Lena Jebasinski

Research Focus:

Permanent Antarctic glaciation developed with the onset of the Oligocene and is assumed to have been particularly expanded during the Mid-Oligocene glacial interval (MOGI; ~28-27.3 Ma BP) as expressed in an elevated benthic foraminiferal δ¹⁸O signal. As northern hemisphere ice sheets had not developed so far, the unipolar glaciated MOGI offers the opportunity to study Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics by quantifying the relative contributions of Antarctic Ice Volume and deep ocean temperature to the benthic foraminiferal δ¹⁸O signal.

I use high-resolution (i.e., suborbital) sediments from IODP Site U1553 in the Pacific Southern Ocean to reconstruct the δ¹⁸O of seawater and thus the Antarctic Ice Volume during the MOGI by combining:

• benthic foraminiferal Mg/Ca-derived bottom water temperatures
• benthic foraminiferal δ¹⁸O data from 

Academic Career

• Since 03/2026: Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Geosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
• 10/2022 – 02/2026: PhD candidate in Paleoceanography  at the Institute of Geosciences, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Julia Gottschalk, Topic: "Ocean circulation and carbon cycle dynamics in the Pacific Southern Ocean during Late Pleistocene interglacials”
• 10/2019 – 09/2022: M.Sc. Marine Geosciences at the Institute of Geosciences, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany. Thesis title: “Antarctic Intermediate Water nutrient content in the south-western Atlantic during the last four glacial-interglacial cycles”, Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Martin Frank, Dr.
• 10/2015 – 09/2019: B.Sc. Geosciences Institute of Geosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany. Thesis title: "Late Cenozoic Ostracods from the Maldives, Indian Ocean (IODP Site U1470) and its application on paleoenvironments”, Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Oliver Friedrich, Prof. Dr. Simone Nunes Brandão

Research experience

• 11/2024 – 12/2024: University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA Visiting scholar, financially supported by the FYORD Research Grant
• 11/2023: University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA Visiting scholar, financially supported by the ECORD Research Grant                       
• 01/2020 – 09/2022: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel Student Research Assistant
• 05/2019 – 07/2019: Geoforschungszentrum, Potsdam, Germany Student Research Intern
• 07/2018 – 10/2018: Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil   Student Research Intern, financially supported by DAAD RISE  worldwide scholarship

Cruises

• 02/2024 – 04/2024: RV Polarstern (Kiel University) PhD Student/marine geologist on cruise PS141 (68 days)
• 10/2022 – 11/2022: RV Maria S. Merian (Kiel University) PhD Student/marine geologist on cruise MSM112 (30 days)

Grants

• 11/2024: FYORD Research Grant (~5000 €)
• 11/2023: ECORD Research Grant (~3000 €)
• 07/2018 – 10/2018: DAAD Scholarship holder; Rise worldwide (~5,000 €)

Publications

L. Jebasinski, D. A. Frick, A. K. I. U. Kapuge, C. Basak, M. Saavedra-Pellitero, G. Winckler, F. Lamy, J. Gottschalk (2025). Southern Ocean evidence for recurring West Antarctic Ice Sheet destabilization during Marine Isotope Stage 11. Nature Communications, 16(1). 

O. Soaga, E. Hathorne, M. Frank, P. Tselykh, L. Jebasinski, D. Nürnberg (2025). Antarctic Intermediate Water Variability in the South Atlantic Over the Last 600,000 years. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 40(12), Article e2024PA005089. 

L. Jebasinski, G. Winckler, F. Lamy, L. von Stebut, D. A. Frick, C. Basak, A. K. I. U. Kapuge, J. R. Farmer, J. Gottschalk (2026). Stepwise Glacial Inception and prolonged Southern Ocean CO₂ outgassing linked with Marine Isotope Stage 11. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 41, Article e2025PA005307. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025PA005307

Conference contributions

L. Jebasinski, L. von Stebut, D. A. Frick, G. Winckler, F. Lamy, J. Gottschalk (2025). Deep-to-Intermediate Ocean Coupling in the Pacific Southern Ocean During Marine Isotope Stage 11 (Poster, ICP15 in Bangalore, India).

L. Jebasinski, D. A. Frick, A. K. I. U. Kapuge, C. Basak, M. Saavedra-Pellitero, G. Winckler, F. Lamy, J. Gottschalk (2024). Perturbation Events of Antarctic Bottom Water Formation in the South Pacific Ocean During Marine Isotope Stage 11 (Presentation, AGU 2024 in Washington D.C., USA)

L. Jebasinski, L. S. Oelkers, D. A. Frick, A. K. I. U. Kapuge, C. Basak, M. Saavedra-Pellitero, C. Waelbroeck, N. Vázquez Riveiros, F. Lamy, G. Winckler, J. Gottschalk (presenter) (2024). Changes in Antarctic bottom water oxygenation during Marine Isotope Stage 11: perspectives from the Atlantic and Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean (Poster, PAGES PO2 workshop in Bristol, UK)

L. Jebasinski, J. Gottschalk, O. Zöller, Expedition 383 Science Party (2023). Dynamics of deep and intermediate water circulation in the South Pacific Ocean during Marine Isotope Stage 11 and Termination V. (Poster, Goldschmidt 2023 in Lyon, France).