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, the Mediterranean, East Africa and the Central American region. 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
- Paleontology and bio-facies
- Micropaleontology, especially ostracodes
- Methods: Thin-section petrography (microfacies, diagenesis), isotope geochemistry (oxygen and stable carbon isotopes), geochemistry (main and trace elements), X-ray densitometry
- Dynamics of humid and dry periods of the last 200,000 years in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula
- Cenozoic glacial history of Antarctica
