Marine Geosystems

The seabed represents a dynamic boundary layer between the oceans and the deeper geological formations in the subsurface. Biogeochemical element cycles in the ocean, the composition of bottom water and the formation of resources in the seabed are significantly regulated by the exchange of substances across this boundary layer. The Marine Geosystems research unit investigates this exchange of substances, which is controlled by microbiological, chemical and physical processes. To analyse and monitor these processes, we are developing sea-going sensor and sampling platforms on which we apply robotic and artificial intelligence methods. The samples collected worldwide are analysed in our laboratories for environmental analysis, (radio)isotope analysis and microbiology using state-of-the-art methods. The data sets obtained are coupled with machine learning methods and interpreted using numerical modelling.

We want to reconstruct the exchange processes on the sea floor on geological time scales, document their current state and make predictions for the future. This will provide a scientific basis for the sustainable use of seabed resources and an approach for minimising the impact on the oceans and ecosystems.

Project Overview

APOC
Anthropogenic impacts on particulate organic carbon cycling in the North Sea
Funding Period: April, 2021 - March, 2024
Funding Body: BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Klaus Wallmann
BlueHealthTech
BlueHealthTech - the alliance for innovative health technologies from the sea
Funding Period: December, 2021 - November, 2024
Funding Body: Other, BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Anton Eisenhauer
BorDEx
Development and construction of a mobile demonstrator for the thermal disposal of explosives from coastal dumped munitions
Funding Period: July, 2024 - June, 2027
Funding Body: Other
Project Information
Head Scientist: Torsten Frey
CDRmare GEOSTOR
Submarine Carbon Dioxide Storage in Geological Formations of the German North Sea
Funding Period: August, 2021 - July, 2024
Funding Body: BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Klaus Wallmann
CDRmare sea4soCiety
Searching for solutions for Carbon-sequestration in coastal ecosystems
Funding Period: August, 2021 - July, 2024
Funding Body: BMBF
Head Scientist: Klaus Wallmann
CDRmare RETAKE
CO2-Entnahme durch Alkalitätserhöhung: Potential, Nutzen, und Risiken
Funding Period: August, 2021 - July, 2024
Funding Body: BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Andreas Oschlies / Klaus Wallmann
CONMAR
CONcepts for conventional MArine Munition Remediation in the German North and Baltic Sea (CONMAR)
Funding Period: December, 2021 - November, 2027
Funding Body: BMBF/DAM
Head Scientist: Jens Greinert
iFOODis
Improving the sustainability of food cycles through intelligent (robotic) systems
Funding Period: 2023 - 2027
Funding Body: Helmholtz Gemeinschaft
Project Information
Head Scientist: Stefan Sommer
MGF-Baltic Sea
Investigation of the expected impact of the exclusion of mobile bottom-dwelling fisheries
Funding Period: 2020 - 2024
Funding Body: BMBF/DAM
Project Information
Head Scientist: Stefan Sommer
MiCorFe
Microbially influenced corrosion of Fe and possible corrosion protection measures in monopiles of offshore wind turbines
Funding Period: July, 2023 - June, 2026
Funding Body: BMWK
Project Information
Head Scientist: Mirjam Perner / Mark Schmidt
MUSE
Marine Environmental Robotics and Sensor Technologies for sustainable Research and Management of Coastal, Ocean, and Polar Regions
Funding Period: January, 2023 - December, 2029
Funding Body: Helmholtz Gemeinschaft
Head Scientist: Stefan Sommer / Peter Linke
OceanICU
Understanding Ocean Carbon - OceanICU: Impacts of Fishing and Industrial Extraction processes on the Ocean C cycle (WP5)
Funding Period: 2024 - 2027
Funding Body: EU/DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Matthias Haeckel
OFFING
OFFshore freshened groundwater systems – Emergence and persistence analysis by geochemical modellING
Funding Period: 2024 - 2026
Funding Body: DFG
Head Scientist: Christian Hensen
PrimePrevention
Predicting biological threats to the sea in order to prevent socio-economic impacts
Funding Period: 2024 - 2026
Funding Body: BMBF/DAM
Project Information
Head Scientist: Mirjam Perner / Mark Schmidt
SAM
Smart AUV-based Magnetics
Funding Period: July, 2023 - July, 2025
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Marc Seidel
SMART
Sustainable management of offshore groundwater resources
Funding Period: January, 2019 - December, 2024
Funding Body: Helmholtz European Partnership Fund
Project Information
Head Scientist: Christian Berndt / Marion Jegen / Mark Schmidt / Aaron Micallef
ValidITy
Validation of Intelligent Terrain Feature Recognition Methods for Hydrographic Data
Funding Period: July, 2023 - June, 2025
Funding Body: Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
Head Scientist: Jens Greinert
Marispace-X
Maritime Smart Sensor Dataspace
Funding Period: January, 2022 - December, 2024
Funding Body: BMWK
Project Information
Head Scientist: Timm Schoening
MUNI-RISK
MUNIMAP and MUNIRISK projects presented at CBSS Senior Officials Meeting - Interreg Baltic Sea Region
Funding Period: November, 2024 - September, 2027
Funding Body: EU
Head Scientist: Jens Greinert
MarData
Helmholtz School for Marine Data Science
Funding Period: 2019 - Ongoing
Funding Body: Helmholtz
Head Scientist: NA
MMinE.SwEEPER
Marine Munition in Europe - Solutions with Economic and Ecological Profits for Efficient Remediation
Funding Period: October, 2024 - June, 2025
Funding Body: EU
Head Scientist: Jens Greinert
DOME (SPP2238)
DOME-Mineral Microbe: The Impact of Microbes for Seafloor Massive Sulfide (SMS) Formation, Transformation, and Dissolution in the Priority Programme “Dynamics of Ore Metals Enrichment – DOME (SPP 2238)”
Funding Period: August, 2023 - July, 2026
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Mirjam Perner
EPI Bleach
Reconstructing ultra-high resolution climate variability and symbiont bleaching in tropical corals: from past to present (EPIBleach)
Funding Period: October, 2024 - June, 2027
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Jan Fietzke
ARIM
Autonomous Robotic Sea-Floor Infrastructure for Bentho-Pelagic Monitoring
Subproject: ARIM-FUEL - Development of a Submarine Fuel Cell
Funding Period: June, 2018 - May, 2021
Funding Body: BMBF, EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Sascha Flögel
BASE-LiNE Earth
Brachiopods As SEnsitive tracers of gLobal marINe Environment: Insights from alkaline, alkaline Earth metal, and metalloid trace element ratios isotope systems
Funding Period: January, 2015 - December, 2018
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Anton Eisenhauer
BASTA
Boost Applied Munition Detection Through Smart Data Integration and AI Workflows
Funding Period: December, 2019 - November, 2022
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Jens Greinert
BICYCLE
Benthic Iron Cycling in Oxygen Minimum Zones and Implications for Ocean Biogeochemistry
Funding Period: August, 2012 - October, 2015
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Christian Hensen
BIOACID
Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification
Funding Period: September, 2009 - November, 2017
Funding Body: BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Ulf Riebesell
Bones4Culture
German-Danish Identity Illuminated Through the Analysis of Cultural Heritage
Funding Period: July, 2011 - June, 2014
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Anton Eisenhauer
BOPCATS
Beaufort Offshore Permafrost and Gas Hydrates – Climate Change Impact on Arctic Transgressed Continental Shelves
Funding Period: August, 2019 - July, 2022
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Michael Riedel
CALMARO
Calcification by Marine Organisms
Funding Period: October, 2008 - September, 2012
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Nicole Schmidt
Cayman
Illuminating Ultra-Slow Spreading Centres: A Seismic Approach to the Cayman Trough
Funding Period: September, 2019 - August, 2021
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Ingo Grevemeyer
China Gas Hydrate
Characterization and Energy Production Strategies of Gas Hydrate Deposits in the North South China Sea
Funding Period: March, 2014 - February, 2017
Funding Body: Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
Project Information
Head Scientist: Matthias Haeckel
CLAM
Structure and petrophysics of oceanic Crust and Lithosphere, Atlantis Massif. Study of cores from IODP Expedition 357 (CLAM)
Funding Period: December, 2016 - May, 2018
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Jan Hinrich Behrmann
COMPASS
Control of an Operational Mining Path Through an Auto-Adaptive Steering System
Subproject: COMPASS-DRIMP - Producing DTMs and Mn-Nodule Reserve Data Layers for defining the Ideal-Mining-Path. Project partner.
Funding Period: January, 2018 - December, 2020
Funding Body: EU, BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Jens Greinert
DAM Pilotmission Ost
DAM Pilot Mission Protected Areas of the Baltic Sea: Effects of the exclusion of mobile bottom-contact fishing in marine protected areas
Funding Period: March, 2020 - February, 2023
Funding Body: BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Stefan Sommer
Deep Quanticams
Visual Deep Sea Mapping and Quantitative Imaging Using Cameras
Funding Period: June, 2019 - May, 2022
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Kevin Köser
Digital Earth
Towards SMART Monitoring and Integrated Data Exploration of the Earth System - Implementing the Data
Funding Period: June, 2018 - May, 2021
Funding Body: Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
Project Information
Head Scientist: Jens Greinert
Do-Stro
The four major Isotopes of Dolomite (C, O, Mg, Ca): Closing the Calcium Isotope (d44/42Ca) Gap
Funding Period: January, 2020 - December, 2022
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Volker Liebetrau
ECO2nvert
Electroenzymatic CO2 reduction using recombinant CODHs from seafloor habitats recovered via an activity-based screen
Funding Period: February, 2020 - January, 2023
Funding Body: BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Mirjam Perner
ECO2
Sub-marine CO2 storage: Impact on marine ecosystems
Funding Period: May, 2011 - April, 2015
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Klaus Wallmann
Effects of Diagenesis on the Divalent Cation Proxies (Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca) and their Isotope Systems (delta 44/40Ca, delta 88/86Sr, delta 26/24Mg) on biogenic carbonate hardparts
Funding Period: April, 2013 - March, 2016
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Anton Eisenhauer
EMSO
European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observation
Funding Period: April, 2008 - September, 2012
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Olaf Pfannkuche
Influences of thermodynamic and kinetic factors on the formation and dissolution of calcium phosphates in complex geochemical systems
Funding Period: January, 2016 - December, 2018
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Julyan Oxmann
ENVRI PLUS
Environmental Research Infrastructures Providing Shared Solutions for Science and Society
Funding Period: May, 2015 - July, 2019
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Arne Körtzinger
FLOWS
Impact of Fluid Circulation in Old Oceanic Lithosphere on the Seismicity of Transform-type Plate Boundaries: New Solutions for Early Seismic Monitoring of Major European Seismogenic Zones
Funding Period: October, 2013 - October, 2017
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Christian Hensen
Future Ocean
Future Ocean II
Funding Period: November, 2012 - October, 2017
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Martin Visbeck
Gasmigration
Gas Migration and Gas Hydrate Formation in Marine Sediments
Funding Period: December, 2019 - November, 2021
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Klaus Wallmann
HERMIONE
Hotspot Ecosystem Research and Man's Impact on European Seas
Funding Period: April, 2009 - September, 2012
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Olaf Pfannkuche
HISEM
A 'High Sensitive Deep Sea Methane Monitoring' System for Underwater Leakage Measurements
Funding Period: October, 2010 - September, 2013
Funding Body: EU, BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Peter Linke
HOSST
Helmholtz Research School Ocean System Science and Technology (HOSST)
Funding Period: June, 2012 - December, 2019
Funding Body: Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
Project Information
Head Scientist: Wolf-Christian Dullo
HYDROGENASEN
New Hydrogenases from Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents
Funding Period: May, 2018 - March, 2021
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Mirjam Perner
HYPOX
In Situ Monitoring of Oxygen Depletion in Hypoxic Ecosystems of Coastal and Open Seas and Land-Locked Water Bodies
Funding Period: April, 2009 - March, 2012
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Olaf Pfannkuche
ICONOX
Influence of the Iron Cycle in Continental Margin Sediments on the Nutrient and Oxygen Balance of the Ocean
Funding Period: October, 2016 - September, 2019
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Florian Scholz
ID&S
Isotope Diagnostics & Services
Funding Period: July, 2016 - June, 2018
Funding Body: Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
Project Information
Head Scientist: Anton Eisenhauer
JEDDAH TRANSECT
Jeddah Transect - Biological, Geological, and Geophysical Studies of an Emerging Ocean
Funding Period: July, 2010 - June, 2013
Funding Body: -
Project Information
Head Scientist: Warner Brückmann
JPIO MiningImpact II
Environmental Impacts and Risks of Deep-Sea Mining
Funding Period: August, 2018 - February, 2022
Funding Body: BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Jens Greinert
JPIO Mining Impact
JPIO Pilot Action “Ecological Aspects of Deep-Sea Mining”: Assessing the Impact of Potential Mining Activities on Deep-Sea Ecosystems - Environmental Status of Polymetallic Nodule Habitats in the DISCOL Experimental Area, SE Pacific, and Implications for Future Nodule Mining Activities in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, NE Pacific
Funding Period: January, 2015 - July, 2018
Funding Body: BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Matthias Haeckel
KASANDRA
The Dynamics of Oceanic Trace Substances in the Earth System from the Sources to the Marine Sinks and Their Influence on the Climate System
Funding Period: September, 2013 - August, 2014
Funding Body: BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Anton Eisenhauer
LOBSTER-BB
Generation and Destruction of Lithosphere in the Ligurian Sea
Funding Period: June, 2017 - March, 2021
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Dietrich Lange
MEDGATE
Reconstructing Mediterranean-Atlantic Exchange During the Miocene
Funding Period: February, 2012 - January, 2016
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Marcus Gutjahr
MIDAS
Managing Impacts of Deep-Sea Resource Exploitation
Funding Period: November, 2013 - October, 2016
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Jens Greinert
MIGRATE
Marine Gas Hydrate - An Indigenous Resource of Natural Gas for Europe
Funding Period: March, 2015 - March, 2019
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Klaus Wallmann
MOSES
Modular Observation Solutions for Earth Systems
Funding Period: January, 2017 - December, 2021
Funding Body: Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
Project Information
Head Scientist: Jens Greinert
Natural Anaerobic Degradation of Methane and Petroleum in Marine Sediments: Geochemical Gradients, Succession of Degradation, and Microbial Zonation
Funding Period: January, 2012 - December, 2014
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Klaus Wallmann
Pliocene Dust Storms Over Asia as an Analogue for Future Climate Change?
Funding Period: September, 2019 - August, 2021
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Marcus Gutjahr
REEBUS
Role of Eddies in the Carbon Pump of Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems - Demonstration Case Canary Current System
Funding Period: January, 2019 - December, 2021
Funding Body: BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Arne Körtzinger
ROBEX
Robotic Exploration of Extreme Environments
Funding Period: October, 2012 - September, 2017
Funding Body: Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
Project Information
Head Scientist: Stefan Sommer
ROBUST
Robotic Subsea Exploration Technologies
Funding Period: December, 2015 - January, 2020
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Jens Greinert
SFB754
Climate - Biogeochemical Interactions in the Tropical Ocean
Funding Period: January, 2008 - December, 2019
Funding Body: DFG-SFB
Project Information
Head Scientist: Andreas Oschlies
SO241 MAKS
Magmatic-Induced Carbon Leakage from Marine Sediments as a Climate Impact - Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California
Funding Period: March, 2015 - August, 2017
Funding Body: BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Christian Berndt
STEMM-CCS
Strategies for Environmental Monitoring of Marine Carbon Capture and Storage
Funding Period: March, 2016 - February, 2020
Funding Body: EU
Project Information
Head Scientist: Klaus Wallmann
SUGAR
Submarine Gas Hydrate Deposits: Exploration, Extraction, and Transport
Funding Period: December, 2008 - December, 2017
Funding Body: Private Sector, BMBF, Other
Project Information
Head Scientist: Matthias Haeckel
TIMM-FLEXMOT
Flexible Long-Term Monitoring Tool - Flow Reference Measurement During Field Tests
Funding Period: January, 2013 - December, 2015
Funding Body: BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Sascha Flögel
TRION
Stable Strontium Isotopes as a New Proxy for Continental Weathering, Pedogenesis Processes, and Ocean Temperature
Funding Period: June, 2013 - June, 2016
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Anton Eisenhauer
TRISCO
Investigation of Gas Migration as a Triggering Mechanism for Submarine Landslides on Continental Slopes
Funding Period: August, 2019 - July, 2022
Funding Body: DFG
Project Information
Head Scientist: Morelia Urlaub
UDEMM
Environmental Monitoring for the Delaboration of Munitions in the Sea
Funding Period: February, 2016 - January, 2019
Funding Body: BMBF
Project Information
Head Scientist: Jens Greinert