Life and element cycling in the deepest oceanic trenches on Earth

DIAS Chair of Biology and Professor, Ronnie N. Glud, gives an open lecture at Danish Institute for Advanced Study at SDU.




The deep-sea coves more than 60% of Earth and processes in the deep ocean are critical for the biogeochemical function and the climate on our planet.

However, deep-sea investigations are challenging, and the deep ocean remain largely unexplored. This is particularly true for the deepest part of the oceans, the hadal realm, which stretches from 6 to 11 km of water depth.

It was for long anticipated that the hadal zone was derived of life, but recent investigations with sophisticated autonomous instrumentation have documented that hadal trenches are depocenters for organic material and act as hot spots for unexplored microbial life that flourish at extreme hydrostatic pressure. Trenches environments also appear to be surprisingly divers and dynamic and to play a quantitatively important role for deep ocean carbon cycling and climate feedbacks.

The presentation will show how life and processes in the deep trenches are investigated, discuss the newest hadal findings and the importance of the hadal realm for the function of the global ocean.






The lecture takes place in DIAS' seminar room, Fioniavej 34, Odense campus, and is open for everyone