SSP
Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Palaeontology

Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Palaeontology

When huge masses of salt move underground: lessons from outcrops that go beyond the table salt

November 3, 2020
When huge masses of salt move underground: lessons from outcrops that go beyond the table salt
Aerial view of the El Gordo Anticlinal (foreground) and La Popa Mountain (background). Credit: Ramon Lopez

There is a place in the NE of Mexico where anyone can learn heaps about the dynamics of the ground beneath our feet while enjoying the wonders of the desert. Geologists call the area ‘La Popa Basin’. La Popa means “The Bow”, a name that comes from the shape of one of the mountains in this area, which resembles the front part of a very large boat. This place is a perfect training field for ge ...[Read More]

SEDIMENTARY BASINS OF ALGERIA: THEIR ROLE IN EUROPE’S ENERGY SECURITY AND EMERGING GREEN HYDROGEN FUTURE

December 2, 2025
SEDIMENTARY BASINS OF ALGERIA: THEIR ROLE IN EUROPE’S ENERGY SECURITY AND EMERGING GREEN HYDROGEN FUTURE

Algeria is often described as one of the great energy engines of Africa and the Mediterranean, and with good reason. Its proven oil and gas reserves are impressive, but what truly sets the country apart is the extraordinary complexity of its geological history. Over more than two billion years, tectonics, climate shifts and sedimentation created a series of basins that today host some of North Afr ...[Read More]

The Guinness Book of Sedimentology: your guide to the world’s largest EVER sedimentary landforms

October 25, 2025
The Guinness Book of Sedimentology: your guide to the world’s largest EVER sedimentary landforms
Sand Dune 7 from Namib-Naukluft NP, Namibia

There is something about really BIG things that always grabs people’s attention – look at dinosaurs for example. The geological record is littered with the extreme and today we will explore the biggest, the tallest, the deepest and steepest sedimentary structures and landforms ever to grace our planet. Depositional environments ranging from fluvio-lacustrine and aeolian, coastal environments ...[Read More]

Introducing the TIMES initiative

September 24, 2025
Introducing the TIMES initiative

TIMES is the acronym of a large-scale international science initiative “Time Integrated Matrix for Earth Sciences” (Link: https://www.codd-home.net/times/). The idea is to launch a global program with the aim of synchronizing age models for particularly important geological climate records from the past 100 million years. The motivation for this program is given in a white paper published in the j ...[Read More]

Tracing temperatures in tropical Lake Petén Itzá over the last 24,000 years

August 11, 2025
Tracing temperatures in tropical Lake Petén Itzá over the last 24,000 years

  Past and present global warming: its effect on the tropics According to meteorological data and climate models, global temperatures have increased by up to 1.1 °C since 1960 because of rising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, including an increase in CO₂ concentrations by up to 200 ppm. In some regions, such as the tropics, home to over 40% of the world’s population, warming has re ...[Read More]