PAGES Hungary

Welcome to PAGES Hungary

The area of Hungary is dominated by Cenozoic sedimentary formations, however, karst regions built up by Mesozoic limestones are also important, containing extensive cave systems (like the Aggtelek Caves listed as a World Heritage). We also have the biggest lake of Central Europe, Lake Balaton, whose formation started in the late Pleistocene. Thus, palaeoclimate research has been conducted in Hungary in various fields, ranging from major mass extinctions (Permian-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic) to sedimentological and palaeobotanic studies on Quaternary deposits and to palaeohydrology. Classical investigations on sedimentary features and palaeontology-palaeobotany have mainly been done by individual researchers and small research groups at the Hungarian Geological Institute, the Hungarian Natural History Museum, the Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest (hosting also the Geological Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and a new tree-ring laboratory) and the University of Szeged. Meteorologist researchers of the Eötvös Loránd University and the Hungarian Meteorological Service deal with climate modelling with special emphasis on future climate scenarios. A large interdisciplinary project summarizing state-of-art knowledge of local effects of climate change and possible scenarios was conducted in recent years.

Recent analytical developments at the Institute for Geochemical Research (IGCR), Hungarian Academy of Sciences, have enabled us to launch high-resolution geochemical studies on travertines, speleothems, molluscs and soils. In order to co-ordinate paleoclimate-related geochemical research both within the Institute and in Hungary, the GEOCHEMISTRY and PALEOCLIMATE Research Group was established at the IGCR in 2006.

Financial background: the research projects are mainly subsidized by the Hungarian National Research Fund, however, financial support has also been provided by the Ministry of Environment and Water.