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.

In our laboratory, the stable isotopes of the light elements carbon (C), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H) in continental geoarchives such as lake sediments and speleothems as well as in precipitation and surface water are measured. Stable isotopes are non-radioactive nuclides of an element with the same number of protons and different numbers of neutrons and thus different atomic masses. This results in different physical properties that can lead to a shift in the isotope ratios in a …

The laboratory for XRF Element Scanning provides qualitative and non-destructive analyses of sediment compositions based on X-Ray Fluorescence. These analyses provide detailed element records and maps that can be used to characterize past depositional, environmental and climatic conditions.
In detail, the lab is equipped with an X-Ray fluorescence core scanner to analyze split core sections up to 180 cm length and diameters between 6 and 12 cm. Further, two micro X-Ray fluorescence scanner …

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 …