Stratigraphy in Marine Sediments

Exact stratigraphic control/age determination of sediment and rock sequences is a prerequisite for determining the history of oceans and climate. In this course, relatative and aboslute dating methods will be introduced, focusing on methods of litho-, bio-, magneto- and chemostratigraphy of marine sediments. Absolute age control achieved by orbital tuning and radiometric methods will likewise be discussed. State of the art stratigraphic methods will be explained and applied using selected examples of relative and absolute age dating.

Dieser Kurs führt in die Anwendung relativer und absoluter
Anhand von ausgewählten Beispielen werden Übungen zu den unterschiedlichen Methoden durchgeführt und teilweise auch miteinander verknüpft. Als moderne Datierungsmethode wird auch die zeitliche Anbindung von Sedimentprofilen an die astronomische Zeitskala mit Hilfe des Orbital-Tunings vorgestellt. Das beinhaltet auch Übungen zur Sauerstoffisotopenstratigraphie und den Einsatz bestimmter Computerprogramme zur Altersdatierung. Es geht um das Erlernen von Vorgehensprinzipien, nicht um das Vermitteln von z. B. Artenkenntnis.

Successful participants will gain an understanding of a range of different approaches towards developing age models, of uncertainties associated with each method, and on suitability of different methods for different sediment types and research goals. They will be able to choose appropriate methods for a given sediment sequence and interpret the sequence of events in a temporal context.

mid-term written exam

written exam

will be provided during the course

1st SWS: General introduction, lithostratigraphy
2nd SWS: Paleomagnetics
3rd SWS: Biostratigraphy
4th SWS: Event Stratigraphy
5th SWS: Age models and sedimentation rates
6th SWS: Orbital theory
7th SWS: Stable oxygen isotope stratigraphy, Milankovic theory
8th SWS: Orbital tuning
9th SWS: Radiocarbon I
10th SWS: Radiocarbon II
11th SWS: Radiometric dating (210Pb, U/Th)
12th SWS: Thorium normalization
13th SWS: Synthesis
14th SWS: Exam

Notebook-Pool