In the Organic Surface Geochemistry Lab (OSGLab) of the Geomorphology section, the smallest of molecules and isotopes open a door to the past. In the OSGLab we conduct research on regional differences of the causes and effects of past climate change and variations in biochemical cycles. In some projects, we can determine the "traces" of climate change down to a decade, in other projects biogeochemical processes are traced over millions of years.
In the laboratory, changes in the carbon …

In the Physical Laboratory, experiments are performed to study mainly the interactions of sediment and water, but also measure rheological properties of sediment and prepare samples for further analysis in the other labs.
In detail, the Physical Laboratory houses eight annular (ring-shaped) flumes which are currently being used to investigate organic carbon oxidation and silicate weathering in river systems. The flumes are also well suited for fluvial sediment transport and abrasion studies …

In the SedLab we analyze the compositional properties of sediments. Measuring the full range of grain size distributions from a few nanometers to centimeters and determine the shape of each single grain. Disentangling sediments allows scientists to infer the history of the sediments, interpret sedimentary archives and learn about the processes that have generated and transported the sediments.
The SedLab of the geomorphology section is fully equipped lab for measuring routinely large batches …