Themen für Abschlussarbeiten

Wir freuen uns über motivierte Bachelor- und MasterabschluskandidatInnen, die gerne in unserer Arbeitsgruppe ihre Abschlussarbeit verfassen möchten. Eine Auswahl möglicher Themen für Bachelor- und Masterarbeiten finden Sie auf dieser Seite. Sollte ein Thema Sie besonders interessieren, dann kontaktieren Sie bitte die/den angegebene(n) MitarbeiterIn.

 

BA/MA thesis in english?

We warmly encourage motivated Bachelor's and Master's degree candidates who would like to write their thesis in our working group. You will find a selection of possible topics for Bachelor's and Master's theses on this page. If you are particularly interested in a topic, please contact the staff member listed.

 

Bachelorarbeiten

Methodische Untersuchung verschiedener Probenaufbereitungsverfahren für die Messung der Korngrößenzusammensetzung mittels Laserbeugerverfahren | Kontakt: Dr. Stephan Opitz

 

Vergleichende Auswertung von unterschiedlichen Probenaufbereitungsverfahren zur Messung mittels Röntgenfluoreszenzuntersuchung (XRF) | Kontakt: Dr. Stephan Opitz

 

Bodengeochemische Untersuchung von Schwermetallgehalten an Profilproben des Brück-Merheimer Bruchs unter Berücksichtigung der Standortspezifikationen | Kontakt: Dr. Stephan Opitz

 

Themen zur Bodenerosion im Rheinland | Kontakt: PD Dr. Dominik Brill

• Rekonstruktion von historischer Bodenerosion durch Erstellung hochauflösender Chronologien für kolluviale Sequenzen im Pleiser Lösshügelland mittels eines portablen OSL Messgerätes. Dies beinhaltet die Erbohrung der Kolluvien im Gelände, die hochauflösende Messung des Kerns mittels eines portablen OSL Messgeräts, und die statistische Analyse der Messdaten zur Erstellung eines hochauflösenden Alters-Modells für Bodenerosion am Standort.
• Untersuchung von durch besonders starke Abflussereignisse generierten Erosionsrinnen (Gullies) mittels stratigraphischer, sedimentologischer und/oder chronologischer Verfahren. Dies beinhaltet die Anlage eines Grabungsprofils im Gelände, hochauflösende Beprobung und Analyse mittels sediemtologischer Methoden und/oder vereinfachter Lumineszenzdatierungsverfahren und Erstellung hochauflösender Karten der Daten in einem GIS.
• Stratigraphische Charakteriserung und Differenzierung von kolluvialen Sequenzen im Pleiser Lösshügelland mittels sediemntologischer und geochemischer Methoden.
• Erstellung von Bodenerosionskarten für Lössgebebiete im Rheinland basierend auf innovativen, OSL-basierten Proxies an gekappten Bodenprofilen. Dies beinhaltet die Aufnahme von Bodenprofilen und die Entnahme von Oberflächenproben im Gelände, die Messung der Proben mittels eines portablen OSL Messgerätes und die Erstellung einer Karte durch INterpolation der Messwerte in einem GIS.
• Literaturarbeiten zur Landnutzungs- und Klimageschichte des Pleiser Lösshügellandes bzw. zu Bodenerosion im Rheinland.
• Erstellung einer Datenbank zu historischer Bodenerosion im Rheinland basierend auf publizierten Befunden.

 

Micro-XRF Messungen an mikromorphologischen Proben aus einer archäologischen Tell-Stratigraphie in Toboliu, Rumänien | Kontakt: Dr. Stephan Opitz, Mirijam Zickel

• Einblicke in die mikromorphologische Methodik und bronzezeitliche Archäologie
• Messung von chemischen Elementen mit dem Micro-XRF auf mikromorphologischen Dünnschliffen
• Erstellung von stratigraphischen Diagrammen (Element Plots) auf der Grundlage der Messwerte, um die stratigraphischen Einheiten des Profils zu charakterisieren

 

High-resolution chronologies of Tillandsia dune systems in the Atacama Desert  | Kontakt: Dr. Marijn van der Meij

• Tillandsia dunes are dune systems that develop along the entire coast of the Atacama Desert in Chile. These dunes contain layer of sand and buried plant remains and form geo-archives of periods of vegetation growth and sand accumulation over their period of development. The ages of these layer can be determined with Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating.
• You will work with a sediment core taken from one of these dunes. You will measure the ages of the different sedimentary layers using a portable OSL measurement device and normal OSL dating to establish a high-resolution chronology of the dune development. With this chronology, you will establish sand accumulation rates and correlate these with local and regional climate patterns to better understand the driving forces of dune formation in the Atacama Desert
• In this thesis, you will learn to work with different OSL techniques, statistical analysis of geochronological data and time series analysis in RStudio. Experience with these methods is useful, but not required.

 

Spread and characteristics of drift sands in Germany | Kontakt: Dr. Marijn van der Meij

• Drift sands form complex landscapes with a lot of topographical variation in landforms and high biodiversity. Most drift sands originate from overexploitation of the land in Medieval times and many of them have been stabilized in recent times.
• In this thesis you will make an overview of the available data on drift sand areas in Germany using GIS analysis, literature study and open access GIS data from different German geoportals. With this overview, you will look for relations between location, morphology and age of the drift sand areas.
• In this thesis, you will learn to work with ArcGIS Pro for the spatial analysis of GIS data and the morphological analysis of elevation data (geomorphometry). Experience with ArcGIS Pro is useful, but not necessary.

 

Masterarbeiten

Reconstructing lake dynamics and beach ridge formation in the pre-Columbian landscape of the Bolivian Amazon OR Assessing the geochronological, paleoenvironmental and archaeological significance of beach ridge formation at Laguna Peroto, Bolivian Amazon | Kontakt: Dr. Simon Matthias May

Supervision: Dr. Simon Matthias May (Cologne), Dr. Jan-Hendrik May (Melbourne), PD Dr. Dominik Brill (Cologne)

The thesis will investigate beach ridge sediments of shallow (“rectangular”) lakes in the Llanos de Moxos (Bolivian Amazon), one of the worlds largest inundation savannahs. The lakes are situated amidst an anthropogenically modified pre-Columbian landscape hosting a variety of water management-related earthworks (raised fields, canals, mounds), but a number of open questions remain regarding their formation: how does the evolution of these lakes relate to the waxing and waning of the Casarabe / Moxos culture in the region? How do the lakes integrate into the network of pre-Hispanic earthworks (anthropogenic landforms)? How/when did people make use of these lakes (e.g. as water sources)? Can we interpret larger-scale climatic/environmental shifts from the lakes, what do the sedimentary archives stored in shorelines and lake sediments tell us about past changes in sedimentary environments and their drivers? Which sedimentary processes operate where, what controls their spatial and temporal variability (i.e. which depositional environments make up these lakes), and how can we interpret the stratigraphical architecture of the lake margins? What are the properties and characteristics of these lakes & which processes shape the lake‘s morphology? And finally, how, when and why did the lakes (and basins) form? The Master thesis may contribute to (some of) these questions and may include the following:

1) Description and sampling of one or two sediment cores
2) Grain size distribution and geochemical analysis
3) End-member modelling of grain-size data (optional)
4) Interpretation of the stratigraphy (landscape evolution)
5) Sediment dating using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) (optional)

 

Modelling drift sand dynamics and dune formation  | Kontakt: Dr. Marijn van der Meij

• Drift sands form complex landscapes with a lot of topographical variation and high biodiversity. The geomorphological processes that shape these drift sand landscapes are highly variable in space and time and are controlled by natural and anthropogenic drivers.
• In this thesis, you will study the development of a drift sand landscape in the Netherlands under influence of natural and anthropogenic drivers using a process-based model. You will build on an existing model for coastal dune development and expand it with processes that are relevant for inland dune systems.
• In this thesis, you will learn to work to develop and work with a process-based model. Model development and data analysis will be performed in RStudio or another modelling language of choice. Experience with coding in RStudio or a similar language is required.

 

Effects of spatial variations in dose rate on age estimates in OSL dating | Kontakt: Dr. Marijn van der Meij

• With Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating, the age of a soil layer is determined by dividing the luminescence signal in soil particles (palaeodose) by the annual incoming environmental radiation (dose rate). This approach that the measured soil particles have always been located at the same position in the soil profile, receiving the same dose rate every year. Processes that mix the soil, such as bioturbation, move particles up and down the profile, transporting them in between layers with different dose rates. This affects the amount of incoming radiation that the particles receive, which can lead to errors in the determination of the age of the particle.
• In this thesis, you will work with a numerical model that simulates soil mixing processes. You will simulate different mixing processes in soils with large differences in dose rates to test to which extent spatial variations in dose rate and soil mixing have an effect on the age estimates of soil particles in OSL dating.
• In this thesis, you will learn to work with numerical models to simulate soil processes. You don’t need experience to work with numerical models, but experience with data analysis in RStudio or other software will be useful.

 

Feldspar single grain luminescence dating of alluvial sediments in the Avonlea Badlands, Saskatchewan, Canada (Deutsch oder Englisch) | Kontakt: Dr. Svenja Riedesel, in Kooperation mit der University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Kanada (Prof Dr. Ulrike Hardenbicker)

• The former glaciated area of Southern Saskatechewan (Canada) is now charactersied by wide ranging prairies, parts of which are heavily eroded creating badlands. The development of these badlands was triggered by rapid post last glacial incision of a meltwater channel in Upper Cretaceous marine and lagoonal sediments. Large variation in temperature as well as snow melt water erosion continue to shape this landscape. Since this area was glaciated during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), it is so far ssumed that all processes within the study area of Avonlea are post-LGM, however no chronology has yet been developed, whcih constrains temporal and spatial variations in badland erosion in the area. Samples for luminescence dating have been collected from three different profiles at three different elevations within the Avonlea badlands. Due to the poor luminescence characterisitcs of quartz, this project will focus on infrared stimulated luminescence dating of feldspars. The erosion events are expected to occur on very short timescales and resetting of the luminescence signal is expected to be heterogenious. Thus single grains of feldspars will be used.

 

Untersuchung historischer Bodenerosion im Rheinland | Kontakt: Dr. Dominik Brill

• Rekonstruktion von historischer Bodenerosion durch Erstellung hochauflösender Chronologien für kolluviale Sequenzen im Pleiser Lösshügelland mittels eines portablen OSL Messgerätes. Dies beinhaltet die Erbohrung der Kolluvien im Gelände, die hochauflösende Messung des Kerns mittels eines portablen OSL Messgeräts, und die statistische Analyse der Messdaten zur Erstellung eines hochauflösenden Alters-Modells für Bodenerosion am Standort.
• Untersuchung von durch besonders starke Abflussereignisse generierten Erosionsrinnen (Gullies) mittels stratigraphischer, sedimentologischer und/oder chronologischer Verfahren. Dies beinhaltet die Anlage eines Grabungsprofils im Gelände, hochauflösende Beprobung und Analyse mittels sediemtologischer Methoden und/oder vereinfachter Lumineszenzdatierungsverfahren und Erstellung hochauflösender Karten der Daten in einem GIS.
• Erstellung von Bodenerosionskarten für Lössgebebiete im Rheinland basierend auf innovativen, OSL-basierten Proxies an gekappten Bodenprofilen. Dies beinhaltet die Aufnahme von Bodenprofilen und die Entnahme von Oberflächenproben im Gelände, die Messung der Proben mittels eines portablen OSL Messgerätes und die Erstellung einer Karte durch Interpolation der Messwerte in einem GIS.
• Erstellung einer Datenbank zu historischer Bodenerosion im Rheinland basierend auf publizierten Befunden.

 

Analysing and interpreting the microstratigraphy of Bronze Age Tell sediments derived from Micro-XRF element mappings | Kontakt: Dr. Stephan Opitz, Mirijam Zickel

• Analysis and interpretation of Micro-XRF derived measurement results
• Creation of suitable plots for the visualisation of stratigraphic sequences and element ratios (optional, see BA thesis topic above)
• Definition and classification of microfacies based on element mappings and stratigraphy
• Interpretation of element ratios to identify geochemical environmental proxies

 

(Chrono-)stratigraphic analysis of a soil/loess/fluvial sediment coring sequence from the eastern border of the Carpathian Basin (Toboliu, Romania) | Kontakt: Dr. Stephan Opitz, Mirijam Zickel

• Description and sampling of a sediment core
• Grain size distribution and geochemical analysis
• Interpretation of the stratigraphy (landscape evolution)
• Sediment dating using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) (optional)
• Analysis of soil formation processes (optional)