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FluVAlps - Research Group

PaleoRisk – Paleoecology, Natural Hazards and Environmental Management
(Consolidated Research Group 2017 SGR 1106)
FluvAlps - Fluvial Variability, Climate and Land Use Interactions in Alpine Environments

University of Barcelona; Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies; Catalan Agency of Meteorology; Institute of Energy Technologies – UPC; University Complutense Madrid; University of Berne; Massey University of New Zealand; Catalan Institute of Cartography and Geology; IPHES, Rovira i Virgili University, Tarragona; University of Giessen; Schmidt Information- and Webdesign, Düsseldorf

Prof. Dr. Lothar Schulte

Prof. Dr. Lothar Schulte - Curriculum vitae

Lothar Schulte studied Geography, Geology and Economic History at the Univ. Düsseldorf and Univ. Cologne, and obtained his Ph.D. in 2000 at the Univ. of Barcelona. His thesis on Quaternary landscape evolution received the national award on Quaternary Science and Geomorphology. In 2000 he was contracted by the University of Barcelona as Assistant Professor giving lectures in Natural Hazards, Geomorphology, Global change, etc. Between 2001 and 2002, he was an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Postdoc fellow and Lecturer at the University of Bern. In 2006, he was appointed Associate Professor and, in 2017, Full-Professor. Since 2006, he has acted as Principal Investigator of the PaleoRisk Research Group. In 2011 and 2019, he received the ICREA Academy Award. Since 2008, he has participated in the evaluation processes of the DFG 806 CRC, DFG, AEI, AQU, IGS and FWO. Since 2018, he has been the coordinator of the Floods Working Group of the international network Past Global Changes.

Research interests

L.S. has developed a multidisciplinary approach integrating multi-archive datasets into a 4-D time-space model of past floods, environments and societal impacts in mountain landscapes. In generating centennial-long reference flood records for the Alps, the Iberian Peninsula, and New Zealand’s Alps, documentary sources, floodplain and lake sediments and their geochemical variability were analysed; floods levels were reconstructed from tree rings, lichens, historical buildings, hydraulic infrastructure, and archaeological sites; and, this evidence was calibrated for a given reference period in relation to climatological and hydrological data. Analyses of atmospheric variability, reconstruction of the paleoclimate and deciphering of the historical interactions between society and river environments, shed light on the forcing of floods. Preindustrial climate periods were also examined to understand changes in environmental systems and flood dynamics under the effects of Global Warming.

Key words

Geography, Global Change, natural hazards and societal impact, paleofloods, human-environment interaction, Climate Change, mountain environments, geoarchaeology

Research areas

European Alps, Fiordland, Southern Alps, Betic Ranges, Andes, Catalan coastplains

 

ORCID: 0000-0001-5829-3166

Scopus Author ID: 7003971543

 

Coordination of research projects

2020 – 2024. Paleofloods in northern and southern Hemisphere; ICREA Academia 2019; Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA); 210,000 €

2018 – 2022. Methodological developments for multi-archive analysis of past flood variability. Project of the Floods Working Group - Past Global Changes (PAGES). P.I. Juan Ballestero, Lothar Schulte, Bruno Wilhelm; Past Global Changes (PAGES)-International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme; 12,000 €.

2018 – 2021. PaleoRisk - Research Group. Paleoecology, natural hazards, environmental management; 2017-SGR-1106; Consolidated Research Group of Catalonia. Research Area of the Agency for Administration of University and Research Grants; 114,336 € (1 x 2-year post-doc position 51,991 € in 2017; 1 x 3-year PhD positions 62,616 € in 2019).

2017-2018. Alpine flood histories and climate change: Grebe Valley, Fiordland; P.I. Ian C. Fuller – Lothar Schulte (activity co–funded with ICREA); Massey University Research Fund; 6.983,16 €

2016 – 2020. 3000 years of flooding in mountain catchments: connectivity, synchronization or teleconnection?; CGL2016-75475-R; Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; National Program of Science and Technology; 182,780 € (direct costs 94,380 €, 1 x 4-year PhD position: 88,420 € in 2019)

2014 – 2017. Multi-proxy analysis of paleofloods in mountain regions. Drivers and effects in the past, present and future; CGL2013-43716-R; Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; National Program of Science and Technology; 154,950 € (direct costs 66,550 €, 1 x 4-year PhD positions 88,400 € in 2015).

2014 – 2017. Paleogeoecologia, Riscs Naturals i Gestió Ambiental (PaleoRisk); 2014SGR507; Consolidated Research Group of Catalonia. Research Area of the Agency for Administration of University and Research Grants; 12.000,00 €.

2012 – 2019. Paleoenvironmental reconstruction and human-environmental interactions in mountain regions.; ICREA Academia 2011; Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA); 225,000 €

2010 – 2012. Sensitivity of alpine rivers to Global Change: High-resolution palaeoenvironmental records and modelling of extreme flood events in the Swiss Alps; CGL2009-06951/BTE; National Program of Science and Technology; Ministry of Science and Innovation; 108,900.01 € +1 x 4-year PhD positions 88,400 €

2009 – 2010. Determination of hydrological extreme events from geochemical analysis of sedimentary records; CGL2008-04933-E/BTE; Integrated actions, National Program of Science and Technology; Ministry of Science and Innovation; 24,000 €

2006 – 2009. Fluvial Variability in the Alps during the last 3000 years: Climate change, land use and associated flood risks; CGL2006-01111; National Program of Science and Technology; Ministry of Education and Science; 62,920 € + 1 x 4-year PhD positions 88,400 €

2001 – 2002. Holocene fluvial environment in the Swiss Alps. The influence of climate and human interaction; V-3.FLF-DEU/1070630; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn; Feodor-Lynen Fellowship; 25,000 €

Journal publication (selection)

Schulte, L.; Schillereff, D.; Santisteban, J.I.; Marret-Davies, F., 2020. Editorial: Pluridisciplinary analysis and multi-archive reconstruction of paleofloods. Global and Planetary Change 191, 103220.

Blöschl, G.; Kiss, A.; Viglione, A.; Barriendos, M.M.; Böhm, O.; Brázdil, R.; C¿ur, D.; Demarée, G.; Llasat, M.C.; Macdonald, N.; Retsö, D.; Roald, L.; Schmocker-Fackel, P.; Amorim, I.; Bělinová, M.; Benito, G.; Bertolin, Ch.; Camuffo, D.; Cornel, D.; Doktor, R.; Elleder, L.; Enzi, S.; Garcia, J.C.; Glaser, R.; Hall, J.; Haslinger, K.; Hofstätter, M.; Komma, J.; Limanówka, D., Lun, D,; Panin, A.; Parajka, J.; Petrić, H.; Rodrigo, H.S.; Rohr, C.; Schönbein, J.; Schulte, L.; Silva, L.P.; Toonen, W.H.J.; Valent, P.; Waser, J.; Wetter, O., 2020. Current European flood-rich period exceptional compared with past 500 years. Nature 583, 560–566.

Peña, J.C.; Schulte, L., 2020. Simulated and reconstructed atmospheric variability and their relation with large Pre-industrial summer floods in the Hasli-Aare catchment (Swiss Alps) since 1300 CE. Global and Planetary Change 190, 103191.

Schulte, L.; Oliver Wetter, O.; Wilhelm, B.; Peña, J.C.; Amann, B.; Wirth S.B.; Carvalho, F.; Gómez-Bolea, A., 2019. Integration of multi-archive datasets towards the development of a four-dimensional paleoflood model in alpine catchments. Global and Planetary Change 180, 66-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2019.05.011

Schulte, L.; Schillereff, D.; Santisteban, J.I., 2019. Pluridisciplinary analysis and multi-archive reconstruction of paleofloods: societal demand, challenges and progress. Global and Planetary Change 177, 225-238.

Sánchez-García, C.; Schulte, L.; Carvalho, F.; Peña, J.C., 2019. 500-year flood history in the arid environments of south-eastern Spain. The case of the Almanzora River. Global and Planetary Change, 102987.

Lüning, S.; Schulte, L.; Garcés-Pastor, S.; Danladi, I.B.; Gałka, M., 2019. The Medieval Climate Anomaly in the Mediterranean region. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology (published online, accepted on 28th August, 2019).

Wilhelm B.; Ballesteros Canovas J.A.; Macdonald N.; Toonen W.; Baker V.; Barriendos M.; Benito G.; Brauer A.; Corella Aznar J.P.; Denniston R.; Glaser R.; Ionita M.; Kahle M.; Liu T.; Luetscher M.; Macklin M.; Mudelsee M.; Munoz S.; Schulte, L.; St George S.; Stoffel M.; Wetter O., 2019. Interpreting historical, botanical, and geological evidence to aid preparations for future floods. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews - Water 6 (1), e1318.

Jones, S.E.; Burjachs; F.; Ferrer-García, C.; Giralt; S.; Schulte, L.; Fernández-López de Pablo, J., 2018. A multi-proxy approach to understanding complex responses of salt-lake catchments to climate variability and human pressure: A Late Quaternary case study from south-eastern, Spain. Quaternary Science Reviews 184, 201-233.

Schulte, L.; Peña, J.C.; Carvalho, F.; Schmidt, T.; Julià, R.; Llorca, J.; Veit, H., 2015. A 2600-year history of floods in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland: frequencies, mechanisms and climate forcing. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 19, 3047-3072.

Peña, J.C.; Schulte, L.; Badoux, A.; Barriendos, M.; Barrera-Escoda, A., 2015. Influence of solar forcing, climate variability and atmospheric circulation patterns on summer floods in Switzerland. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 19, 3807-3827.

Schulte, L., 2015. Interactive comment on "Quantitative historicalhydrology in Europe" by G. Benito et al. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions 12, 1837-1841.

Peña, J.C.; Schulte, L., 2014. Effects of solar activities and climate variability on large floods in Switzerland. Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles 65, 469-475.

Carvalho, F.; Schulte, L., 2013. Morphological control on sedimentation rates and patterns of delta floodplains in the Swiss Alps. Geomorphology 198, 163-176.

Oliva, M.; Schulte, L.; Gómez, A., 2011. The role of aridification in constraining the elevation range of Holocene solifluction processes and associated landforms in the periglacial belt of the Sierra Nevada (southern Spain). Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 36, 1279-1291.

Oliva, M., Gomez, A., Schulte, L., 2010. Tendencia a la aridez en Sierra Nevada desde el Holoceno Medio inferida a partir de sedimentos lacustres. Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles 52, 27-42.

Schulte, L., Julià, R., Veit, H., Carvalho, F., 2009. Do high resolution fan delta records provide a useful tool for hazard assessment in mountain regions? International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management 2, 197-210.

Oliva, M., Schulte, L., Gomez, A., 2009. Morphometry and Late Holocene Activity of Solifluction Landforms in the Sierra Nevada, Southern Spain. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 20 (3): 369-382.

Gómez-Ortiz, A., Palacios, D., Schulte, L., Salvador-Franch, F., Plana-Castellví, J.A., 2009. Evidences from historical documents of landscape evolution after Little Ice Age of a mediterranean high mountain area, Sierra Nevada, Spain (eighteenth to twentieth centuries). Geografiska Annaler Series A Physical Geography 91 (4), 279 - 289.

Schulte, L., Veit, H., Burjachs, F., Julià, R., 2009. Lütschine fan delta response to climate variability and land use in the Bernese Alps during the last 2400 years. Geomorphology 108, 107-121.

Gómez-Ortiz, A.; Salvador-Franch, F.; Schulte, L.; Sanjose-Blasco, J.J.; Atkinson, A.; Palacios-Estremera, D., 2008. Evolución morfodinámica de un enclave montañoso recién deglaciado: El caso del Corral del Veleta (Sierra Nevada), ¿Consecuencia del cambio climático? Scripta Nova. Revista Electrónica de Geografía y Ciencias Sociales 12, 270 (26), 1-11.

Schulte, L., Julià, R., Oliva, M., Burjachs, F., Veit, H., & Carvalho, F. 2008. Sensitivity of Alpine fluvial environments in the Swiss Alps to climate forcing during the Late Holocene. Sediment Dynamics in Changing Environments. IAHS Publ. 325, 367-374.

Schulte, L., Julià, R., Burjachs, F, Hilgers, A., 2008. Middle Pleistocene to Holocene geochronology of the River Aguas terrace sequence (Iberian Peninsula): Fluvial response to Mediterranean environmental change. Geomorphology 98, 13-33.

Santisteban, J. I., Schulte, L., 2007. Fluvial networks of the Iberian Peninsula: a chronological framework. Quaternary Science Reviews 26, 2738-2757.

Schulte, L., Juliá, R., Rosell-Melé, A., 2004. The Catalan Network of Palaeoclimatology (Palaeocat), Past Global Changes Magazine 12 (2), 4-5.

Gómez A., Palacios D., Luengo E., Tanarro L.M., Schulte L., Ramos M., 2003. Talus Instability in a Recent Deglaciation Area and Its Relationship to Buried Ice and Snow Cover Evolution (Picacho Del Veleta, Sierra Nevada, Spain). Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography 85, (2), 165-182.

Schulte, L., 2002. Climatic and human influence on river systems and glacier fluctuations in southeast Spain. Quaternary International 93-94, 85-100.

Schulte, L., Julia, R., 2001. A Quaternary soil chronosequence of Southeastern Spain. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie. N.F. 45 (2), 145-158.

Gómez, A., Palacios, D., Ramos, M., Tanarro, L.M., Schulte, L., Salvador, F., 2001. Location of Permafrost in Marginal Regions: Corral del Veleta, Sierra Nevada, Spain. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 12 (1). 93-110.

Gómez-Ortiz, A.; Palacios, D.; Ramos, M.; Schulte, L.; Salvador-Franch, F.; Tanarro, L.M., 1999. Degradación de permafrost en Sierra Nevada y repercusiones geomorfológicas: el caso del Corral del Veleta. Resultados preliminares. Boletín de la Asociación Española de Geógrafos 27, 7-21.

Gómez-Ortiz, A.; Schulte, L.; Salvador, F., 1996. Contribución al conocimiento de la deglaciación reciente y morfología asociada del Corral del Veleta (Sierra Nevada). Cuadernos Laboratorio Xeolóxico de Laxe 21, 543-568.

Schulte, L., 1996. Morfogénesis cuaternaria en el curso inferior del Río de Aguas (Cuenca de Vera. Provincia de Almería). Cuadernos Laboratorio Xeolóxico de Laxe 21, 223-236.

Schulte, L., 1995. Jungquartäre Flussdynamik des Río Antas im zentralen Vera Becken (SE Spanien). Geoökodynamik 16, 173-196.