Working Groups

The SEQS (Section on European Quaternary Stratigraphy) is an international working group that merges a variety of scientists targeting various aspects of Quaternary stratigraphy. The main aim of the group is to provide a platform for Quaternary scientists across Europe to connect and collaborate.

The scientific and networking activities of SEQS group are carried out through regular meetings, joint projects, websites, and publications of special issues. The group also aims to cooperate with local institutions such as geoparks, universities and research institutes. The meetings enable networking among Quaternary scientists, providing a foundation for common projects, publications, and international exchanges.

Through its annual meetings, SEQS seeks to cover a wide range of topics, including Quaternary stratigraphy, geochronology, palaeoecology, sedimentary archives, glaciations, speleology, evolution, and many other related subjects. With this diversity the SEQS aims to bring together scientists working in a different topic to provide a comprehensive approach to understanding the Quaternary period.

SEQS WG Officers

• Dr. Markus Fiebig, Austria (President)
• Dr. Guzel Danukalova, Russia (Vice President)
• Dr. Pierluigi Pieruccini, Italy (Vice President)
• Dr. Eva Mencin Gale, Slovenia (Secretary)

WG’s research areas are related to the glacial history of the Peribaltic region during the Quaternary. This European region is located in the immediate reach or influence of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS). A specific feature of this region is the overwhelming influence of processes of glacioisostatic rebound on the ranges of the sea, fluvial facies, lacustrine and others, and perfectly visible in the central part of Fennoscandia in former coastlines of the Baltic and White Seas. Main research areas of the group are: 1) Chronology, dynamics and scope of SIS in the Pleistocene. 2) Reconstruction of climate change and depositional environments based on mineral deposits and organic materials. 3) Reconstruction of the evolution of the palaeogeography of the Peribaltic region. 4) Determination of the interaction between the SIS and its ground and extra glacial area.

Our activities are focused on creating of international projects and cooperation. Their results are presented during annual meetings organized in particular countries. The special attention is paid on improving of young scientists skills during workshops and summer schools.

Peribaltic WG Officers:

• Pertti Sarala, Finland (President)
• Andreas Börner, Germany (Vice president)
• Malgorzata Frydrych, Poland (Vice president)
• Gražyna Kluczynska, Lithuania (Secretary)

The Paleopedology Working Group is an integral part of both INQUA and IUSS (International Union of Soil Science, Commission 1.6 Paleopedology). The motto of the Paleopedology WG is “rerum cognoscere causas” (to know the causes of things).

This Working Group focuses on interpreting both buried and unburied paleosols, as well as paleofeatures in contemporary surface soils, in space and geological time.
Paleosols are recognized as soils that have formed under different environmental conditions (particularly climate and vegetation) compared to those of the present day. Thus, the mission of the Paleopedology Working Group is to promote cooperative, multidisciplinary research among soil and environmental scientists, as well as Quaternary geologists, to enhance our understanding of past environments, including those impacted by human activities, derived from paleosols

The topics covered by paleopedology include understanding soil-forming processes, deep weathering, regolith formation, soil mapping, soil conservation, Quaternary geology, geological mapping, neotectonics, and pedoarchaeology as an integral part of geoarchaeology. The approach involves comparing the properties of dated paleosols and paleosol sequences with those of modern soils, which are linked to known climate and environmental factors, to interpret past climatic and ecological changes and predict soil changes over time.

The INQUA Paleopedology Working Group / IUSS Commission regularly organizes its own academic meetings and field workshops, along with thematic symposia at INQUA and IUSS congresses and other meetings. These events bring together specialists working on soils and environments of the past to better understand contemporary soils and environments and their future developments.

Paleopedology WG Officers:

• Dr. Maria Bronnikova, USA
• Dr. Elizabeth Solleiro Rebolledo, Mexico
• Dr. Lilit Pogosyan, México

The International Focus Group on Loess and Pedostratigraphy originated at the 6th INQUA Congress in Poland in 1961 as the INQUA Sub-Commission of European Loess Stratigraphy, a specialist group operating within the remit of the Stratigraphy Commission. This initiative was due to Julius Fink of the University of Vienna and it was his vision of loess research in Europe which provided the structure and drove forward the activities of the sub-commission in the early days. In fact it was Fink’s vision which carried the Loess Commission through its entire 40 year existence. At the 8th INQUA Congress in Paris in 1969 the Sub-Commission was upgraded to full Commission status, and by then the programe was settled and a considerable amount of activity had occurred.

The Loess and Pedostratigraphy Working Group connects a global scientific community that works collectively to better understand loess deposits and palaeosols worldwide. This unique group brings together researchers from a number of disciplines, including archaeology, geochemistry, geochronology (radiocarbon and luminescence dating), geology, geomorphology, palaeoclimate, pedology, paleoecology, stratigraphy, and tephrochronology. Due to the preservation of loess deposits worldwide, these approaches are applied to multiple timescales, with research into sub-orbital as well as orbital timescales, Holocene to Early Pleistocene. Through these multidisciplinary collaborations, the group aims to provide a better understanding of the Quaternary.

Loess WG Officers:

• Zdzisław Jary, Poland
• Kathryn Fitzsimmons, Germany
• Qingzhen Hao, China
• Brett R. Lenz, USA
• Kaja Fenn