Aarhus University Seal

Aarhus Cosmogenic Nuclides Group

Aarhus Cosmogenic Nuclides Group apply cosmogenic nuclides to quantify rates of geomorphic processes in cold, mountainous, and desert regions of the world—with an aim to understand how climate and tectonics drive the evolution of landscapes over thousands to millions of years.

We specialise in pairing cosmogenic nuclide analysis with computational modelling to resolve questions related to:

  • The history of ice sheets
  • Erosion processes under glaciers, in rivers, and on hillslopes
  • Desert landscapes.

Field sites include Scandinavia, Greenland, Svalbard, Nepalese Himalaya, arid central Australia, and Egypt's Eastern Desert.

Our laboratory has the capacity for full preparation of samples for cosmogenic nuclide measurement plus a wide range of sedimentological and geochemical analyses. Our computational toolbox includes purpose-built landscape evolution models and Markov-Chain Monte Carlo algorithms.

We work closely with the director of the AMS facility, Jesper Olsen, in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Aarhus University.

Views
Geoscience in Greenland

Key Publications

·         Andersen, JL, Egholm DL, Knudsen MF, Linge H, Jansen JD, Pedersen VK, Nielsen SB, Tikhomirov D, Olsen J, Fabel D, Xu S. Widespread erosion on high plateaus during recent glaciations in Scandinavia. Nature Communications 9, 830 (2018)

·         Knudsen MF, Egholm DL. Constraining Quaternary ice covers and erosion rates using cosmogenic 26Al/10Be nuclide concentrations. Quaternary Science Reviews 181, 65-75 (2018)

·         Struck M, Jansen JD, Fujioka T, Codilean AT, Fink D, Egholm DL, Fülöp R-H, Wilcken KM, Price DM, Kotevski S. Soil production and transport on postorogenic desert hillslopes quantified with 10Be and 26Al. Geological Society of America Bulletin 130, 1017-1040 (2018)

·         Egholm DL, Jansen JD, Brædstrup CF, Pedersen VK, Andersen JL, Ugelvig SV, Larsen NK, Knudsen MF. Formation of plateau landscapes on glaciated continental margins. Nature Geoscience 10, 592-597 (2017)

·         Strunk A, Knudsen MK, Egholm DL, Jansen JD, Levy LB, Jacobsen BH, Larsen NK. One million years of glaciation and denudation history in west GreenlandNature Communications 8, 14199 (2017)

·         Knudsen MF, Egholm DL, Jacobsen BH, Larsen NK, Jansen JD, Andersen JL, Linge HC. A multi-nuclide approach to constrain landscape evolution and past erosion rates in previously glaciated terrains. Quaternary Geochronology 30, 100-113 (2015)

·         Andersen JL, Egholm DL, Knudsen MF, Jansen JD, SB Nielsen. The periglacial engine of mountain erosion – Part 1: Rates of frost cracking and frost creepEarth Surface Dynamics 3, 447-462 (2015)

·         Egholm DL, Andersen JL, Knudsen MF, Jansen JD, SB Nielsen. The periglacial engine of mountain erosion – Part 2: Modelling large-scale landscape evolutionEarth Surface Dynamics 3, 463-482 (2015)

·         Knudsen MF, Egholm DL, Jacobsen BH, Larsen NK, Jansen JD, Andersen JL, Linge HC. A multi-nuclide approach to constrain landscape evolution and past erosion rates in previously glaciated terrainsQuaternary Geochronology 30, 100-113 (2015)