An ambitious mission is underway for critical geological records to forecast future sea-level rise, with the first team members departing on a 1128 km journey over ice to set up camp on the edge of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Project participants from Germany are the LIAG Institute for Applied Geophysics, the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR, Hanover), the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI, Bremerhaven) and the Kiel University (CAU, Kiel).

Southern Africa is one of the areas of the world most affected by drought. In the SeeKaquA project, an international research team led by the LIAG Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG) aims to detect deep groundwater resources in the Kalahari using state-of-the-art drone-based electromagnetics. The German-African project, in which the University of Namibia, the University of Zambia, the SADC Groundwater Management Institute, the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) and terratec Geophysical Services are also involved, is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with 1.3 million €.

As part of the DESMEX-REAL research project, further scientific investigations are taking place in the Harz Mountains. From September 18 to 23, 2023, the LIAG (Hannover), the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR, Hannover), the University of Münster, the Leibniz Institute for Photonic Technologies (Jena) and the companies Supracon (Jena) and iMAR Navigation (St. Ingbert) will conduct geophysical explorations in the western Harz using the BGR helicopter. Initial 3-D conductivity models depicting the various conductive layers in the subsurface are already available.

Hannover/Tübingen, Germany. The Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG) and the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen jointly appointed Sumiko Tsukamoto to the professorship "Quaternary Geochronology" in August. Using geophysical dating methods, the physicist researches the temporal developments in the Quaternary period - the youngest and at the same time shortest epoch in the history of the Earth, which has lasted for 2.6 million years. Starting in the upcoming winter semester, she will supervise both bachelor's and master's students at the University of Tübingen.

Hannover. Prof. Dr. Martin Sauter übernimmt im Dezember 2022 das Amt als Leiter des Leibniz-Instituts für Angewandte Geophysik. Er ist damit für die strategische Ausrichtung und den strukturellen Aufbau der Forschungseinrichtung verantwortlich. Den Amtsantritt führte der Staatssekretär des Niedersächsischen Ministeriums für Wirtschaft, Verkehr, Bauen und Digitalisierung Frank Doods am 6. Dezember feierlich am GEOZENTRUM Hannover ein.

Hanover/Mexico City. The effects of climate change on tropical regions are still poorly understood. However, they are among the most populated areas in the world. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG) have now created both an age-depth model and a moisture distribution for the last 500,000 years from one of the oldest lakes in Central Mexico, Lake Chalco. The results are clear: Central Mexico experienced recurrent dry periods related to the Earth's natural wobble. They published the results in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.

Hanover, Germany. Groundwater and soil resources of the North Sea region are under pressure from climate change, human use and the resulting landscape changes. The availability of sufficient high-quality water requires immediate systemic strategies. The "Blue Transition" project, led and coordinated by geophysicist Prof. Dr Mike Müller-Petke of the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG), focuses on sustainable water and soil management to strengthen the resilience of the North Sea region. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is funding "Blue Transition" in the Interreg North Sea Programme for three and a half years with over 4.5 million euros.

Significance for earthquake hazard maps

Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG) and the Leibniz University of Hannover (LUH) have developed an approach to detect the connection between disaggregation bands - centimetre-thick zones of deformed sediments - and the neotectonic activity of hidden faults in the subsurface. Even creep activity can be detected. Hidden faults have a high seismic hazard potential. The approach meets the great need for a robust geological indicator and should support its designation in existing hazard maps. The journal Communications Earth & Environment from the Nature portfolio has published the study.

Winterstettenstadt/Southern Germany. The project "Drilling Overdeepened Alpine Valleys (DOVE)", part of the "International Continental Scientific Drilling Program" (ICDP), aims to reconstruct the spatial and temporal climate development during the ice ages up to 2.6 million years ago and show their influence on the landscape development in the entire Alpine region. To this end, the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG), in cooperation with the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg and the State Office for Geology, Raw Materials and Mining in the Freiburg Regional Council (LGRB), carried out three research boreholes in the German Alpine foothills near Winterstettenstadt, southern Germany. With the completion, the first findings are…

Leibniz institutions and LIAG launch novel research initiative

Scientists from a wide range of disciplines from Leibniz Association institutions are launching an initiative for "Integrated Earth System Research". Together with partners from Germany, Europe and other countries, they will investigate the current epoch of the Earth’s history, which is strongly influenced by humans, in a coordinated and interdisciplinary way as never before. The findings will point out both high-risk and safe development paths for politics, business and civil society.