Research Group Regionalisation
Landscapes are shaped by the interplay of climate and tectonic activity. This research area investigates regional landscape evolution primarily through geo- and thermochronometry, combined with geomorphological and sedimentological methods.
Research
Landscapes are shaped by the combined effects of climate and tectonic activity. This research division investigates regional landscape evolution primarily through geo- and thermochronometry, integrated with geomorphology and sedimentology. To link spatial and temporal insights across scales, LIAG applies a genesis-based regionalization approach that integrates point, line, and area data from geophysical surveys with geological and geochronological information. This enables the development of consistent, spatially and temporally resolved subsurface models. One of our main research foci lies on neotectonics and geohazards, particularly by dating fault movements and subrosion processes. Our research also connects to groundwater studies, particularly by constraining the timing of coastal aquifer development. Thermochronology is applied to assess the potential of georesources by evaluating the long-term stability of geothermal reservoirs and sites for waste disposal.
The division uses following methods:
- Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) and Thermoluminescence (TL) are techniques used to detect trapped electrons in minerals, which accumulate over geological time due to natural irradiation. These trapped electrons can be measured by stimulating the sample with light (OSL) or heat (TL), providing an estimate of the time elapsed since the last exposure to sunlight or heat.
- Electron Spin Resonance (ESR), a magnetic resonance technique similar to Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), also detects unpaired electrons produced by natural irradiation. OSL, TL, and ESR can be applied to commonly occurring minerals such as quartz, feldspar, calcite, and gypsum to estimate the timing of sediment deposition, soil formation, and crystallization. These age estimates can also be used to reconstruct the temperature history of rocks. Additionally, ESR can detect organic radicals in humus, which reflect the degree of organic matter decomposition.
- Gamma spectrometry measures the gamma radiation emitted by samples used in OSL, TL, and ESR dating. This provides information on the natural radioactivity of sediments and rocks—a critical parameter for accurately determining their age.
- Granulometry refers to the analysis of sediment grain size. Changes in grain size within sedimentary sequences serve as important indicators of past climate conditions. Moreover, grain size distributions offer insights into sediment transport and depositional processes.
The working group is closely linked to the Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen.
Selected current projects
Temari: Tectonic and wave controls on the generation and preservation of marine terraces (DFG)
Lion-ii: Loess in India as record of the Indian Monsoon system: Exploring terrestrial responses to climate changes in the Late Quaternary (DFG)
West Mongolia Paleoclimate and landscape evolution in an extreme continental interior – Interplay between fluvial, lacustrine and aeolian systems in the Basin of the Great Lakes, Western Mongolia (DFG)
LandEntMongol: Reconstructing Holocene landscape development in Mongolia influenced by climate and pastoralism, based on geomorphological archives (DFG)
Paleonile: Evolution on the Nile: Faunal Regionalization and Continuity in the Pleistocene of Sudan (ERC Consolidator, Projectpartner MfN Leibniz Institute)
CCEHN: Climate Change and Early Humans in the North (MWK+Volkswagen)
Recent Publications
Amiri, Z., Khormali, F., Kehl, M., Frechen, M. & Zeeden, C. 2025. Pedogenesis and paleoenvironmental reconstruction in northern Iran: The loess-paleosol sequence at Baluchabad. - Catena, 253, 108835.
Hijma, M.P., Bradley, S.L., Cohen, K.M.,…Frechen, M. et al. 2025: Global sea-level rise in the early Holocene revealed from North Sea peats. Nature 639, 652–65. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08769-7
Prince, E.G., Tsukamoto, S., Grützner, C., Bülhoff, M., Ustaszewski, K. (2025): Deciphering Pleistocene Fault Activity in the Eastern Alps: dating fault gouges with Electron Spin Resonance and Optically Stimulated Luminescence. Tectonics (accepted).
Rahimzadeh, N., Wolf, D., Tsukamoto, S., Frechen, M., Lehmkuhl, F. (2025): Luminescence dating of palaeoshoreline deposits from Khyargas Nuur, Western Mongolia: A comparative study of multigrain and single‐grain K‐feldspar dating. - Journal of Quaternary Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3731
Tsukamoto, S. (2025): Optical dating of sediments using feldspar. - Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science (Third edition), 765-781. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-99931-1.00254-3
Wolf, D., Lehmkuhl, F., Schaubert, V., Rahimzadeh, N., Frechen, M., Stauch, G., Bathkshig, O., Wegmann, K. 2025. Drivers of late Quaternary lake level fluctuations of Khyargas Nuur, western Mongolia - glacial meltwater discharge or atmospheric moisture supply? - Quaternary Science Reviews 359, 109373.
Zhang, J., Tsukamoto, S. 2025. R scripts for dose rate calculation in trapped charge dating. Ancient TL 43 (accepted, will be published in June 2025 issue).
Zolitschka, B., Preusser, F., Zhang, J., Bittmann, F. 2025. Middle Pleistocene chronology of the sediment sequence from Rodderberg, Germany, Numerical dating versus wiggle matching: A reply. Journal of Quaternary Science, https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3727
Badino, F., Ruka, R., Pini, R., Frechen, M., Argante, V. et al. 2024. Palaeoenvironmental, stratigraphic and geochronological study of the coastal site of Dalani i Vogël (Vlora, Albania): new evidence for late Neanderthal occupation and prehistoric archaeology. Quaternary Science Reviews 349, 109111.
Bartz, M., King, G.E., Bernard, M., Herman, F., Wen, X., Sueoka, S., Tsukamoto, S., Braun, J., Tagami, T. 2024. The impact of climate on relief in the northern Japanese Alps within the past 1 Myr–The case of the Tateyama mountains. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 644, 118830.
Buchanan, G.R., Tsukamoto, S., Zhang, J., Long, H., 2024. Testing infrared radiofluorescence dating on polymineral fine-grains from the Luochuan loess-palaeosol sequence, Chinese loess plateau. Quaternary Geochronology 79, 101485.
Duller, G.A.T., Adamiec, G., Chruścińska, A., DeWitt, R., Fasoli, M., Tsukamoto, S. 2024. 17th International conference on luminescence and electron spin resonance dating, 25-30 June 2023, Copenhagen, Denmark. Radiation Measurements 180, 107334.
Ghafarpour, A., Khormali, F., Tazikeh, H, Kehl, M., Frechen, M., Zolitschka, B. 2024. Loess origin and late Pleistocene environmental reconstruction for northeastern Iran: Multiproxy evidences from the Chenarli loess-paleosol sequence. Quaternary Science Reviews 328, 108545.
Hao, Q. , Peng, S., Gao, X., Marković, S.B., Li, S.-H., Zhang, J., Li, F., Han, L., Fu, Y., Wu, X., Wang, L., Xu, B., Qiao, Y., Yu, J., Guo, Z., 2024. Unusual weakening trend of the East Asian winter monsoon during MIS 8 revealed by Chinese loess deposits and its implications for ice age dynamics. Global and Planetary Change 234, 104389.
Heydari, M., Ghassemi, M.R., Grützner, C., Tsukamoto, S., Chruścińska, A., Preusser, F. 2024. First luminescence dating of exhumed fault-zone rocks of the North Tehran Fault, Iran. Quaternary Geochronology 83, 11562.
Hou, Y., Long, H., Tsukamoto, S., Lu, Z., Chen, J., Ibarra, D., Tamura, T., Zhang, Q., Sun, W., Zhang, J., Gao, L., Frechen, M. 2024. Sahara’s surface transformation forced an abrupt hydroclimate decline and Neolithic culture transition in northern China. The Innovation 1, 100550.
Jamšek Rupnik, P., Atanackov, J., Horn, B., Mušič, B., Zajc, M., Grützner, C., Ustaszewski, K., Tsukamoto, S., Novak, M., Milanič, B., Markelj, A., Ivančič, K., Novak, A., Jež, J., Žebre, M., Bavec, M., Vrabec, M. 2024. Revealing subtle active tectonic deformation: Integrating lidar, photogrammetry, field mapping, and geophysical surveys to assess the Late Quaternary activity of the Sava Fault (Southern Alps, Slovenia). Remote Sensing, 16(9), 1490. doi.org/10.3390/rs16091490
Makeev, A., Rusakov, A., Lebedeva, M., Karpukhina, N., Konstantinov, E., Frechen, M., Kust, P. 2024. Unveiling the enigma of the Upper Volga River valley based on the soilscape studies. Catena 246, 108431.
Mohammednoor, M., Bibi, F., Eisawi, A., Tsukamoto, S., Bussert, R. 2024. Quaternary alluvial paleosols of the Atbara River, eastern Sudan: description and paleoenvironments. Journal of Quaternary Science 39, 102-118.
Prince, E., Tsukamoto, S., Grützner, C., Vrabec, M., Usaszewski, K. 2024. Not too old to rock: ESR and OSL dating reveal Quaternary activity of the Periadriatic Fault in the Alps. Earth, Planets and Space 73, 85
Rahimzadeh, N., Hein, M., Urban, B., Weiss, M., Tanner, D.C., Khosravichenar, A., Tsukamoto, S., Lauer, T. 2024. Dating the Neanderthal environment: Detailed luminescence chronology of a palaeochannel sediment core at the Palaeolithic site of Lichtenberg in the Lower Saxony, northern Germany. Quaternary Geochronology 83, 101564.
Tsukamoto, S., Guralnik, B., Prince, E.G., Oohashi, K., Otsubo, M. 2024. Recurrent partial resetting of quartz OSL signal by earthquakes: a thermochronological study on fault gouges from the Atotsugawa Fault, Japan, Earth Planets and Space, 76, 117. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-024-02061-0.
Vött, A., Hadler, H., Willershäuser, T., Slabon, A., Slabon, L., Wahlen, H., Fischer, P., Bungenstock, F., Röbke, B. R., Frechen, M., Grube, A., Sirocko, F. 2024. Possible Indication of the Impact of the Storegga Slide Tsunami on the German North Sea Coast around 8150 cal BP. Geosciences, 14(10), 262. doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14100262
Zolitschka, B., Preusser, F., Zhang, J., Hogrefe, I., Froitzheim, N., Böning, P., Schläfli, P., Bittmann, F., Binot, F., Frechen, M., 2024. Stratigraphy and dating of Middle Pleistocene sediments from Rodderberg, Germany. Journal of Quaternary Science 39, 1011-1030.
Zhang, J., Arriga, G., Rossetti, F., Argante, V., Kraemer, D., Sontag-González, M., Cosentino D., Cipollari P., Tsukamoto, S., 2025. Dolomite luminescence thermochronometry reconstructs the low-temperature exhumation history of carbonate rocks (central Apennines, Italy). Communications Earth & Environment 6, 252.
Zhang, J., Klose, J., Scholz, D., Marwan, N., Breitenbach, S.F.M., Katschmann, L., Kraemer, D., Tsukamoto, S., 2024. Isothermal thermoluminescence dating of speleothem growth – A case study from Bleßberg cave 2, Germany. Quaternary Geochronology 85, 101628.
Zhang, J., Zolitschka, B., Hogrefe, I., Tsukamoto, S., Binot, F., Frechen, M., 2024. High-resolution luminescence-dated sediment record for the last two glacial-interglacial cycles from Rodderberg, Germany. Quaternary Geochronology 82, 101535.
Zhang, J., 2024. Effect of alpha irradiation on the saturation characteristics of fine-grain quartz OSL. Radiation Measurements 173, 107096.
All publications
Head of Research Department Geophysical Parameterization
