ORCID: 0000-0002-4304-5829
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Christof Sager
Christof.Sager@mfn.berlin
Linked-In: Christof Sager
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This page is currently not updated, you can reach out to Christof Sager via this link redirecting to the homepage of the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin.
I hold a Master of Science degree in geosciences and graduated from the Freie Universität Berlin in 2017 with my thesis, entitled "Seismic-Driven Boulder Movement and Clustering in the Atacama Desert".
In 2018, I had the opportunity to work as a scientific researcher at the Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Technische Universität Berlin at the RG Breitschwerdt.
From May 2019 - April 2023, I was a member of the Astrobiology research group and worked on my doctoral project, which focused on the formation of patterned ground in the hyper-arid Atacama Desert in Chile. Therefore, I employed a multi-methodological approach, which involved the integration of photogrammetric techniques and GIS-analyses with geochemical and sedimentological analyses. The goal was to investigate patterned grounds in the Atacama Desert, with a focus on their formation, habitability, and their potential as a terrestrial analog for Mars.
Project: Patterned Ground Formation in the hyper-arid Atacama Desert
My doctoral project deals with the investigation of patterned ground (PGs) formation in the hyper-arid Atacama Desert,their comaparison to periglacial and Martian PGs, as well as their relevance as a habitat on Mars and Earth. The observed PGs will be digitally reconstructed by using the Structure-from-Motion technique. Thereby, two-dimensional drone-based aerial images of patterned grounds will be used to generate three-dimensional georeferenced content.
Three-dimensional recosntruction of a boulder cluster in the hyper-arid Atacama Desert.
First Author Publications:
2023:
Sager, Christof (2023), Formation and development of polygonal soils in the hyper-arid Atacama Desert and their relevance as a habitat on earth and beyond, https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-17841 
, , , , , & (2023). Habitability of Polygonal Soils in the Hyper-arid Atacama Desert after a Simulated Rain Experiment. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 128, e2022JG007328. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JG007328
2022:
Sager, C., Airo, A., Arens, F.L., Schulze-Makuch, S. , Eolian erosion of polygons in the Atacama Desert as a proxy for hyper-arid environments on Earth and beyond. Scientific Reports 12, 12394 (July 2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-16404-y
2021
Sager, C., Airo, A., Arens, F.L., Schulze-Makuch, S, New types of sand wedge polygons in the salt cemented soils in the hyper-arid Atacama Desert (January 2021). Geomorphology, Volume 373
doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107481
2020
Sager, C., Airo, A., Arens, F.L.,Rabethge, C., Schulze-Makuch, D., New types of boulder accumulations in the hyper-arid Atacama Desert (February 2020). Geomorphology, Volume 350
DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2019.106897