651-4056-00L  Limnogeology

SemesterFrühjahrssemester 2014
DozierendeA. Gilli, N. Dubois, M. Strasser
Periodizitätjährlich wiederkehrende Veranstaltung
LehrspracheEnglisch


KurzbeschreibungThis course links lakes, their subsurface and their environment. It will be shown how lake sediments record past environmental changes (e.g. climate, human impact, natural hazards) and how lake sediments can be used to reconstruct these changes. Emphasis is also given on the modern limnologic processes essential in interpreting the fossil record. With 1 or 2-day field course on Lake Lucerne.
Lernziel- Understanding the role of lake sediments as archives of environmental change.
- Being able to plan an own limnogeologic campaign, i.e. finding, recovering, analyzing and interpreting the sedimentary lake archive to solve a particular scientific question.
- Understanding the complexity of a lake system with all its connection to the environment.
- Being able to link subaerial processes with subaquatic processes.
- Understanding the role of lakes as archives and partly amplifier of natural hazards.
- Understanding lakes as an evolving element within a larger environmental system.
InhaltContent of the course:
Introduction - Lakes, the small oceans
History of Limnogeology.
Limnogeologic campaigns
Large open perialpine lakes.
The water column: Aquatic physics (currents, waves, oscillations, etc.).
Sediments caught in the water: sediment traps
Laminations in lake sediments: Clastic vs. biochemical varves.
Hydrologically closed lake systems
Chronostratigraphic dating of lake sediments
Lake sediments as proxies for climate change
Lake sediments as recorder of anthropogenic impact

The class includes a 1- or 2-day field practica on Lake Lucerne.
Introduction to themes of Lake Lucerne field course.
Limnogeological methods on the lake and in the laboratory: various sampling and surveying techniques (water analysis, seismic surveying, sediment coring, laboratory analyses).
Fieldcourse follow-up:
Seismic-core correlation and interpretation
SkriptWill be distributed in each class unit.
LiteraturWill be distributed in each class unit.
Voraussetzungen / BesonderesCredit points and grade will be given based on a written report about the field course.