ER
Member Since 1989
Elcho Rohling
Australian National University
Professional Experience
Australian National University
Professor
2013 - Present
University of Southampton
Professor
Education
Doctorate
1991
Honors & Awards
Maurice Ewing Medal
Received December 2021
Citation
Dr.
Eelco Rohling is a major force in paleoclimatology and paleoceanography
who addresses questions about past oceans and climates that are
critically important to society and the future of humanity. From early
in his career, Rohling recognized the value of analyzing amplified
climate signals from the marginal Mediterranean and Red Sea basins.
Using oxygen isotope measurements of planktonic foraminifera, he
pioneered new methods to develop continuous marginal basin sea level
reconstructions. His highly resolved record for the last glacial cycle
was the first to provide continuous time resolution, which allowed
assessment of rates of sea level change. It revealed that sea level
variations during the last glacial cycle were much more rapid and of
greater magnitude than previously thought and indicated, controversially
at the time, that Antarctic ice sheet fluctuations were likely
involved. Rohling also established the first robust estimates of the
rates at which the sea level rose to several meters above the present
level during the last interglacial maximum, when global temperature was similar to today.
On average, this rate was almost twice as fast as the most pessimistic
predictions for the next century in the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change Fourth Assessment. Never happy to rest on his laurels,
Rohling continuously seeks to develop deeper insights and new
discoveries, particularly about rates of sea level change and their
forcing mechanisms. Rohling has successively produced novel and
influential sea level records from the Red Sea (back 550,000 years) and
the Mediterranean Sea (back 5.3 million years) and, recently, a global
sea level and deep-sea temperature reconstruction for the last 40
million years. Rohling emphasizes the limitations of his work — with
statistical uncertainty quantification — which leads to testing of
results and to further new insights. Rohling’s other important
contributions are many. They include quantifying ancient climate
sensitivity to carbon dioxide forcing and understanding the carbon cycle
and Holocene and millennial climate variability. His framework for
understanding organic matter preservation in Eastern Mediterranean
sediments has deepened understanding of long-term African monsoon
dynamics, including their potential influence on hominin evolution and
migrations out of Africa. Dr. Eelco Rohling’s pioneering research has
had widespread cross-disciplinary scientific impact and has influenced
government policy in several countries. The oceans are a natural source
of inspiration for such a deep and broad thinker as Dr. Eelco Rohling,
who is a much deserving Maurice Ewing Medalist.
— Andrew P. Roberts Australian National University Canberra, AustraliaVideo
See Details
Close Details
Union Fellow
Received December 2017
Citation
For original contributions to sea level reconstruction and for fundamental insights into understanding anoxic sediment formation.
See Details
Close Details
Publications
Estimating Plio‐Pleistocene North African Monsoon Runoff Into the Mediterranean Sea and Temperature ...
Sapropels are dark, organic‐rich layers found in Mediterranean sediments that formed during periods of bottom water anoxia. While various mec...
November 04, 2023
Comparison and Synthesis of Sea‐Level and Deep‐Sea Temperatu...
November 18, 2022
Thank You to Our 2021 Peer Reviewers
April 22, 2022
Low‐Temperature Magnetic Properties of Marine Sediments—Quan...
September 06, 2021
AGU Abstracts
Glacial terminations and rates of sea-level rise
ADVANCES IN UNDERSTANDING THE CAUSES, MECHANISMS, AND IMPACTS OF QUATERNARY ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE II POSTER
paleoceanography and paleoclimatology | 14 december 2023
Hsun-Ming Hu, Gianluca Marino, Maria Fernanda Sanc...
Glacial terminations in the late Pleistocene are notable for their high rates of sea-level rise. Occurring ~340 thousand years before the present (kyr...
View Abstract
Delayed resurgence of the Mediterranean following the post-Messinian megaflood
UNDERSTANDING THE INFLUENCES OF SEDIMENTARY AND OCEANOGRAPHIC PROCESSES ON GEOCHEMICAL ARCHIVES ACROSS GEOLOGIC TIME V ONLINE POSTER DISCUSSION
paleoceanography and paleoclimatology | 16 december 2022
Udara Amarathunga, Andrew M. Hogg, Elcho Rohling, ...
The Atlantic-Mediterranean gateway was re-established 5.33 Ma ago, terminating the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Collapse of the sill of Gibraltar trigge...
View Abstract
Assessment and Integration of Bulk and Component-specific Methods for Identifying Mineral Magnetic Assemblages in Environmental Magnetism
EXAMINING MAGNETIC FEATURES OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES I
geomagnetism, paleomagnetism and electromagnetism | 16 december 2020
Yao Qian, Andrew P. Roberts, Yan Liu, Pengxiang Hu...
Magnetic parameters are used extensively to interpret magnetic mineral assemblage variations in environmental studies. Conventional room temperature m...
View Abstract
Volunteer Experience
2020 - 2021
Member
Macelwane Medal Committee
2010 - 2021
Editor
Reviews of Geophysics
2019 - 2019
Member
Macelwane Medal Committee
Check out all of Elcho Rohling’s AGU Research!
View All Research Now