Das Projekt "Loess in Armenia" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität Dresden, Institut für Geographie, Professur für Physische Geographie durchgeführt. This project aims to characterize, map, analyze and date recently discovered loess-palaeosol sequences from NE Armenia. These sequences have proved to be especially rewarding because of their thickness (up to 45 m) and the presence of diagnostic tephra layers. The project seeks to derive a standard profile for NE Armenia and thus for the Lesser Caucasus. We will use luminescence technologies to date the loess sections, environmental magnetism to understand soil development, mineralogy to constrain provenance and weathering-potential, and terrestrial Mollusca and biomarkers to evaluate different vegetation formations.
Das Projekt "Pleistozäne und holozäne Landschaftsgeschichte im Kleinen Süden Chiles" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Regensburg, Lehrstuhl für Physische Geographie durchgeführt. Das südchilenische Seengebiet zählt zu den interdisziplinär mit am besten untersuchten Glaziallandschaften der Südhemisphäre.Aus der Rekonstruktion der Gletscherschwankungen dieses Raumes werden weitreichende paläoklimatische Schlüsse gezogen: sie betreffen die Synchronität der Gletscherbewegung auf der Nord- und Südhalbkugel. Allerdings werden diese Interpretationen, die sich meist auf absolutdatierte Chronostratigraphien stützen können, in jüngster Zeit heftig diskutiert. Zur Klärung des Verhaltens der Gletscher im südchilenischen Seengebiet wird der bodenkundlich-geomorphologische Ansatz bislang kaum genutzt. Aktuelle Untersuchungen belegen (1), daß der Aufbau der Moränen teilweise komplizierter ist als bis dato angenommen wurde und (2), daß dieser methodische Ansatz geeignet ist, die postulierte Glazialchronologie kritisch zu überprüfen. Ergänzt durch im Untersuchungsgebiet ebenfalls noch wenig angewandte Methoden, sollen morphologisch-pedologische Profile helfen, den Aufbau der letzteiszeitlichen Moränen genauer zu differenzieren. Damit kann die Basis für Überlegungen, wie den interhemisphären Vergleich von Gletscherschwankungen, substantiell erweitert werden.
Das Projekt "Reconstruction of fire frequency and landscape history in the Etna region using a combined methodological approach: evidences from charcoals, soils and dendrochronology" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. The dry summers in Mediterranean areas already facilitate the occurrence of bush and forest fires, which exert a significant effect on landscape evolution and especially on soils. There is a poor understanding of how soil quality (including the mineral and organic part) relates to these climate and vegetation factors. This knowledge gap compromises our ability to predict the response of SOC storage and the mineral part of soils to global change. Results from an existing soil climosequence at the slopes of the Etna show that organic matter accumulation is highest at the lowest altitudes where there is a more intense fire activity. It is so far unknown which effect has had the fire frequency on the different fractions and nature of soil organic matter in these soils. The proposed project will focus on the investigation of labile and stable organic matter fractions in the soils. On the one hand, the fractions will be quantified and characterised. On the other hand, these fractions will be dated using the radiocarbon technique (14C). In addition, soil charcoal will be collected and quantified. Fire frequency and landscape evolution will also be evaluated through dendrochonological investigations of living and dead trees on the north slopes of the Etna volcano.
Das Projekt "INQUA Project 1216 - RAISIN: Rates of soil forming processes obtained from soils and paleosols in well-defined settings" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. The project RAISIN represents a core project of the Focus Area Group PASTSOILS. One of the major goals of the Focus Area Group will be achieved through RAISIN: Rates of soil forming processes in different climates, obtained from soils and paleosols in settings where climatic conditions and duration of soil development are known, will be assessed and documented. Thus, the project will provide a solid base for future interpretation of paleosols in the frame of palaeo-environmental reconstructions. Numerous data on soil development with time, many of them based on soil chronosequence studies in various regions, have been published in the past decades. The main aim of the project is hence to bring together scientists working on rates of soil-forming processes in different regions of the world to share and discuss their results, review and compare published data and finally produce a document representing the current state of knowledge on soil formation rates in different climates. The outcome of the project will be published in a special issue of Quaternary International to make it available to the scientific public. Thus, a common standard for interpreting paleosols in soil-sediment successions in terms of duration and environmental conditions of soil development will be created. Moreover, gaps in our current knowledge will be identified in the process of reviewing existing data in the frame of the project. This will stimulate future research and possibly lead to collaborative projects aiming on closing the identified gaps step by step.