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Our results indicate that the soils around Munigua currently have the potential for at least limited agricultural use in larger areas and would certainly allow the production of basic agricultural goods, not only today but most likely also in Roman times. Multi-layered colluvial deposits. as well as an excavated Roman hortic Anthrosol, indicate a long-term agrarian utilization of the area. Based on these results we can conclude that the city's economy was by no means focused solely on mining.

Comparing quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and fine-grain post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIRIR) ages, agreement was largely found, e.g. the bracketing of the L1SS1 pedocomplex to ca. 30–40 ka. Nevertheless some age differences between the Bayreuth (OSL) and the Gliwice (pIRIR) data invite further discussion. Exact dating using various protocols and grain sizes remains challenging, in particular for a periglacial environment with strong heterogeneity of material.

Past studies used two sampling strategies, the "bulk" and "sequential" drilling methods, for stable isotopic analysis of mammoth tooth enamel and paleoenvironmental reconstruction. This study applied both methods to the same enamel ridges of multiple mammoth teeth and compared their respective δ¹⁸O values. Offsets were detected between the bulk and average sequential δ¹⁸O values. The potential reasons for the offsets and their impacts on cross-method data comparison were discussed.

Charcoals and leaf waxes from vegetation accumulate in the soil and provide information about past vegetation because they are mostly resistant against physical and biological degradation. Analyzing and comparing ratios of both element types helped us to improve the evidence for vegetation reconstruction. We found that the accumulation processes and preservation of these elements depend on different environmental conditions at forest- and steppe-dominated sites in the Mongolian forest–steppe.

A loess sequence in SW Germany was investigated using a high-resolution multi-method approach. It dates to 34–27 ka and comprises layers of initial soil formation. Drier conditions and a different atmospheric circulation pattern during the time of deposition are expected as the soil layers are less strongly developed compared to similar horizons further north. Dust accumulation predates the last advance of Alpine glaciers, and no loess deposition is recorded for the time of maximum ice extent.

We used a combination of remote sensing, field investigations, and laboratory analysis to map and characterize abandoned river channels within the French Upper Rhine alluvial plain. Our results show five major paleochannel groups with significant differences in their pattern, morphological characteristics, and sediment filling. The formation of these paleochannel groups is attributed to significant changes in environmental processes in the area during the last ~ 11 700 years.

The late-glacial Bergstraßenneckar is a former course of the Neckar River in the Upper Rhine Graben of southwest Germany at a time when the confluence with the Rhine river was 50 km further to the north. The former river bends are still visible in topographic maps and satellite imagery. Sediment cores and geophysical measurements from the former river channels let us reconstruct the shift from a running river to silting-up meanders and permit us to date this to ca. 11 000 to 10 500 years ago.

We investigated the origin of glacial sediments in the Bern area to determine their route of transport either with the Aare Glacier or the Valais Glacier. These two ice streams are known to have joined in the Bern area during the last major glaciation (ca. 20 000 years ago). However, little is known about the ice streams prior to this last glaciation. Here we collected evidence that during a glaciation about 250 000 years ago the Aare Glacier dominated the area as documented in the deposits.

Glacial trimlines are visible breaks in vegetation or landforms that mark the former extent of glaciers. They are often observed as faint lines running across valley sides and are useful for mapping the three-dimensional shape of former glaciers or for assessing by how much present-day glaciers have thinned and retreated. Here we present the first application of a new trimline classification scheme to a case study location in central western Spitsbergen, Svalbard.

In this contribution we highlight as an example the application of a freely available tool for the Google Earth Engine. The software allows cloud-free satellite images to be processed. We show processing examples for the Nile Delta (Egypt) and how the remote sensing images are used to find hints of buried landforms, such as former river branches of the Nile.

The depositional sequences of all types of coastal sediments which accumulated during the Holocene sea-level rise along the NE German coast and in the inner coastal waters are comprehensively described and classified into four formations and two subformations. Their detailed characterisation and chronostratigraphic correlation are an important addition to the only brief definition given in the LithoLex database of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR).

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.

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 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.

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.

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.