| Summary: | The reconstruction of past ocean seawater densities can be helpful to understand benthic hydrodynamics and ecological processes important for ecosystems such as the cold-water coral (CWC) reefs along the European continental margin. DFG-project INWADE (Cold-Water Coral Mound Development Related to INtermediate WAter DEnsity Gradient) concentrates on the observation that the density of seawater is an important environmental factor for the Northeast Atlantic coral reefs. For three transects at 37°N, 51°N and 65°N across the European continental slope, the Recent distribution of temperature, salinity and seawater density is compared to modelled distribution during the Last Glacial Maximum. Geochemically reconstructed temperature and seawater density data from benthic foraminifera in sediment cores validate the modelled data (or vice versa) and raise the possibility to reconstruct seawater densities for the Pleistocene period.
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