Newcastle University

Introduction

I am a marine geochemist studying the composition of modern and ancient aquatic sediments. My major aims are to understand biogeochemical element cycles (e.g., those of C, S, Fe, Mn, P, and various trace metals), and to transfer this understanding into application of geochemical proxies for paleoenvironmental reconstructions.

Background

Trained as a geologist with a focus on sedimentology, I transformed over time into a marine geochemist, biogeochemist, or sediment geochemist.

Qualifications

Diploma (MSc) in Geology, University of Heidelberg, 2004: Mud Mounds and Associated Facies in the Upper Carboniferous of the Pisuerga Area (Cantabrian Mts., N-Spain)

PhD in Geosciences, University of Bremen 2008: Rapid redox changes across major climate transitions – impact on the preservation of paleoceanographic proxies

Previous Positions

2012-2013: DFG Return Fellowship, Microbiogeochemistry group (hosted by Prof. Brumsack), Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), University of Oldenburg, Germany

2010-2012: DFG Research Fellowship, Geosciences group (hosted by Prof. Poulton and Prof. Wagner), School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences (CEGS), Newcastle University, United Kingdom

2008-2010: Postdoc, Microbiogeochemistry group (Prof. Brumsack), Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), University of Oldenburg, Germany

2005-2008: PhD student (Graduate College EUROPROX), Geochemistry & Hydrogeology group (PD Dr. Kasten, Prof. Schulz), Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Germany

2005: Scientific assistant, Sedimentology group (Prof. Bechstädt), Geological-Paleontological Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany

1999-2004: Student in Geology, Geological-Paleontological Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Memberships

American Geophysical Union

European Geosciences Union

Geologische Vereinigung

Geochemical Society

Major research interests

My research interests are broadly divided into two main fields:

a)   Biogeochemical element cycles (C, P, Fe, S, trace metals) in modern and ancient water bodies, pore fluids, and sediments.                               

b)   Development and application of inorganic geochemical proxies for improved palaeoenvironmental interpretations of sedimentary archives.

Studying those two fields in combination will improve our understanding of complex and variable physical and (bio)geochemical processes in the natural environment. In this context, I am specifically interested in the development of depositional processes, biogenic matter productivity and preservation, diagenetic processes, and redox conditions through space and time.

I apply inorganic-geochemical methods to (pore) waters, sediments and sedimentary rocks, analysing dissolved species as well as the contents and speciations of various elements. To access recent sample material, I regularly participate in research cruises (e.g., Meteor, Heincke, Polarstern, IODP drillship JOIDES Resolution). For studying older sediments/sedimentary rocks, I sample drill cores and outcrop material.

I study both modern and ancient marine sediment, from the Holocene back to the Cretaceous, and with a wide geographical spread, reaching from the subtropical Indian Ocean to the Central Arctic.

My current research focuses on present and past anoxic marine environments (i.e., Black Sea, Oceanic Anoxic Events), and on the high northern latitudes (i.e., North Pacific, Bering Sea, Central Arctic Ocean).

As inorganic geochemistry cannot answer all questions, I follow a multi-disciplinary approach. Only a combination of different techniques will bring us closer to understanding the complex interactions between geology, biology and chemistry that shape the marine environment. I collaborate with organic geochemists, mineralogists, sedimentologist, micropalaeontologists and modellers.

Funded projects

Quantifizierung der Beckenentwicklung Südkantabriens in Devon und Karbon. Proponent: Bechstädt, DFG-financed, Diploma project, Heidelberg

Rapid redox changes across major climate transitions - Impact on preservation of sedimentary paleoceanographic proxies. Proponents: Kasten/Zonneveld/De Lange, DFG-financed within International Graduate College EUROPROX - Proxies in Earth History, PhD project, Bremen/Utrecht, 2005-2007

Major and minor element signatures of OC-rich Paleogene sediments from Lomonosov Ridge (IODP Leg 302). Proponent: Brumsack, DFG/IODP-financed, Postdoc project, Oldenburg, 2005-2009

Manganese cycles in Quaternary sediments of the Arctic Ocean - Climate signals or diagenesis? Proponents: März/Brumsack, DFG/IODP-financed, Postdoc project, Oldenburg, 2009-2010

Inorganic geochemistry of Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments from the Bering Sea (IODP expedition 323) – Studying feedbacks of productivity, nutrient availability, and redox conditions in the northernmost Pacific. Proponent: März, DFG/IODP-financed, Research/Return Fellowship, Newcastle upon Tyne (UK)/Oldenburg (Germany), 2010-2013.

Supervision of BSc, MSc and PhD projects

Maren Seibt (BSc Environmental Sciences, Oldenburg): “High-resolution geochemical study of Upper Cretaceous black shale sediments (Demerara Rise, ODP Leg 207, Site 1261) via X-Ray Fluorescence analysis“, 2008.

Alexandra Stratmann (MSc Chemistry, Oldenburg): “Inorganic-geochemical characterisation of a sediment core (Kastenlot PS 72/340-5) from the southern Mendeleev Ridge (Eastern Siberian Sea, Arctic Ocean)”, 2008/2009.

Ann-Katrin Meinhart (MSc Chemistry, Oldenburg): “Inorganic geochemistry of surface sediments on an East-West transect across Mendeleev Ridge (81°N, Eastern Siberian Sea, Arctic Ocean)”, 2009.

Nneamaka Fernilla Atuanya (MSc Petroleum Geochemistry, Newcastle): "A geochemical approach to reconstruct the development of anoxia/euxinia in a Cenomanian/Turonian shelf basin off subtropical West-Africa (Tarfaya OAE2), 2010.

Alistair Burn (MSc Petroleum Geochemistry, Newcastle): “Organic matter-rich Paleogene deposits in the central Arctic Ocean – Reconstructing paleoenvironmental conditions and hydrocarbon generation potential”, 2011.

Kelsey Beard (MSc Petroleum Geochemistry, Newcastle): “Changes in ocean chemistry during formation of a Cretaceous marine black shale: The sulphur isotope perspective”, 2012.

Suha Aqleh (PHd student, Newcastle): "Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Jordan oil shale based on inorganic geochemistry data", since 2011.

Research Cruises

RV Meteor Cruise M 63/1 (Cape Town - Cape Town), "AFRIDEEP", 24.01.-30.02.2005, South-western Indian Ocean, Chief Scientist Dr. J. Pätzold.

RV Heincke Cruise HE 226 (Bremerhaven - List - Bremerhaven), 24.04.-03.05.2005, North Sea, Chief Scientist Dr. C. Hass.

RV Meteor Cruise M 65/1 (Dakar - Dakar), 11.06.-02.07.2005, Atlantic off North-West Africa, Chief Scientist Dr. S. Mulitza.

RV Meteor M 72/1 (Istanbul - Istanbul), 05.02.-20.02.2007, Black Sea, Chief Scientist Dr. R. Seifert.

RV Polarstern Expedition ARK XXIII/3 (Reykjavik - Bremerhaven), 12.08.-17.10.2008, Central Arctic Ocean, Chief Scientists Dr. W. Jokat, Prof. Dr. R. Stein.

JOIDES Resolution Expedition 323 (Victoria – Yokohama), 05.07.-04.09.2009, Bering Sea, Co-Chief Scientists Prof. Dr. K. Takahashi, Prof. Dr. A.C. Ravello.

JOIDES Resolution Expedition 341 (Victoria - Valdez), 29.05.-29.07.2013, Gulf of Alaska, Co-Chief Scientists Prof. Dr. J. Jaeger, Prof. Dr. S. Gulick.

From 2013: 

ACE1101 - The Global Environmental System

• Poulton SW, Henkel S, Marz C, Urquhart H, Floegel S, Kasten S, SinningheDamste JS, Wagner T. A continental weathering control on redox cycling in the Cretaceous greenhouse ocean. Nature Geoscience 2013. Submitted.
• Alexanderson H, Backman J, Cronin TM, Funder S, Ingolffson O, Jakobsson M, Landvik LY, Loewemark L, Mangerud J, Marz C, Moeller P, ORegan M, Spielhagen RF. An Arctic perspective on dating Pleostocene environmental history. Quaternary Science Reviews 2013. Submitted.
• Loewemark L, Marz C, ORegan M, Gyllencreutz R. Arctic Ocean Mn-stratigraphy: genesis, synthesis and inter-basin correlation. Quaternary Science Reviews 2013. Submitted.
• Eckert S, Brumsack HJ, Severmann S, Schnetger B, Marz C, Froellje H. Establishment of euxinic conditions in the Holocene Black Sea. Geology 2013, 41(4), 431-434.
• Wang R, Xiao W, Marz C, Li Q. Late Quaternary paleoenvironmental changes revealed in multi-proxy records from the Chukchi Abyssal Plain, western Arctic Ocean. Global and Planetary Change 2013. Submitted.
• Marz C, Schnetger B, Brumsack HJ. Nutrient leakage from the North Pacific to the Bering Sea (IODP Site U1341) following the onset of Northern Hemispheric Glaciation?. Paleoceanography 2013, 28(1), 68-78.
• Meinhardt AK, Marz C, Stein R, Brumsack HJ. Regional variations in major and trace element contents in sediments on a transect across the Mendeleev Ridge (Arctic Ocean). Chemical Geology 2013. Submitted.
• Creveling JC, Johnston DT, Poulton SW, Kotrc B, Marz C, Schrag DP, Knoll AH. Sources of phosphorus for phosphatic carbonate deposition: A case study of the Cambrian Thorntonia Limestone, southern Georgina Basin, Australia. Geological Society of America Bulletin 2013. Submitted.
• Wehrmann LM, Arndt S, Marz C, Ferdelman TG, Brunner B. The evolution of early diagenetic signals in Bering Sea subseafloor sediments in response to varying organic carbon deposition over the last 4.3 Ma. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2013, 109, 175-196.
• Marz C, Poulton SW, Brumsack HJ, Wagner T. Climate-controlled variability of iron deposition in the Central Arctic Ocean (southern Mendeleev Ridge) over the last 130,000 years. Chemical Geology 2012, 330, 116-126.
• Henkel S, Noethen K, Franke C, Bogus K, Robin E, Bahr A, Blumenberg M, Pape T, Seifert R, Marz C, DeLange GJ, Kasten S. Diagenetic barium cycling in Black Sea sediments - A case study for anoxic marine environments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2012, 88, 88-105.
• Marz C, Boening P, Brumsack HJ. Das Marine Sediment als Gedächtnis des Klimas (The marine sediments as long-term climate archive). In: Lozan, JL;Graßl, H;Karbe, L;Reise, K, ed. Warnsignal Klima: Die Meere - Änderungen & Risiken. Germany: Wissenschaftl. Auswertung, 2011, pp.72-77.
• Hetzel A, Marz C, Vogt C, Brumsack HJ. Geochemical environment of Cenomanian - Turonian black shale deposition at Wunstorf (northern Germany). Cretaceous Research 2011, 32(4), 480.
• Marz C, Stratmann A, Matthiessen J, Meinhardt AK, Eckert S, Schnetger B, Vogt C, Stein R, Brumsack HJ. Manganese-rich brown layers in Arctic Ocean sediments: Composition, formation mechanisms, and diagenetic overprint. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2011, 75(23), 7668-7687.
• Marz C, Vogt C, Schnetger B, Brumsack HJ. Variable Eocene-Miocene sedimentation processes and bottom water redox conditions in the Central Arctic Ocean (IODP Expedition 302). Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2011, 310(3-4), 526-537.
• Dellwig O, Leipe T, Marz C, Glockzin M, Pollehne F, Schnetger B, Yakushev EV, Bottcher ME, Brumsack HJ. A new particulate Mn–Fe–P-shuttle at the redoxcline of anoxic basins. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2010, 74(24), 7100-7115.
• Marz C, Schnetger B, Brumsack HJ. Paleoenvironmental implications of Cenozoic sediments from the Central Arctic Ocean (IODP Expedition 302) using inorganic geochemistry. Paleoceanography 2010, 25, PA3206.
• Kodrans-Nsiah M, Marz C, Harding IC, Kasten S, Zonneveld KAF. Are the Kimmeridge Clay deposits affected by “burn-down” events? Palynological and geochemical studies on a 1 metre long section from the Upper Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Dorset, UK). Sedimentary Geology 2009, 222(3-4), 301-313.
• Marz C, Beckmann B, Franke C, Vogt C, Wagner T, Kasten S. Geochemical environment of the Coniacian-Santonian western tropical Atlantic at Demerara Rise. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 2009, 273(3-4), 286-301.
• Patzold J, Bleil U, Enneking K, Gerriets A, Green A, Hilgenfeldt C, Hirsch K, Kahl S, Kasten S, Klann M, Kuhlmann H, Lueckge A, Marz C, Mehring T, Schefuss E, Schneider R, Schwenk T, Steinbach A, Susek E, Thomas R, Truscheit T, Vogt T, Weldeab S, Wiltshire J, Zatloukal N. METEOR-Berichte 09-3, Southwestern Indian Ocean – Eastern Atlantic Ocean, PART 1, Cruise No. 63, Leg 1, January 24 – February 23, 2005, Cape Town – Cape Town (South Africa). 2009.
• Beckmann B, Hofmann P, Marz C, Schouten S, Sinninghe Damste JS, Wagner T. Coniacian-Santonian deep ocean anoxia/euxinia inferred from molecular and inorganic markers: Results from the Demerara Rise (ODP Leg 207). Organic Geochemistry 2008, 39(8), 1092-1096.
• Marz C, Hoffman J, Bleil U, De Lange GJ, Kasten S. Diagenetic changes of magnetic and geochemical signals by anaerobic methane oxidation in sediments of the Zambezi deep-sea fan (SW Indian Ocean). Marine Geology 2008, 255(3-4), 118-130.
• Marz C, Poulton SW, Beckmann B, Kuster K, Wagner T, Kasten S. Redox sensitivity of P cycling during marine black shale formation: Dynamics of sulfidic and anoxic, non-sulfidic bottom waters. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2008, 72(15), 3703-3717.
• Mulitza S, Bouimetarhan I, Brüning M, Freesemann A, Gussone N, Filipson H, Heil G, Hessler S, Jaeschke A, Johnstone H, Klann M, Klein F, Kuster K, Marz C, McGregor H, Minning M, Muller H, Ochsenhirt WT, Paul A, Schewe F, Schulz M, Steinlochner J, Stuut JB, Tjallingii R, Dobeneck T, Wiesmaier S, Zabel M, Zonneveld K. Report and preliminary results of Meteor-Cruise M65/1, Dakar-Dakar, 11.06.-01.07.2005. Berichte, Fachbereich Geowissenschaften 2006.