Research

We do research on..

… modern environmental geochemistry.

The focus is on the biogeochemical cycles of trace elements and the behavior of pollutants—especially mercury—in terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

One of our main areas of interest is the use of geochemical archives such as sediments and peatlands to reconstruct past environmental conditions and better understand how climate change and land use changes affect natural material flows. In addition, we investigate the role of natural organic matter in the transport and distribution of trace elements in forest and water systems.

Our research combines basic science with applied environmental geochemistry – for example, in the analysis and assessment of mercury-contaminated sites.

All our projects are financed by public donors or industrial third-party funds and are nationally or internationally networked..

Selected research topics of the geochemistry group:

Organic carbon in water, soil and groundwater has many functions as a nutrient, as a carbon reservoir and as a transport path for associated elements such as nitrogen, sulphur, iron, iodine and heavy metals such as lead and mercury. However, the mutual influences on solubility, reactivity and chemical stability are still insufficiently known. It is therefore a goal of the Geochemistry Working Group to elucidate these diverse interactions in detail.

Carbon sequestration from ecosystems is determined by various factors such as vegetation, morphology and water balance. Many of these factors are now strongly influenced by humans. In order to investigate the natural processes, AG Geochemie is therefore conducting a research project in Patagonia, a largely untouched area in South America, which offers a unique diversity of different ecosystems on a small area: From the Andes-influenced wetlands in the west to the dry and windy steppe in the east. The aim of the study is to investigate the processes of release of carbon and other elements under natural conditions.

Organic carbon in river, lake and sea water is one of the largest carbon reservoirs on earth. However, factors that determine its composition are largely unknown. The Geochemistry Working Group is therefore studying the influences of biogeochemical processes on the molecular composition of organic carbon using ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry.

Research

We do research on..

Selected research topics of the geochemistry group:

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