Institute of Geological Sciences

Research

Chronology of Quaternary terraces in the north Alpine foreland basin revised

We use multiple techniques offered by in-situ terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides (isochron-burial and depth-profile dating techniques) to unravel the Quaternary evolution of the Swiss Plateau and related gravel deposits within a detailed temporal framework (PI: N. Akçar)

The uplift history of the Andes in northern Chile revised

The Andes near Arica, northern Chile, are characterized by a low seismicity and the absence of any evidence for uplift despite ongoing subduction of the Nazca plate. We use in-situ cosmogenic noble gas technologies to unravel the palaeoelevation history of the region (PI: F. Schlunegger, R. Delunel)

Climate controls the landscape in the Western Peruvian Andes

We explore relationships between precipitation rates, 10Be-based catchment averaged denudation rates and the landscape’s morphometry in the Andes of Western Peru (PI: F. Schlunegger)

Human imprint on erosional fluxes in the Rhone Valley, Central Alps

The Rhone valley has been strongly affected by humans through gravel mining, flow abstraction and the construction of hydro-power dams. We currently explore within a team of geomorphologists, geologists, and hydrologists how this perturbation imprints on the production of the sediments in the Alpine landscape, the transfer of material to the Rhone valley, and the deposition of clastic material within lake Geneva (PI: F.Schlunegger, J.-L. Loizeau, S. Girardclos, S. Lane, P. Molnar)

Determination of the frequency of large earthquakes in Turkey

The Anatolian Plateau is presumably one of the most seismically active areas in the Mediterranean. We measure the exposure history of seismic faults using various dating techniques offered by in-situ terrestrial nuclides to reconstruct the history of slip along these faults (PI: N. Akçar)

Rebound of the Scandinavian shield in response to glacial unloading

Scandinavia has been largely covered by thick ice during the Last Glacial Maximum c. 20’000 years ago. The melting of the ice represented a major phase of unloading, recorded by marine terraces at various elevation. We date these archives using in-situ 10Be (PI: N. Akçar)

Glacial processes shape cirques

How are glacial cirques being formed? We currently address this problem for the case of the Eiger glacier, Jungfrau region, where we monitor the base of an active cirque glacier with emulsion particle detectors that are installed in the tunnel of the Jungfrau railway (PI: F. Schlunegger, A. Ereditato)

In-situ cosmogenic noble gases for unravelling the evolution of Earth’s surface over millions of years

Cosmogenic ³He and ²¹Ne allow the quantification of how Earth’s surface has evolved over millions of years. We currently set up a noble gas line to contribute to this research field (PI: R. Delunel)

Lithospheric processes beneath the Alps driving the evolution of the Molasse Basin

We currently revise our picture on the evolution of the North Alpine foreland basin and detect fascinating links between the lithospheric processes in deep Earth and the dispersion of sediment on the surface (PI: F. Schlunegger)