Personal Page of Dr. Antao Xu Antao Xu

Research Interest

Paleoceanography, interactions between atmosphere, ocean circulation and ice sheet on geological timescales
Cycling of rare earth elements and Nd, Hf, Ba and U isotopes in the ocean

Selected Publications

Xu, A., Hathorne, E., Scholz, F., Ling, C., Koschinsky, A., & Frank, M. (2026). Sediment resuspension and reductive dissolution of terrigenous Fe-Mn oxides control dissolved neodymium and hafnium inputs from the Amazon shelf. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 416: 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2026.01.019

Zhang, Z., Xu, A., Chen, X., Hathorne, E., Gutjahr, M., & Frank, M. (2026). Conservative behavior of radiogenic neodymium isotopes in the South Pacific interior. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 678, 119850. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2026.119850

Paul, S. A., Gutjahr, M., Xu, A., Fröhberg, N., Hathorne, E., Scholz, F., & Frank, M. (2025). The Nd isotope composition of oxic pore waters of marine sediments and implications for its use as a past water mass proxy. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 410: 141-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2025.10.005

Xu, A., Hathorne, E., Seidel, M., Liu, T., Asp, N. E., Koschinsky, A., Dittmar T. & Frank, M. (2025). The Amazonian mangrove systems accumulate and release dissolved neodymium and hafnium to the oceans. Communications Earth & Environment, 6(1), 13. 

Zhang, Z., Xu, A., Hathorne, E., Gutjahr, M., Browning, T. J., Gosnell, K. J., ... & Frank, M. (2024). Substantial trace metal input from the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption into the South Pacific. Nature Communications, 15(1), 8986. 

Xu, A., Hathorne, E., Laukert, G., & Frank, M. (2023). Overlooked riverine contributions of dissolved neodymium and hafnium to the Amazon estuary and oceans. Nature Communications, 14(1), 4156. 

Liu, C., Wilson, D., Hathorne, E., Xu, A., & von Strandmann, P, (2023). The influence of river-derived particles on estuarine and marine elemental cycles: Evidence from lithium isotopes. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 361, pp.183-199. 

Zhang B., Chen Z., Xu, A., Wang X., Tian Y., & Zhang Y.  (2023) Evolution characteristics and controlling factors of deep-water corals in the southwest Dongsha Sea area since 8000 a BP. Journal of Tropical Oceanography. Jan 10;42(1):98-113.

Wang X., Chen Z., Xu, A., Tian Y., Cao L., & Zhang B., (2022) Grain size characteristics and influencing factors of terrigenous sediment in the deep-sea basin of the northeastern South China Sea since the Last Glacial Maximum. Journal of Tropical Oceanography. Jan 10;41(1):158-70.

Xu, A., Hu, P., Chen, Z., Shu, C., Wang, X., & Tian, Y. (2020). A software tool to plot frequency and cumulative frequency curves automatically for grain size analysis of sediments. Earth Science Informatics, 13, 565-571. 

Xu, A., Chen, Z., Qu, Y., Tian, Y., Shu, C., Zheng, X., ... & Zhao, M. (2019). Cold-water corals in a cold seep area on the northern continental slopes of the South China sea and their isotopic characteristics. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 152, 103043. 

Zhong, Y., Chen, Z., Gonzalez, F. J., Zheng, X., Li, G., Luo, Y., ... & Wang, S. (2018). Rare earth elements and yttrium in ferromanganese deposits from the South China Sea: distribution, composition and resource considerations. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 37, 41-54. 

Xu, A., Li F., Liu K., Xiang P., Zhao C., & Hu P. (2018). The characteristics and sedimentary model of Storm deposits in the Lower Devonian strata of Beichuan. Geology in China, 45(5): 1049-1061 (in Chinese with English abstract). doi.org/10.12029/gc20180512

Conference Session

Goldschmidt 2025- Prague: 12e - Tracing marine trace element dynamics: impact of external sources and oceanic cycling.

Teaching and Supervision

Chenghui Sun*, Visiting PhD student: Neodymium and Uranium Isotopes Cycling in the Changjiang River Estuary and Shelf

Yongzhi Chu*, Visiting PhD student: Evidence for Pliocene North Pacific Deep-Water Formation and Its Paleoproductivity Imprints

Oliwia Kubiak*, Master thesis in physics: Tracing Climate-Driven Volcanic and Seafloor-Spreading Signals in the Southern Ocean: ODP Site 1094 during the Mid Pleistocene Transition

Katrin Petranovic*, Master thesis in physics: Glacial–Interglacial Variability of Authigenic εNd at ODP Site 984 and Its Link to Icelandic Ice Sheet Dynamics

Jonathan Stohl*, Bachelor thesis in physics: Constraining Neodymium Isotopes cycling in the Northeast Atlantic Using the Global Neodymium Ocean Model (GNOM)

Kira Just*, Bachelor thesis in physics: Ice-volume Driven Variability in the εNd Record of Drill Core ODP 982 in the Mid-depth Northeast Atlantic 

Johanna Spielmann*, Bachelor thesis in physics: Trace-elements and Nd-Isotopes in the southern Iceland Basin 

*  co-supervised by Prof. Norbert Frank