Niels de Winter
@nielsjdewinter.bsky.social
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 + own results
#Paleoclimate, short-term #climate variability 🌦️, mollusks🐚, #running, popular #science, #gamer, plant-based #vegan 🌱
Sharing new #paleoclimate, #geology and #sclerochronology #science papers + own results
Gigantic brachiopods may have been (partly) photosymbiotic and are untapped archives of climate change in deep geological time:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Brachiopod giants from the Mississippian (Asbian) of western Ireland: Fossil bioarchives of seasonality and symbiosis and far-field harbingers of climate change
Brachiopod species of Gigantoproductus have long fascinated researchers, not only because of their exceptional size and thick shell, but also as unpar…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Gigantic brachiopods may have been (partly) photosymbiotic and are untapped archives of climate change in deep geological time:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Nice contribution in @science.org Advances on the importance of reef ecosystems for biodiversity. Reefs were persistent hotspots of biodiversity throughout most of the Phanerozoic (last ~550 million years), it seems!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Reefal regions were biodiversity hotspots throughout the Phanerozoic
Geographic regions that support reefal environments have been key hotspots of marine animal diversity for over 400 million years.
doi.org
November 10, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Nice contribution in @science.org Advances on the importance of reef ecosystems for biodiversity. Reefs were persistent hotspots of biodiversity throughout most of the Phanerozoic (last ~550 million years), it seems!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
I'm guiding the review process of this interesting @Biogeosciences manuscript about trace element incorporation into fish otoliths. Feel free to check out the preprint and contribute to the open review discussion if you're interested!
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
Ideas and perspectives: Mineralizing Fluid Control on Minor Elements in Biogenic CaCO3: Insights from Otoliths
Abstract. The minor element composition of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) biominerals from marine calcifying organisms leaving a sedimentary record has been used for decades to reconstruct various biogeoch...
egusphere.copernicus.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:03 AM
I'm guiding the review process of this interesting @Biogeosciences manuscript about trace element incorporation into fish otoliths. Feel free to check out the preprint and contribute to the open review discussion if you're interested!
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
Biomineralization is so cool!
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
How one of the world’s rarest and most valuable gemstones gets its vivid colors
Scientists finally solve mystery of ammolite’s brilliant reds, greens, and blues
www.science.org
November 3, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Biomineralization is so cool!
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
⏰New paper⏰
Proud to be part of this work led by Alex Quizon & Sierra Petersen where we show that most snails (we tested) precipitate their shells in isotopic equilibrium with seawater, enabling climate reconstructions like the one published earlier this week.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Proud to be part of this work led by Alex Quizon & Sierra Petersen where we show that most snails (we tested) precipitate their shells in isotopic equilibrium with seawater, enabling climate reconstructions like the one published earlier this week.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Clumped isotope thermometry (Δ47) measurements in marine gastropods suggest equilibrium precipitation
The clumped isotope paleothermometer (Δ47) has been used to reconstruct temperatures from various biogenic carbonate archives. Calibration studies dem…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:30 AM
⏰New paper⏰
Proud to be part of this work led by Alex Quizon & Sierra Petersen where we show that most snails (we tested) precipitate their shells in isotopic equilibrium with seawater, enabling climate reconstructions like the one published earlier this week.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Proud to be part of this work led by Alex Quizon & Sierra Petersen where we show that most snails (we tested) precipitate their shells in isotopic equilibrium with seawater, enabling climate reconstructions like the one published earlier this week.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Alkenone-based #temperature #reconstructions from marine sediments based on #spectral #imaging seems to be a very promising technique for high-resolution climate reconstructions. Looking forward to seeing this develop further!
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
Microscale Alkenone Heterogeneity and Replicability of Ultra-High-Resolution Temperature Records from Marine Sediments
Abstract. The alkenone-derived UK37 proxy is crucial for the reconstruction of past sea surface temperatures in marine sedimentary archives. Recent advances in mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) now allo...
egusphere.copernicus.org
October 30, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Alkenone-based #temperature #reconstructions from marine sediments based on #spectral #imaging seems to be a very promising technique for high-resolution climate reconstructions. Looking forward to seeing this develop further!
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
⏰New paper⏰
Very excited to share our more recent paper published today in @nature.com Communications, where we show based on #clumped #isotope measurements in a giant sea #snail 🐚 that Europe experienced a monsoon-like climate during the #Eocene high-CO2 period.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Very excited to share our more recent paper published today in @nature.com Communications, where we show based on #clumped #isotope measurements in a giant sea #snail 🐚 that Europe experienced a monsoon-like climate during the #Eocene high-CO2 period.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A European monsoon-like climate in a warmhouse world - Nature Communications
Daily climate 45 million years ago is reconstructed using fossil snail shells, revealing monsoon-like conditions in Europe. The findings help predict how future warming could affect rainfall and seaso...
www.nature.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:13 PM
⏰New paper⏰
Very excited to share our more recent paper published today in @nature.com Communications, where we show based on #clumped #isotope measurements in a giant sea #snail 🐚 that Europe experienced a monsoon-like climate during the #Eocene high-CO2 period.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Very excited to share our more recent paper published today in @nature.com Communications, where we show based on #clumped #isotope measurements in a giant sea #snail 🐚 that Europe experienced a monsoon-like climate during the #Eocene high-CO2 period.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Very cool, and just in time to make it into my lecture on Ocean Acidification! 😀
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Ambient noise can track dangerous ocean acidification
Acoustic technique could make it easier to monitor threat to marine life stemming from rising carbon emissions
www.science.org
October 28, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Very cool, and just in time to make it into my lecture on Ocean Acidification! 😀
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Clumped isotope evidence for coupled changes in sea surface temperature in the Bay of Bengal with rainfall patterns over eastern India.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Sensitivity of South Asian Summer Monsoon rainfall to Bay of Bengal Sea Surface Temperature over the past 31 kiloyears
Warmer Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) in the Bay of Bengal relative to the surrounding northern Indian Ocean sustain deep atmospheric convection, stre…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 28, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Clumped isotope evidence for coupled changes in sea surface temperature in the Bay of Bengal with rainfall patterns over eastern India.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Quite innovative to use paleontological records to reconstruct tectonic plate movements in the past! @egubg.bsky.social
bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/...
bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/...
Early Permian longitudinal position of the South China Block from brachiopod paleobiogeography
Abstract. Knowledge of the past location of tectonic plates is essential to understanding the evolution of climate, ocean systems, and mantle flow. Tectonic reconstructions become increasingly uncerta...
bg.copernicus.org
October 28, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Quite innovative to use paleontological records to reconstruct tectonic plate movements in the past! @egubg.bsky.social
bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/...
bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/...
Do you have exciting research to share on the interface between #climate reconstructions and #paleontology? Please consider submitting an abstract for upcoming year's #EGU2026. We have a very nice session lined up:
October 24, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Do you have exciting research to share on the interface between #climate reconstructions and #paleontology? Please consider submitting an abstract for upcoming year's #EGU2026. We have a very nice session lined up:
Modern global mean sea-level rise rate since 1900 has exceeded any century over at least the past four millennia
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Modern sea-level rise breaks 4,000-year stability in southeastern China - Nature
Spatiotemporal hierarchical modelling of geological sea-level proxies and tide gauge data suggest that the modern global mean sea-level rise rate since 1900 has exceeded any century over at least...
www.nature.com
October 24, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Modern global mean sea-level rise rate since 1900 has exceeded any century over at least the past four millennia
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I love these types of detailed studies into the chemistry of biomineralization. I think we paleoclimatologists all need regular reminders that carbonate skeletons are biominerals and that their non-carbonate compounds are (chemically) important!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
NanoSIMS mapping of skeletal organic matrix relative to aragonite formation in a scleractinian cold-water coral
Organic matrix (OM) molecules are found in coral skeletons and make up ∼ 1 % of the coral skeleton by weight. These molecules play an important role i…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 24, 2025 at 6:17 AM
I love these types of detailed studies into the chemistry of biomineralization. I think we paleoclimatologists all need regular reminders that carbonate skeletons are biominerals and that their non-carbonate compounds are (chemically) important!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Dinosaurs were abundant and diverse right up to the astroid impact. This study highlights the important of dating in geological and paleontological studies
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Dinosaur diversity before the asteroid
Evidence for low dinosaur diversity ahead of extinction event grows dimmer
www.science.org
October 24, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Dinosaurs were abundant and diverse right up to the astroid impact. This study highlights the important of dating in geological and paleontological studies
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This very neat study into stalagmite shapes provides insight into isotope fractionation due to changes in growth rate
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Shapes of ideal stalagmites | PNAS
Stalagmites are isolated columns of calcium carbonate growing on a cave floor; their
growth is driven by the constant dripping of supersaturated so...
doi.org
October 22, 2025 at 11:35 AM
This very neat study into stalagmite shapes provides insight into isotope fractionation due to changes in growth rate
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Such a cool study gaining seasonal temperature variability from detailed chemical measurements in single-celled (!) foraminifera building carbonate shells. We tried doing this back @amgc-vub.bsky.social some years ago but could not pull it off. Impressive work!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Intra-annually -resolved sea surface temperature variability at the onset of the Oligocene icehouse based on Nummulites geochemistry
Corals, otoliths, molluscs, and foraminifera all produce growth-banded shells, which can be subsampled to produce records of intra-annual variation in…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 17, 2025 at 6:22 AM
Such a cool study gaining seasonal temperature variability from detailed chemical measurements in single-celled (!) foraminifera building carbonate shells. We tried doing this back @amgc-vub.bsky.social some years ago but could not pull it off. Impressive work!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
It was (and still is) an absolute pleasure to work with the brilliant Ana Lores Padin (UGent) to develop and calibrate this very cool "time of flight" laser ablation-application which allows us to map the chemistry of shell cross sections, such as the oyster shell below:
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
LA-ICP-TOF-MS for quantitative mapping of biogenic carbonate samples using matrix-matched nanoparticulate pressed powder pellets
This study evaluated the micro-homogeneity of seven different commercially available nanoparticulate pressed pellets based on a CaCO3 matrix and their utility for quantitative elemental mapping of bio...
pubs.rsc.org
October 17, 2025 at 5:11 AM
It was (and still is) an absolute pleasure to work with the brilliant Ana Lores Padin (UGent) to develop and calibrate this very cool "time of flight" laser ablation-application which allows us to map the chemistry of shell cross sections, such as the oyster shell below:
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
I'm extremely proud to have made a contribution to this important study showing, with dual clumped isotope analysis, that molluscs (clams and snails) build their shell in equilibrium with seawater, brilliantly led by Vanessa Schlidt (Uni Frankfurt)
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Most bivalves and gastropods calcify indistinguishably from dual clumped isotope equilibrium
Molluscan shell-carbonates are extensively used to reconstruct paleo-temperatures at sub-annual resolution. The accurate application of two widely use…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:49 PM
I'm extremely proud to have made a contribution to this important study showing, with dual clumped isotope analysis, that molluscs (clams and snails) build their shell in equilibrium with seawater, brilliantly led by Vanessa Schlidt (Uni Frankfurt)
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Wow! I wonder how much more we can learn about our collective human journey in this wildly interesting part of the world.
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Hominins on Sulawesi during the Early Pleistocene - Nature
Early Pleistocene artefacts at Calio suggest that Sulawesi was populated by hominins at around the same time as Flores, if not earlier.
doi.org
October 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Wow! I wonder how much more we can learn about our collective human journey in this wildly interesting part of the world.
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Such a sad story, but good that it can be told in full in museums now.
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Fate of the last female great auk is finally solved
DNA and historical sleuthing have traced the extinct bird’s remains to a museum in Ohio
doi.org
October 7, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Such a sad story, but good that it can be told in full in museums now.
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Clam shells as indicators of Atlantic Ocean stability: Very interesting study using growth increment width and isotopic composition in long-living shells to document changes in the AMOC and North Atlantic circulation over the last 150 years. doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Recent and early 20th century destabilization of the subpolar North Atlantic recorded in bivalves
Clams reveal North Atlantic destabilization in the early 20th century and at present.
doi.org
October 7, 2025 at 6:16 AM
Clam shells as indicators of Atlantic Ocean stability: Very interesting study using growth increment width and isotopic composition in long-living shells to document changes in the AMOC and North Atlantic circulation over the last 150 years. doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Loved this article with tips on how to stay up to date on the scientific literature. I, myself, am still an avid user of e-mail alerts (first option discussed), which is how I found this one ;)
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
How to find the papers you need to read — and avoid the ones you don’t
With thousands of papers being published everyday, it can be a task working out which matter. Here are some tips to help you decide.
www.nature.com
October 4, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Loved this article with tips on how to stay up to date on the scientific literature. I, myself, am still an avid user of e-mail alerts (first option discussed), which is how I found this one ;)
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...