Welcome

Lake Van will be drilled in the context of the„International Scientific Continental Drilling Program“ (ICDP) project PALEOVAN. The drilling project will target the Quaternary climatic, environmental, volcanic and tectonic evolution in that region. 9 out of 11 involved researchers are from the Eawag-Departements of Surface Waters (Surf) and Water Resources and Drinking Water (W+T).

Lake Van is the fourth largest terminal lake in the world, it lies on a high plateau at 1674 a.s.l. in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. The 130 km long and 450 m deep lake is surrounded by active volcanoes withn a tectonically active area. Under these circumstances the sediments of lake Van generate a unique geological archive. Therefore the seabed promises to keep precise records of paleoclimate and paleoenvironment covering several glacial-interglacial cycles.

The Swiss contribution to PALEOVAN is founded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF). The cooperation consists of Eawag researchers and Climate Geology at ETH Zürich. The Swiss groups will be active with several scientific modules.