Prof. Dr. Bernd Zolitschka

Research projects

• The Wadden Sea Archive of landscape evolution, climate change and settlement history: exploration – analysis – predictive modelling (WASA): funded 2016-2020 by the Volkswagen foundation - project link. Currently, funding for a dissertation is still active for a dissertation at the National Taiwan University (NTU)
• Suborbital-scale climate variability of the last three glacial/interglacial cycles – high-resolution environmental reconstructions from sediments of the Rodderberg crater (Germany): funded by DFG - project link 
• High-resolution multiproxy investigation of varved lake sediments from Holzmaar, Westeifel Volcanic Field: funded by internal budgets of the University of Bremen
• Untangling the diatom record at the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition: a paleolimnological study of the varved sediment record of Holzmaar, Germany: funded by Georg Forster-Research scholarship for postdoctoral scientists of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
• Environmental and climate reconstruction for Chilean Patagonia - Investigations of lacustrine sediment records from the Chile Chico Plateau and its surrounding area: funded by a doctoral scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
• Regional reconstruction of water availability to extend instrumental hydroclimatic records into the Late Holocene – a high-resolution investigation of natural archives dated in calendar-years from maar-lake sediments in the Newer Volcanic Province, south-eastern Australia (NVP): funded by DFG - project link

Publications with >200 citations

• Allen, J.R.M., U. Brandt, A. Brauer, H. Hubberten, B. Huntley, J. Keller, M. Kraml, J. Mingram, J.F.W. Negendank, N.R. Nowaczyk, H. Oberhänsli, W.A. Watts, S. Wulf, B. Zolitschka, 1999. Rapid last glacial environmental fluctuations: new evidence from southern Europe. Nature, 400: 740-743. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/23432
• Zolitschka, B., P. Francus, A.E.K. Ojala, A. Schimmelmann, 2015. Varves in lake sediments – a review. Quaternary Science Reviews 117: 1-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.03.019
• Zolitschka, B., K.-E. Behre & J. Schneider, 2003. Human and climatic impact on the environment as derived from colluvial, fluvial and lacustrine archives – Examples from the Bronze Age to the Migration period, Germany. Quaternary Science Reviews 22: 81-100. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(02)00182-8
• Haberzettl, T., Fey, M., Lücke, A., Maidana, N., Mayr, C., Ohlendorf, C., Schäbitz, F., Schleser, G.H., Wille, M. & B. Zolitschka, 2005. Climatically induced lake level changes during the last two millennia as reflected in sediments of Laguna Potrok Aike, southern Patagonia (Santa Cruz, Argentina). Journal of Paleolimnology 33: 283-302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10933-004-5331-z
• Ojala, A.E.K., Francus, P., Zolitschka, B., Besonen, M. and Lamoureux, S.F., 2012.The chronological characteristics of sedimentary varves – a review. Quaternary Science Reviews 43: 45-60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.04.006

Most recent publications (2022-2019)

• García, M.L., Birlo, S., Zolitschka, B., 2022. Paleoenvironmental changes of the last 16,000 years based on diatom and geochemical stratigraphies from the varved sediment of Holzmaar (West-Eifel Volcanic Field, Germany). Quaternary Science Reviews, 293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107691
• Lee, A.-S., Chao, W.-S., Liou, S.Y.H., Tiedemann, R., Zolitschka, B., Lembke-Jene, L., 2022. Quantifying calcium carbonate and organic carbon content in marine sediments from XRF-scanning spectra with a machine learning approach. Scientific Reports, 12: 20860. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-25377-x
• Lee, A.-S., Enters, D., Huang, J.-J.S., Ya Hsuan Liou, S., Zolitschka, B., 2022. An automatic sediment-facies classification approach using machine learning and feature engineering. Communications Earth & Environment, 3: 294. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00631-2
• Reiss, L., Stüwe, C., Einwögerer, T., Händel, M., Maier, A., Meng, S., Pasda, K., Simon, U., Zolitschka, B., Mayr, C., 2022. Evaluation of geochemical proxies and radiocarbon data from a loess record of the Upper Palaeolithic site Kammern-Grubgraben, Lower Austria. E&G Quaternary Science Journal 71: 23-43. https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-23-2022
• Zolitschka, B., Polgar, I.S., Behling, H., 2022. Created by the Monte Peron rock avalanche: Lago di Vedana (Dolomites, Italy) and its sediment record of landscape evolution after a mass wasting event. Landslides. 19: 297-311.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-021-01787-2
• Charqueño-Celis, F., Sigala, I., Zolitschka, B., Pérez, L., Mayr, C., Massaferro, J., 2021. Response of testate amoebae assemblages (Amoebozoa: Arcellinida) to recent volcanic events in Laguna Verde (southern Patagonia, Argentina). Journal of Paleolimnology 67: 115-129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-021-00226-5
• Lee, A.-S., Enters, D., Titschack, J., Zolitschka, B., 2021. Facies characterisation of sediments from the East Frisian Wadden Sea (Germany): new insights from down-core scanning techniques. The Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 100: e8. https://doi.org/10.1017/njg.2021.6
• Maier, A., Stojakowits, P., Mayr, C., Pfeifer, S., Preusser, F., Zolitschka, B., Anghelinu, M., Bobak, D., Duprat-Oualid, F., Einwögerer, T., Hambach, U., Händel, M., Kaminská, L., Kämpf, L., Łanczont, M., Lehmkuhl, F., Ludwig, P., Magyari, E., Mroczek, P., Nemergut, A., Nerudová, Z., Niţă, L., Polanská, M., Połtowicz-Bobak, M., Rius, D., Römer, W., Simon, U., Škrdla, P., Újvári, G., Veres, D., 2021. Cultural evolution and environmental change in Central Europe between 40 and 15 ka. Quaternary International 581-582: 225-240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.09.049
• Zolitschka, B., Lee, A.-S., Piraquive Bermúdez, D., Giesecke, T., 2021. Environmental variability at the margin of the South American Monsoon System recorded by a high-resolution sediment record from Lagoa Dourada (South Brazil). Quaternary Science Reviews 272: 107204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107204
• Irurzun, M., Palermo, P., Gogorza, C., Sinito, A., Aldana, M., Costanzo-Álvarez, V., Ohlendorf, C., Zolitschka, B. (2020). Testing lake-level reconstructions based on rock magnetic proxies for the sediment record of Laguna Cháltel (Patagonia, Argentina). Quaternary Research, 95: 113-128. https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2020.15
• Jenny, J-P., S. Koirala, I. Gregoy-Eaves, P. Francus, B. Ahrens, V. Brovkin, Antti E. K. Ojala, B. Zolitschka, J. Bader, N. Carvalhais, 2020. Reply to Li et al.: Human societies began to play a significant role in global sediment transfer 4,000 years ago. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117: 5571-5572. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1922723117
• Kinder, M., Tylmann, T., Rzeszewski, M., Zolitschka, B., 2020. Varves and mass-movement deposits record distinctly different sedimentation dynamics since the late glacial (Lake Szurpiły, northeastern Poland). Quaternary Research 9: 299-313. https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2019.61
• Mayr, C., Stojakowits, P., Lempe, B., Blaauw, M., Diersche, V., Grohganz, M., López Correa, M., Ohlendorf, C., Reimer, P., Zolitschka, B., 2020. Geochemistry, grain size and radiocarbon ages of MIS 3 sediment record from Nesseltalgraben, Germany. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.914109
• Safaierad, R., Mohtadi, M., Zolitschka, B., Yokoyama, Y., Vogt, C., Schefuß, E., 2020. Elevated dust depositions in West Asia linked to ocean-atmosphere shifts during North Atlantic cold events. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 117: 18272-18277. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2004071117
• Tylmann, W., Zolitschka, B., (eds.) 2020. Annually Laminated Lake Sediments. MDPI Books, 130 pp. https://doi.org/10.3390/books978-3-03928-787-1
• Tylmann, W., Zolitschka, B., 2020. Annually Laminated Lake Sediments – Recent Progress. Quaternary 3(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.3390/quat3010005
• Zolitschka, B., 2020. Seesedimente als Umwelt- und Klimaarchive. In: H. Gebhardt, R. Glaser, U. Radtke, P. Reuber, A. Vött (Hrsg.), Geographie – Physische Geographie und Humangeographie, 3. Aufl., Springer Nature, Berlin; 307-308.
• Zolitschka, B., 2020. Eisstauseen und Warven. In: Ehlers, J., Das Eiszeitalter (2. Aufl.), 137-141.
• Bulian, F., Enters, D., Schlütz, F., Scheder, J., Blume, K., Zolitschka, B., Bittmann, F., 2019. Multi-proxy reconstruction of Holocene paleoenvironments from a sediment core from the Wadden Sea near Norderney, East Frisia, Germany. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 225: 106251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2019.106251
• Croudace, I.W., Löwemark, L., Tjallingii, R., Zolitschka, B., 2019. High resolution XRF core scanners: a key tool for the environmental and palaeoclimate sciences. Quaternary International 514: 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2019.05.038
• Croudace, I.W., Löwemark, L., Tjallingii, R., Zolitschka, B., 2019. Current perspectives on the capabilities of high resolution XRF core scanners. Quaternary International 514: 5-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2019.04.002
• Jenny, J-P., S. Koirala, I. Gregoy-Eaves, P. Francus, C. Niemann, B. Ahrens, M. Jung, V. Brovkin, A. Baud, Antti E. K. Ojala, A. Normandeau, B. Zolitschka, N. Carvalhais, 2019. Human and climate global-scale imprint on sediment transfer during the Holocene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116: 22972-22976. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1908179116
• Kinder, M., Tylmann, W., Bubak, I., Fiłoc, M., Gąsiorowski, M., Kupryjanowicz, M., Mayr, C., Sauer, L., Voellering, U., Zolitschka, B., 2019. Human impact during the past 8,200 years: multi-proxy record of annually laminated sediments from Lake Szurpiły, northeastern Poland. Journal of Paleolimnology 61: 419-435. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-019-00068-2
• Mayr, C., Smith, R.E., Massaferro, J., Dubois, N., García, M.L., Lücke, A., Maidana, N.I., Meier, W.J.-H., Wissel, H., Zolitschka, B., 2019. Historic eruptions of Lautaro volcano and their environmental impact as detected in lake sediments from southern Argentina. Journal of Paleolimnology 62: 205-221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-019-00088-y
• Mayr, C., Stojakowits, P., Lempe, B., Blaauw, M., Diersche, V., Grohganz, M., López Correa, M., Ohlendorf, C., Reimer, P., Zolitschka, B., 2019. High-resolution geochemical record of environmental changes during MIS 3 from the northern Alps (Nesseltalgraben, Germany). Quaternary Science Reviews 218: 122-136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.06.013
• Palermo, P., Irurzun, M.A., Gogorza, C., Sinito, A.M., Ohlendorf, C., Zolitschka, B., 2019. Rock-magnetic and paleomagnetic studies on late-Holocene sediments from Laguna Cháltel (Patagonia, Argentina). Journal of South American Earth Sciences 90: 204-215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2018.11.028
• Smith, R.E., Smith, V., Fontijn, K., Gebhardt, C., Wastegard, S., Zolitschka, B., Ohlendorf, C., Stern, C., Mayr, C., 2019. Refining the late Quaternary tephrochronology for southern South America using the Laguna Potrok Aike sedimentary record. Quaternary Science Reviews 218: 137-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.06.001
• Zolitschka, B., Fey, M., Janssen, S., Maidana, N.I., Mayr, C., Wulf, S., Haberzettl, T., Corbella, H., Lücke, A., Ohlendorf, C., Schäbitz, F., 2019. Southern Hemispheric Westerlies control sedimentary processes of Laguna Azul (south-eastern Patagonia, Argentina). The Holocene 29: 403-420. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683618816446

Dissertations

(year of graduation provided in brackets)

• Baier, Janina (2002)
• Baumgarten, Henrike (2015)
• Birlo, Stella (ongoing)
• Bluszcz, Philipp (2008)
• Enters, Dirk (2006)
• Franco-Mora, Carolina (ongoing)
• Haberzettl, Torsten (2006)
• Hahn, Annette (2012)
• Kastner, Stephanie (2010)
• Kliem, Pierre (2019)
• Lee, An-Sheng (2022)
• Lüder, Britta (2007)
• Neveceral, Rostislav (2008)
• Profe, Jörn (2018)
• Schmidt, Hannes (2013)

Academic self-government

• Chair of the Academic Planning Committee in Geography (since 2021)
• Coordinator of the international M.Sc. program "Physical Geography: Environmental History" (2015-2021)
• Dean of Faculty 08 (2013-2017)
• Vice-Dean of Faculty 08 (2009-2013)
• Chair of the Doctoral Committee Dr. rer. nat. at Faculty 8 (2003-2022)
• Director of the Institute of Geography (2001-2009)
• Member of the Department Executive Committee of Faculty 08 (2001-2003)
• Chair of the Academic Planning Committee in Geography (2001-2009)

Memberships

• American Geophysical Union (AGU)
• Arbeitskreis Geoarchäologie
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geomorphologie (AK Geomorphologie)
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Polarforschung (DGP)
• Deutsche Quartärvereinigung (DEUQUA)
• Deutscher Hochschulverband (DHV)
• European Geosciences Union (EGU)
• Geographische Gesellschaft Bremen
• Gesellschaft für Erdkunde, Berlin (GFE)
• International Association of Limnogeology (IAL)
• International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS)
• Verband der Geographen an Deutschen Hochschulen (VGDH)

Curriculum Vitae

• since 2000: Professor of Physical Geography with a focus on geomorphology and polar research at the University of Bremen
• 1997: Habilitation (Dr. rer. nat. habil.) at the University of Potsdam on „Paleoclimatic significance of laminated lake sediments“
• 1994–2000: Senior scientist at the German GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam
• 1991–1992: Visiting Professor at the Climate Systems Research Center, Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, USA
• 1990–1994: Postdoctoral scientist at the University of Trier
• 1990: Dissertation (Dr. rer. nat.) at the University of Trier on "Late-Quaternary annually laminated sediments from selected Eifel maar lakes"
• 1986: Diploma in Applied Physical Geography with minors in geology, soil sciences and geobotany at the University of Trier