Kiel Outdoor Benthocosms (KOB)
The Kiel Outdoor and Indoor Benthocosms - Simulation of Climate Change on the Seafloor
With the help of benthocosms, scientists at GEOMAR investigate how life at the bottom of the Baltic Sea will develop in the coming decades. For this purpose, they simulate environmental conditions that they expect for the future. For this purpose, typical organisms of the Baltic Sea such as bladderwrack, starfish or mussels are cultivated in the benthocosms and exposed to rising temperatures, increased carbon dioxide levels, a growing amount of nutrients, decreasing amounts of oxygen, decreasing amounts of light or other ecological changes that the researchers assume for the coming decades. The researchers' goal is to detect potential structural and functional shifts in biological communities and assess their consequences.
The Kiel Outdoor Benthocosms directly on the shore of the Kiel Fjord. Photo: Maike Nikolai/GEOMAR
Kiel Outdoor Benthocosms: Investigation of water quality in an experimental chamber. Photo: Jan Steffen, GEOMAR
Kiel Outdoor Benthocosms: Bladderwrack in an experimental chamber. Photo: Jan Steffen, GEOMAR
Kiel Outdoor Benthocosms: Sampling of mussels to study their adaptability to ocean acidification. Photo: Maike Nikolai/GEOMAR
Kiel Outdoor Benthocosms (KOB)
The facility, which has been operating in Kiel since 2013 on a pontoon directly on the Kiel Fjord, consists of six benthocosms, each with two experimental chambers with a water capacity of 1,500 liters. What makes it special is that a powerful computer system can not only continuously measure temperature, salinity, oxygen and pH, but also adjust them and their natural fluctuations to realistically simulate underwater environmental scenarios of the coming decades. The water in the basins comes directly from the Kiel Fjord, allowing for an almost natural environment in the experimental basins. Most of the benthocosms' required energy is generated by solar panels and a small wind turbine.
