28 March – 8 April 2011
The course was organized by Daniela Sauer and Peter Kühn. It was mainly a Commission 1.1
activity, but of course soil genetic and paleopedological topics played an important role in the
course that was attended by many PhD students and young scientists working on paleopedological
and geoarchaeological research questions. Financial support from the German Soil Science Society
and ERASMUS and private accommodation of several lecturers at the organizers’ homes enabled
us to offer the course to the participants – mainly PhD students and young scientists – at much
lower costs than in previous years. The Petrology Group of the University of Tübingen, hosted the
course in their well-equipped microscopy room. Thus, 22 PhD students and researchers from 11
countries (Colombia, Croatia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Serbia,
Switzerland, United Kingdom) could participate. During many practical exercises participants could
discuss also their own thin sections with the lecturers.
The first week included an introduction to sampling techniques and thin section preparation (Peter
Kühn, Tübingen), mineral identification (Thomas Wenzel, Tübingen), concepts, and terminology of
thin section analysis and description (Georges Stoops, Ghent, Belgium).
Two one-day field trips were guided by Karl Stahr and Christoph Prade (both Hohenheim
University) on Saturday, 2 April and Sunday 3 April, taking the group along a transect from the
Black Forest (granite and Lower Triassic sandstone) through the SW German Cuesta Landscape
(Middle and Upper Triassic, Lower and Middle Jurassic) to the Swabian Alb (Upper Jurassic
limestone escarpment). Typical soils on the diverse geological units and related landscapes were
presented along this transect, including the visit of a karstic cave. These interesting excursions took
place under unusually warm and sunny weather conditions for this time of the year.
The second week was devoted to the identification of heavy minerals (Birgit Terhorst, Würzburg)
and micromorphological characteristics of desert soils with calcareous and gypsic materials (Rosa-
Maria Poch, Lleida, Spain), of materials in archaeological and geoarchaeological context
(Christopher Miller, Tübingen), of paleosols and volcanic soils (Sergey Sedov, UNAM Mexico),
and of organic surface horizons (Otto Ehrmann, Creglingen and Daniela Sauer, Hohenheim).
During the second week Peter Kühn also gave a practical introduction of thin section preparation in
the Soil Science and Geoecology Laboratory of the University of Tübingen to small groups of 4-5
students per day. The farewell barbecue at the Institute of Geography (University of Tübingen) was
accompanied again by warm and dry weather. The course ended with a short exam and handing-
over of the certificates to the participants.
The high number of applicants for the course (less than half of them could be accepted) and
especially the fact that many students brought their own thin sections, looking for help in
interpreting them, clearly shows that there is further need for such intensive training courses.