Publications
Late Pleistocene to Holocene event stratigraphy of Lake Hallstatt (Salzkammergut, Austria): revealed by the Hipercorig drilling system and borehole logging
A groundbreaking sediment core from Lake Hallstatt, Austria, reveals the first high-resolution Late Pleistocene to Holocene record of an intra-mountainous lake in the Eastern Alps. The Hipercorig drilling system enabled recovery of 51 meters of undisturbed sediments, surpassing previous limits and providing a continuous archive spanning over 2,300 years. This core exposes two major lithostratigraphic units: Unit 1 (Holocene) with instantaneous deposits indicating rapid environmental changes, and Unit 2 (Late Pleistocene), likely extending back to the Allerød interstadial. The study also links borehole logging data to core-seismic correlations, offering unprecedented insights into past climate, natural hazards, human-environment interactions, and prehistoric mining activities in this UNESCO World Heritage Site. The findings highlight Lake Hallstatt as a critical archive for understanding the region's rich cultural history, including one of the oldest documented salt-mining landscapes.
Hipercorig Hallstatt History (H3) reveals a high-resolution Late Pleistocene to Holocene sediment record at Lake Hallstatt (Salzkammergut, Austria)
A groundbreaking sediment core from Lake Hallstatt, Austria, reveals a high-resolution record spanning the Late Pleistocene to Holocene, offering unprecedented insights into the 7,000-year history of human salt mining and environmental changes in this UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Hipercorig platform enabled the recovery of two undisturbed cores (41m and 51m) from 122m water depth, revealing distinct lithostratigraphic units—Holocene sediments marked by laminated clays, mass-movement deposits, and turbidites, and Late Pleistocene layers characterized by thin-bedded silty clays with intermittent laminations. Multi-proxy analyses, including x-ray tomography and core logging, confirm the cores' representativeness and promise to elucidate early human settlement patterns, climatic shifts, and geological events in this Alpine cultural landscape.
Towards Governance or the Management of Cultural Landscapes
Effective governance of cultural landscapes, such as Austria's Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammergut World Heritage region, requires integrating natural and cultural heritage into regional development while addressing the complex interplay between stakeholders, including local inhabitants, visitors, businesses, farmers, and civil society. This study highlights the need for a balanced approach that considers both vertical (politics, administration) and horizontal (private sector, civil society) dimensions of governance to sustainably manage these landscapes. The research employs a qualitative analysis of regional planning cultures and legal frameworks, offering insights into how regions can harmonize heritage preservation with economic and social development.
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