PhD student Sebastian Munoz - July to October 2018

Due to the new scientific collaboration between the Universidad Catolica del Norte (Antofagasta, Chile) and the Collaborative Research Centre 1211 (SFB1211) a first scientific exchange program was established. Sebastian Munoz, PhD student from Antofagasta, was invited for scientific stay in Cologne. The internship at the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy in the University of Cologne as Ph.D student was from the 13th of July until the 3rd to October. During his stay he was trained in handling and preparing samples for cosmogenic nuclide exposure and burial dating at our labs in Cologne. The measurement of cosmogenic concentration of ²¹Ne will be carried out in April the next year. His samples were gathered during a joined field campaign of Chilenean (Rodrigo Riquelme and Eduardo Campos) and German researcher (Tibor Dunai and Benedikt Ritter) in September 2017 in the area around El Salvador (Chile).

Members of the CRC 1211 subprojects C04 and D03 carried out another successful field trip in September 2018.

To better understand the atmospheric deposition of Sulfates and Nitrates in the Atacama Desert the subproject C04 measures the oxygen isotopic composition of these minerals. More than 150 sediment samples were taken consisting mainly of gypsum crusts, subsurface, and different Nitrates. Additionally, samples of Thenardite (Na₂SO₄) and Selenite (CaSO₄ · 2 H₂O) were taken.

Subproject D03 aims to develop a new proxy for paleo-humidity reconstruction using triple oxygen isotopes. The reliability of this proxy is tested in two recently active settings at the Salar de Llamara and the Salar de Huasco. During the campaign about 60 pond water samples were taken for additional isotope analysis. Further samples will be taken next March to investigate seasonal variations. Furthermore, the water vapour in the air was extracted at different locations for isotope analysis to get a better understanding of vapour sources in the Atacama Desert. 

We would like to thank Prof. Guillermo Chong Díaz and Daniel Contreras from the Universidad Católica del Norte in Antofagasta for their support in the field and for sharing their knowledge. We are really looking forward to work with them again during the next campaign.

Swea Klipsch & Claudia Voigt

In September, we conducted an excursion with 20 geography students from the RWTH Aachen University to northern Chile against the background of our research project C2 within the CRC 1211 "Earth - Evolution at the dry limit". With regards to content, the focus lied on the geomorphological evolution of the different landscapes and the corresponding influencing factors. Additionally, the program was complemented by exciting evidences of Chile's history, the mining with its consequences, the agricultural landuse, and the structure as well as significance of various cities.

We began at the coast of the Atacama, the driest desert on earth. From there, we crossed the central desert and followed a west-east-transect up to the Altiplano within the Andes before we returned across the Salar Grande back to the coast and stroke the path to the south. Among other things, we visited the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) between Antofagasta and Taltal. With increasing latitude we crossed the southern margin of the Atacama Desert and reached the semidesert. At La Serena we ascended the Elqui Valley up to the upper limit of the large wine-growing districts. South of La Serena we explored a relictic occurrence of a cloud forest in the Fray Jorge National Park before we entered the Mediterranean around Valparaíso. Eventually, starting in Valparaíso we followed a third transect into the Andes. In Cajón del Maipo we were able to experience high mountain geomorphology and a variety of special geological sites. After 13 exhausting, impressive, and informative days, the excursion ended in Santiago de Chile.