Skip to main content
Explosion (Credit: Fulvia Favaro, distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

SSP Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Palaeontology Division on Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Palaeontology

EGU logo

European Geosciences Union

Division on Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Palaeontology
ssp.egu.eu

Division on Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Palaeontology

President: Cinzia Bottini (Email[email protected])
Deputy President: Marc De Batist (Email)
ECS Representative: Shradha Menon (Email[email protected])

The Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Palaeontology Division (SSP) focuses its activities on all aspects of the sedimentary record. About 70% of the Earth surface is covered by sedimentary deposits, which are eroded and deposited right at the contact between the solid lithosphere and the atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere. Sedimentary rocks record the history of our planet since almost 4 billion of years and play a pivotal role for our understanding of the evolution of life. This deep-time archive of Earth history is studied with a wide range of analytical techniques providing ever stunning details on the evolution of our planet. Sedimentary basins host important natural resources like coal, gas, oil, ore deposits and groundwater and therefore a better understanding of the physical, chemical and biological processes controlling the formation and distribution of sediments and sedimentary rocks is of utmost importance for our society.

Latest posts from the SSP blog

Fossilized Tree Trunks: Preservation in Continental and Marine Ancient Outcrops of Baja California

While working on the exceptional, but remote outcrops of Baja California, I have encountered an extraordinary quantity of fossilized tree fragments from the Cretaceous. These fossils were preserved in both subaerial, fluvial, and marine environments. Does this mean that preservation of tree trunks is easy? How can wood be preserved for more than 70 million years? What kind of information can we obtain from fossilized trees? Let’s try answer all these questions. Fossil wood can be preserved through various mechanisms, …


A Story of Fertilizer and the Colour Purple

Introduction It is sometimes difficult to admit that you are (officially) a nerd, but I have a confession to make. I have collected dinosaurs on stamps for the last thirty years. Over 10,000 of these stamps have been issued across the world, and the vast majority of these issues are in my collection. One question that I am often asked is when the first dinosaur stamp was issued, which turns out to be the Chinese 1958 “Chinese Fossils” set of …

Recent awardees

Silvia Frisia

Silvia Frisia

  • 2024
  • Jean Baptiste Lamarck Medal

The 2024 Jean Baptiste Lamarck Medal is awarded to Silvia Frisia for her highly significant impact as a sedimentologist researching carbonate-based palaeoclimate science, in particular through her work on carbonate fabrics in cave deposits, or speleothems.


Miguel Ángel Maté González

Miguel Ángel Maté González

  • 2024
  • Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award

The 2024 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Miguel Ángel Maté González for his outstanding work in palaeontology and archaeology developing a new methodology for the analysis of 3D cut marks on bones.


David A. T. Harper

David A. T. Harper

  • 2023
  • Jean Baptiste Lamarck Medal

The 2023 Jean Baptiste Lamarck Medal is awarded to David A. T. Harper in recognition of his outstanding work on the evolution and biostratigraphy of Lower Paleozoic invertebrate faunas, as well as his important contributions to quantitative palaeontology education.


Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr

Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr

  • 2023
  • Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award

The 2023 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr for her outstanding work in marine sedimentology and terrestrial stratigraphy to better understand low- and high-latitude climate processes as well as land-ocean coupling in the climate system.


Alina Lucia Ludat

Alina Lucia Ludat

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Alina Lucia Ludat Tectonic faulting’s impact on vegetation and soil formation in the Mara River Basin, East Africa

Current issue of the EGU newsletter

In our July Issue, find out about a new study on carbon monoxide emissions in tropical rainforests, get EGU's Editorial Manager Eduardo Queiroz Alves' top tips for creating a video abstract to promote your new paper, meet EGU's new Vice-President, Marian Holness and get your summer policy reading ready with our Science for Policy reading list!

Now is the time to submit your EGU25 session proposal, which includes Union-wide sessions like the Union Symposia and Great Debates, meet up with exciting people working at the science-policy interface at this month's Science Policy Hangout, and more, all in this month’s issue of ‘The Loupe’!

Find SSP on

Subscribe to