The research of the Department of Geology focuses on the reconstruction of the paleoclimate and the paleoenvironmental conditions of the last 100 million years. Using sedimentological, geochemical and paleontological methods, we study drill cores, rock samples and fossils from key areas of the earth. These include Antarctica, Central Europe and the Mediterranean region, East Africa and North and Central America. In this way, we gain insights into the extent, speed and framework conditions of previous environmental and climate changes.
Research Foci
- Carbonate sedimentology and paleoclimatology of the Cenozoic: Shallow marine carbonates and coral reefs, coral sclerochronology
- Terrestrial palaeoclimate, isotopic analysis on pedogenic carbonates (δ13C, δ18O, Δ47- Δ48) and isotope-based palaeoaltimetry (δ18O, δ2H, Δ'17O)
- Micropaleontology, especially ostracodes
- Dynamics of humid and dry periods of the last 200,000 years in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula
- Cenozoic glacial history of Antarctica
- Methods: Thin-section petrography (microfacies, diagenesis), isotope geochemistry (oxygen and stable carbon isotopes), geochemistry (main and trace elements), X-ray densitometry
