Prof. Dr. Heinrich Bahlburg
(senior professor)

Institute of Geology and Palaeontology – Sedimentary Geology
University of Münster
Corrensstr. 24
D-48149 Münster
Germany

bahlbur@uni-muenster.de
phone: +49 251 83-33935
fax: +49 251 83-36108

  • Research Foci

    • Tsunami und Tsunamiablagerungen
    • Liefergebiets- und Terraneanalyse
    • Plattentektonische und klimatische Steuerungsfaktoren der Entwicklung von Sedimentbecken

  • CV

    Academic Education

    Habilitation, Fachbereich Bergbau und Geowissenschaften, TU Berlin
    Promotion, Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie, TU Berlin
    Diplom, Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut, Universität Hamburg

    Positions

    Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie, WWU Münster
    Akademischer Rat und Kustos, Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut, Universität Heidelberg
    PostDoc, Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA
    Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie, TU Berlin

    Honors

    Forschungsstipendium – Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

    Appointments

    Ruf, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
    Ruf, Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie, WWU Münster
    University of Münster – accepted

  • Projects

    • EuroCrust – The evolution of the European Crust – U-Pb, Pb, Hf, and O isotope systematics of detrital zircon, rutile and K-feldspar from the sediments of major European rivers ( – )
      Individual Granted Project: DFG - Individual Grants Programme | Project Number: BA 1011/47-1
    • Rift systems at continental margins: A case study of facies evolution and provenance of the sedimentary-volcanic facies evolution of the Permotriassic Mitu Group (Central Andes, Peru) ( – )
      Individual Granted Project: DFG - Individual Grants Programme | Project Number: BA 1011/45-1
    • SPP 527 SP - Provenance of the Neogene to Holocene sediments drilled by IODP Expedition 341 in the Gulf of Alaska. A single grain geochemical and geochronological study of the glacially influenced denudation history of the evolving St. Elias Orogen using heavy minerals ( – )
      Subproject in DFG-Joint Project Hosted outside the University of Münster: DFG - Priority Programme | Project Number: BA 1011/43-2
    • SPP 527 Subprojekt - Provenance of the Neogene to Holocene sediments drilled by IODP Expedition 341 in the Gulf of Alaska. A single grain geochemical and geochronological study of the glacially influenced denudation history of the evolving St. Elias Orogen using heavy minerals ( – )
      Subproject in DFG-Joint Project Hosted outside the University of Münster: DFG - Priority Programme | Project Number: BA 1011/43-1
    • Sedimentological post-tsunami survey of the deposits formed by the September 16, 2015 Illapel tsunami in central Chile ( – )
      Individual Granted Project: DFG - Individual Grants Programme | Project Number: BA 1011/46-1
    • The onshore tsunami record in southern Chile - historical and beyond: Sedimentology, geochemistry, stratigraphy and regional correlation ( – )
      Individual Granted Project: DFG - Individual Grants Programme | Project Number: BA 1011/41-1
    • Sedimentology of coastal and lagoon deposits in the Seychelles islands – evidence of the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami and other high energy wave events ( – )
      Individual Granted Project: DFG - Individual Grants Programme | Project Number: BA 1011/38-1
    • Sedimentologie der Sedimente des Chile-Tsunami vom 27. Februar 2010. Analyse und Vergleich mit ähnlichen Ablagerungen der 2004 Sumatra, 2006 Java und anderer rezenter Tsunami ( – )
      Individual Granted Project: DFG - Individual Grants Programme | Project Number: BA 1011/37-1
    • SPP 1006 - Subproject: The Archean to Paleoproterozoic transition as recovered in the FAR-DEEP cores: LA ICP-MS U-Pb geochronology of detrital zircons and accompanying provenance analysis of siliciclastic sedimentary rocks ( – )
      Subproject in DFG-Joint Project Hosted outside the University of Münster: DFG - Priority Programme | Project Number: BA 1011/35-2
    • SPP 1006 - Subproject: The Archean to Paleoproterozoic transition as recovered in the FAR DEEP cores: LA-ICP-MS U-Pb geochronology of detrital zircons and accompanying provenance analysis of siliciclastic sedimentary rocks ( – )
      Subproject in DFG-Joint Project Hosted outside the University of Münster: DFG - Priority Programme | Project Number: BA 101/35-1
    • The Late Tertiary-Quaternary onshore tsunami record of northern Chile and southern Peru: towards the recognition of diagnostic features of onshore tsunami deposits ( – )
      Individual Granted Project: DFG - Individual Grants Programme | Project Number: BA 1011 / 32 - 1
    • The geodynamic evolution of the early Paleozoic Gondwana margin in southern Peru and northern Bolivia – the provenance record of the Ordovician and Devonian siliciclastic strata ( – )
      Individual Granted Project: DFG - Individual Grants Programme | Project Number: BA 1011/28-4
    • Sedimentological analysis of the deposits of the 17.07.2006 Java tsunami: hydrodynamical parameters of run-up and backflow in comparison to the 2004 Sumatra tsunami ( – )
      Individual Granted Project: DFG - Individual Grants Programme | Project Number: BA1011/33-1
    • Numerical simulation of generation, propagation and landfall of impact-related tsunami caused by the KT-boundary meteorite impact at Chicxulub, Yucatán, Mexico ( – )
      Individual Granted Project: DFG - Individual Grants Programme | Project Number: BA 1011/21
    • Geodynamic evolution of the Early Paleozoic Gondwana margin in southern Peru and northern Bolivia – sedimentary facies and provenance analysis of the Ordovician basin in Cordillera Oriental and Sierras Subandinas ( – )
      Individual Granted Project: DFG - Individual Grants Programme | Project Number: BA 1011/28-4

  • Publications

    • , , , and . . “The Hf and O isotope record of long-lasting accretionary orogens: The example of the Proterozoic and Paleozoic-Triassic central South America.” Earth-Science Reviews, № 262: 1–21. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2025.105068.
    • , , , , , and . “Sedimentology, geochronology and provenance of the late Permian-Triassic Mitu Group in Peru – The evolution of continental facies along a transform margin.” Basin Research, № 36 e12864. doi: 10.1111/bre.12864.
    • . . “Reply to Comments on Bahlburg (2021) A Silurian-Devonian active margin in the proto-Andes – new data on an old conundrum.” International Geology Review, № 2022: 1–2. doi: 10.1080/00206814.2022.2051087.
    • , , , , and . “The European continental crust through detrital zircons from modern rivers: testing representativity of detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology.” Earth-Science Reviews, № 232: 104–145. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.104145.
    • . . “A Silurian-Devonian active margin in the proto-Andes – New data on an old conundrum.” International Geology Review, № 2022 doi: 10.1080/00206814.2021.2012719.
    • , and . . “The provenance signal of climate-tectonic interactions in the evolving St. Elias orogen – Framework mineral analysis and pyroxene and epidote single grain geochemistry of sediments from IODP 341 sites U1417 and U1418.” International Journal of Earth Sciences, № 110: 1477–1499. doi: 10.1007/s00531-021-02025-9.
    • , , and . . “Post-depositional alteration of onshore tsunami deposits – implications for the reconstruction of past events.” Earth-Science Reviews, № 202: 1–15. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.103068.
    • , , , , , and . . “The missing link of Rodinia break up in western South America: A petrographical, geochemical, and zircon Pb-Hf isotope study of the volcanosedimentary Chilla beds (Altiplano, Bolivia).” Geosphere, № 16 (2): 1–27.
    • , , , et al. . “Comparability of heavy mineral data – The first interlaboratory round robin test.” Earth-Science Reviews, № 211: 103210. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103210.
    • , , , et al. . “Provenance of exotic Ordovician and Devonian sedimentary rock units from the Rhenish Massif (Central European Variscides, Germany).” Tectonophysics, № 755: 127–159. doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2018.10.029.
    • , , and . “The September 16, 2015 Illapel tsunami, Chile - Sedimentology of tsunami deposits at the beaches of La Serena and Coquimbo.” Marine Geology, № 396 (null): 43–53. doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2016.12.011.
    • , , , , and . “Provenance of the Surveyor Fan and Precursor Sediments in the Gulf of Alaska—Implications of a Combined U-Pb, (U-Th)/He, Hf, and Rare Earth Element Study of Detrital Zircons.” Journal of Geology, № 126: 577–600. doi: 10.1086/699740.
    • , , and . . “Climate-tectonic interactions in the St. Elias orogen: implications from a single grain heavy mineral provenance analysis of Surveyor Fan sediments, Gulf of Alaska.” Sedimentary Geology, № 372: 173–192. doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2018.05.007.
    • , , , et al. . “Multi-proxy analysis of tsunami deposits – the Tirúa, Chile, example.” Geosphere, № 14 (3): 1067–1086. doi: 10.1130/GES01528.1.
    • , , and . . “New geochemical results indicate a non-alpine provenance for the Alpine Spectrum (epidote, garnet, hornblende) in Quaternary upper Rhine sediments.” Sedimentary Geology, № 375: 134–144. doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2018.02.010.
    • , , , and . “Microtextural analysis of quartz grains of tsunami and non-tsunami deposits – A case study from Tirúa (Chile).” Sedimentary Geology, № 343 (null): 72–84. doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2016.08.001.
    • , and . “Provenance from zircon U-Pb age distributions in crustally contaminated granitoids.” Sedimentary Geology, № 336: 161–170. doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2015.08.006.
    • , , and . “The ages and tectonic setting of the Faja Eruptiva de la Puna Oriental, Ordovician, NW Argentina.” Lithos, № 256-257: 41–54. doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2016.03.018.
    • , , and . “Sedimentology of Coastal Deposits in the Seychelles Islands—Evidence of the Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004.” Pure and Applied Geophysics, № 172 (null): 641–656. doi: 10.1007/s00024-014-0990-9.
    • , , , et al. . “0.3 byr of drainage stability along the palaeozoic palaeo-pacific gondwana margin; a detrital zircon study.” Journal of the Geological Society, № 172 (2): 186–200. doi: 10.1144/jgs2014-065.
    • , , , and . “Reconstructing the tsunami record in Tirúa, Central Chile beyond the historical record with quartz-based SAR-OSL.” Quaternary Geochronology, № 30 (null): 299–305. doi: 10.1016/j.quageo.2015.05.020.
    • , and . “Styles of early diagenesis and the preservation potential of onshore tsunami deposits-A re-survey of Isla Mocha, Central Chile, 2 years after the February 27, 2010, Maule tsunami.” Sedimentary Geology, № 326 (null): 33–44. doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2015.06.009.
    • , , , , , and . “Multi-method provenance model for early Paleozoic sedimentary basins of southern Peru and northern Bolivia (13°-18°S).” Journal of South American Earth Sciences, № 64 (null): 94–115. doi: 10.1016/j.jsames.2015.08.013.
    • , , , et al. . “Mid-Pleistocene climate transition drives net mass loss from rapidly uplifting St. Elias Mountains, Alaska.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, № 112 (49): 15042–15047. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1512549112.
    • , , , et al. . “Southern Alaska Margin.” Proceedings of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, № 341 doi: 10.2204/iodp.proc.341.2014.
    • , , and . “Pliocene mass failure deposits mistaken as submarine tsunami backwash sediments - An example from Hornitos, northern Chile.” Sedimentary Geology, № 305 (null): 69–82. doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2014.03.003.
    • , , , , and . “Origin and age of ultramafic rocks and gabbros in the southern Puna of Argentina: An alleged Ordovician suture revisited.” International Journal of Earth Sciences, № 103 (4): 1023–1036. doi: 10.1007/s00531-014-1020-y.
    • , , , and . “Dating Palaeoproterozoic glacial deposits of the Fennoscandian Shield using detrital zircons from the Kola Peninsula, Russia.” Precambrian Research, № 246 (null): 281–295. doi: 10.1016/j.precamres.2014.03.014.
    • , and . . “Provenance of Pleistocene Rhine River Middle Terrace sands between the Swiss-German border and Cologne based on U-Pb detrital zircon ages.” International Journal of Earth Sciences, № 102 (3): 917–932. doi: 10.1007/s00531-012-0842-8.
    • , , , , , and . . “Historical tsunami deposits in Peru: Sedimentology, inverse modeling and optically stimulated luminescence dating.” Quaternary International, № 2013 (305): 31–44. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2013.02.010.
    • , , , and . “Preservation potential of tsunami deposits on arid siliciclastic coasts.” Earth-Science Reviews, № 126 (null): 58–73. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.07.009.
    • , , and . . “Sedimentology of tsunami inflow and backflow deposits: key differences revealed in a modern example.” Sedimentology, № 59 (4): 1063–1086. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2011.01295.x.
    • , and . Grundlagen der Geologie. 4. erweiterte und überarbeitete Auflage Heidelberg / Berlin: Springer Spektrum.
    • , , , , , and . . “The U-Pb and Hf isotope evidence of detrital zircons of the Ordovician Ollantaytambo Formation, southern Peru, and the Ordovician provenance and paleogeography of southern Peru and northern Bolivia.” Journal of South American Earth Sciences, № 32 (3): 196–209. doi: 10.1016/j.jsames.2011.07.002.
    • . . “Mantle-controlled mountains.” Nature Geoscience, № 4: 280–282.
    • , , and . . “A quasi-experimental setting of boulder transport by the 2010 Chile tsunami (Bucalemu, Central Chile).” Marine Geology, № 289: 72–85. doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2011.09.007.
    • , , , , and . . “Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) graptolite faunas of the Sandia Region, southern Peru.” Geological Journal, № 45 (4): 397–411.
    • , , and . . “Comment on "Sedimentary features of tsunami backwash deposits in a shallow marine Miocene setting, Mejillones Peninsula, northern Chile" by G. Cantalamessa and C. Di Celma [Sedimentary Geology 178 (2005) 259-273].” Sedimentary Geology, № 228 (1-2): 77–80. doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2010.03.006.
    • , , , , and . . “The TsuSedMod inversion model applied to the deposits of the 2004 Sumatra and 2006 Java tsunami and implications for estimating flow parameters of palaeo-tsunami.” Sedimentary Geology, № 224 (1-4): 29–37. doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2009.12.005.
    • , , , et al. . “Geodynamic evolution of the early Paleozoic Western Gondwana margin 14°-17°S reflected by the detritus of the Devonian and Ordovician basins of southern Peru and northern Bolivia.” Gondwana Research, № 18: 370–384. doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2010.02.002.
    • , , and . . “Low energy sedimentary infill of the Chicxulub crater during the impact to post-impact transition.” Earth and Planetary Science Letters, № 295: 170–176. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2010.03.037.
    • , , and . “Plate tectonic significance of middle Cambrian and Ordovician siliciclastic rocks of the Bavarian Facies, Armorican Terrane Assemblage, Germany – U-Pb and Hf isotope evidence of detrital zircons.” Gondwana Research, № 17: 223–235. doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2009.11.007.
    • , , , , , and . . “Timing of accretion and crustal recycling at accretionary orogens: Insights learned from the western margin of South America.” Earth-Science Reviews, № 97: 227–253. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2009.10.006.
    • , , and . . “The role of porosity in discriminating between tsunami and hurricane emplacement of boulders - A case study from the Lesser Antilles, southern Caribbean.” Earth and Planetary Science Letters, № 268 (3-4): 384–396. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.01.030.
    • , , and . . “The transition from passive to active margin sedimentation in the Cantabrian Mountains, Northern Spain: Devonian or Carboniferous?” Tectonophysics, № 461: 414–427. doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2008.06.022.
    • , and . “Provenance of Late Palaeozoic sediments of the Patagonian palaeo-Pacific margin (southernmost Chile and Argentina).” International Journal of Earth Sciences, № 97: 71–88. doi: 10.1007/s00531-006-0158-7.
    • , and . . Grundlagen der Geologie. 3. überarbeitete Auflage Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.
    • , , , and . . “Flexural to broken foreland basin evolution as a result of Variscan collisional events in northwestern Spain.” in The 4D Framework of Continental Crust, Vol. 200 of Geological Society of America Memoir, edited by RD Jr Hatcher, MP Carlson, JH McBride and Catalán J R Martínez. Boulder, CO: Geological Society of America. doi: 10.1130/2007.1200(25).
    • , and . . “Sedimentology and environmental significance of the Cryogenian successions of the Yangtze platform, South China block.” Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, № 254: 100–122. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.03.043.
    • , and . . “Sedimentology of the December 26, 2004, Sumatra tsunami deposits in eastern India (Tamil Nadu) and Kenya.” International Journal of Earth Sciences, № 96: 1195–1209. doi: 10.1007/s00531-006-0148-9.
    • , and . . “A note on the preservation of offshore tsunami deposits.” Journal of Sedimentary Research, № 76: 1267–1273. doi: 10.2110/jsr.2006.110.
    • , and . . “The Coast of Kenya Field Survey after the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.” Earthquake Spectra, № 22: S235–S240.
    • , , , and . . “Sedimentology and facies analysis of the Ordovician San José and Sandia Formations in the Sandia region, Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru.” Boletin de la Sociedad Geologica del Peru, № 101: 121–138.
    • , , and . . “Evidence of Early to Middle Ordovician arc volcanism in southern Peru, Ollantaytambo Formation and Umachiri beds.” Journal of South American Earth Sciences, № 22: 52–65. doi: 10.1016/j.jsames.2006.09.001.
    • , , and . . “Numerical modeling of generation, propagation and run-up of tsunamis caused by oceanic impacts.” Geophysical Journal International, № 167: 77–88. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.02889.x.
    • , , , and . “Provenance of Late Palaeozoic metasediments of the SW South American Gondwana margin from combined U-Pb ages and Hf isotope compositions of single detrital zircons.” Journal of the Geological Society, London, № 163: 983–995.
    • , , , , and . . “Crustal evolution along the Early Ordovician proto-Andean margin of Gondwana: Trace element and isotope evidence from the Complejo Igneo Pocitos (northwest Argentina).” Journal of Geology, № 112 (5): 503–520. doi: 10.1086/422663.
    • , , , and . . “Geochemical climate proxies applied to the Neoproterozoic glacial succession on the Yangtze Platform, South China.” in The extreme Proterozoic: Geology, Geochemistry and Climate, Vol. 146 of American Geophysical Union Monograph Series, edited by Jenkins G. et al.. Washington, D.C.: American Geophysical Union.
    • , and . . Grundlagen der Geologie. 2. überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.
    • , , , , , and . “The early Palaeozoic break-up of northern Gondwana: Sedimentology, physical volcanology and geochemistry of a submarine volcanic complex in the Bavarian facies association, Saxothuringian basin, Germany.” Gondwana Research, № 6 (4): 839–858.
    • , and . “Provenance analysis and tectonic setting of the Ordovician clastic deposits in the southern Puna Basin, NW Argentina.” Sedimentology, № 50 (6): 1079–1104.
    • , and . “Cathodoluminescence spectra of detrital quartz as provenance indicators for Paleozoic metasediments in southern Andean Patagonia.” Journal of South American Earth Sciences, № 16 (1): 15–26. doi: 10.1016/S0895-9811(03)00016-6.
    • , and . “Active or passive continental margin? Geochemical and Nd isotope constraints of metasediments in the backstop of a pre-Andean accretionary wedge in southernmost Chile (46°30′-48°30′S).” in Tracing tectonic deformation using the sedimentary record, Vol. 208 of Geological Society Special Publication, edited by McCann Timothy. doi: 10.1144/GSL.SP.2003.208.01.12.
    • , , , , , and . “The early palaeozoic break-up of northern Gondwana, new palaeomagnetic and geochronological data from the Saxothuringian Basin, Germany.” International Journal of Earth Sciences, № 91 (5): 838–849. doi: 10.1007/s00531-002-0261-3.
    • , and . “Puncoviscana Formation of northwestern and central Argentina: Passive margin or foreland basin deposit?” in Laurentia-Gondwana connections before Pangea, Vol. 336 of Special Paper of the Geological Society of America, edited by Ramos Victor A., Keppie and J Duncan. doi: 10.1130/0-8137-2336-1.139.
    • , and . . Grundlagen der Geologie Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke Verlag.
    • . “The geochemistry and provenance of Ordovician turbidites in the Argentine Puna.” in The Proto-Andean Margin of Gondwana, Vol. 142 of Geological Society Special Publication, edited by Robert J Pankhurst and Carlos W Rapela. doi: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1998.142.01.07.
    • , and . “Geodynamic evolution and tectonostratigraphic terranes of northwestern Argentina and northern Chile.” Geological Society of America Bulletin, № 109 (7): 869–884. doi: 10.1130/0016-7606(1997)1090869:GEATTO>2.3.CO;2.
    • , and . “Lithospheric modeling of the Ordovician foreland basin in the Puna of NW-Argentina: on the influence of arc loading on foreland basin formation.” Tectonophysics, № 259: 245–258.

  • Supervised Theses

    Doctoral Studies

    The onshore tsunami record in southern Chile – historical and beyond: Sedimentology, geochemistry, stratigraphy and regional correlation
    Reimann, CorneliaGeodynamic evolution of the Early Paleozoic Gondwana margin in southern Peru and northern Bolivia – sedimentary facies and provenance analysis of the Ordovician basin in Cordillera Oriental and Sierras Subandinas
    The Archean to Paleoproterozoic transition as recovered in the FAR DEEP cores: LA-ICP-MS U-Pb geochronology of detrital zircons and accompanying provenance analysis of siliciclastic sedimentary rocks
    Afghah, MassihBiozonation and biostratigraphic limits of the Tarbur Formation around Shiraz (SW of Iran)
    Sedimentology and hydrodynamics of high-energy wave events
    Dobrzinski, NicoleDas Paradoxon äquatornah abgelagerter, glazialer Sedimentabfolgen: Sedimentologische und geochemische Klimaindizien von der neoproterozoischen Yangtze Plattform (Südchina)
    Weiß, RobertModeling of Generation, propagation and runup of tsunami waves caused by oceanic impacts
    Provenance of Late Paleozoic sediments in the southern Patagonian Andes: age estimates, sources, and depootional setting

    Postdoctoral Study

    The depositional record of tsunamis