Alexander Francke

Dr Alexander Francke

Research Associate

School of Physical Sciences

Faculty of Sciences

Edit My Research

I am working on paleoclimate and -environmental reconstructions by applying a variety of sedimentary and geochemical proxies to Quaternary lake sediment records across the Mediterranean, Australia, Asia, and the High Arctic realm. In my research, I use element geochemical and stable isotope proxies to reconstruct paleoclimate variability. I use a new approach based on uranium isotope geochemistry applied to fine-grained (lacustrine) sedimentary achieves to quantify Quaternary catchment erosion. The obtained information shall be directly compared to information derived on paleoclimate conditions and information about human activity to obtain a comprehensive picture about climate-human-landscape interactions. I work on Quaternary (last 1.3Ma, Lake Ohrid) to Holocene timescales.

I am Editor for Quaternary International (IF: 1.99), the in-house journal of INQUA (International Quaternary Association)

Top 5 publications:

Francke, A., Holtvoeth, J., Codilean, A., et al. (2020): Geochemical methods to infer landscape response to Quaternary climate change and land use in depositional archives: a review, Earth-Science Reviews (IF: 10.6), 103218.

Francke, A., Dosseto, A., Panagiotopoulos, et al. (2019): Landscape threshold crossed on the Balkan Peninsula during the Early to Mid-Holocene, Global and Planetary Change (IF: 4.1), 177, 186-200.

Francke, A., Wagner, B., Just, et al. (2016): Sedimentological processes and environmental variability at Lake Ohrid (Macedonia, Albania) between 637 ka and the present, Biogeosciences (IF: 3.7), 13, 1179-1196.

Wagner, B.*, Vogel, H.*, Francke, A. et al. (2019): Mediterranean winter rainfall in phase with African monsoon during past 1.36 million years, Nature (IF: 43.1), 573, 256-260.

Rothacker, L., Dosseto, A., Francke, A., et al. (2018): Impact of climate change and human activity on soil landscapes over the past 12,300 years, Scientific Reports (IF: 4.5), 8, 247.

 

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  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2020 Francke, A., Dosseto, A., Just, J., Wagner, B., & Jones, B. (2020). Assessment of the controls on (<sup>234</sup>U/<sup>238</sup>U) activity ratios recorded in detrital lacustrine sediments. Chemical Geology, 550, 18 pages.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS1
    2020 Francke, A., Holtvoeth, J., Codilean, A., Lacey, J., Bayon, G., & Dosseto, A. (2020). Geochemical methods to infer landscape response to Quaternary climate change and land use in depositional archives: A review. Earth-Science Reviews, 207, 23 pages.
    DOI
    2020 Marchegiano, M., Horne, D., Gliozzi, E., Francke, A., Wagner, B., & Ariztegui, D. (2020). Rapid Late Pleistocene climate change reconstructed from a lacustrine ostracod record in central Italy (Lake Trasimeno, Umbria). Boreas, 12 pages.
    DOI
    2020 Panagiotopoulos, K., Holtvoeth, J., Kouli, K., Marinova, E., Francke, A., Cvetkoska, A., . . . Wilke, T. (2020). Insights into the evolution of the young Lake Ohrid ecosystem and vegetation succession from a southern European refugium during the Early Pleistocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 227, 17 pages.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS4
    2020 Wilke, T., Hauffe, T., Jovanovska, E., Cvetkoska, A., Donders, T., Ekschmitt, K., . . . Wagner, B. (2020). Deep drilling reveals massive shifts in evolutionary dynamics after formation of ancient ecosystem. Science advances, 6(40).
    DOI
    2019 Just, J., Sagnotti, L., Nowaczyk, N., Francke, A., & Wagner, B. (2019). Recordings of Fast Paleomagnetic Reversals in a 1.2 Ma Greigite-Rich Sediment Archive From Lake Ohrid, Balkans. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 124(12), 12445-12464.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS2
    2019 Francke, A., Dosseto, A., Panagiotopoulos, K., Leicher, N., Lacey, J., Kyrikou, S., . . . Leng, M. (2019). Sediment residence time reveals Holocene shift from climatic to vegetation control on catchment erosion in the Balkans. Global and Planetary Change, 177, 186-200.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS7
    2019 Leicher, N., Giaccio, B., Zanchetta, G., Wagner, B., Francke, A., Palladino, D., . . . Tomlinson, E. (2019). Central Mediterranean explosive volcanism and tephrochronology during the last 630 ka based on the sediment record from Lake Ohrid. Quaternary Science Reviews, 226, 29 pages.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS3
    2019 Wagner, B., Vogel, H., Francke, A., Friedrich, T., Donders, T., Lacey, J., . . . Zhang, X. (2019). Mediterranean winter rainfall in phase with African monsoons during the past 1.36 million years. Nature, 573(7773), 256-260.
    DOI Scopus19 WoS17
    2019 Marchegiano, M., Francke, A., Gliozzi, E., Wagner, B., & Ariztegui, D. (2019). High-resolution palaeohydrological reconstruction of central Italy during the Holocene. Holocene, 29(3), 481-492.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS5
    2019 Sinopoli, G., Peyron, O., Masi, A., Holtvoeth, J., Francke, A., Wagner, B., & Sadori, L. (2019). Pollen-based temperature and precipitation changes in the Ohrid Basin (western Balkans) between 160 and 70 ka. Climate of the Past, 15(1), 53-71.
    DOI Scopus2 WoS1
    2018 Zanchetta, G., Baneschi, I., Francke, A., Boschi, C., Regattieri, E., Wagner, B., . . . Sadori, L. (2018). Evidence for carbon cycling in a large freshwater lake in the Balkans over the last 0.5 million years using the isotopic composition of bulk organic matter. Quaternary Science Reviews, 202, 154-165.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS7
    2018 Kousis, I., Koutsodendris, A., Peyron, O., Leicher, N., Francke, A., Wagner, B., . . . Pross, J. (2018). Centennial-scale vegetation dynamics and climate variability in SE Europe during Marine Isotope Stage 11 based on a pollen record from Lake Ohrid. Quaternary Science Reviews, 190, 20-38.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS13
    2018 Francke, A., Carney, S., Wilcox, P., & Dosseto, A. (2018). Sample preparation for determination of comminution ages in lacustrine and marine sediments. Chemical Geology, 479, 123-135.
    DOI Scopus6 WoS5
    2018 Regattieri, E., Zanchetta, G., Isola, I., Bajo, P., Perchiazzi, N., Drysdale, R., . . . Wagner, B. (2018). A MIS 9/MIS 8 speleothem record of hydrological variability from Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.). Global and Planetary Change, 162, 39-52.
    DOI Scopus10 WoS10
    2018 Sinopoli, G., Masi, A., Regattieri, E., Wagner, B., Francke, A., Peyron, O., & Sadori, L. (2018). Palynology of the Last Interglacial Complex at Lake Ohrid: palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic inferences. Quaternary Science Reviews, 180, 177-192.
    DOI Scopus21 WoS19
    2018 Marchegiano, M., Francke, A., Gliozzi, E., & Ariztegui, D. (2018). Arid and humid phases in central Italy during the Late Pleistocene revealed by the Lake Trasimeno ostracod record. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 490, 55-69.
    DOI Scopus6 WoS5
    2018 Rothacker, L., Dosseto, A., Francke, A., Chivas, A., Vigier, N., Kotarba-Morley, A., & Menozzi, D. (2018). Impact of climate change and human activity on soil landscapes over the past 12,300 years. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 7 pages.
    DOI Scopus13 WoS13
    2018 Lacey, J., Leng, M., Peckover, E., Dean, J., Wilke, T., Francke, A., . . . Wagner, B. (2018). Investigating the environmental interpretation of oxygen and carbon isotope data from whole and fragmented bivalve shells. Quaternary Science Reviews, 194, 55-61.
    DOI Scopus3 WoS3
    2018 Masi, A., Francke, A., Pepe, C., Thienemann, M., Wagner, B., & Sadori, L. (2018). Vegetation history and paleoclimate at Lake Dojran (FYROM/Greece) during the Late Glacial and Holocene. Climate of the Past, 14(3), 351-367.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS10
    2017 Wagner, B., Wilke, T., Francke, A., Albrecht, C., Baumgarten, H., Bertini, A., . . . Zhang, X. (2017). The environmental and evolutionary history of Lake Ohrid (FYROM/Albania): Interim results from the SCOPSCO deep drilling project. Biogeosciences, 14(8), 2033-2054.
    DOI Scopus31 WoS27
    2017 Thienemann, M., Masi, A., Kusch, S., Sadori, L., John, S., Francke, A., . . . Rethemeyer, J. (2017). Organic geochemical and palynological evidence for Holocene natural and anthropogenic environmental change at Lake Dojran (Macedonia/Greece). Holocene, 27(8), 1103-1114.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS14
    2017 Regattieri, E., Giaccio, B., Nomade, S., Francke, A., Vogel, H., Drysdale, R., . . . Peronace, E. (2017). A Last Interglacial record of environmental changes from the Sulmona Basin (central Italy). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 472, 51-66.
    DOI Scopus26 WoS22
    2016 Sadori, L., Koutsodendris, A., Panagiotopoulos, K., Masi, A., Bertini, A., Combourieu-Nebout, N., . . . Donders, T. (2016). "pollen-based paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic change at Lake Ohrid (south-eastern Europe) during the past 500 ka" published in Biogeosciences, 13, 1423-1437, 2016. Biogeosciences, 13(5), 1423-1427.
    DOI Scopus1
    2016 Bertini, A., Sadori, L., Combourieu-Nebout, N., Donders, T., Kouli, K., Koutsodendris, A., . . . Wagner, B. (2016). All together now: an international palynological team documents vegetation and climate changes during the last 500 kyr at Lake Ohrid (SE Europe). Alpine and Mediterranean Quaternary, 29(2), 201-210.
    Scopus7
    2016 Zanchetta, G., Regattieri, E., Giaccio, B., Wagner, B., Sulpizio, R., Francke, A., . . . Leicher, N. (2016). Aligning and synchronization of MIS5 proxy records from Lake Ohrid (FYROM) with independently dated Mediterranean archives: Implications for DEEP core chronology. Biogeosciences, 13(9), 2757-2768.
    DOI Scopus24 WoS20
    2016 Lacey, J., Leng, M., Francke, A., Sloane, H., Milodowski, A., Vogel, H., . . . Wagner, B. (2016). Northern Mediterranean climate since the Middle Pleistocene: A 637 ka stable isotope record from Lake Ohrid (Albania/Macedonia). Biogeosciences, 13(6), 1801-1820.
    DOI Scopus21 WoS20
    2016 Sadori, L., Koutsodendris, A., Panagiotopoulos, K., Masi, A., Bertini, A., Combourieu-Nebout, N., . . . Donders, T. (2016). Pollen-based paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic change at Lake Ohrid (south-eastern Europe) during the past 500 ka. Biogeosciences, 13(5), 1423-1437.
    DOI Scopus72 WoS70
    2016 Zhang, X., Reed, J., Lacey, J., Francke, A., Leng, M., Levkov, Z., & Wagner, B. (2016). Complexity of diatom response to Lateglacial and Holocene climate and environmental change in ancient, deep and oligotrophic Lake Ohrid (Macedonia and Albania). Biogeosciences, 13(4), 1351-1365.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS7
    2016 Jovanovska, E., Cvetkoska, A., Hauffe, T., Levkov, Z., Wagner, B., Sulpizio, R., . . . Wilke, T. (2016). Differential resilience of ancient sister lakes Ohrid and Prespa to environmental disturbances during the Late Pleistocene. Biogeosciences, 13(4), 1149-1161.
    DOI Scopus18 WoS15
    2016 Wilke, T., Wagner, B., Van Bocxlaer, B., Albrecht, C., Ariztegui, D., Delicado, D., . . . Wonik, T. (2016). Scientific drilling projects in ancient lakes: Integrating geological and biological histories. Global and Planetary Change, 143, 118-151.
    DOI Scopus16 WoS11
    2016 Cvetkoska, A., Jovanovska, E., Francke, A., Tofilovska, S., Vogel, H., Levkov, Z., . . . Wagner-Cremer, F. (2016). Ecosystem regimes and responses in a coupled ancient lake system from MIS 5b to present: The diatom record of lakes Ohrid and Prespa. Biogeosciences, 13(10), 3147-3162.
    DOI Scopus18 WoS10
    2016 Leicher, N., Zanchetta, G., Sulpizio, R., Giaccio, B., Wagner, B., Nomade, S., . . . Del Carlo, P. (2016). First tephrostratigraphic results of the DEEP site record from Lake Ohrid (Macedonia and Albania). Biogeosciences, 13(7), 2151-2178.
    DOI Scopus42 WoS42
    2016 Just, J., Nowaczyk, N., Sagnotti, L., Francke, A., Vogel, H., Lacey, J., & Wagner, B. (2016). Environmental control on the occurrence of high-coercivity magnetic minerals and formation of iron sulfides in a 640ka sediment sequence from Lake Ohrid (Balkans). Biogeosciences, 13(7), 2093-2109.
    DOI Scopus13 WoS13
    2016 Francke, A., Wagner, B., Just, J., Leicher, N., Gromig, R., Baumgarten, H., . . . Giaccio, B. (2016). Sedimentological processes and environmental variability at Lake Ohrid (Macedonia, Albania) between 637 ka and the present. Biogeosciences, 13(4), 1179-1196.
    DOI Scopus61 WoS56
    2015 Baumgarten, H., Wonik, T., Tanner, D., Francke, A., Wagner, B., Zanchetta, G., . . . Nomade, S. (2015). Age-depth model of the past 630 kyr for Lake Ohrid (FYROM/Albania) based on cyclostratigraphic analysis of downhole gamma ray data. Biogeosciences, 12(24), 7453-7465.
    DOI Scopus16 WoS15
    2015 Lacey, J., Francke, A., Leng, M., Vane, C., & Wagner, B. (2015). A high-resolution Late Glacial to Holocene record of environmental change in the Mediterranean from Lake Ohrid (Macedonia/Albania). International Journal of Earth Sciences, 104(6), 1623-1638.
    DOI Scopus29 WoS29
    2014 Zhang, X., Reed, J., Wagner, B., Francke, A., & Levkov, Z. (2014). Lateglacial and Holocene climate and environmental change in the northeastern Mediterranean region: Diatom evidence from Lake Dojran (Republic of Macedonia/Greece). Quaternary Science Reviews, 103(1), 51-66.
    DOI Scopus23 WoS23
    2014 Wennrich, V., Minyuk, P., Borkhodoev, V., Francke, A., Ritter, B., Nowaczyk, N., . . . Melles, M. (2014). Pliocene to pleistocene climate and environmental history of lake el'gygytgyn, far east Russian Arctic, based on high-resolution inorganic geochemistry data. Climate of the Past, 10(4), 1381-1399.
    DOI Scopus23 WoS20
    2014 Wagner, B., Wilke, T., Krastel, S., Zanchetta, G., Sulpizio, R., Reicherter, K., . . . Vogel, H. (2014). The SCOPSCO drilling project recovers more than 1.2 million years of history from Lake Ohrid. Scientific Drilling, 17(17), 19-29.
    DOI Scopus46
    2013 Nowaczyk, N., Haltia, E., Ulbricht, D., Wennrich, V., Sauerbrey, M., Rosén, P., . . . Lozhkin, A. (2013). Chronology of Lake El’gygytgyn sediments – A combined magnetostratigraphic, palaeoclimatic and orbital tuning study based on multi-parameter analyses. Climate of the Past, 9(6), 2413-2432.
    DOI Scopus40 WoS39
    2013 Francke, A., Wennrich, V., Sauerbrey, M., Juschus, O., Melles, M., & Brigham-Grette, J. (2013). Multivariate statistic and time series analyses of grain-Size data in quaternary sediments of Lake El'gygytgyn, NE Russia. Climate of the Past, 9(6), 2459-2470.
    DOI Scopus17 WoS13
    2013 Magny, M., Combourieu-Nebout, N., De Beaulieu, J., Bout-Roumazeilles, V., Colombaroli, D., Desprat, S., . . . Wirth, S. (2013). North-south palaeohydrological contrasts in the central mediterranean during the holocene: Tentative synthesis and working hypotheses. Climate of the Past, 9(5), 2043-2071.
    DOI Scopus146 WoS140
    2013 Wennrich, V., Francke, A., Dehnert, A., Juschus, O., Leipe, T., Vogt, C., . . . Melles, M. (2013). Modern sedimentation patterns in Lake El’gygytgyn, NE Russia, derived from surface sediment and inlet streams samples. Climate of the Past, 9(1), 135-148.
    DOI Scopus19 WoS17
    2013 Gebhardt, A., Francke, A., Kück, J., Sauerbrey, M., Niessen, F., Wennrich, V., & Melles, M. (2013). Petrophysical characterization of the lacustrine sediment succession drilled in Lake El'gygytgyn, Far East Russian Arctic. Climate of the Past, 9(4), 1933-1947.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS5
    2013 Francke, A., Wagner, B., Leng, M., & Rethemeyer, J. (2013). A late glacial to holocene record of environmental change from Lake Dojran (Macedonia, Greece). Climate of the Past, 9(1), 481-498.
    DOI Scopus43 WoS42
    2012 Wagner, B., Francke, A., Sulpizio, R., Zanchetta, G., Lindhorst, K., Krastel, S., . . . Trajanovski, S. (2012). Possible earthquake trigger for 6th century mass wasting deposit at Lake Ohrid (Macedonia/Albania). Climate of the Past, 8(6), 2069-2078.
    DOI Scopus22 WoS16

2020 GeoQuEST Research Centre, University of Wollongong: "Ancient Lake George (NSW) as palaeo-rainfall gauge: Tackling the challenges of future droughts" (AUS$9,360)

2019 "INQUA" travel grant for participation on the INQUA congress 2019, Dublin, Ireland (1,450€)

2017-2019 2-year DFG Fellowship, University of Wollongong (NSW, Australia): "Unravelling natural and human-accelerated erosional and weathering processes in the past based on uranium and lithium isotope analyses applied on a lake sediment record" (FR 3783/1-1, 82,600€)

2017 GeoQuEST Research Centre, University of Wollongong, Co-funding support for DFG (German Research Foundation) project: "Unravelling natural and humana ccelerated erosional and weathering processes in the past based on uranium and lithium isotope analyses applied on a lake sediment record" (AUS$5,000)

2018 Travel grant by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for participating in the EGU annual assembly 2018 (774€)

2016 "Mobility Grants for national and international Young Faculty", University of Cologne, funded by "Excellence Initiative" of the German federal and state governments (2,512€)

2015 "INQUA" travel grant for participation on the XIX INQUA congress 2015, Nagoya, Japan (1,300€)

  • Position: Research Associate
  • Phone: 83130894
  • Email: alexander.francke@adelaide.edu.au
  • Fax: 8313 4380
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Mawson, floor 1
  • Room: 1 21
  • Org Unit: Earth Sciences
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