Description: The Baltic Ice Lake, Yoldia Sea, Ancylus Lake and Littorina Sea stages of regression and transgression controlled the history of the Baltic Sea since the last glacial period. Many details regarding their development remain unknown, including the question whether the regression of the Ancylus Lake (between 10,700 and 10,200 cal yr BP) took place west of the Darss Sill, or elsewhere. This study addresses whether a drowned river system in Fehmarn Belt (SW Baltic Sea) can be related to the drainage of the Ancylus Lake. The river channel is cut into glacial till in the western part of Fehmarn Belt. Here, the channel reaches an incision depth of up to 12 m at a base level of 40 m b.s.l. (below sea level). Near Mecklenburg Bay, the buried channel is incised down to 60 m b.s.l. and widens rapidly from several hundred meters to more than 1 km, fading towards east. It was mainly shaped as part of a glacial meltwater system at a maximum water level of 30 m b.s.l., and is therefore not related to the Ancylus Lake drainage. During the lowstand of the Baltic Ice Lake, local shallow water bodies covered the study area. A previously reported westward directed drainage of a lake in the eastern Fehmarn Belt could be restricted to a time interval between the highstand of the Ancylus Lake and prior to the Littorina Transgression. Timing, water level and potential water discharge of this event suggest a connection to a partial drainage of the Ancylus Lake. It is concluded that the threshold separating the Ancylus Lake from the North Sea needs to be located west of Fehmarn Belt. Highlights ► A paleo-river channel is incised into the seafloor of Fehmarn Belt, SW Baltic Sea. ► This channel is unrelated to the drainage of the Ancylus Lake through the Dana River. ► Widespread erosion took place after the Ancylus Lake phase of the Baltic Sea. ► This event relates to a partial drainage of the Ancylus Lake. ► A new threshold of the Ancylus Lake west of Fehmarn Belt is suggested.

Description: We have investigated the benthic foraminiferal fauna from sediment event layers associated with the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and former storms that have been retrieved in short sediment cores from offshore environments of the Andaman Sea, off Khao Lak, western Thailand. Species composition and test preservation of the benthic foraminiferal faunas exhibit pronounced changes across the studied sections and provide information on the depositional history of the tsunami layer, particularly on the source water depth of the displaced foraminiferal tests. In order to obtain accurate bathymetric information on sediment provenance, we have mapped the distribution of modern faunas in non-tsunamigenic surface sediments and created a calibration data set for the development of a transfer function. Our quantitative reconstructions revealed that the resuspension of sediment particles by the tsunami wave was restricted to a maximum water depth of approximately 20 m. Similar values were obtained for former storm events, thus impeding an easy distinction of different high-energy events.

Description: 05th July – 19th July 2012

Description: This cruise with the RV LITTORINA was the first of three planed legs to be carried out in the area of the Sagasbank (Mecklenburg Bay). Sagas-Bank is an elevation east of the Wagrian peninsula with several elevations of up to 8 meters below sea level (Figure 1). The center of Sagasbank is marked by the 10 m contour line. Sagasbank and the adjacent submarine areas (in total 3.238 km²) are declared as FFH-site (flora-fauna-habitat). Residual sediments (boulders, blocks, sand and gravel) of the last glacial period are ideal habitat for submarine flora and benthic organisms. Here, 115 macro-zoobenthic species (with at least 20 red list species) and 17 algae species (with 6 red list species) are living on Sagasbank. The shallow water area is also habitat for porpoises and one of the most important bird resting places in the Baltic Sea. The habitat is exposed to fishing industry, military and sporting and leisure activities. This cruise is part of cooperation between the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Kiel and the local authority ‘Landesamt für Landwirtschaft, Umwelt und ländliche Räume’ (LLUR). The aim of this cruise (and the following two) is a full coverage, hydroacoustic mapping of Sagasbank and the surrounding area. The hydroacoustic data are calibrated by grab sampling and under water videos. Of special interest are the regions covered with hard substrate providing habitat for macro-zoobenthos and fishes.

Description: Cruise RV Littorina 05/09 was conducted in the frame of the research project “Flächendeckende Erfassung benthischer Lebensraumtypen im Sublitoral des Hörnum Tiefs” (Survey of benthic habitats in the sublittoral of the Hörnum Tief). This project is part of the cooperation between the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Kiel and the Landesamt für Landwirtschaft, Umwelt und ländliche Räume (LLUR). The aim of this project is to survey benthic habitats in the tidal flats of the Hörnum Tief with a special focus on habitats for blue mussels. Questions to be answered are related to where substrates can be found, which are adequate for blue mussel settling and where already biogenic structures are existing. Furthermore the project should offer valuable clues to how the bottom substrates of the region are developed and in which range the mobility of the sediment in different parts of the Hörnum Tief is. During this cruise a C3D and a multibeam echosounder survey was performed in the Hörnum Tief area.

Description: Project: Nordfriesland Süd “Der geologisch/sedimentologische Aufbau und die Habitatverteilung im Übergangsbereich Watt – Schelf zwischen der Amrumbank und der Eiderrinne - Nordsee”, May 15th - 25th, 2017

Description: Vom Sediment zum Topp-Prädator – Einfluss von Eigenschaften des Meeresbodens auf Benthos und benthivore Vögel, Teilprojekt STopP-See STopP-Synthese