The Dendrochronology Laboratory aims to reconstruct the temporal and spatial variability of the climate of the past utilizing multi-parameter tree ring analysis and to assess and verify the causes of climate change and its impact on woody plants. The lab is equipped with various technical field equipment, sample preparation tools, a LINTAB tree-ring measurement system and a calibrated optical scanner incl. analsysis software for dendrochronology, instruments to determine the wood chemistry …

The laboratory for microscopy focuses on the specific requirements of microfacies analysis of lake sediments, but also offers a wide range of possibilities for other applications. Sedimentological, petrographic and microfacies analyses on all kinds of covered and uncovered thin sections and polished sections with transmitted and incident light are performed.

Tephra, the Greek word for ash, is used to describe any material that is ejected by a volcano into the atmosphere (pyroclasts). Tephra includes dense blocks and bombs (> 64 mm), and lighter materials such as scoria, pumice and ash (< 2 mm). As one moves away from a volcano, the tephra deposits become finer grained (smaller particles) and thinner. This is because small airborne particles hover longer and stay within the atmosphere for a greater distance from the volcano. These particles of ash …