The Biogeochemistry Group studies microbiological and geochemical processes of organic carbon degradation and element cycling in marine sediments.
Special focus is on the transformations of sulfur, iron and manganese and their interactions.
The tools include a range of analytical methods, radiotracers and stable isotopes. The chemistry and degradability of complex macromolecular organic material in marine sediments, which is decisive for the bacterial carbon flux but is still poorly understood, is a new research topic of the group. The microsensor group develops microsensors and applies these tools to answer scientific questions. Sediment-water fluxes link the production in the water column to the sedimentary decomposition and thereby control the microbial and geochemical processes in the sea bed. A thorough understanding and realistic quantification of the fluxes, thus, is crucial for the understanding of all sedimentary processes.