Project Loess Paleosol Map of Lower Austria

Bild Lössprofil Stranzendorf

Lower Austrian soils on loess substrates have a high silt content and, although prone to erosion, are particularly well suited for viticulture.

Significant archaeological finds are repeatedly made in loess deposits, and they also reveal important climatological or environmental-historical information.

Picture: The LPS Stranzendorf with a mighty "tropical" paleosol.

 

Paleosols, on the other hand, originated from soil-forming processes during the warm periods and contain immanently important information about site and environmental conditions for science.

Some of the world's most significant loess paleosol sequences (LPS) are found in Lower Austria. Quaternary geological information is permanently stored in these profiles, allowing statements to be made about the historical landscape development of Lower Austria - and more broadly for Central Europe.

A large number of inquiries from domestic and foreign researchers concerning these "hard drives of nature" confirm the interest and international importance of these Lower Austrian type localities. In many cases these are the profiles of Willendorf, Stranzendorf (see picture), Krems and Stillfried.

All these sites have in common that they are repeatedly in the center of recent scientific publications on international, national and local level.

In this project of the Lower Austrian government the distribution of the different solution types of Lower Austria and their included paleosols will be presented in a digital map. The data will be stored in a geoinformation system and will be adapted for different uses and can be supplemented continuously.

 

Ass.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Robert Peticzka

Althanstraße 14 (UZA II)
1090 Wien
Room: 2A391

T: +43-1-4277-48670
M: +43-664-60277-48670
robert.peticzka@univie.ac.at

Mag. Regina Fleischanderl

Universitätsstraße 7 (NIG)
1010 Wien

fleiscr4@univie.ac.at


Department of Geography and Regional Research

https://geographie.univie.ac.at/en/ 
https://geographie.univie.ac.at/en/working-groups/geoecology/