Recent  

The German search for a disposal site for high-level nuclear waste is in its first phase. In the so-called representative preliminary safety assessments the possible future evolutions of potential disposal sites will be developed from our understanding of their past evolution. Erosion processes connected to glaciations can reach especially deep and could threaten a repository, while being very hard to predict. This makes them important to the site selection process.

Geological glacial features such as moraines can be used to construct the environment of former times. While sands may indicate colder phases, soils and peat preserved witness warm phases. Using various dating techniques, the ages of such features can be obtained. This is important in order to get an understanding of the climate of the past, in this study on the extent of the ice marginal position in Schleswig-Holstein.

We investigated the geomorphological and geological characteristics of the archaeological sites Hawelti–Melazo and the surroundings. We performed sedimentological analyses, as well as direct (luminescence) and indirect (radiocarbon) sediment dating, to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental conditions, which we integrated into the wider context of Tigray.

Erosion processes below glacier ice have carved large and deep basins in the landscapes surrounding mountain ranges as well as polar regions. With our comparison, we show that these two groups of basins are very similar in their shapes and sizes. However, open questions still remain especially regarding the sediments that later fill up these basins. We aim to stimulate future research and promote exchange between researchers working around the Alps and the northern central European lowlands.

The loess sequence of Köndringen, Upper Rhine Graben, comprises several glacial–interglacial cycles. It has been investigated using a multi-method approach including the measurement of colour, grain size, organic matter, and carbonate content. The analyses reveal that the sequence comprises several fossil soils and layers of reworked soil material. According to luminescence dating, it reaches back more than 500 000 years.

We present an update on the distribution of tunnel valleys in the southeastern North Sea between Amrum and Heligoland based on active seismic data. Our results demonstrate that very dense grids of seismic profiles are needed to understand the distribution and the formation of tunnel valleys in a given region. We also demonstrate that acquiring offshore active seismic data is time- and cost-effective to learn more about the formation and filling of tunnel valleys in different geological settings.