TERPRO International Focus Groups & Projects

INQUA IFG 1616F G@GPS (Groundwater and Global Palaeoclimate Signals)

The G@GPS (Groundwater@Global Palaeoclimate Signals) initiative is an inclusive group of scientists coordinating palaeogroundwater research. The aim is to interpret links between palaeoclimate archives and paleogroundwater observations at continental and intercontinental scales. Understanding the responses of groundwater to past, present and future climates is vital to manage limited groundwater resources. The palaeoclimatic signals potentially obtained from groundwater are of low temporal resolution; however, they can offer an integrated signal from vast geographical areas. This information is key to understand long term evolution of major aquifer systems.

INQUA IFG 1618F EGSHaz (Earthquake Geology and Seismic Hazards)

The main scope of the EGSHaz IFG is the understanding of past earthquakes and future seismic risks using Quaternary geology. This includes multiple disciplines that contribute to understanding Quaternary earthquake activity, such as palaeoseismology, active tectonics and neotectonic studies, tectonic geomorphology, archaeoseismology, and seismology. IFG EGSHaz promotes interdisciplinary approaches and multi-proxy studies to comprehensively understand the effects that seismic events have on society and on the environment and to improve seismic hazard assessment. This is done in part by co-operation with other IFGs, especially those that work on Quaternary dating methods, Quaternary stratigraphy and soil science, and liaisons with a broader spectrum of Quaternary researchers. The activity of the IFG is focused on the study of coseismic environmental effects and their integral expression in the Quaternary record. Recent progresses in the field of paleoseismology have clearly shown that earthquake effects on natural environment are more strictly related to the earthquake magnitude than effects on humans and manmade structures.

Leaders:  Ioannis Papanikolaou (Greece); Petra Štěpančíková (Czech Republic); Christoph Grützner (Germany)

Contact: Dr  I. Papanikolaou  (i.pap@aua.gr)   

Website link:  http://www.earthquakegeology.com

INQUA IFG 1622R HEX (Palaeohydrology and Fluvial Archives - Extreme and Critical Events)

The mission of the HEX Group is to bring together scientists working on a diversity of research themes which are related to different aspects of the hydrological cycle, including rivers, lakes, and groundwater systems. All temporal and spatial scales are considered, but a special emphasis is given to late Quaternary at terrestrial sites, with the aim of analysing both rapid changes (decades to centuries) and long-term (centuries to millennia) changes. A major research theme will be based on sedimentary records and related analysing techniques (e.g., isotopic composition, mineralogical analysis and geochronology), and links with other analytical records will be encouraged (e.g., documentary archives, archaeological, dendrochronological and botanic evidence). This very large area will develop successfully from the extensive  research achieved by GLOCOPH 1991-2015, by focusing initially on the effects of past climate and environmental changes on both the hydrological cycle and on river catchment dynamics.

Leaders: Jürgen Herget (Germany) and Alessandro Fontana (Italy)

Contact: Dr J. Herget ( herget@giub.uni-bonn.de) 

Website link:   http://tolu.giub.uni-bonn.de/herget/terpro-hydrochange/ 

INQUA IFG 1621F QUASAP (Kinds and Rates of soil-forming processes reflected in Quaternary soils and paleosols and their use as palaeoenvironmental archives)

The use of palaeosols as a record of periods of stable land surfaces and environmental shifts requires a profound knowledge of directions and rates of soil forming processes in different climates. QUASAP IFG is making such knowledge available for future palaeo-environmental reconstructions. The group aims at assessing rates of soil forming processes in different climates, obtained from soils and palaeosols in settings where climatic conditions and duration of soil development are known. During continued annual meetings including field workshops, both, achievements and knowledge gaps are identified, and a present state of the art is defined with respect to (a) knowledge on rates of soil forming processes, (b) application of this knowledge to Quaternary sediment-palaeosol successions. Also, data from existing soil chronosequence studies will be compiled in a database. 

Leaders: Daniela Sauer (Germany); Sergey Sedov (Mexico); Denis Dahms (USA); Markus Egli (Switzerland); Fabio Scarciglia (Italy); Pauline Da Costa (Togo); Mike Akaegbobi (Nigeria)
Website link:    https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/inqua+focus+group+quasap/578655.html 

Contact: Dr D. Sauer ( daniela.sauer@geo.uni-goettingen.de) 

INQUA IFG 1617F GEODUST (GEOmorphology of DUST sources and dynamics of dust emission from different geomorphic units)

The GEODUST IFG is a network of scientists devoted to studying dust sources dynamics, based on a large dataset of specific dust storms, characterizing the surficial changes in sediment availability, vegetation, and soil-water content of the sources. This knowledge is crucial for accurate modeling of dust emission in dust cycle models. The aim of the IFG is to address missing knowledge gaps regarding dust source geomorphology and dust emission dynamics, using innovative remotely sensed techniques and ground measurements. The IFG focuses on 5 different geomorphic units (e.g., dune field, playa, active washes, floodplains, loess) from 5 different semi-arid to arid regions in the world (SW US, Negev, South America, South Africa/Namibia, Australia, Sahara).