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Nathan Vandermaelen

Scientific skills: geochronology, cosmogenic radionuclide dating, Luminescence dating, numerical modelling.

During my Ph.D, I have mostly been studying the methdological ways to decipher geomorphic and chronostratigraphic information from cosmogenic radionuclide (10Be and 26Al) depth profiles. With the help of my co-authors, I have developed a model that can be tuned to simulate the accumulation and evolution of cosmogenic radionuclide concentration within a column of sediment, following any depositional history. We applied our model on the Zutendaal gravels, a fluvial gravel sheet deposited by the braided channels of the Meuse, somewhere during the Middle Pleistocene. The modelling exercice allowed the quantification of hiatus duration and erosion rates during these hiatuses, as well as a reasonable estimate post-depositional duration. The dating part was validated with Luminescence and Electron spin resonance data.