Jahresbericht 2019 für

CH-QUAT: Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Quartärforschung


Präsident/Präsidentin: PD Dr. Naki Akçar 


Von: Loren Eggenschwiler, loren.eggenschwiler@gmail.com

Zusammenfassung


The Swiss Society for Quaternary Research (CH-QUAT) is an interface for scientists and profes- sionals from different research and applied Nields dealing with the Quaternary period (the last 2.6 Ma of Earth History), in particular the aspects concerning humans, the environment and cli- mate. At our annual meetings and excursions, we offer a platform to promote an exchange of knowledge, ideas and contacts between students, scientists, professionals from both governmen- tal institutions and private companies and the greater public. In winter 2019, the annual meeting took place in the Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of Basel and focused on in- terdisciplinary issues with the theme ?Anthropocene: Human Impact during the Quaternary?. Dublin, Ireland was the host for International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) Congress. Several active members of CH-QUAT were in attendance as well INQUA Honorary Life Fellows nominee and recipient Christian Schlüchter. In the summer of 2019, CH-QUAT took an excursion through ?Karst from Processes to Records? in the Swiss & French Jura an exciting and thrilling exploration of karstic caves and how they form. During the year, we supported students and ear- ly stage researches (ESR) in their research Nields to present their results at different conferences and encouraged them to contribute to the CH-QUAT session at the 16th Swiss Geoscience Meeting in Bern.



Publikationen


1.1 Deák, Judit, Carole, Ampe, & Mikkelsen, Jari Hinsch. (2019). Soils as records of Past and Present. From soil surveys to archaeological sites: research strategies for interpreting soil charac- teristics. (p. 320). Bruges, Belgium: Publisher Raakvlak Archaeology, Monuments and Land- scapes of Bruges and Hinterland, Belgium, www.raakvlak.be. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo. 3417724. Open access.

1.2. Eggenschwiler, Loren. (2019). Quaternary Perspectives. Highlights in Switzerland in 2018. (p. 13). Issue No 26(1). inqua.org/publications/quaternary-perspectives



Tagungen / Kurse


2.1. The annual meeting and general assembly of CH-QUAT took place on Saturday 30.3.2019, atthe University of Basel focusing on Human impact during the Quaternary in the ?Anthropocene?. The program featured a series of invited speakers presenting the interaction of humans with na- ture, the effect of the environment on humans and the archives of this interactions. In addition, students (BSc/MSc/PhD) and young scientists presented their ongoing research in a poster ses- sion.

2.2. At the 17th Swiss Geoscience Meeting 2019 in Fribourg on November 22-23nd, CH-QUAT had an open session with the topic ?Quaternary environments: landscapes, climate, ecosystems, hu- man activity during the past 2.6 million years?. A total of 13 talks were given and 24 posters were presented during this session.



Internationale Aktivitäten


4.1.1 INQUA Congress in Dublin Ireland 25th-31st July 2019 represented by CH-QUAT, President Naki Akçar and Webmaster Stefanie Wirth and nominee and recipient for the INQUA Honorary Life Fellows award, CH-QUAT member Christian Schlüchter.

5.1 The CH-QUAT has a substantial number of members from abroad and is strongly networking on an international level. We maintained contact with partner organisations in neighbouring coun- tries by supporting, participating and co-organising different international events. Activities where board members and members also participated include the ?11th International Geochronology Summer School? in Pontresina, Engadine, Switzerland from 1st ? 5th September 2019 organized by the University of Zürich and the Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt Wald, Schnee und Landschaft (WSL). In addition, the session organized by CH-QUAT at the Swiss Geo- sciences Meeting, which is regularly attended by many international participants, promoted fur- ther international exchange and networking possibilities. CH-QUAT also supported students in Nieldwork, conferences and workshops that endorse international networking. Financial Support was given to the three following special projects.

5.1.1. The ETH Landslide Summer School took place in Trentino and Belluno, Italy from June 30thto July 5th, 2019.

5.1.2. The International Workshop on Archaeological Soil Micromorphology took place in Basel from the 2nd to the 4th of September 2019.

5.1.3. Open Access publication of Soils as Records of Past and Present (Deák et al. 2019).



Nachwuchsförderung


In 2019, eight students were Ninancially supported by CH-QUAT for their Nieldwork and their ac- tive participation at different conferences or workshops. The balanced number of women and men we could support is satisfying. For more detail about their ongoing work, please consult our homepage (https://naturwissenschaften.ch/organisations/ch-quat/support/2019_).

Fieldwork in the Greater Serengeti, Northern Tansania

? Colin Courtney - Mustaphi (Postdoc at the Geoecology, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel) carried out Nield work in northern Tansania. He collected Late- Quaternary swamp and lake sediment cores with a multidisciplinary team. He aims to create a dataset on the vegetation and erosion histories deprived from pollen, charcoal and sedimentological analysis.

Fieldwork in Nago, Torbole, Trentino, Italy

? Giacomo Ruggia (Masterstudent at the Department of Earth Science, ETH Zürich, Switzerland) spent two weeks in the region Nago - Torbole, Trentino, Italy doing Nield- work. He?s work included geomorphological mapping of two landslides, as well as under- standing the various lithologies involved in the landslides. Additionally he was able to

collect different samples to be dated through cosmogenic radionuclides at the laborato- ries at ETH Zürich.

Fieldwork in the Ain Valley, France

? Claudia Burkhalter (Masterstudent, Institute of Geological Sciences, Bern, Switzerland) performed sedimentological analysis in a gravel pit, including grain size distribution, last petrography, last morphometry and last fabric. Additionally she was able to map the most important geomorphological features in the valley. A second trip to the Nield allowed her to collect samples for a depth-proNile dating with terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides.

INQUA Congress in Dublin, Ireland, on July 25th-31st, 2019

? Catharina Dieleman (PhD Thesis at the Institute of Geological Sciences, Bern, Switzer- land) gained new insights relevant to her PhD research through the conference. She was also able to present her current work on the Quaternary sediments in the Swiss Northern Alpine Foreland with the focus on the Deckenschotter deposits, which represent the old- est Quaternary sediments.

Research stay at the Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zürich

? Kristina Hippe (Researcher at the Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften/ Freie Uni- versität Berlin, Germany) was able to apply an extraction system that only a limited number of laboratory?s host worldwide, to analyse in-situ 14C concentrations. The Labo- ratory of Ion Beam Physics at ETH Zürich provided the opportunity to gain a deeper un- derstanding of ice sheet Nluctuations in concert with Late Quaternary climate evolution.

INQUA Congress in Dublin, Ireland, on July 25th-31st, 2019

? Giorgia Camperio (PhD Student at the Department of Earth Science, ETH Zürich, Switzerland & Department of Surface Waters, Research and Management, EAWAG, Swiss federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Duebendorf, Switzerland) presented her doctoral project in a talk titled ?Late Quaternary environmental changes in the South PaciNic: climate, ecosystem dynamics and human colonisation? at the INQUA Congress. She had the unique opportunity to receive precious feedback and gain contact with ex- perts in the subject.

INQUA Congress in Dublin, Ireland on July 25th-31st, 2019

? Ewelina Bros (PhD Student at the Laboratory of Ionic Beam Physics, ETH Zürich, Switzerland) was able to attend the INQUA Congress to present work done on her PhD thesis as a poster titled ?Younger Dryas moraines and relict rock glaciers system in the High Tatra Mountains?. She was able to exchange knowledge with the international scien- tiNic community and attend a mid-congress excursion to the world?s most precious pre- historic landscapes including archaeological sites and monuments.

INQUA Congress in Dublin, Ireland on July 25th-31st, 2019

? Serdar Yesilyurt (Postdoc at the Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland) participated in the INQUA Congress. He was able to present a poster titled ?Timing of Quaternary glaciations in eastern Turkey, inferred from 36Cl cosmogenic dat- ing?. Through multiple scientiNic sessions he was able to enhance his scientiNic network.



Früherkennung


CH-QUAT regularly informs its members about current events such as meetings, excursions, events from other associations or projects relative to national and international Quaternary re- search. It also provides a platform for the electronic exchange of information and coordinates external requests. In addition, the current and future events are continuously uploaded to our homepage on the SCNAT- portal. CH-QUAT also maintains a twitter account (@ChQuat) to ex- change information among the Quaternary community social media.



Dialog mit der Gesellschaft


With our annual excursions, which are also open to a broad public, we try to bring the Quater- nary closer to the people. This year the Nield trip brought us to the Swiss and French Jura where we examined and discovered the process and formation of karstic environments such as caves. A total of 10 participants took part at the excursion organised from 31st of August to 1st of Sep- tember 2019.