KIT

On KIT`s Open Day and Campus-Day, the Geophysical Institute (GPI) welcomed many young and curious visitors with two popular hands-on experiments, offering an accessible introduction to geophysics.

With powerful and loud hammer strikes our guests generates seismic waves and were able to follow their propagation through the campus subsurface in real time.

At a second station, hidden objects were detected and visualized using smartphones by observing changes in the Earth`s magnetic field. 

We sincerely thank all visitors for their great interest, enthusiasm, and for making it a wonderful day!

Researchers have discovered an unusually thick transition zone in the Earth`s mantle beneath the Caribbean - a result of ancient geotectonic processes.

https://www.kit.edu/kit/202504-basalt-bremst-platten-in-der-tiefe.php

KIT geophysicists detect magma chamber beneath the West Eifel region - Campus Report from 18.03.2025

In September 2023, seismometers all around the globe detected a unique seismic signal that was measurable for up to nine days in some places. It was causedby a massive rockslide in the Dickson Fjord in Greenland. What triggered this signal, and why did it last that long? Researchers at the Geophysical Institute and the Black Forest Observatory investigated the phenomenon together with other scientists in an international collaboration. They discovered the source of the vibrations: the continuous sloshing of water back and forth in the narrow fjord. The researchers also pointed out that the rockslide was linked to the thinning of a glacier – a phenomenon they traced back to climate change. They have published their findings in the journal Science.

DOI: 10.1126/science.adm9247

Press release:
https://www.kit.edu/kit/english/pi_2024_070_how-a-fjord-in-greenland-generated-a-global-seismic-signal.php

10-minutes film telling the story of this research adventure:
https://youtu.be/60T9TKuuujs

On 8.6.24, a sunny Saturday, KIT opened its campus for prospective students and their parents during the annual "Campus Day". At the KIT-Department of Physics, a team of professors, scientific staff and students were available to answer questions and explain the various study programs available in Physics, Geophysics, and Meteorology and Climate Physics.

Wenn sich eine Erdplatte unter eine andere schiebt, kommt es oft zu starken Erdbeben. An einer solchen Subduktionszone ereignete sich auch das schwere Erdbeben Anfang April 2024 vor Taiwan. Dass es sich bei Beben dieser Art nicht um einen Einzelbruch, sondern um eine Bruchserie in einem Verwerfungsnetzwerk handeln könnte, legt eine aktuelle Studie von Forschenden des Karlsruher Instituts für Technologie (KIT) und Partnern nahe.

In der SWR1-Sendung Leute berichtet Andreas Schäfer über Hochwasser und seine Gefahren. Zusammen mit einem Bürgermeister werden lokale und regionale Aspekte besprochen. Andreas äußert sich auch zu Erdbeben- und Klima-Gefahren in unserer Region.

Im SWR Science Talk werden aktuelle wissenschaftliche Themen in einem Gespräch vorgestellt. Da es auch für das Radio produziert wird, wird kein Bildmaterial verwendet. Joachim Ritter berichtet über den Eifel Vulkanismus und Erdbeben in Deutschland.

The Seismology Blog of the European Geosciences Union reports on the fieldwork in Equador which was done by GPI and partners. The blog includes an interview with Benedict Braszus and nice photos.

Am 23.6. und 24.6. fanden die Veranstaltungen "Auf ein/en Bier/Kaffee mit der Erde" in Balingen auf der Schwäbischen Alb statt. Laura Gassner vom GPI war mit einem Beitrag zum Thema "Erdbebenforschung und Windenergie" beteiligt. Das Projekt findet im Rahmen des "Wissenschaftsjahr 2022 ? Nachgefragt!" statt und hat die Förderung der Wissenschaftskommunikation im ländlichen Raum zum Ziel.

On Sunday, April 10, 2022, the SWR2 Matinee dealt with the topic of volcanism. Here, Joachim Ritter explained basic knowledge about magmatism and volcanoes as well as the ongoing work in the Eifel.

On Thursday, 31 March 2022, 9th grade high school students from the Helmholtz-Gymnasium in Karlsruhe conducted several experiments in Seismology and Physical Volcanology in the Geophysics school laboratory. Thus, they gained insights into geophysical measurement technology, data registration, its evaluation and interpretation, and were able to see how scientists work. The experiments were supervised by geophysics students from the Bachelor's and Master's programs.

The German Geophysical Society (DGG) has launched a photo contest as part of its 100th anniversary celebration. A photo showing students of KIT during an in-situ lecture at the Italian volcano Vulcano, taking temperature measurements on fumaroles received the highest number of votes in the category 'Study and Geophysics' and was awarded a prize.

Joachim Ritter explains the background to the volcanic eruption on Tonga in SWR-Wissen.

Joachim Ritter comments on the massive volcanic explosion near Tonga on January 15, 2022 in the ARD Tagesschau.

On Wednesday, February 02, 2022, Dr. Ellen Gottschämmer will give a talk on the topic "Forscherin am Vulkan - Geophysik in Guatemala (in German)". The talk is intended for high school students who want to learn about the career profile of female scientists. The event is organized by the "Fortbildungszentrum für Technik und Umwelt" at Campus North and held in cooperation with the network "Female Scientists at KIT".

Four students of the Geophysics Bachelor's program explain why you should study Geophysics at KIT. Check out our new Promo Video!

SWR interview with Joachim Ritter on the interaction of lava with seawater at La Palma in the Canary Islands.

SWR Interview with Joachim Ritter about the volcano activity in the Eifel.

SWR2 Wissen on 24th September: Jochen Steiner (SWR-Redaktion Wissen) in discussion with Ellen Gottschämmer.

The news broadcast "SWR3 Topthema" of the 20st September 2021 covered the volcano eruption on La Palma in the Canary Islands. Ellen Gottschämmer gave an interview on this topic.

In the VoiLA- Volatiles in the Lesser Antilles project, GPI geophysicists analysed data from seafloor seismometers to create a tomographic image of the Earth's upper mantle down to a depth of about 700 kilometres. In combination with a reconstruction of the global tectonic plate movements of the last 120 million years, evaluated together with partners at Imperial College London, they were able to interpret this image: "The tomography shows subsided tectonic plates beneath today's Caribbean Ocean," says Benedikt Braszus, master student of geophysics at KIT and first author of the study.

They have now published their results in the journal Nature Communications.

Walter Zürn receives the Paul Melchior Medal during the 19th International Symposium on Geodynamics and Earth Tides which is held in the week of June 22nd 2021 in Wuhan (China) and online (due to the Covid-19 pandemic).

We congratulate Walter Zürn warmly to this well-deserved award.

The Deutsche Geophysikalische Gesellschaft introduces itself in a new video. It is aimed at people and institutions who are interested in Geophysics. The DGG has set itself the task of disseminating and increasing geophysical knowledge in research and teaching. Get an insight and watch the video.

Film report in 3sat/nano about interdisciplinary earthquake research in the Upper Rhine Graben.

An international research team has conducted geological and seismological experiments on the volcanic island group of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean to better understand the relationship between earthquake/volcanism and water in the interior of the Earth. Their results can be read in an article in the scientific journal Nature.

The corona crisis and the associated restrictions on public life lead to less ground turbulence. The constant ground disturbance is mainly caused by ocean waves, wind, traffic and industry. Sarah Mader and Joachim Ritter found out that the reduction in traffic and industry reduces the ground disturbance at earthquake measuring stations.

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) offers a two year Master's program in Geophysics. It is given in English and includes topics on Earthquake and Exploration Seismology as well as Natural Hazards. Teaching takes place in small groups and In Situ Lectures are taught right on site at geophysically fascinating locations. To enter the Master's program you need a solid background in mathematics and physics.

Watch the video 

We are now taking applications for summer semester 2020.