Convener: Stuart Gilder (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
The polarity of the Earth's magnetic field has reversed itself several hundred times over the course of Earth's history. From the frequency of these polarity reversals, researchers conclude that there is a connection between the geodynamo and the dynamics of the Earth's mantle - however
these mechanisms are not yet well understood. This is where the DFG Priority Program DeepDyn, launched in 2023, comes in, with the aim of using
paleomagnetic data and mathematical simulations to reconstruct the dynamics in the core-mantle system over geological time periods in order to understand the polarity reversals of the Earth's
magnetic field. In this interdisciplinary project, paleomagnetists, geodynamo and mantle modeling experts, seismologists, materials scientists and
biologists are working together to investigate the effects of temperature changes at the boundary between the Earth's core and mantle over the last 100 million years. This is the first time that expertise from all relevant fields has been brought together: from biology, which is investigating whether fossil remains of magnetotactic
bacteria can help to reconstruct the magnetic field, to numerical modeling of the coupling of geodynamo and mantle, to seismology, which resolves structures at the core-mantle boundary as
accurately as possible for the modelers.
Plenary Lecture: Monday, 24.02.2025, Andreas Fichtner (Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
“REVEAL: Data-adaptive global full-waveform inversion”
Prof. Dr. Andreas Fichtner's research areas are seismology and wave physics. His interests and outstanding expertise include the development and application of methods for full seismic waveform inversion, resolution analysis in tomography, earthquake source inversion, seismic interferometry and inverse theory. He is the project initiator of “The Collaborative Seismic Earth Model” (ERC Grant), which combines seismic tomography with big data approaches, giving geoscientists the unique opportunity to pool and build on each other's results. In the future, this worldwide network will also make it possible to clarify whether mantle plumes have their origin in the deep earth. The high-resolution tomography of processes at the core-mantle boundary is of central interest to our priority program.
Convener: Rebecca Harrington (Ruhr-Universität Bochum), Claudia Finger (Fraunhofer IEG)
In many applications aimed at underground use for the green energy transition, activation of existing faults has been observed. Besides small (microseismic) events that can be correlated with industrial activities changing the stress state in the subsurface, there is a growing number of observations and modeling that show that aseismic motion can also be induced. Nevertheless, we are still far from identifying the combination of geologic conditions and stress and operational parameters for which seismicity occurs, or understanding the interactions and observations between seismic and aseismic motion. Current approaches that integrate a variety of geospatial data, novel analytical techniques, and modeling approaches provide a perspective for identifying the active processes that lead to unintended fault activation from subsurface use. Sessions will focus on research aimed at integrating high-resolution observations of induced seismic and aseismic displacements and their interactions in time and space, with a particular emphasis on combined data and integrated multiphysics modeling from the broad spectrum of geo-energy applications, including geothermal energy exploitation, underground storage, carbon capture and storage (CCS), mining, reservoir impoundment for hydropower, and similar activities.
Plenary Lecture: Tuesday, 25.02.2025, Bettina Goertz-Allmann (NORSA, Norway) ”Lessons learned from microseismic monitoring of induced seismicity at megaton-scale CCS sites”
Bettina Goertz-Allmann is Senior Research Scientist for Induced Seismicity in the Applied Seismology Group at NORSAR. She received her PhD in 2008 from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, with a focus on the physics of earthquake sources. She then worked as a postdoc and senior assistant at the Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zurich before joining NORSAR in 2012. She has exceptional experience in analyzing microseismic data and in the study of earthquake sources, both natural and induced seismicity. Her main research interests are earthquake scaling relationships, source parameter estimation, and earthquake rupture imaging. Her current research focuses on analyzing induced microseismicity in geothermal and carbon sequestration and storage environments.
Convener: Jonathan Bedford (Ruhr-Universität Bochum), Peter LaFemina (AWI Bremen), Sabrina Metzger (GFZ Potsdam)
Tectonic geodesy primarily uses InSAR and GNSS measurements to investigate plate boundaries. There are several research groups in Germany that use these measurements for tectonic investigations on various spatial and temporal scales. The focus topic is particularly topical as the amount of InSAR data (especially from the European-funded Copernicus Sentinel satellite missions) has exploded in recent years. We are also now benefiting from the improved positioning accuracy of the European Galileo GNSS constellation, while the cost of tectonic-quality GNSS receiver technology has fallen dramatically in recent years, opening up many exciting opportunities to improve data quality and quantity. We look forward to papers examining the features of Earth's surface deformation from localized faults to plate level. We also expect contributions from scientists developing methods for data processing and exploring topics related to tectonic geodesy, such as geophysical fluid stress cycles and long-term isostatic movements.
Plenary Lecture: Wednesday, 26.02.2025, Enrico Serpelloni (University of Bologna and National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Italy) “Continental scale strain mapping with GNSS: hydrological signals and seismotectonic phenomena”
Prof. Dr. Enrico Serpelloni has exceptional experience with the full range of GNSS tectonic geodesy; he has deployed GNSS stations in the dense RING network of Italy, processed the data with the latest geodetic techniques and led the research on the geophysical processes explaining the observations. In recent years, Prof. Serpelloni has expanded the scope of data processing and manages a center that automatically processes data from over 3000 GNSS stations in the Euro-Mediterranean and African regions.
Conveners: Katrin Breede (Clausthal-Zellerfeld University), Matthias Bücker (Kiel University), Matthias Halisch (Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics,
Hanover), Tina Martin (Lund University)
Die induzierte Polarisation (IP) wurde nach ihrer kommerziellen Einführung in den 1950er Jahren vor allem für die mineralische Rohstoffexploration eingesetzt. Die frühen Anwendungen machten die Methode vor allem in der Bergbauindustrie unverzichtbar und ebneten den Weg für zahlreiche weitere geophysikalischen Untersuchungen im Explorationsbereich. In der jüngeren Vergangenheit hat sich die IP von einer rein explorativen Methode hin zu einer vielseitigen Technologie entwickelt, die sowohl in der Grundlagenforschung als auch in der prozess- und anwendungsbezogenen Forschung eine wichtige Rolle spielt. Diese Transformation wurde durch technologische Fortschritte und durch ein tieferes Verständnis der physikalischen Prozesse ermöglicht, die der IP zugrunde liegen. Insbesondere die Entwicklung von Spektraler IP (SIP) und die Integration von IP-Daten mit anderen geophysikalischen Methoden haben neue Perspektiven eröffnet. So findet IP heute Anwendung bei der Erforschung des geologischen Untergrunds und der Erfassung von Kontaminationen im Umweltbereich bis hin zur Überwachung von Prozessen in der Hydrologie und der Geotechnik, besonders für die Charakterisierung grundwasserführender Schichten und im Bereich des Klimaschutzes und der Klimaanpassung, so zum Beispiel zur Überwachung von Permafrostböden und zur Erkennung von Kohlenstoffspeicherungspotentialen. Sie schlägt dabei eine Brücke zwischen den physikalischen Eigenschaften des Untergrunds und der Modellierung geophysikalischer Prozesse. Mit der Integration neuer Technologien und Methoden, wie der 3D-Inversion und der Kombination von IP-Daten mit maschinellem Lernen, befindet sich die IP an der Schwelle zu einer neuen Ära.
Following its commercial introduction in the 1950s, induced polarization (IP) was primarily used for mineral exploration. The early applications made the method indispensable, especially in the mining industry, and paved the way for numerous other geophysical investigations in the exploration sector. In the recent past, IP has evolved from a purely exploratory method to a versatile technology that plays an important role in basic as well as in process- and application-oriented research. This transformation has been made possible by technological advances and a deeper understanding of the physical processes underlying IP. In particular, the development of spectral IP (SIP) and the integration of IP data with other geophysical methods have opened up new perspectives. Today, IP is used in the exploration of the geological subsurface and the detection of environmental contamination, as well as for monitoring processes in hydrology and geotechnics, especially for the characterization of groundwater-bearing layers and in the field of climate protection and adaptation, for example for monitoring permafrost soils and identifying carbon storage potential.
It builds a bridge between the physical properties of the subsurface and the modeling of geophysical processes. With the integration of new technologies and methods, such as 3D inversion and the combination of IP data with machine learning, IP is on the threshold of a new era.
Plenary Lecture: Donnerstag, 27.02.2025, Jana H. Börner (TU BA Freiberg) „Beyond Boundaries: Fortschritte bei der induzierten Polarisation in herausfordernden geophysikalischen Kontexten"
Dr. Jana H. Börner is a geophysicist and petrophysicist and was awarded the Early Career Scientist Award of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics in 2023 for her work on the physical properties of multiphase geosystems and their application in practice. She is particularly interested in the geophysical manifestations of physico-chemical interactions between solid, liquid and gaseous rock components under both ambient and reservoir conditions. Relevant applications include monitoring, exploration and imaging of e.g. geogenic carbon, carbon sequestration and storage, geothermal systems and volcanic terrain. Methodologically, her work focuses on electrical and electromagnetic techniques, laboratory experiments under environmental and reservoir conditions, petrophysical modeling, numerical simulation and inverse problems.