Research

Research at the Department of Geodyamics & Geomaterials Research

The research at the department, which is partly financed by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and partly by industrial funding, can essentially be divided into four main areas:

Natural Resources

Work on the characterisation of geogenic raw materials (metals, industrial minerals, hydrocarbons) and on their sustainable use. Research focuses in particular on gold, but also on uranium, copper, zinc, nickel, platinum group elements and rare earths.

Geodynamics

Work on reconstructing tectonic processes in ancient parts of the Earth's crust, providing an improved understanding of those geodynamic processes that have led and are leading to the repeated formation and destruction of large continental masses.

Palaeontology - Stratigraphy

Work on the reconstruction of geological processes and depositional conditions of rocks as well as spatial and temporal sequences. The focus here is on biostratigraphy, the evolution of flora and fauna, and the reconstruction of climatic conditions in the geological past.

Archaeometry

The study of historical artefacts such as ceramics, coins, glasses, decorative stones with regard to their mineralogical and chemical composition and to their origin.

International cooperations

Despite its comparatively small size, the department has a high international profile, which is reflected in numerous collaborations with institutions from all continents. In this context, close cooperation with the non-German universities of Uppsala (Sweden), Montevideo (Uruguay) and Sao Paulo (Brazil) should be emphasised. Noteworthy is the long-standing cooperation with the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Cape Town (UCT, South Africa).

The department is involved in a number of international organisations, such as the International Commission on Stratigraphy of the International Union of Geological Sciences (Frimmel, Geyer) and the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA). Two department members (Frimmel, Koglin) belong to the "Executive Council" of SGA - one of the two leading organisations worldwide in the field of deposit research.

Canadian Continental Exploration Corp., Toronto, Kanada
Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Indien
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Czech Geological Survey, Praha, Tschechien
Department of Civil Engineering, SDM College of Engineering and Technology, Dharwad, Indien
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Südafrika
Department of Geology and Paleontology, University of Montevideo, Uruguay
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Brasilien
Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran
Department of Geology, Univ. Stockholm, Schweden
Department of Earth Sciences (Palaeobiology), Uppsala University, Schweden
Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum, Potsdam
Geological Survey of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia
Geological Survey of Norway, Norwegen
Geologiska Institutionen, Lunds Universitet, Schweden
GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Erlangen
K + S Aktiengesellschaft, Kassel
Karlsruher Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe
Knauf Gips KG, Iphofen
Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie, Universität Basel, Schweiz
Institut für Geowissenschaften, Univ. Frankfurt
Inventus Mining Corp., Sudbury, Kanada
New York State Museum, USA
Novo Resources Corporation, Longmont, Colorado, USA
Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlungen Dresden, Museum für Mineralogie und Geologie, Dresden
Technical University Freiberg
Vardar Minerals, London, UK
Xpotential Consulting, Cape Town, Südafrika