{"id":22133,"date":"2026-03-17T09:39:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T08:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geowiss.uni-mainz.de\/institut-fuer-geowissenschaften\/hochaufloesende-sedimentologie\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T18:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:58:10","slug":"hochaufloesende-sedimentologie","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.geowiss.uni-mainz.de\/en\/institut-fuer-geowissenschaften\/hochaufloesende-sedimentologie\/","title":{"rendered":"High-resolution Sedimentology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n<\/jgu-base-anchornavigation>\n \n<\/jgu-base-teaserbox><\/jgu-base-heading>\n\n
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The High-resolution Sedimentology work group investigates sedimentary archives to reconstruct past climate and environmental changes at very high temporal resolution. By combining innovative imaging procedures with geochemical methods, we obtain detailed information from laminated marine and terrestrial sediments to better understand rapid climate changes and dynamics within the Earth system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our research links local to global scales and contributes to a process-based understanding of climate variability beyond the instrumental period, enabling a long-term perspective on environmental change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Laboratory for Imaging of Sedimentary Archives (Laboratory for Imaging of Sedimentary Archives<\/em> – LISA) investigates sedimentary and other geological archives at micrometre-scale resolution in order to comprehensively reconstruct past climate and environmental development within the Earth system sciences. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The High-resolution Sedimentology work group focuses on decoding ultra-high-resolution palaeoclimate signals preserved in laminated marine and terrestrial sediments. As instrumental climate records cover only the last ~160 years, the group aims to reconstruct climate variability at sub-annual to interannual cadence from the geological past, thereby gaining crucial insights into rapid climate change and its impacts on the Earth system and society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this end, we have established a laboratory for imaging analyses (Laboratory for Imaging Analyses – LISA) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, equipped with advanced, non-destructive techniques such as micro X-ray fluorescence (\u03bcXRF) and hyperspectral imaging (HI). These methods enable detailed characterisation of sediment composition and structure at micrometre level. In addition, we have access to mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) in Bremen, allowing high-resolution maps of molecular biomarkers to be produced to enable quantitative palaeoclimate reconstructions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our research integrates both marine and terrestrial sediment archives and makes it possible to link local and regional climate signals. A key archive is the Eifel Laminated Sediment Archive (ELSA), a unique collection of maar lake sediment cores that preserves continuous, high-resolution records of environmental change over hundreds of thousands of years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group\u2019s research is structured into three main areas: (1) reconstruction of short-term climate variability and extreme events during the Quaternary, (2) investigation of climate dynamics during warmer-than-present periods of the geological past, and (3) development of integrative imaging and data-analytical approaches that combine elemental and molecular information from the same sediment samples. Through this approach, the group helps deepen understanding of processes within the Earth system and the interactions between climate and environment, and improves predictions of future climate change based on the geological past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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