Related Research

Despite of the FluVAlps 3000 Project as main focus, the FluVAlps Research Group has been established for the understanding of fluvial and geoecological dynamics of high mountain environments and for the contribution of data, particularly from natural archives, to the field of potential effects of climate change in a broader context. Furthermore, several group members coordinate or participate in other research projects on paleoclimate, paleoenvironment, Quaternary science, human-environment interactions and natural hazards in a range of mountain regions (e.g. Alps, Andes, Pyrenees, Sierra Nevada) just as in lowlands (e.g. Neogene Betic basins, Ebro basin, Mediterranean coast).

Holocene fluvial environments in SE and NE Spain
Mediterranean fluvial environments respond sensitively to past changes in climate, physiographic conditions and human activity. The goal of this research activity addresses the response of river systems of the Iberian Mediterranean coast to climate variability and human impact during the last 1600 years.
Millenium-Project
The EC Millennium project is a multidisciplinary consortium of more than 39 European universities and research Institutes, with the aim of answering a single question: Does the magnitude and rate of 20th Century climate change exceed the natural variability of European climate over the last millennium?
High resolution Late Pleistocene fluvial archives in SE Spain
The chronology of fluvial erosion and deposition has the potential to identify tectonic, climate and human-induced environmental changes. The development of river systems can be considered in terms of specific climatic parameters: climate-derived factors, partially climate-dependant factors, and non-climatic factors. The aim of this project is, first, to find evidences about the origin of the fluvial terraces of the middle and lower River Aguas in southeastern Spain during the last 170 thousand years and, second, to provide high-resolution paleoclimate proxis from alluvial and fluvial records.
Holocene environmental changes in Sierra Nevada
High mountain natural archives as glaciers, lakes, fens and solifluction lobes provide useful tools for the understanding of paleoclimate variability at higher altitudes. Our research focuses on the reconstruction of Late Glacial and Holocene changes of alpine environments in Sierra Nevada, the southernmost range of the Iberian Peninsula and European continent.
Relevant publications

Schulte, L. et al. 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.


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. et al., 2019.

Pluridisciplinary analysis and multi-archive reconstruction of paleofloods: societal demand, challenges and progress.

Global and Planetary Change 177, 225-238.


Blöschl, G. et al. 2020.

Current European flood-rich period exceptional compared with past 500 years.

Nature 583, 560–566 (2020).


Sánchez-García et al. 2019.

500-year flood history in the arid environments of south-eastern Spain. The case of the Almanzora River.

Global and Planetary Change, 102987.


Schulte, L. et al. 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. et al. 2015.

Influence of solar forcing, climate variability and atmospheric circulation patterns on summer floods in Switzerland.

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 19, 3807-3827.

Universitat de BarcelonaICREA - Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis AvançatsUniversität BernServei Meteorològic de CatalunyaGobierno de España - Ministerio de Educación y CienciaAlexander von Humboldt Foundation