Deep-Sea Research

Exploring life in oceanic trenches

While the surface of the Earth has been mapped and its ecosystems explored in great detail, the deep sea remains virtually unexplored due to remoteness and extreme conditions. Developing and using a novel in situ technology, we discovered that, in particular, the hadal trenches—deeper than 6000m—are a hotspot for biological activity despite the long distance from the productive surface ocean. We are exploring the diversity and activity of life in the seafloor exposed to extremely high hydrostatic pressure, low temperatures and complete darkness. Surprisingly, pollutants can be traced into these remote environments, which implies that this mare incognitum is a closely integrated part of the Earth system and in several ways affected by anthropogenic impacts.

Link: https://www.sdu.dk/en/forskning/hadal

KEY RESEARCH AREAS

Carbon and nitrogen cycling
Pelagic-benthic coupling
Biogeochemical processes
Transport of particulate matter / marine snow
In situ sensing and incubation technology
High-pressure physiology
Effects of pressure on processing and microbial life
Microbial and viral genomics
Pollutants
Deep-sea mining

FUNDING and PROJECTS (last 5 years)

DNRF Center: HADAL
EU Horizon Europe: Innovating Sediment Oxygen Consumption Quantification: A Novel Proxy Utilizing Marine Bacterial Tetraether Lipids (SOCGDGT)
DFF Sapere Aude: Novel Approach for Quantifying Benthic Deep-Sea Oxygen Dynamics Across Space and Time
EU/Fiskerirådet, Cumulative Effects on Mussel farming
FORMAS, Where on Earth do persistent organic pollutants go? (HADAL-POP)
Novo Nordisk, Understanding bacterio-pahge behavior through the lens of the bacterial host population

PERSONNEL (A-Z)

Karl ATTARD, Associate Professor (carbon cycling in polymetallic nodule ecosystems)
Yen-Ting CHEN, PhD student (microbial ecology, biogeography, biogeochemistry, bioinformatics)
Anni GLUD, Laboratory technician (in situ tech)
Ronnie N. GLUD, Professor (in situ tech, transport, biogeochemistry, high-pressure studies, pollutants)
Morten ALITOUCHE KIELER, Engineering Assistant (pressure tanks)
Mathias MIDDELBOE, Adjunct Professor (viral genomics)
Kazumasa OGURI, Associate Professor (Sedimentology; carbon sequestration; Development of in situ instruments)
Peter STIEF, Associate Professor (marine snow, deep-sea carbon cycling, high-pressure instruments)
Bo THAMDRUP, Professor (microbiology, biogeochemistry)
Sachia TRAVING, Postdoc (bacteriophages, C-,N-,S-cycle, bioinformatics, culture work, viral ecology)
Blandine TROUCHE, Postdoc (microbial ecology, biogeography, archaea)
Frank WENZHÖFER, Professor (high-pressure instrumentation)
Wenjie XIAO, Postdoc (lipids, isotopes, carbon cycle)

Image rights: Ronnie Glud