Barbara WohlfarthProfessor of Quaternary geology

About me

PhD University of Cologne, Germany (1986)

Postdoctoral researcher, researcher, Assistant and Associate Professor, Lund University (1991-2002)

Professor of Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University (since 2002)

My research is in Quaternary geology and aims at better understanding the impact of natural climate variability on local and regional scales. I mainly use lake sediments as an archive and employ an array of geochemical, biological and physical methods to extract information on past climates and environments. This knowledge helps to better understand natural climate variability.

Selected publications

Yamoah, K. A., Chabangborn, A., Chawchai, S., Fritz, S., Löwemark, L., Kaboth-Bahr, S., Reimer, P. J., Smittenberg, R. H. & Wohlfarth, B. (2021): A muted El-Niño-like condition during late-MIS-3. Quaternary Science Reviews, 254, 106782. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106782

Schenk, F., Bennike, O., Väliranta, M., #Avery, R., Björck, S. & Wohlfarth, B. (2020): Floral evidence for high summer temperatures in southern Scandinavia during 15-11 cal ka BP. Quaternary Science Reviews, 233, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106243.

Tan, L., Shen, C. C., Löwemark, L., Chawchai, S., Edwards, R. L., Cai, Y., Breitenbach, S. F. M., Cheng, H., Chou, Y.-C., Duerrast, H., Partin, J. W., Cai, W., Chabangborn, A., Gao, Y., Kwiecien, O., Wu, C.-C., Shi, Z., Hsu, H.-H., Wohlfarth, B. (2019): Rainfall variations in central Indo-Pacific over the past 2,700 y. PNAS 116, 17201-17206. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1903167116

Parducci, L., Alsos, I. G., Unneberg, P., Pedersen, M. W., Han, L., Lammers, Y., Salonen, J. S., Väliranta, M., Slotte, T., Wohlfarth B. (2019): Shotgun environmental DNA, pollen, and macrofossil analysis of lateglacial lake sediments from southern Sweden. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 7:189. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00189

Schenk, F., Väliranta, M., *Muschitiello, F., Tarasov, L., Heikkilä, M., Björck, S., Brandefelt, J., Johansson A., Näslund, J. O., Wohlfarth, B. (2018): Warm summers during the Younger Dryas cold reversal. Nature Communications, 9, 1634. | DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04071-5.

Muschitiello, F., Pausata, F. S. R., Lea, J., Mair, D., Wohlfarth, B. (2017): Enhanced ice sheet melting driven by volcanic eruptions during the last deglaciation. Nature Communication http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1038/s41467-017-01273-1.

Wohlfarth, B., Higham, C.F.W., Yamoah, K. A., Chabangborn, A., Chawchai, S., Smittenberg, R. H. (2016): Human adaption to mid-late Holocene climate change in Northeast Thailand. The Holocene, 26, 1875-1886. DOI: 10.1177/0959683616645947.

Muschitiello, F., Pausata, F. S. R., Smittenberg, R. H., Salih, A. A. M., Watson, J. E., Brooks, S. J., Whitehouse, N. J., Wohlfarth, B. (2015): Fennoscandian freshwater controls Greenland hydroclimate shifts at the onset of Younger Dryas. Nature Communications, 6, 8939. doi:10.1038/ncomms9939.

Dutton, A., Webster, J. M., Zwarts, D., Lambeck, K. & Wohlfarth, B. (2015): Tropical tales of polar ice: Evidence of last interglacial polar ice sheet retreat recorded by fossil reefs of the granitic Seychelles islands. Quaternary Science Reviews, 107, 182-196.

Wohlfarth, B. (2010): Ice-free conditions in Sweden during Marine Isotope Stage 3? Boreas, 39/2, 377-398. DOI: 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2009.00137.x

Clark, P. U., Dyke, A. S., Shakun, J. D., Carlson, A. E., Clark, J., Wohlfarth, B., Mitrovica, J. X., Hostetler, S. W., & McCabe, A. M. (2009): The Last Glacial Maximum. Science, 325, 710-714.