The Research Division Dynamics of the Ocean Floor has two Research Units: Magmatic and Hydrothermal Systems and Marine Geodynamics.

The scientific research of the research units is embedded in the research program  'Changing Earth - Sustaining our Future', here mainly in topic 3 and topic 8, and the GEOMAR 2030 strategy with its Core Themes and Integrative Research Foci (IRF).

The research focus is on the geological-geophysical survey of the ocean floor and the margins of the ocean basins. The core topics include processes of formation, development, alteration and subduction of the oceanic lithosphere and the associated effects on the environment, for example on the climate and the emergence of natural hazards.

These research topics are addressed in three geotectonic areas:

• Divergent plate margins: Formation of the ocean floor and the ocean basins
• Convergent plate margins: the subduction engine
• Tectonic and magmatic processes in the intraplate zone: Conversion of oceanic plates

Significant research emphasis is placed on:

• Marine natural hazards: earthquakes, volcanoes, slope stability, submarine landslides, and tsunamis
• Seafloor resources: Gas hydrates and polymetallic massive sulphides
• Introduction of volatiles into the atmosphere and hydrosphere