This study presents a quantitative reconstruction over a 235-year time frame of the development of the natural Donaumoos fen and Danube River into an anthroposphere. The selected proxies are the Donaumoos drainage ditch length and the Danube surface water area traced through the multi-temporal analysis of old maps. A comparison of quantitative proxies with the state of research from written sources leads to the discovery of potential great transitions in floodplain and peatland transformation.

Human intervention in the natural drainage system of the Hessische Ried (Germany) resulted in the transformation of a large wetland into a cultural landscape. In this study, we reconstruct the river network that was used by Romans for transportation and security. We found that the Romans collected water from several smaller rivers to establish the river Landgraben as a navigable waterway. Unexpectedly, larger rivers did not contribute any water to the Landgraben system during Roman times.

We present ¹⁰Be-based erosion rates for the Harz Mountains. Erosion is slope-dependent, and the Harz topography evolves at rates of a few tens of meters per million years. The 300 m difference in elevation between a planation surface in the Harz and its lower surroundings results from rock uplift, erosion of sediments in adjacent areas, and migration and dissolution of Permian salt. Active reverse faulting along the northern Harz is inconsistent with geological, geophysical, and geodetic data.

Previous reconstructions conclude that the southern Black Forest, south-west Germany, temporarily hosted four ice caps during the Late Pleistocene (129 000–11 700 years before present). This work reviews existing studies on glacial landforms north-east of its highest summit, Feldberg (1493 m above sea level), in the light of new observations. Whilst this study largely confirms previous work, we reject and newly describe several glacial landforms.

The subdivision and distinction of gravel units is an important tool in terrestrial Quaternary stratigraphy but can be challenging. Here, we investigate the glaciofluvial infill of the Upper Rhine Graben as an archive of recurring Alpine glaciations. With the help of statistical approaches, we identify differences in petrographic compositions, thereby differentiating two units that are likely representative of the last and penultimate glaciation, which have previously been difficult to pinpoint.

The Mühlbach series has been given as evidence for a Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene Aare–Rhine fluvial system in northern Switzerland and southwest Germany. We show that these deposits represent a variety of different units. At the type location, luminescence dating indicates an age of 55 ka, and we interpret the deposits as slope reworking. Beside methodological implications, our studies recommend caution regarding the interpretation of stratigraphic units for which limited data are available.

This article presents an investigation of three sequences of marine and associated deposits in the south-west Baltic area. Pollen, foraminiferal and ostracod analyses indicate sea-level change. Chronology is based on the Bispingen lake deposits in Germany. Freshwater lakes occurred first in the basin followed by marine inundation. Linking the German sequences to those in the Baltic shows that the Eemian transgression passed through Germany and the Kattegat by connections to the North Sea.

An important multicultural Neolithic site was discovered in a lignite mine area near Leipzig in the vicinity of a former pond with organic-rich sediments. Various geoarchaeological investigations were carried out. It was possible to reconstruct the vegetation and land use history of a central German Altsiedellandschaft using a near-site pollen profile for the first time. The widespread pine forests had already diversified to mixed-oak forests due to anthropogenic use in the Atlantic period. 

Accurateness of dates and rates of landscape evolution depends on the precision of the geochronological data. This study offers a robust methodology of outlier identification for modelling the cosmogenic nuclide isochron burial age of fluvial sediments. The method is tested on a fluvial terrace of the Danube River in the Vienna Basin and provides novel information for the quantification of the uplift rate of the area. The presented methodology is applicable in other fluvial settings as well.

This dissertation evaluates long-term wildfire dynamics in eastern Siberia. A total of 11 new records of Holocene wildfire activity, based on charcoal particles in lake sediments, show past trends of biomass burning in a region that was previously strongly under-represented. A newly fire-enabled forest model is used alongside the charcoal-based reconstructions to further refine interpretations of climate, vegetation, and humans as potential drivers behind past fire regime changes.

This study combines different geophysical and geomorphological methods to estimate how and to what extent human–environment interactions have shaped the coastal region of the Trendermarsch since the High Middle Ages. Our results reveal a drowned, formerly cultivated marshland with different phases of settlement from medieval times onwards and thus presumably illustrate storm-flood-induced reactions in cultivation patterns.

Drillings, outcrops, and seismic data provide insights into a glacial basin and a former river channel in northern Switzerland. Both are infilled with diverse (glacial, lacustrine, fluvial, colluvial) sediments attributed to three separate glaciations. The depth of the glacial basin depends strongly on the underlying rock type, which together with (hydro)fractures provides evidence on the conditions and erosion processes at the ice–rock interface.

This paper presents the current state of research on mining history in the Selke River catchment as part of the eastern Harz vein district. We used different archives to compile and localise information about former mines/mining fields and smelting sites. The extraction and operation periods of these sites provide further information on possible signals in the overbank deposits due to mining activity, providing a basis for further analysis and interpretation of alluvial deposits.

This article is the preface of the special issue "Quaternary research in times of change – inspired by INQUA Roma 2023". It is a result of the XXI INQUA Congress held in Rome in July 2023. It briefly presents the nine contributions published in this volume.