Field trips and guided tours

Field trip 1: Palaeoseismic and karst structures and in Quaternary sediments of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein

Field trip leaders:
Dr. Alf Grube (State Geological Survey of Hamburg, Germany) 
Dr. Nils Buurman (DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG)

Field trip fee: 50 €

Maximum number of participants: 25 (First-come, first-served!)

Delegates will travel by bus from one field stop to the next. Hiking boots and, depending on weather, waterproof clothing are recommended.

The field trip will showcase unprecedented structural evidence for moderate- to large-magnitude, prehistoric seismic events in the metropolitan Hamburg and nearby Schleswig-Holstein regions (Grube 2018, 2019). The events may be related to the activation of inherited regional faults, including graben and horst structures, notably of the central Glückstadt Graben. The events may have been triggered by glacial loading and unloading and associated isostatic adjustment of upper crust. Depending on outcrop conditions, delegates will witness faults intersecting the Earth’s surface, blowout clastic dykes, infill structures, seismic SSDS, seismoslumps, and other soft-sediment deformation structures in Saalian glaciofluvial and Weichselian periglacial material. Salt structures that have bulged to the earth’s surface of North Germany are important for a wide range of aspects of applied geosciences. Sinkholes related to Permian rocks are widespread in Hamburg and surrounding areas (Buurman, 2010). Karstification may cause severe damage to existing infrastructure in a densely populated area as Hamburg. The excursion presents impressive sinkholes and introduces investigation methods used to define areas most prone to ground failure and resulting sinkhole development.

Buurman, N. (2010): Charakterisierung von Zirkularstrukturen im geologischen Untergrund Hamburgs zur Abgrenzung verkarstungsgefährdeter Bereiche. – Ph.D. thesis, Univ. Hamburg: 224 p.

Grube, A., 2018. Palaeoseismic structures in Quaternary sediments, related to an assumed fault zone north of the Permian Peissen-Gnutz salt structure (NW Germany) – Neotectonic activity and earthquakes from the Saalian to the Holocene. Geomorphology 328, 15–27.

Grube, A., 2019. Palaeoseismic structures in Quaternary sediments of Hamburg (NWGermany), earthquake evidence during the younger Weichselian and Holocene. International Journal of Earth Sciences, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-019-01681-2.

Field trip 2: Geology of the southern North Sea and Heligoland

Field trip leader: Dipl.-Geologe Franz Binot (formerly: Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics, Hannover, Germany)

Field trip fee: 100 €

Maximum number of participants: 20 (First-come, first-served!)

Delegates will travel with the catamaran (Halunder Jet of Helgolines) from the Port of Hamburg (St. Pauli Landungsbrücke, Brücke 3/4) to south port of Heligoland. The trip starts at 9 a.m., takes a bit less than 4 hours one way and leaves about the same length of time to geologically explore Heligoland. Arrival back in Hamburg is scheduled for 8:15 p.m.. Hiking boots and, depending on weather, water- and windproof as well as warm clothing is recommended.

Mesozoic rocks of the North Sea Basin rise above sea level in one place only in the German North Sea, which is on the islands of Heligoland. Due to uplift caused by a Miocene salt pillow, the deeper levels of the Southern North Sea Basin strata are excellently exposed on Heligoland. Accordingly, the geological program of the visit will focus on the cliffs in Triassic rocks displaying structural, halokinetic, sedimentological, erosional and metallogenetic features. Moreover, field trip participants will witness the outcome of the construction and dramatic destruction of the island due to human activities, in particular during World War II, which remodelled the natural shape of Heligoland.”

Field trip 3: UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea

Field trip leaders: Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schmiedl and Dr. Ulrich Kotthoff (Universität Hamburg)

Field trip fee: 50 €

Maximum number of participants: 25 (First-come, first-served!)

Wadden Sea near Westerhever

In 2009, the unique Wadden Sea was inscribed on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage. This one-day field trip will lead to the Wadden Sea National Park to explore the sedimentology and actuo-paleontology of the intertidal zone of the southeastern part of the North Sea. At low tide we will study the sedimentological processes and features of a typical tidal flat, including ripple marks, channels, mud areas and sand bars. We will discuss the impact and interaction of the relevant environmental parameters, such as climate, hydrology and availability of sediment on sediment dynamics and coastal evolution. In addition, we will explore the ecosystems of salt marshes and tidal flats with a particular focus on actuo-paleontological aspects including life strategy, ichnofacies, and taphonomy. On our way from Hamburg to Westerhever we pass the typical North German landscapes of marshes and moraines, which were formed by Quaternary glacial advances and sea-level fluctuations, and which were subsequently reshaped by anthropogenic activities like land reclamation.

Our first stop will lead us on a round-trip through the polder, salt marshes, and tidal flats of the “Westerhever Sand” in the vicinity of the picturesque lighthouse of Westerhever (built in 1906). On our way back to Hamburg, we will visit the National Park Center Multimar Wattforum in Tönning where we can learn more about the Wadden Sea and various North Sea ecosystems.

Recommended equipment: The field trip will include a several kilometer walk on the tidal flat, including muddy and shallow water areas. Rainwear and protection against wind and sun are recommended. In addition, fixable sport shoes or rubber boots are recommended for protection against cuts from bivalve shells.

Guided tour 1:  Humboldt exhibition at the Zoological Institute

Tour guide: N.N.  

Field trip fee: no fees

Maximum number of participants: 20 (First-come, first-served!)

Guided tour 2: Loki Schmidt Haus of the Botanic Garden Hamburg

Tour guide: Janine Peikert

Tour start: 2 pm at the entrance of the Loki Schmidt Haus (watch out for a blue cube)

Duration of tour: approximately 1.5 hours

Field trip fee: no fees

Maximum number of participants: 20 (First-come, first-served!)

Join the German natural scientist Alexander von Humboldt (1769 - 1859) on his expedition into nature. Take the perspective of the explorer and his understanding of nature, in which everything is connected. The exhibition "Botany in motion" shows how Humboldt´s way of collecting and registering plants has changed the understanding of our environment.

Getting to the Loki Schmidt Haus from the Geomatikum