Departments included in the IK project

Department for Geodynamics and Sendimentology

Research at the Department of Geodynamics and Sedimentology focuses on academic research of ductile/brittle lithospheric and earth surface processes, particularly their application to petroleum geology and seismology in geodynamics, tectonics, sedimentology and stratigraphy. The Department of Geodynamics and Sedimentology consists of several interdisciplinary closely collaborating reasearch groups, e.g. the Sedimentary Geology Group and the Structural Processes Group Vienna. As an integrative technique, special emphasis is given on the quantitative modelling of geodynamic processes.

Department of Lithospheric Research

The Department of Lithospheric Research deals with all aspects of the geological investigation of Earth's lithosphere. Main fields of interest are the petrological, geochemical and geochronological characterisation of plutonic, ophiolitic, and metamorphic rock units of the continental and oceanic crust, respectively. Our investigations are thereby focused on the Alpine orogeny. Other topics of interest are the investigation of geochemical and metasomatic processes in the upper sub-continental mantle in South America and Siberia, the investigation of meteorite impacts on Earth and their influence on the environment, the investigation of meteorites, and the archaeometrical characterisation of artefacts.

Institute for Mineralogy and Crystallography 

Research at the Institute for Mineralogy and Crystallography is focused on the characterization of minerals and, in general, solid-state matter by analytical and optical methods, by X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy. Investigation of natural samples provides the relation to the neighbouring disciplines of the Earth sciences, whereas studies of synthetic materials like oxide ceramics and acentric crystals aim at industrial applications. Contacts to different research groups from physics and chemistry, and access to foreign experimental facilities promote a vivid scientific development.