IAL-IPA 2025

Guilherme Bozetti, Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre, Université de Strasbourg, France

Alexis Nutz, CEREGE, Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, INRAE, Aix en Provence, France

Thomas Dodd, British Geological Survey, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Lake basins represent relatively small-sized sedimentary sinks with sedimentary fills that are typically heterogenous and reflect a diverse range of depositional settings and rapidly changing conditions represented by variable facies and stratigraphic packaging. Lacustrine successions record clues to understanding the physical and chemical processes involved in sedimentation, the dynamic responses to water (plus sediment) input, and local variability that relates to lake-basin development. Spatially, the preserved sediments and stratal relationships record the effects of changing rates of subsidence and erosion, a wide variety of sediment supply routes, and the controls of active faulting, folding, and dynamic topography. Studies that employ detailed sedimentary analysis and that focus on deciphering patterns in stratigraphy are essential to reconstruct the processes and conditions operating in lacustrine systems, especially when integrated with other proxies. This session invites submissions that highlight the significance of both clastic and carbonate sedimentology and stratigraphy in lacustrine systems from the ancient to the modern.

Nicolas Waldmann, Dr Strauss Department of Marine Geosciences, University of Haifa, Israel

Mike McGlue, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Kentucky, USA

Gabriela Zanor, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Guanajuato, Mexico

Karina Leticia Lecomte, Center for Earth Sciences Studies (CICTERRA), National University of Cordoba, Argentina

Paleolimnology and limnogeology rely on reconstructing past environmental and climatic conditions using lacustrine archives. Traditionally, sediment coring has provided high-resolution, continuous records, while outcrop studies have offered spatially extensive and stratigraphically integrated insights. Merging these two approaches enhances our ability to interpret past lake systems by combining the temporal precision of cores with the contextual framework of outcrop exposures. This session aims to gather scientists using innovative methodologies with case studies that integrate sediment coring and outcrop data in paleolimnological and limnogeological research. We aim to explore how the combined approach refines interpretations of depositional environments, improves chronological constraints, and reveals basin-wide processes such as lake-level fluctuations, sedimentary dynamics, biological indicators, and climate-driven changes. Advances in geochronology, sedimentology, and geochemical analysis are welcomed, with holistic studies that showcase their role in bridging the gap between core-derived records and outcrop interpretations.

Joep Storms, TU Delft, Nederland

Florin Zainescu, University of Bucarest, Romania

Alexis Nutz, CEREGE, Aix-Marseille University, France

Helena van der Vegt, Deltares, Nederland

Mathieu Schuster, Institut de Terre & Environment, CNRS, Strastbourg, France

This session welcomes all studies based on any modeling approaches which contribute to a better knowledge and understanding of continental hydro-systems, with a focus on (data-sparse) lakes. This session is driven by the curiosity to learn about all existing approaches, from analog experiments to numerical simulations, which help to model hydro-sedimentary processes in lakes, to reconstruct long-term stratigraphic architectures, to test the impact of various parameters on lakes (water quality and salinity, biodiversity and natural habitats, coastal erosion, nutrient or pollutant dispersal, …). This session indifferently concerns both ancient lakes from the geological record and recent to modern lakes, and promotes exploring the future of lakes.

Jennifer J. Scott, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Canada

R. Bernhart Owen, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong

Robin W. Renaut, University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Lakes in many regions are variably fed by hot springs and geothermal fluids, whether from the lake margins, the lake floor, or within the drainage basin. This is especially true for tectonic and volcanic lake basins. In other locations, particularly in closed basins in semi-arid regions (notably playas and saline pans) and karstic terrains, groundwater may be the primary source of inflow. In both cases, the influence of groundwater recharge may vary seasonally and with climate change. This session aims to explore how hydrothermal fluids and groundwaters affect lake hydrology, hydrochemistry, sedimentation (both physical and chemical), mineralogy and geochemistry, and the biota. A secondary objective is to establish criteria for recognizing their influence in the limnogeological record.

Tim Cohen, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Australia

Nicolas Waldmann, Dr Strauss Department of Marine Geosciences, University of Haifa, Israel

Alexander Francke, School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, University of Adelaide, Australia

Kristian Vasskog, Department of Geography, University of Bergen, Norway

The analysis of lake sediment archives provides valuable insights into past climate conditions, offering a rich resource for understanding the drivers of long-term climate variability and identifying extreme climate events. This session will focus on innovative methodologies for identifying climate extremes from lake archives, particularly through the use of multi-proxy data, high-resolution sediment cores, and advanced geochemical techniques. We will explore how changes in lake sediment composition, microfossil assemblages, stable isotopes, and elemental concentrations can be leveraged to reconstruct past climate extremes such as droughts, floods, and temperature anomalies. Additionally, we will highlight case studies that demonstrate how lake records can be used to assess the frequency, intensity, and duration of past extreme events. This session invites contributions from researchers working on lake sediment archives, climate reconstruction, and paleoclimate modeling, to foster discussion on the methods, challenges, and future directions of this emerging field.

Mathieu Schuster, Institut de Terre & Environnement, CNRS, Strasbourg, France

Michael McGlue, University of Kentucky, USA

Jenni Scott, Mount Royal University, Canada

Alexis Nutz, CEREGE, Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, INRAE, Aix en Provence, France

Leandro Domingos Luz, University of Minnesota, USA

Tumaini Kamulali, University of Arizona, USA

From deep-water long-lived lakes like Lake Tanganyika in the western East African Rift Valley (Neogene-Quaternary) to shallow rift lakes like those in France from the Paleogene, the sedimentary records of rift lakes can preserve 100s of thousands to even millions of years of evidence for changing climate and ecology. The long successions also inform us about tectonics, volcanism, and geomorphology as they relate to heat sources, erosion, sediment input, and lake-dam barriers due to volcanic flows. The dynamic balance between these factors ultimately determines lake chemistry, response to climate variability, authigenic and clastic facies compositions, (paleo)ecology, and stratigraphy. This session aims to explore the interplay between these major controls on extant rift lakes and ancient rift lake successions, with a focus on recognizing their variable influences and changing impacts through time.

Cecilia Andrea Benavente, Geology Department – Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina

Concepción Arenas-Abad, Stratigraphy, Department of Earth Sciences , University of Zaragoza, Spain

Sila Pla-Pueyo, Department of Didactics of Experimental Sciences – Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain

Lacustrine carbonates record the interplay of several biological, physical, and chemical factors acting at different time scales, embracing very different aspects, from the microbiota crucial role in autochthonous precipitation up to sediment delivery load to the paleolake. Such interactions make them a robust tool of reconstruction of ancient lake basins, particularly from deep-time geologic records. Recent advances include refining the understanding of the role of groundwater in carbonate-rich paleolakes precipitation and the standardization of carbonate-rich palustrine facies associated with lacustrine systems; also, the modelling of paleoclimate trends from geochemistry proxies from continental carbonates. Detailed characterization of some climate milestones is also possible through multiproxy approaches. We invite colleagues to share contributions about any aspects of ancient carbonate-rich lake basins such as sedimentology, mineralogy, geochemistry, paleontology, and their geodynamic context, from a variety of facies associations, including those formed in saline conditions. We encourage contributions focused on the obstacles encountered too, to bring interesting discussions on how to move forward in the discipline.