This session offers stratigraphers, sedimentologists and palaeontologists an opportunity to present papers that do not fall within research areas covered by this year's special themes. The PICO format provides the maximum opportunity to present research on diverse themes to the widest possible audience.

Scientific drilling through the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) continues to provide unique opportunities to investigate the workings of the interior of our planet, Earth’s cycles, natural hazards and the distribution of subsurface microbial life. The past and current scientific drilling programs have brought major advances in many interdisciplinary fields of socio-economic relevance, such as climate and ecosystem evolution, palaeoceanography, the deep biosphere, sustainable georesources, deep crustal and tectonic processes, geodynamics and geohazards. This session invites contributions that present and/or review recent scientific results from deep Earth sampling and monitoring through ocean and continental drilling projects. Furthermore, we encourage contributions that outline perspectives and visions for future drilling projects, in particular projects using a multi-platform approach.

Mass extinctions and severe environmental changes in the Phanerozoic are temporarily associated with large volcanic eruptions and meteorite impacts, suggesting causal relationships. This session invites contributions presenting new data and results from the end-Ordovician, Late and end-Devonian, end-Permian, end-Triassic, end-Cretaceous, and other paleoenvironmental crises, such as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum and Oceanic Anoxic Events in the Mesozoic. The goal of the session is to bring together researchers from geological, geophysical, and biological disciplines to improve our knowledge of the cause-effect scenario of these major environmental changes.

Despite increasing public awareness about global plastic pollution and rising concerns about associated ecotoxicological risks, the annual amount of plastic waste released into natural environments continues to increase drastically. Proceeding pollution inevitably leads to spreading and accumulation of plastics through any sedimentary system, which is why plastics have been detected in almost every environment and natural habitat on Earth. To fully grasp the magnitude of the global plastic pollution problem and time scales associated with ecotoxicological consequences, we need to understand where plastic waste accumulates and how plastic items have been fragmented, depredated, and altered along their pathway. This includes a fundamental understanding of hydrodynamic transport processes including plastic-sediment interactions, as well as leaching processes of different types of plastics under various environmental conditions.

- Occurrence and spatial distribution of plastic waste in the environment
- Transport, deposition, and burial of plastics
- Fragmentation and degradation of plastics
- Leaching of chemical additives from plastics
- Toxicological studies on plastics or on chemical additives release from plastics
- Studies on the interaction between plastic and natural materials such as sediments
- Advanced analytical workflows suitable for the time-efficient and accurate analysis of small microplastics in sediments

What role did climate dynamics play in human evolution, the dispersal of different Homo species within and beyond the African continent, and key cultural innovations? Were dry spells, stable humid conditions, or rapid climate fluctuations the main driver of human evolution and migration? In order to evaluate the impact that different timescales and magnitudes of climatic shifts might have had on the living conditions of prehistoric humans, we need reliable and continuous reconstructions of paleoenvironmental conditions and fluctuations from the vicinity of paleoanthropological and archaeological sites. The search for the environmental context of human evolution and mobility crucially depends on the interpretation of paleoclimate archives from outcrop geology, lacustrine and marine sediments. Linking archeological data to paleoenvironmental reconstructions and models becomes increasingly important.

As a contribution towards a better understanding of these human-climate interactions the conveners encourage submission of abstracts on their project’s research on (geo)archaeology, paleoecology, paleoclimate, stratigraphy, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. We especially welcome contributions offering new methods for dealing with difficult archive conditions and dating challenges. We hope this session will appeal to a broad audience by highlighting the latest research on paleoenvironmental reconstructions in the vicinity of key sites of human evolution, showcasing a wide variety of analytical methods, and encouraging collaboration between different research groups. Conceptual models, modelling results and model-data comparisons are warmly welcomed, as collaborative and interdisciplinary research.

In the last decades, the paleogeography, tectonic and kinematic evolution of Western Mediterranean region have been largely debated. One of the main difficulties in proposing consensual reconstructions is the complex patchwork of polysized blocks involved in the Variscan orogeny. The main blocks that experienced differential evolution during the Alpine cycle are Iberia, Adria and the Corsica-Sardinia/AlKaPeCa domains. The Cenozoic geodynamics of the Western Mediterranean and the diffuse Eurasia-Africa boundary hamper easy reconstructions. Evidence of the complex evolution, related to two superposed orogeneses, is recorded by several basins distributed along the Mediterranean area. The Variscan tectono-metamorphic phenomena are recorded in the Paleozoic successions exposed in the Betic-Rifian Arc, Algeria, Calabria-Peloritani Arc, Apennines, Corsica-Sardinia block, and the Alps. The Alpine tectono-metamorphic evolution, superposed on part of these ancient basements, is widespread in the Mesozoic to Cenozoic stratigraphic record preserved in the Mediterranean Alpine Chain with spectacular syn- to late-orogenic compressional and extensional deformation.
Several Permian to Mesozoic rift systems, conditioned by crustal-scale shear zones, developed in late/post-Variscan times. The polyphase evolution of these basins is related to the early breakup of Pangea and the opening of both the southern North Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay. These basins were subsequently inverted or involved in the Alpine orogens to accommodate the Africa-Eurasia convergence during Late Cretaceous to Tertiary times. The interplay between tectonics and sedimentation ruled the synorogenic sedimentation in the Foreland Basin System. Sedimentary facies analysis and paleoenvironment evolution of depositional systems, together with sediment provenance and paleogeographic/paleoecologic/paleoclimatic reconstructions, provide further constraints to trace the evolution of sedimentary basins. We welcome contributions dealing with prominent geological structures, mountain belts, and sedimentary basins which recorded the past configuration of the Iberia-Eurasia-Adria-Africa plate boundary(s). We encourage submission of studies presenting new insights including geology (tectonics, paleontology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, petrology, geochronology, thermochronology, and geochemistry), geophysics (paleomagnetism, seismicity, seismic imaging/anisotropy, gravity), modelling (numerical and analogue).

Today, the Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans and associated ocean gateways capture the complex intermediate and deep-water return pathways of the global thermohaline circulation. The Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) acts as a low latitude heat source for the polar regions and is a crucial part in globally significant climatic systems like the Australasian Monsoon, Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). This highlights the Indo-Pacific’s importance in deciphering past and future coupled ocean-atmosphere dynamics.
The Cenozoic also sees large reorganisation of the hydrographic and atmospheric fronts across the Southern Hemisphere (SH). These changes have significant consequences for icesheet build-up in Antarctica and ocean-atmosphere carbon cycling, with further implications for surface ocean dynamics and productivity. Characterisation of these fronts using sedimentary records, located in mid-to-high latitudes in the SH allow us to understand the sensitivity and interconnection between Antarctic icesheets and carbon cycle to frontal shifts.
This session explores the role of the Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans and their gateways in global climate change and as a biogeographic diversity hot spot from the geological past to the present. To understand the Cenozoic evolution of these Oceans and associated low- and high-latitude (especially SH) gateways, we invite submissions on wide-ranging topics including paleoclimatology, palaeoceanography, sedimentology, palaeontology, and data-model comparisons. This session will examine how feedbacks between the IPWP, Australasian hydroclimate and tectonic and/or weathering processes affect the evolution of the global monsoons and the ITCZ. We also encourage marine and/or terrestrial multi-proxy studies, investigating Cenozoic teleconnections of both equatorial Indo-Pacific (e.g., ENSO/IOD) and high latitude SH processes (e.g., variability of hydrographic fronts).

Straits linking the open ocean to marginal basins play an important role in driving global thermohaline circulation through the exchange of heat and salt. When these marine gateways allow only very limited exchange, typically during early stage opening and the final stages of closure, the marginal seas can experience extreme fluctuations in salinity, from brackish to hypersaline conditions, with knock-on consequences for the density contrast across the gateway. Restricted gateway exchange can result in the formation of “salt giants”, marginal basins characterized by the precipitation of large volumes of evaporites. In addition to their profound local impact, these salt giants can be sufficiently large to change the chemistry of the ocean, impact the carbon cycle and marine ecosystems, and modify climate on a global scale.
This session has been triggered by the upcoming IODP Expedition 401 which is part of the first land-2-sea project, IMMAGE. This project will recover Late Miocene gateway successions on either side of the Gibraltar Strait (IODP) and onshore records (ICDP) from the two fossil gateways that are preserved on land in Morocco and Spain. The contouritic sediments preserved in and oceanward of these gateways will provide a unique record of the Atlantic-Mediterranean exchange before, during and after the formation of the world’s most recent salt giant, which was deposited during the Messinian Salinity Crisis. IMMAGE will also directly test whether the representations of overflows in general circulation models (GCMs) are effective outside the range of validation provided by the modern ocean.
We welcome presentations from a wide range of researchers investigating the opening or closing of marine gateways, modern or ancient, and their climatic consequences. Our aim is to build a global community of scientists including physical oceanographers, climate modelers and geologists who wish to share and integrate established and novel approaches to studying marine connectivity and who will benefit from the samples and insights generated by upcoming IMMAGE drilling.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that continental rifting, breakup, and ocean spreading involve complexities not easily explained by standard models, especially in oblique and transform settings. The unexpected discovery of continental material far offshore, e.g. at the Rio Grande Rise, and realisation of the importance of obliquity and time-dependence in rifting, challenge conventional tectonic models. This session aims to bring together new observations, models, and ideas to help us understand the complex factors influencing continental rifting, breakup and ocean spreading, including oblique and transform settings. Works investigating time-dependant controls on rifting mechanisms, plate kinematics, strain localisation, obliquity, plate interior deformation, inherited lithospheric structures, interaction and feedbacks of rift processes, lithospheric and mantle derived driving forces, magmatism, syn-rift sedimentation, and other controls on rifting, are therefore welcomed to this session. Contributions from any geoscience discipline, including marine geophysics, seismology, ocean drilling, geochemistry, petrology, plate kinematics, tectonics, structural geology, numerical and analogue modelling, sedimentology and geochronology etc., are sought. We particularly encourage cross-disciplinarity, the spanning of spatio-temporal scales, and thought-provoking studies that challenge conventions from any and all researchers.

The ocean floor hosts a tremendous variety of landforms that reflect the action of a range of tectonic, sedimentary, oceanographic and biological processes at multiple spatio-temporal scales. Many such processes present hazards to coastal populations and offshore installations, and their understanding constitutes a key objective of national and international research programmes and IODP expeditions. Recent advances in geophysical imaging, scientific ocean drilling, and seafloor instrumentation have increased the understanding of offshore geohazards; however, significant knowledge gaps remain in understanding the timing and interplay of geological processes at the origin of geohazards. High quality bathymetry, especially when combined with sub-seafloor and/or seabed measurements, provides an exciting opportunity to integrate the approaches of geomorphology and geophysics, as well as to extend quantitative geomorphology offshore and to integrate it into hazard analysis. 3D seismic reflection data has also given birth to the discipline of seismic geomorphology, which has provided a 4D perspective to continental margin evolution.

This interdisciplinary session aims to examine the causes and consequences of geomorphic processes shaping underwater landscapes, including submarine erosion and depositional processes, submarine landslides and canyons, sediment transfer and deformation, volcanic activity, fluid migration and escape, faulting and folding, and other processes acting at the seafloor. The general goal of the session is to bring together researchers who characterise the shape of past and present seafloor features, seek to understand the sub-surface and surface processes at work and their impacts, or use bathymetry and/or 3D seismic data as a model input, as well as to promote cooperation between different parties (academic, industrial, and governmental) involved in geohazard research and management. Contributions to this session can include work from any depth or physiographic region, e.g. oceanic plateaus, abyssal hills, mid-ocean ridges, accretionary wedges, and continental margins (from continental shelves to abyssal plains), as well as from lakes. Datasets of any scale, from satellite-predicted depth to ultra-high-resolution swath bathymetry, sub-surface imaging and sampling, are anticipated.

This session is co-organised by the IAG Submarine Geomorphology Working Group.

Fluvial and coastal systems form and evolve on timescales of days to millennia as a result of complex interactions between physical and ecological processes. Understanding geomorphic adjustments requires consideration of boundary conditions that influence upstream and downstream controls, including discharge, sediment, biota, and marine influences such as tidal and wave processes. Seen through a morphological and geological lens, rivers, floodplains, deltas, estuaries, and coastal lagoons span a continuum of accommodation space infilled by clastic and organic sediments. Natural and anthropogenically induced subsidence, hydraulic infrastructure, fluvial and coastal erosion as well as direct removal of sediment and wetlands disrupt natural riparian dynamics and coastal land building processes. A watershed-scale perspective to sustainable riparian management, including adaptation to changing climate and coastal land gain to keep up with rising sea level, requires a systemic understanding of key processes across a range of timescales. We welcome contributions that aim to understand theoretical and applied dimensions of river systems, as well as methodological advances in monitoring and characterizing associated processes and environments. Potential settings span the watershed, including lowland rivers linked to coastal environments. A primary goal of the session is to improve understanding of river and coastal systems using some combination of numerical models, machine learning, laboratory experiments (analogue models), remote sensing, fieldwork, historical data and geological reconstructions. We also welcome multidisciplinary studies that focus on adaptation to future conditions.

Fluid flow in the Earth’s crust is driven by pressure gradients and temperature changes induced by internal heat. The expression of crustal fluid flow is associated with a range of structural and geochemical processes taking place in the basement and in sedimentary basins. Groundwater, hydrothermal brines and gases circulating in the subsurface interact with local structures across different tectonic and geological settings. Under near-lithostatic conditions fluids and rocks are expelled vertically to the near-surface featuring a variety of surficial geological phenomena ranging from hydrothermal systems to sedimentary and hybrid volcanism and cold seeps both onshore and offshore. These vertical fluid flow expressions and piercement structures are characterized by complex sedimentary deformation and geochemical reactions where life can adapt to thrive in extremely harsh environments making them ideal windows to the deep biosphere. Several studies have shown that CO2- and CH4-dominated (or hybrid) vents played a key role in the evolution of our planet and the cycles of life during several geological eras. Similar structures on other planets are promising sites for exploration where habitable niches could have been present. Furthermore, the elevated pore pressures often encountered in reservoirs at depth make piercements ideal natural laboratories to capture precursors of seismic events and dynamically triggered geological processes. Yet, the geochemical and geophysical processes associated with the evolution of these vertical fluid flow features and piercements remain poorly understood.
This session welcomes contributions from the community working on magmatic and sedimentary environments and the domains where they interact on Earth and in the Universe using geophysical, geochemical, microbial, geological, remote sensing, numerical and laboratory studies to promote a better understanding of modern and paleo fluid-driven systems in the upper crust. In particular we call for contributions from: 1) investigations of tectonic discontinuities pre-existing geological structures; 2) the geochemical reactions occurring at depth and at the surface including microbiological studies; 3) geophysical imaging and monitoring of fluid flow systems associated with vertical fluid expulsion at the upper crust; 4) experimental and numerical studies about fluid flow evolution; 5) studies of piercement dynamics related to climatic and environmental implications.

Geoscience underpins many aspects of the energy mix that fuels our planet and offers a range of solutions for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions as the world progresses towards net zero. The aim of this session is to explore and develop the contribution of geology, geophysics and petrophysics to the development of sustainable energy resources in the transition to low-carbon energy. The meeting will be a key forum for sharing geoscientific aspects of energy supply as earth scientists grapple with the subsurface challenges of remaking the world’s energy system, balancing competing demands in achieving a low carbon future.

Papers should show the use of any technology or modelling that was initially developed for use in conventional oil and gas industries, and show it being applied to either sustainable energy developments or to CCS, subsurface waste disposal or water resources.
Relevant topics include but are not limited to:
1. Exploration & appraisal of the subsurface aspects of geothermal, hydro and wind resources.
2. Appraisal & exploration of developments needed to provide raw materials for solar energy, electric car batteries and other rare earth elements needed for the modern digital society.
3. The use of reservoir modelling, 3D quantification and dynamic simulation for the prediction of subsurface energy storage.
4. The use of reservoir integrity cap-rock studies, reservoir modelling, 3D quantification and dynamic simulation for the development of CCS locations.
5. Quantitative evaluation of porosity, permeability, reactive transport & fracture transport at subsurface radioactive waste disposal sites.
6. The use of petrophysics, geophysics and geology in wind-farm design.
7. The petrophysics and geomechanical aspects of geothermal reservoir characterisation and exploitation including hydraulic fracturing.

The session also includes modelling of geological subsurface utilisation in terms of chemical or thermal energy storage as well as hydrocarbon production and storage are required to ensure a safe and sustainable energy supply.

Ground penetrating radar and geophysical applications have been and are evolving thanks to the increasing need of environmental control and monitoring. The instruments are continuously improving while their price is progressively decreasing too. In particular, geophysical instruments are useful to geologists, archaeologists, engineers, policemen, soldiers, hydro-geophysicists, architects and so on with regard to topic as safety, resilience, cultural heritage and so on. Such a topic deserves, we think, occasions for discussion and exchanging ideas, also at the EGU conference.
The hopefully progressively overcoming of the COVID-19 pandemic encourages to propose a session were new systems, new applications, new data processing can be proposed, together with case histories of meaningful interest for the scientific community.
Consequently, contributions are welcome with regard to all the aspects of the GPR technique, ranging from the hardware of the systems to the data processing and any theoretical aspect, including innovative applications or procedures as well as results of particular relevance, possibly achieved within an integrated measurement campaign founded on a plurality of geophysical techniques.
Hope to see you in Vienna.

The realization and use of digital outcrops has become a routine way to collect and share geological information, both quantitively and qualitatively. This session aims to promote optimal workflows and expertise sharing through contributions where the use of digital outcrop models and – more in general – virtualization has been essential for the fulfillment of application and project goals. This includes research, education, outreach, and dissemination. We welcome all contributions based on digital outcrops including (i) geological case studies, (ii) methodological studies related to 3D modelling and interpretation (e.g. photogrammetric survey design, model reconstruction, interpretation, data extraction and automation, statistical analysis), (iii) construction and delivery of virtual field trips, (iv) application in geoscience education, (v) public outreach involvement, and (vi) improving diversity, equity, and inclusion. Early-career scientists and students are particularly encouraged to submit a contribution.

The recent methodological and instrumental advances in paleomagnetism, micromagnetic modelling, and magnetic fabric research further increased their already high potential in solving geological, geophysical, and tectonic problems. Integrated paleomagnetic and magnetic fabric studies, together with structural geology and petrology, are very efficient tools in increasing our knowledge about sedimentological, tectonic or volcanic processes, both on regional and global scales. This session is intended to give an opportunity to present innovative theoretical or methodological works and their direct applications in various geological settings. Especially welcome are contributions combining paleomagnetic and magnetic fabric data, integrating various magnetic fabric techniques, combining magnetic fabric with other means of fabric analysis, or showing novel approaches in data evaluation and modelling. We also highly solicit contributions showing all aspects of paleomagnetic reconstructions, acquisition of characteristic remanence and remagnetisations applied to solving geotectonic problems. We also solicit contributions that (i) take advantage of recent advances in imaging magnetic behaviour at the grain-scale; (ii) present paleomagnetic challenges that could be solved using newly available methods; and/or (iii) use micromagnetic modelling to characterize the behaviour of magnetic carriers.

Earth history is marked by significant disruptions in global climate, changes in geochemical cycling, and faunal turnover events. The investigation of these events across Earth history is based on accurate and integrated stratigraphy, utilizing a broad range of geological and geophysical techniques, unique stratigraphic morphologies, and established and novel paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental proxies. This session will bring together specialists in all branches of stratigraphy, paleoclimatology, paleontology, and paleoceanography, spanning from the Archean to the Holocene. The aim is to introduce new techniques and methods that help improve the stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental toolbox.

This session will emphasize sedimentary records that are particularly sensitive to climate variability and those that play a key role in global climate and environmental conditions through various feedback mechanisms. These records include sedimentary basins across latitudes, ice cores, mid- to high-latitude fjords that are global hot spots for the burial of organic carbon due to their unique morphology and processes that make them highly effective at trapping and preserving sediment, and sedimentary deposits that are actively affected by ocean circulation.

This session is organized by the International Subcommission on Stratigraphic Classification (ISSC) of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) and is open to the Earth science community at large.

This session aims to showcase an exciting diversity of state-of-the-art advances in all aspects of paleoceanography and paleoclimatology. We invite studies ranging across organic and inorganic geochemistry, sedimentology, and paleontology from marine and terrestrial environments, as well as multidisciplinary and modeling studies reaching into the future. We invite contributions that provide insight into the evolution of the Earth on short and long timescales, including how studies of paleoclimate and drivers can inform our current climatic changes and the implications for future Earth.

The pacing of the global climate system by orbital variations is clearly demonstrated in the timing of e.g. glacial-interglacial cycles. The mechanisms that translate this forcing into geoarchives and climate changes continue to be debated. We invite submissions that explore the climate system response to orbital forcing, and that test the stability of these relationships under different climate regimes or across evolving climate states (e.g. mid Pleistocene transition, Pliocene-Pleistocene transition, Miocene vs Pliocene, and also older climate transitions). Submissions exploring proxy data and/or modelling work are welcomed, as this session aims to bring together proxy-based, theoretical and/or modelling studies focused on global and regional climate responses to astronomical forcing at different time scales in the Phanerozoic.
Hamdi Omar will give an invited presetation on case studies of Phanerozoic Cyclostratigraphy in North Africa.

Time is a fundamental variable for the understanding of history and dynamics of Earth and planetary processes. Consequently, precise and accurate determination of crystallisation, deposition, exhumation or exposure ages of geological materials has had, and will continue to have, a key role in the geosciences. In recent years, substantial improvement in spatial and temporal resolution of well-established dating techniques and development of new methods have revealed previously unknown complexity of natural systems and in many cases revolutionised our understanding of rates of fundamental geologic processes.

With this session, we aim to provide a platform to discuss 1) advances in a broad spectrum of geochronological and thermochronological methods (sample preparation, analytical techniques, interpretational and modelling approaches) and 2) applications of such methods to a variety of problems across the Earth sciences, across the geological time and across scales of the process studied. We particularly encourage presentations of novel and unconventional applications or attempts to develop new geo/thermochronometers.

The rates and dates of tectonic processes can be quantified using evidence derived from actively deforming settings, at different scale of observation both at surface, including geomorphic markers (e.g., topography and rivers, fluvial deposits, marine terraces), sedimentary (e.g., syntectonic sedimentation, stratigraphic evidence), as well as in the subsurface by using both geological (boreholes), geophysical (e.g. seismic profiles), and seismological (e.g. earthquake relocation) data. Integration of different data-sets from surface and subsurface also provides key information to better understand all processes leading to seismicity, magmatism and volcanism, geothermal circulation, and location of base metal ore deposits.

We invite contributions focusing on understanding the dynamics and evolution of deforming plate interiors and active plate boundaries through interdisciplinary approaches and integration of different data-sets. We welcome all types of studies that aim to quantify the rates of active plate deformation and the dates of tectonic events, regardless of their spatio-temporal scale or methodology.

Topography is the result of the competition between processes acting at different spatial and temporal scales. Tectonics, climate, and surface processes all leave fingerprints on modern topography, making it difficult for researchers to univocally characterize their contribution to shaping landscapes. Morpho-structural and geomorphic features provide the possibility to quantify the nature and the magnitude of the interaction between tectonics, climate, surface processing, and evolving topography from shorter to longer term timescales.
For instance, hillslope features, bedrock streams, topographic gradients and fluvial dynamics develop into the evolving landscape from the coastal to the high-relief areas. The use of laboratory, numerical and mathematical modelling and the recent advances in geochronological and thermochronological techniques, allow quantitative constraints on the magnitude, rates, and timing of topographic changes.
Moreover, a correct quantification of the interaction between surface processes and endogenous dynamics plays a major role in the evaluation also of geological hazards and related risks. Since the last decades, several techniques have been developed to assess the landscape evolution processes, dealing with analogue numerical models, geodetic tools (GPS and satellite images analysis) and quantifying techniques (cosmogenic nuclides and thermochronometric data). Overall, this data could be crucial when interpreting data coming from field observations.
We invite contributions aiming to link analogue, numerical models, with quantitative techniques, in supporting field interpretations.

A source-to-sink approach represents a quantitative and integrated characterization of the processes involved in the production, transport, and deposition of sediments along a sediment routing system (SRS). This approach conceptualizes the SRS as an interconnected system in which external forcings (such as tectonics and climate) generate and propagate signals that might be recorded in the sedimentary record. Such studies aim at re-creating the spatio-temporal framework of the nature and intensity of the perturbations induced along a sedimentary system due to an external forcing. This has important implications for understanding the sensitivity of the Earth’s surface to tectono-environmental changes, for the reconstruction of paleoclimates, and for modeling the future dynamics of sedimentary systems on the planet. In addition, a sediment routing system approach is a vital tool for the effective identification and management of mineral, hydrocarbon, and water resources.

In this session, we invite scientists who study the signal generation and propagation in source to sink systems from a wide range of backgrounds (e.g., sedimentology, geomorphology, geochemistry, remote sensing, and geomodelling), and we encourage studies focusing on provenance, sedimentary budgets, and response timescales. Further, we welcome contributions focusing on environmental changes and disentangling the role between climate and tectonics, including paleoclimatic response, feedback mechanisms, and applied studies, for instance, raw material production and risk analysis associated with sediment generation and transport.

The links between crustal tectonics, mantle dynamics and climate-controlled surface processes, such as erosion, sediment transport and deposition together with sea-level variations, have been long recognized as primary drivers of the evolution of mountain belts and sedimentary basins.

The quantification of surface uplift-subsidence, erosion-sedimentation, thermal evolution and magmatism in the mantle and crust is a prime challenge in Earth Sciences. Since these processes and their feedback mechanisms act on a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, understanding orogenic and basin dynamics requires field data, geophysical and well data, geodetic measurements, geo-thermochronological studies as well as numerical and analogue modelling studies.

With this session we aim to bring together scientists from different fields that use emerging observation and frontier modelling techniques to improve our understanding of the links between orogenic or sedimentary basin evolution and their connection to surface, crustal, mantle and climatic forcing.
The rationale of the session is also to challenge geoscientists to apply their knowledge of deep and surface processes towards the new economic frontiers in Earth Science, such as the exploitation of geothermal energy and climate change mitigation through CO2 and H storage.
We encourage studies applying multi-disciplinary and innovative methods from worldwide natural laboratories.

Sedimentary systems are excellent archives of past environmental change across the globe and have contributed significantly to our understanding of the planetary system. The increasing number of available short and long (ICDP) sediment cores, along with seismic and bathymetric data, continues to be pivotal for assessing climate and environmental change, human activities as well as tectonic and volcanic activity, amongst others.

We invite contributions that use sedimentological, geochemical, biological, and chronological tools in lakes and their sedimentary archives to deduce quantitative and spatial rates of change, causes and consequences of long- and short-term climate variability, impact, magnitude, and frequency of tectonic and volcanic activity. We particularly encourage submissions about novel analytical approaches (destructive and non-destructive) and data analysis (statistics, machine learning, AI) that guide future research directions in limnogeology.

Carbonate sediments have formed in a wide range of marine and non-marine settings through the complex interplay of biological, chemical and physical processes. Precisely-constrained high-resolution stratigraphic records are important for determining past global change and understanding the complex interactions between climatic processes, oceanographic and environmental changes, the biosphere, stratigraphic architecture and subsequent diagenesis. The complementary study of Recent carbonate depositional systems is crucial to the interpretation of these systems. This session invites contributions from general and interdisciplinary topics within the diverse fields of Carbonate Sedimentology, Stratigraphy and Diagenesis, the session will explore a broad range of geochemical, biological and stratigraphic proxies and their applications to understanding Earth history.

Minerals are formed in great diversity under Earth surface conditions, as skeletons, microbialites, speleothems, or authigenic cements, and they preserve a wealth of geochemical, biological, mineralogical, and isotopic information, providing valuable archives of past environmental conditions. Furthermore, minerals form and dissolve during diagenesis, which modifies the properties of carbonate and clastic rocks. Understanding processes of fluid-rock interactions and interpreting mineral archives still requires fundamental research, with implications for the reconstruction of Earth’s geological record, as well as for man-made systems for carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), geothermal energy, or critical mineral resources.

In this session we welcome oral and poster presentations from a wide range of research of topics, including process-oriented studies in modern systems, the ancient rock record, experiments, computer simulations, and high-resolution microscopy and spectroscopy techniques. We intend to reach a wide community of researchers sharing the common goal of improving our understanding of the fundamental processes underlying mineral formation, which is essential to read our Earth's geological archive.

Cave and karst formations such as speleothems, cave ice, cryogenic carbonate, sediments, tufa and travertines are important terrestrial archives of past environmental and climatic changes. They provide high resolution and accurately dated records using not only traditional geochemical tracers such as stable isotopes (d13C, d18O), trace elements, fluid inclusion analyses, or dead carbon fractions but also innovative methods such as organic markers or new paleothermometers. In recent years, the fields of cave and karst-based research has seen:
(1) Development of novel and innovative methods as well as continuously improving analytical capacity of established techniques allowing new applications also of traditional markers (e.g. combined multi-proxy approaches),
(2) Increasing numbers of long-term monitoring campaigns and cave-analogue experiments facilitating (quantitative) interpretation of proxy time series,
(3) Advancement of process and proxy-system models which are necessary to understand and disentangle proxy-relevant processes such as water infiltration, carbonate dissolution, degassing, precipitation, or diagenesis,
(4) The development and extensive use of databases such as SISAL (Speleothem Isotope Synthesis and AnaLysis) which enable regional-to-global and seasonal-to-orbital scale analyses of the relationships between proxies and environmental parameters,
Applied together, advancements in these cornerstones pave the way towards robust and quantitative reconstructions of climate and environmental variability. We invite cave- and karst-related modern and paleo studies to this session, which show progress in one of the four outlined domains. This comprises all integrated and interdisciplinary research helping to improve the understanding of the environment in which continental carbonates grow and the incorporation of climate-sensitive proxies at various time scales. In particular, this includes speleothem-based and other records using traditional proxies or novel markers and methods to reconstruct paleoclimate and paleoenvironment, data analysis studies and data-model comparisons. In addition, research contributing to current international co-ordinated activities, such as the PAGES working group on Speleothem Isotopes Synthesis and AnaLysis (SISAL) and others are welcome.

Carbonate minerals are ubiquitous throughout all geological environments in the Earth`s crust, forming via biogenic, marine, diagenetic, hydrothermal, magmatic, and metamorphic processes. Therefore, refining our understanding of carbonate formation can contribute towards addressing important geological and societal problems, such as the Earth`s past and present carbon cycle or the exploration of critical raw materials. The study of carbonate minerals is one that crosses multiple sectors and disciplines, with several novel applications emerging in recent years. Similarly, recent analytical developments allow for the application of geochronological, trace element and isotope geochemical techniques across a wide range of scales and sample materials. To keep track of these emerging techniques, this session aims to bring together an interdisciplinary community working both on method development and on the application of techniques investigating carbonate minerals. We invite geoscientists from all fields (e.g., paleoceanology, economic geology, igneous petrology, carbon storage) to contribute to this session by presenting their research in carbonate geochronology (e.g., U-Pb dating), carbonate trace element geochemistry (e.g., rare earth elements), and carbonate isotope geochemistry (e.g., strontium, clumped isotopes).

This session aims to bring together a diverse group of scientists who are interested in how life and the planet have co-evolved over geological time. This includes studies of how paleoenvironments have contributed to biological evolution, and also those which focus on the way in which life has altered or regulated Earth’s biogeochemical cycles and climate. As an inherently multi-disciplinary subject, we welcome submissions that explore any period of Earth history and which present new paleoenvironmental, paleobiological or geochemical data or aim to understand our planet and its biosphere through numerical modelling. Part of this session will specifically explore the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition which saw the appearance and diversificaiton of early animals.

Carbonate (bio)minerals have been essential indicators for life throughout most of Earth’s history and are important archives for past climate and environmental change. Geochemical investigations are crucial for understanding (I) the paleobiology of carbonate biomineralizers, (II) the evolution of microbial habitats, and (III) complementary changes in the atmosphere-hydrosphere systems through time. With this session, we encourage contributions from sedimentology, geochemistry and (geo)biology that utilize carbonate (bio)minerals (e.g., invertebrate shells, foraminifera, microbialites and stromatolites) with the aim to reconstruct paleo-environments, seasonality, seawater chemistry and paleobiology in a wide range of modern to deep time settings, including critical intervals of environmental and climate change. This includes studies targeting original skeletal carbonate preservation and diagenetic alteration and theoretical or experimental studies of trace element partitioning and isotope fractionation in carbonate (bio)minerals.

The Earth has experienced several environmental disturbances, with varied tempos and modes of ecosystem resilience, occasionally reaching tipping-points that triggered permanent modification in abundance, biodiversity, ecological range and biomineralization processes of marine calcifiers. Given enough time, a resilient ecosystem may be able to fully recover from perturbations, but continuing stress can severely compromise that resilience. Benthic and planktic marine calcifiers (e.g., molluscs, brachiopods, corals, calcareous algae, foraminifera, calcareous nannoplankton) are greatly impacted by these global perturbations. With this session we encourage contributions analysing the adaptative (or not) response of marine biocalcifiers from pelagic and neritic ecosystems to global stresses and the effects on their ability to mineralize, on marine biodiversity and on changes in species distribution during global perturbations.
We welcome studies on modern biota, that are vital for measuring ecosystem resilience at short-term, as well as those from the geological record that are fundamental to scrutinize the medium- and long-term response prior to human disturbances. We invite research based on multidisciplinary approaches (e.g., morphometric analysis, species abundance, distribution patterns and biodiversity, sclerochronology and growth rate, biomineralization, geochemistry, stratigraphic paleontology, paleoecology) in order to investigate the tempo and mode of response of marine biocalcifiers to (paleo)environmental and (paleo)climatic perturbations.

The European Research Council (ERC) is a leading European funding body supporting excellent investigator-driven frontier research across all fields of science. ERC calls are open to researchers around the world. The ERC offers various different outstanding funding opportunities with grants budgets of €1.5 up to €3.5 million for individual scientists. All nationalities of applicants are welcome for projects carried out at a host institution in Europe (European Union member states and associated countries). At this session, the main features of ERC funding individual grants will be presented.

"Neo-Colonialism", “colonial science” or “parachute science” is a practice where international scientists, usually from higher-income countries, conduct field work or collect data and samples in another country, usually of lower income, and then elaborate the data and publish scientific papers without involving others from that nation.
This short course will provide participants with an introduction to the colonial science, defining the terminology, highlighting pertinent examples on how outdated colonial terminology widely used and without critical consideration have been causing misinterpretation in science, created a dependency on expertise with consequent lack of knowledge building and infrastructures development in countries that have been the base of important discoveries.

The work of scientists does not end with publishing their results in peer-reviewed journals and presenting them at specialized conferences. In fact, one could argue that the work of a scientist only starts at this point: outreach. What does science outreach mean? Very simply, it means to engage with the wider (non-scientific) public about science.
The way of doing outreach has radically changed in the last decades, and scientists can now take advantage of many channels and resources to tailor and deliver their message to the public: to name a few, scientists can do outreach through social media, by writing blogs, recording podcasts, organizing community events, and so on.
This short course aims to give practical examples of different outreach activities, providing tips and suggestions from personal and peers’ experiences to start and manage an outreach project. Specific attention will be paid to the current challenges of science communication, which will encompass the theme of credibility and reliability of the information, the role of communication in provoking a response to critical global issues, and how to tackle inequities and promote EDI in outreach, among others.
The last part of the course will be devoted to an open debate on specific hot topics regarding outreach. Have your say!

Achieving policy impact requires a distinct set of ‘Science4Policy’ competences. Discover the ‘Science4Policy’ Competence Framework and why it is essential knowledge for researchers and research organisations working at the science-policy interface.

Why join?
Are you a researcher interested in building competences to ensure policy impact? Would you like to do your self-assessment to evaluate your ‘Science4Policy’ competences? Then join us for this interactive workshop, where participants will be introduced to the ‘Science4Policy’ Competence Framework, the possible uses of it (e.g. self-assessment for individuals and teams) and get the opportunity to interact with it in a playful way.

How can scientists and governments ensure that their communication resonates more deeply with citizens without resorting to the manipulative tactics used by those who seek to undermine liberal democracy? How can scientific and government actors ensure their communications are equally meaningful and ethical?

This Short Course will combine insights from state-of-the-art scientific knowledge, novel empirical research on values-targeted communication strategies, and a deep understanding of practitioners’ and citizens’ attitudes on these topics. Examples from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre will be used to share practical guidance for scientists who need to successfully navigate the policy world.

This 90-minute short course aims to introduce non-geologists to structural geological and petrological principles, which are used by geologists to understand system earth.

The data available to geologists is often minimal, incomplete and representative for only part of the geological history. Besides learning field techniques that are needed to take measurements and acquire data, geologists also need to develop a logical way of thinking to overcome these data gaps and arrive at an understanding of system earth. There is a difference between the reality observed in the field and the geological models that are used to tell the story.

In this course we briefly introduce the following subjects:
1) Geology rocks: Introduction to the principles of geology.
2) Collecting rocks: The how, what, and pitfalls of onshore and offshore geological data acquisition.
3) Failing rocks: From structural field data to (paleo-)stress analysis.
4) Dating rocks: Absolute and relative dating of rocks using microstructural, petrological and geochronological methods.
5) Shaping rocks: The morphology of landscapes as tectonic constraints
6) Crossover rocks: How geology benefits from geodynamic, seismological and geodetic research, and vice-versa.
7) Q&A!

Our aim is not to make you the next specialist in geology, but we would rather try and make you aware of the challenges a geologist faces when they go out into the field. In addition, currently used methodologies and their associated data quality are addressed to give other earth scientists a feel for the capabilities and limitations of geological research.

This course is given by Early Career Scientists and forms a quartet with the short courses on ‘Geodynamics 101’, ‘Seismology 101’, and ‘Geodesy 101’. For this reason, we will also explain what kind of information we expect from the fields of geodynamics, seismology and geodesy, and we hope to receive input on the kind of information you could use from our side.

The climate is highly variable over wide ranges of scale in both space and time so that the amplitude of changes systematically depends on the scale of observations. As a consequence, climate variations recorded in time series or spatial distributions, which are produced through modelling or empirical analyses are inextricably linked to their space-time scales and is a significant part of the uncertainties in the proxy approaches. Rather than treating the variability as a limitation to our knowledge, as a distraction from mechanistic explanations and theories, in this course the variability is treated as an important, fundamental aspect of the climate dynamics that must be understood and modelled in its own right. Long considered as no more than an uninteresting spectral “background”, modern data shows that in fact it contains most of the variance.

We review techniques that make it possible to systematically analyse and model the variability of instrumental and proxy data, the inferred climate variables and the outputs of GCM’s. These analyses enable us to cover wide ranges of scale in both space and in time - and jointly in space-time - without trivializing the links between the measurements, proxies and the state variables (temperature, precipitation etc.). They promise to systematically allow us to compare model outputs with data, to understand the climate processes from small to large and from fast to slow. Specific tools that will be covered include spectral analysis, scaling fluctuation analysis, wavelets, fractals, multifractals, and stochastic modeling; we discuss corresponding software. We also include new developments in the Fractional Energy Balance Equation approach that combines energy and scale symmetries.

Observations and measurements of geoscientific systems and their dynamical phenomena are genuinely obtained as time series or spatio-temporal data whose dynamics usually manifests a nonlinear multiscale (in terms of time and space) behavior. During the past decades, dynamical system, information theoretic, and stochastic approaches have rapidly developed and allow gaining novel insights on a great diversity of phenomena like weather and climate dynamics, turbulence in fluids and plasmas, or chaos in dynamical systems.

In this short course, we will provide an overview on a selection of contemporary topics related with complex systems based approaches and their utilization across the geosciences, exemplified by recent successful applications from various fields from paleoclimate over present-day atmospheric dynamics to Space Weather. The focus will be on tipping points and associated early warning indicators, the identification of causal relations among a multitude of observables, and how to combine both approaches in a multi-scale dynamical framework. The discussed data analysis tools are promising for investigating various aspects of both known and unknown physical processes.

Age models are applied in paleoclimatological, paleogeographic and geomorphologic studies to understand the timing of climatic and environmental change. Multiple independent geochronological dating methods are available to generate robust age models. For example, different kinds of radio isotopic dating, magneto-, bio-, cyclostratigraphy and sedimentological relationships along stratigraphic successions or in different landscape contexts. The integration of these different kinds of geochronological information often poses challenges.
Age-depth or chronological landscape models are the ultimate result of the integration of different geochronological techniques and range from linear interpolation to more complex Bayesian techniques. Invited speakers will share their experience in several modelling concepts and their application in a range of Quaternary paleoenvironmental and geomorphologic records. The Short Course will provide an overview of age models and the problems one encounters in climate science and geomorphology. Case studies and practical examples are given to present solutions for these challenges. It will prepare the participants from CL, GM and other divisions for independent application of suitable age-depth models to their climate or geomorphologic data.

Almost all scientific studies rely to some extent on correct statistical analyses. While statistical software packages for scientists offer great opportunities and provide many powerful tools (e.g., in data mining and exploratory statistics), there are many pitfalls, which may result in wrong or nonreproducible manuscripts. This problem has been known for a long time and has been addressed explicitly in some research fields other than the geosciences. This short course aims to address potential problems in geoscientific studies and to reduce the number of non-reproducible studies.

A. Fundamental issues in design of experiments and statistical analyses
The following fundamental issues will be addressed:
• Time spent for experimental designs. Advantages and disadvantages of selected experimental designs. Missing randomization. Observational study vs. controlled experiments
• Pseudo-replication vs. true replications and how to deal with it. Wrong model formulations
• “Obsession” with p values: Statistical significance and geoscientific relevance
• Statistical tests: conditions for the application of modelling and hypothesis testing
• Dealing with suspected outliers
• Logistic vs. linear regression
• Number of experimental treatments vs. power of tests. Number of replicates required for predictive modelling
• Use and misuse of correlation analyses
• Investigating and dealing with interactions between factors or predictors

B. Selected advanced issues in geoscientific studies
The following topics will be addressed:
• Validation or cross-validation instead of a sole focus on calibration.
• Model types
• Use of contrasts instead of multiple mean testing
• Different experimental designs – completely randomized (CRD), randomized complete block (RCBD), Latin square (LSD), balanced incomplete bock (BIBD), and split plot design
• RCBD with one treatment factor: analysis of variance and mixed effects model
• Blocked observational study with one predictor: multiple linear regression and mixed effects model
• CRD, RCBD, LSD, split plot design and BIBD: advantages, disadvantages, equations and modelling
• Analysing nested (multi-stratum) designs

Examples will be shown using the programming languages R and SAS

Ever since the development of the first cosmogenic nuclide method has been developed in the 40s (radiocarbon dating) a new discipline for Earth surface investigations has been created. Today, we have a variety of isotopes (10Be, 26Al, 36Cl, 21Ne, 14C) at our disposal to answer prevailing questions in geomorphology, structural geology, glaciology, pedology, archeology or anthropology. Cosmogenic nuclides have been used to directly determine the timing of events and rates of change in the Earth’s surface by measuring their production in rocks and sediments, and soils. The technique has been widely adopted by the geomorphic community because it can be used on a wide range of landforms and across a broad spectrum of time and space scales. However, their application is also relevant for different Earth Science communities interested in quantifying the long- and short-term surface evolution. Indeed, the application of cosmogenic nuclides have been successfully applied to determine erosion/ denudation rates; exposure dating of geomorphic surfaces; burial events; rates of uplift; soil dynamics; and palaeo-altimetric changes.

The short course offers a brief outline of the theory and application to Earth’s surface in different morpho-tectonic settings. The aim is to provide background information and basic knowledge of how to apply such a method.