Benjamin Amann, Postdoc Fellow

My research activities aim to achieve a better understanding of the functioning of 'sediment sinks' systems and their evolution in a context of global change and anthropogenic pressure. These sedimentary sinks encompass various environments such as lakes, fjords, terrestrial wetlands (peat bogs), and coastal wetlands (salt marshes), all sharing the common characteristic of being natural archives or sentinel environments of global changes and witnesses to the evolution of human activities. I approach the study of these ecosystems across a wide range of time scales, combining short-term scales for process understanding (e.g., annual, seasonal, tidal monitoring) with longer-term Quaternary scales, with a significant focus on the Anthropocene. This multi-scale approach enables me to distinguish and quantify natural forcings from anthropogenic pressures on the functioning and evolution of environments and to attribute their causes.

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Drawing on methods from physical geography, my ambition is to address societal issues and ultimately provide a decision-making tool for the management of these sentinel environments: laissez-faire, preservation, rehabilitation. Specifically, geosciences (sedimentology, geomorphology, and (bio)geochemistry) are highlighted to enhance understanding of environmental functioning and the carbon cycle, in relation to the forcings shaping the evolution of these environments and their future.

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I carry out my research work in the Swiss and French Alps, in Europe (Sweden, Poland), in the Canadian Arctic, in Chilean Patagonia, as well as on the French Atlantic coast.

Keywords:

• Climate change

• Sediment transport

• Limno-bio-geology

• Hydro-geochemistry

• Paleoclimate research

• Carbon cycle