Sediment Diagenesis

Our research focusses on the investigation and quantification of geochemical and bio-geochemical processes in the seabed and the use of marine sediments as archives for the reconstruction of past environmental and oceanographic conditions. This includes the assessment of early diagenetic formation and overprint of sediment-based proxy parameters. Another objective is to study how changing climatic and environmental conditions impact biogeochemical processes and element fluxes in temperate, polar and sub-polar coastal and marine areas. In particular, we determine how the observed increased glacier melt in coastal regions of Antarctica and Sub-Antarctic islands alters the input of iron into the Southern Ocean. Iron is a limiting micronutrient in the high latitudes and exerts a strong control on primary productivity and thus the uptake of carbon dioxide into the ocean.

Working Area

South Atlantic, Sub-Antarctic, Antarctic, North and Central Pacific, North Sea, Black Sea, Arabian Sea

Methods

Pore-water and sediment geochemistry, geochemical sensors, wet-chemical methods to determine iron and manganese mineralogy, isotope geochemistry, reactive transport modelling