Daria Carobene
Palaeoecology of Miocene benthic marine macroinvertebrate communities of the whale-bearing locality Groß Pampau, northern Germany
About 11 million years ago, the primeval North Sea extended southern than today. The remains of its waters teeming with life are found in the mica-clay deposits of Groß Pampau, a fossil Lagerstätte in Schleswig-Holstein. To provide a detailed palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and an interpretation of the faunal associations of Groß Pampau, the research project focuses on the palaeoecological analysis of the mollusc fauna living at the seafloor. Since the great abundance of whales-remains, the research addresses the question to which extent the fossil mollusc assemblages of Groß Pampau represent whale-fall communities. The project contributes to the understanding not only of the climatic and environmental development of the North Sea but also of the palaeogeographical distribution and the ecological/evolutionary history of whale-fall communities.