An automated high resolution water sampler for environmental monitoring
Obtaining rain samples from remote locations is a tough challenge - not only to scientists. Hence we are developing an automated rain sampler that allows to detect minute changes in isotopic composition even after months in the field.
Geomorphic and Sedimentary responses to Climate Periodicity
With this ERC funded project, we explore how different periodicities of climate forcing affect erosion in mountainous regions, how downstream rivers respond through aggradation or incision, and how pulses of sediment are modified before reaching depositional sinks.
We monitor seismic velocity changes induced by hydrological changes and seismic damage in the shallow subsurface and investigate their interactions.
Eifel Flood Event 2021 HART action
EifelfloodS aims to secure and analyse airborne LiDAR and optical data and field based evidence of flood dynamics and damage condition, predominantly in headwater regions, before diffusion erases the traces.
Environmental Seismology
Environmental seismology is a central project cluster of the section. Seismic sensors are used to detect, locate, track and quantify geomorphic processes, from landslides and rockfalls over debris flows and fluvial activity, to the interaction of drivers and processes.
Reconstructing abrupt climate changes during the Late Glacial from lacustrine sediments
With this ERC funded project we investigate the spatiotemporal evolution of the hydrological cycle during the Late Glacial Period using biomarker isotope signatures to identify regions that are particularly prone to modern climate change.
In various observatories in the European Alps and in Asia we study the processes in and around mountain channels, and how these processes shape the channel.
The mechanics of sea cliff erosion at the event-scale remain poorly understood. This project aims to quantify the role of small, cyclic stresses via wave action in modifying cliff rock strength and driving cliff erosion through the application of geophysical methods.
Impacts of Climate change on Erosion rates and Hillslope processes
In this set of projects, we investigate how millennial-scale climate forcing has affected local paleoclimate, and how landscapes respond with respect to erosion rates, erosion processes, and sedimentation patterns.
Landslides are the primary erosional mechanism in mountainous areas. A new methodology for quantifying long-term landslide rates and contributions to sediment fluxes is developed, by using analyses of cosogenic radionuclides in combination with detailed field surveys.
Stone pavements are widespread surface features in deserts globally. They are the result of the deposition of dust, not erosion. They can form continuously thickening recorders of the environmental conditions during which they formed.
Climate change has altered precipitation patterns and impacted the spatio-temporal distribution and availability of water in high-mountain environments. We strive to develop a centennial record of monsoon dynamics from yearly resolved tree ring isotope chronologies.
The significance of organic carbon in the global carbon cycle
Oceans are important long-term sinks of organic carbon. With ROCcycle we quantify the amounts of fossil and modern biospheric carbon exported through major river systems and investigate effects of tectonic and surface processes as well as extreme rainfall events.
We strive to develop centennial to millennial records of Indian and Asian monsoon dynamics using different biological and geological archives.
The Da'an River gorge in western Taiwan is the result of uplift of the riverbed during an earthquake in 1999. The river is now rapidly incising which provides an ideal opportunity to study the site by means of high resolution topographic surveying.
Mass wasting events are preceded by the appearance and the propagation of cracks. Identifying them in a robust and consistent way is crucial for hazard anticipation. This project use seismic signal analysis coupled to machine learning technique to retrieve crack temporal and spatial evolution.
Perturbations of Earth Surface Systems by large Earthquakes
Since the 2015 Gorkha earthquake of Mw7.9 GFZ's Hazard and Risk Team is investigating the impact of earthquakes and inter-seismic erosion in the Himalayan landscape evolution with a complex monitoring network in Nepal.
The chemical weathering of carbonate and silicate rocks in rapidly eroding mountains exerts a strong control on Earth’s carbon cycle. The aim of this project is to constrain the impact of soil and landslide erosion processes on carbonate and silicate weathering.
