Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Palaeontology

Mining the Carboniferous in the Ruhr area (Germany)

Alena Ebinghaus December 11, 2018

Deltaic clastic-rich deposits of the Namurian B, which are found to be rich in large Carboniferous flying insects, such as Homoioptera vorhallensis (maximum length of 70 cm) (location: Hagen, Germany).

During the upper Carboniferous period (Namurian, Westfalian and Stephanian) large areas of central western Germany were covered by coastal swamp forests dominated by Lepidodendron und Sigillaria. Periodic marine and fluvial transgressions caused the swamps being regularly buried by siliciclastic material, resulting in up to 5500 m thick successions of alternating organic-rich and clastic-rich sed ...[Read More]

Brachiopods in a changing planet: from the past to the future

Cinzia Bottini November 1, 2018

Between the 10thand 14th of September 2018, the 8thInternational Brachiopod Congress took place in the prestigious venue of the University of Milan, after the previous editions held in Melbourne (Australia) in 2010 and in Nanjing (China) in 2015. It was the first time, since its foundation over 35 years ago, that this important conference was hosted in Italy. The Congress was attended by 150 parti ...[Read More]

Glacial grooves from the Laurentide Ice Sheet (Québec, Canada)

Guilhem Douillet October 3, 2018

These impressive glacial grooves observed along the North Shore of the St. Lawrence Estuary (Québec, Canada) were carved into the crystalline bedrock by the Laurentide Ice Sheet. The grooves mark the basement of a complex sedimentary system known as the Tadoussac Delta, lying at the mouth of the Saguenay Fjord and intimately tied to the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene deglaciation of the area. The ...[Read More]

The microworld of the past

Alena Ebinghaus September 1, 2018

In my last blog, I described the diverse world of pollen and how palynology – the study pollen, is used in geosciences. Today, I turn to another microcosmos: that of finest layers deposited at the bottom of a lake. A large majority of geoscientists would tell you the best part of their job is field work. Despite sometimes harsh weather conditions, long hikes in wind, rain or merciless sun, many ge ...[Read More]