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Ocean Floor

Ocean Floor

exploring & describing

The ocean floor is one of the most dynamic and geologically diverse regions on Earth. Its shape is constantly being changed by the input of sediments, their further transport and deposition as well as by submarine volcanism, earthquakes, anthropogenic influences and many other factors.

MARUM scientists deal with a broad spectrum of processes that shape the sea floor. These include current-driven sediment movement and its influence by human activities, the influence of seafloor dynamics on morphology and benthic ecosystems, as well as cascading natural hazards and their precursors. The interactions between the Earth's crust and the sediment bed at oceanic rift and spreading centers are also the focus of MARUM's research.

Some of the questions that drive our research are:

How are oceanic crust and plates formed and how do they evolve and how do they affect geochemical cycles in the ocean?
What controls slope instability and how does it affect human activities?
What processes control the transport and accumulation of sediments and other particles, such as organic carbon and plastic?
What factors control the growth of cold-water corals?

To answer those and many other questions, we apply different methods ranging from numerical modelling, analysis of sediment cores or observations of the seafloor using the technology of MARUM.

Participating Research Groups

Sampling with the diving robot MARUM-QUEST at a water depth of 520 meters on the Azores Plateau, Photo: MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen

sea4society

Innovative approaches to improve the carbon storage potential of coastal vegetation ecosystems

(DAM Research Mission)

Pillow lava at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis. Photo: MARUM − Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen

AIMS3

Alternate scenarios, Innovative technologies, and Monitoring approaches for Sub-Seabed Storage of carbon dioxide

(DAM Research Mission)

Self-organized mineral structures, so-called biomorphs, which imitate living organisms but are the result of purely abiotic reactions. The size of these biomorphs is between one and 25 micrometers. Photo: Juan Manuel Garcia-Ruiz/CSIC

PROTOS

The Role of Silica in the Dawn of Life on our Planet

(ERC Synergy Grant)

Current news

Showing 109-112 of 125 items.

May 29, 2020

New DFG Priority Programme "Tropical Climate Variability and Coral Reefs"

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation, DFG) is establishing a Priority Programme on "Tropical Climate Variability and Coral ...

Microplastics are delivered to the ocean through rivers carrying industrial and domestic wastewater, carried down submarine canyons by powerful avalanches of sediment (turbidity currents) and then transported on the ocean floor by ‘bottom currents’ and de

May 4, 2020

Seafloor microplastic hotspots controlled by deep-sea currents

An international research project has revealed the highest levels of microplastic ever recorded on the ocean floor, with up to 1.9 million pieces in a thin ...

Undisturbed seafloor with the low manganese nodule density typical for the DISCOL area (left). 26 years later, the plough tracks are still clearly visible (left). Photo: ROV-Team/GEOMAR

Apr 29, 2020

Simulated deep-sea mining affects ecosystem functions at the oceanfloor

Deep-sea mining could provide a way to address the increasing need for rare metals. However, its environmental impact is only partially known. In addition, ...

Cold water coral reef with Lophelia pertusa in 350 meter water depth in the centre of the oxygen minimum zone off Angola in the southeast Atlantic. Photo: MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen

Apr 28, 2020

New study: Corals in the deep sea adapt to extreme oxygen depletion

Reefs of cold water corals are unique biodiversity hot spots in the deep sea. In order to grow, reef-building species like Lophelia pertusa need good ...

The Ocean Floor – Earth’s Uncharted Interface

MARUM is home to the Cluster of Excellence ›The Ocean Floor - Earth's Uncharted Interface‹.