating the impact of the Phanerozoic mass extinction around 513 million years ago and offering critical insights into the transformation of global ecosystems in the early Cambrian.
What we eat is more than just a health choice. There are massive sustainability gains quite literally left on the table.
⏰New paper⏰
Happy to play a part in this nice study led by Xiulan and Jingjing using over 1100 (!) clumped isotope analysis for seasonal-scale temperature and precipitation reconstructions on the Chinese Loess Plateau during the last Ice Age. 🐚🌦️
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016703726000189
I was fortunate to serve as @egubg.bsky.social editor for this fascinating study by Iris Arndt and colleagues in which giants clams (Tridacna maxima/squamosa) were cultured and spiked with barium to deconvolve their daily growth. Worth a read! 🐚🔬⚛️
Abstract. Giant clams such as Tridacna are exceptionally well suited for studying past environmental changes on daily to multidecadal timescales. The visible growth bands in their shells, which can be yearly, seasonal or even daily, are accompanied by changes in the elemental composition of the shell and provide insights into their growth and environmental history. The daily elemental cycles, particularly in Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca, can be used to determine age and growth rates. However, the mechanisms creating the visible day and night banding and the associated elemental cycles, remain unclear. To better understand the mechanisms of El/Ca incorporation into the shells of Tridacna during day and night growth, we performed controlled growth experiments using 135Ba-labelled seawater. The isotope spike was alternatingly applied in 12 h intervals in order to individually and unequivocally mark day and night growth segments in Tridacna. These experiments show that Tridacna calcification rates are nearly five times higher during the day than at night. In addition, based on the observed changes in shell composition we deduce that the bivalve's extrapallial fluid (EPF) reacts to changes in seawater chemistry within tens of minutes, both during day and night. A full compositional replenishment is achieved after approximately 1 d, assuming a similar residence time for all elements. During daytime, El/Ca (for El = B, Mg, Sr, Ba) decrease, while Na/Ca increases. The opposite behaviour occurs at night. The night peak in El/Ca occurs in the earliest morning, shortly before the change between spiked and non-spiked water at 07:30 UTC+2. Daily El/Ca cycles are likely dominantly driven by variations in active Ca2+ and HCO3- transport into the EPF, influenced by light availability, circadian rhythms and/or energy availability (from both photosymbionts and filter feeding), rather than a closed-system Rayleigh fractionation process driven by contrasting El-distribution coefficients alone. We propose that active Ca2+ and HCO3- pumping into the EPF might also drive diurnal changes of growth rate, shell structure and possibly organic content.
🚨 New vacancy🚨
Interested in climate modelling, or know someone who might be? Apply for our exciting new, fully funded PhD position where you will develop high-resolution, weather-scale climate model simulations of the warm Last Interglacial period! 🌬️🌀☔💻
