Late Quaternary environmental change and ecological response along the Sumatra-Java-Flores transect in tropical SW and S Indonesia

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Despite the importance of the Indonesian Archipelago to modern and future global environmental change little is known about its past. New high resolution sediment cores mostly collected during RV SONNE cruise SO-184 provide excellent environmental archives. In this project, late Quaternary (Marine Isotope Stage 1 to 3) environmental dynamics, will be studied using several marine sediment cores along the Sumatra - Java - Flores transect in tropical SW and S Indonesia, Studies of past environmental change and ecological response will provide important insights into understanding modern and future global changes. Of special interest are the reconstruction of last glacial and in particular Holocene (1) vegetation changes on a gradient from humid to seasonal climate, (2) climate changes to understand the dynamic of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), ENSO-Events and the Monsoon system, (3) changes of the marine currents including the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) and its role in continental environmental changes, (4) fire history and its impact on ecosystems and (5) the human impact during the past to understand modern and future environmental changes and ecological response. Of particular interest will be also the environmental dynamics related to the discovery of Homo floresiensis which was recovered from late Quaternary deposits on Flores Island.