Info
How to soil mineralogy – Methodological insights for interdisciplinary progress
Minerals make up more than 95% of solid phases in most soils and hence influence virtually all soil processes and functions. Yet, thorough and meaningful mineralogical characterization remains a mystery for many soil scientists. In this workshop, we present an array of analytical methods, both fundamental and advanced, that provide crucial insights into mineral assemblages and mineral-organic associations.
If you are a crystallography enthusiast or an earthworm nerd – we need to come together and learn from each other to successfully answer today’s (and, more dauntingly, tomorrow’s) environmental and agronomic challenges. Alongside advice from analytical experts, this workshop is meant to offer an interdisciplinary forum for soil scientists to exchange methodological challenges in their research.
Feel free to share the workshop with your colleagues using this flyer: Flyer KVII Workshop.pdf
Programme:
Day 1: Monday 20 July 2026
Address: Von-Seckendorff-Platz 3, entrance „Geologie“, 3rd floor „Bodenkunde, Bodenschutz“, seminar room: 3.21, registration: mineralogy cabinet 3.44
13:00 Registration
14:00 Welcome and introduction
14:15 Soil clay minerals – XRD-based quantification and pitfalls (Reiner Dohrmann, Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe)
14:45 X-ray amorphous inorganics in Central European soils (Joseph Akinbodunse, Leibniz University Hannover)
15:15 Coffee break
15:30 An introduction to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for exploring soil interfacial processes (Katharina Lenhardt, Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg)
16:00 Spatially Resolved Analytics for tracing metabolic processes in soil (Hryhoriy Stryhanyuk, UFZ - ProVIS Leipzig)
16:30 Poster session, visit to the XPS laboratory
19:00 Workshop dinner (KoHaKu-ichi Restaurant, Kleine Ulrichstraße 26, 06108 Halle)
Day 2: Tuesday 21 July 2026
Visit to the research platform ProVIS in Leipzig (associated with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research)
Meeting point: 10:30 h, KUBUS entrance, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig
10:45 Introduction to the ProVIS facility and the working group "Spatially Resolved Analytics - SPRESA", afterwards visit to the laboratories
12:00 Lunch break (UFZ canteen)
13:00 Discussion and closing remarks
Please register by July 1st.
