Professor Dr Friedhelm von Blanckenburg

Friedhelm von Blanckenburg is a Geochemist who characterises Earth surface cycles by means of isotope ratio measurements of the elements involved. He obtained a degree in Geology at the Technical University of Berlin, a doctorate at ETH Zürich, and held various research and teaching positions at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and Berne. In 2001 he took up a full professorship in the field of Geochemistry at the University of Hannover and in 2008 a full professorship as head of the “Earth Surface Geochemistry” group at the Helmholtz Centre GFZ Potsdam.
His research is dedicated to the development of methods in inorganic isotope Geochemistry and mass spectrometry and their application to the evolution of the Earth’s surface. By detecting very low concentrations of cosmogenic nuclides in materials of the Earth surface and measuring shifts in the relative abundancies of metal stable isotopes he is exploring the fundamental processes, by which geologic, climatic, and biologic forces act to sculp landscapes through geochemical cycles. In addition, a small part of his research is directed at transfering these new methods into the Life Sciences.