Into the Deep - Tyrolean lakes as geological archives

Although being generally considered a country with low seismicity, several devastating earthquakes have occurred in Austria and its close vicinity in the past. Among these earthquakes, which have led to loss of life and severely impacted infrastructure, was the strongest known earthquake in the Alps in AD1348 (magnitude of ~7). Based on historical accounts (which only reach into the past about a thousand years) and instrumental measurements (that exist since roughly 120 years), it is impossible to estimate frequencies and hazard of large earthquakes in Austria. In the FWF Project P 30285 Carinthian Lakes as Paleo-seismographs we aim at a global process understanding of how lake sediments record earthquakes of different strength and in different lake systems all over the world. Earthquakes are generally archived as subaquatic mud-avalanches and sediment deformations in the deposits covering the lake floor. Amongst other places, we use these findings to reconstruct the earthquake history of southern Austria for the last ~15.000 years. Earthquakes are archived as subaquatic mud-avalanches and sediment deformations in the deposits covering the lake floor. In addition to earthquakes, floods climatic changes and anthropogenic influences leave their traces in the lake sediment. We can investigate the sedimentary archive with geophysical methods and sediment cores and date certain events precisely. The Austrian lakes therefore constitute an invaluable geological history book, of which we as geologists have only read a few paragraphs so far. The main goal of the WKP-project Into the deep Tyrolean lakes as geological archives is to give the general community especially so-called school-clusters (consisting of pupils from Kindergarten to an age of ~14) an understanding of how lake systems work from a geoscientific point of view. We focus on schools in the vicinity of well-known Tyrolean bathing lakes such as Plansee, Blindsee, Piburger See, Achensee and Hechtsee. We already gathered a vast amount of data from these lakes and could identify traces for various environmental events that happened in the recent past: in Hechtsee, for instance, the AD1755 Lisbon earthquake is archived, in Achensee we clearly see the onset of hydropower-usage, and in Piburger See, a rockfall 2700 years ago left its traces. Together with the project participants, we actively explore the lakes and learn to read the tracks that environmental impacts left in the sediments. We do so with a variety of different science communication activities: During excursions to the lakes, sedimentological principles will be taught in a playful manner Practical work on the lakes and the subsequent investigation of sediment cores aids the understanding of how scientific knowledge is gained We develop methods and materials to implement limnogeological topics in the regular school curriculum At the end of the project, the pupils will present their findings in a scientific conference at the university of Innsbruck and produce an exhibit To communicate our research findings and limnogeological topics to the community (i.e. local people, tourists and pupils) after the end of the project, we use the existing outdoor education network in Tyrol, which consists of more than 250 trained nature guides. We use the expertise of Natopia, a local institution with many years of experience in (natural) science communication, especially regarding schools and tourism.

The WKP project "Into the Deep - Tyrolean lakes as geological archives" is based on a FWF research project where we study diverse lake systems around the world to understand how earthquakes can be recorded in lake sediment sequences. We apply these findings to reconstruct the earthquake history in different parts of Austria for the last ~15,000 years, which contributes to a better assessment of earthquake hazards. Besides earthquakes, also floods, climatic changes or human activity leave their traces in the sedimentary archives on local (e.g. shoreline infrastructure, nutrient input from agriculture and wastewater) and global scales (e.g. Chernobyl nuclear disaster). The WKP project aimed to bring the concepts of lake systems and their sediment archives closer to a broader population, especially towards school clusters (consisting of kindergarten groups, primary school pupils and secondary school pupils). Schools located at the shore or in the catchment area of the Tyrolean lakes Plansee, Blindsee, Piburger See, Achensee and Hechtsee were involved in this project. This ensures a high interest and emotional connection of the participants with the study objects. The project participants actively explored the lakes and learned to read the natural and human traces in the mud sequences from the lake bottom. This was done through a variety of activities: Teacher training: introduction to the project and the sedimentology of alpine lakes School teaching: lake geological topics were examined from different points of view Excursions to the lakes: teaching sedimentological concepts in a playful form Practical work on the lakes: acquisition and analysis of sediment cores from the lake Conference at the University of Innsbruck: production of a (poster or oral) presentation or artistic contributions and presentation of the findings towards other pupils Media contributions: Several articles in the newspapers, blogs and on the radio to inform the public about the project goals and to invite them for open discussions Oral presentations in the municipalities: Communicating scientific findings from the FWF research project to the local audience. In addition, the students presented their project work to their families and other interested parties Workshop with nature guides: Training in the discipline of lake sedimentology for a sustainable communication of the new scientific knowledge This project enhanced the importance of Earth Sciences in school education and stimulated the awareness of natural heritage and the principles of the scientific method to better understand nature. The project also reached out to children and adults from societal groups who otherwise would have little to no contact with science.