FOR 432:  BioGeoChemistry of Tidal Flats

• Subject Area: Geosciences
• Term: from 2001 to 2009
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5468261

The investigations of the research unit aim at a fundamental understanding of important processes in a tidal flat system. For this purpose, biogeochemical transformations on water-column-suspended particles, at the sediment-water interface and in the sediments will be studied. Considering the hydrodynamic conditions, the influence of the different processes on the material budgets will be determined. A mathematical ecosystem model will be developed for the biogeochemical processes in the tidal flat sediments and at the sediment-water interface. On a higher level, a material budget will be established for a selected tidal flat area on the East Frisian North Sea coast (backbarrier tidal flat of Spiekeroog island). The results of the experimental study of sediment transport will be described mathematically with a hydrodynamics model. In addition, a tight coupling of methods for analyzing nonlinear dynamic systems with ecological problems will be used to reveal how spatial, temporal and/or spatio-temporal structures are formed due to nonlinear interaction of reaction, diffusion and advection and if exceeding a critical threshold leads to the spontaneous formation of new structures or dynamics.

• DFG Programme: Research Units

Projects

• Biogeochemische Prozesse und Elementflüsse an der Sediment-Wasser-Grenze von tidalen Sedimenten (Applicant Jørgensen, Bo Barker )
• Bioreaktor Janssand: Physikalische und biogeochemische Prozesse in einer typischen Sandplate des niedersächsischen Wattenmeers (Applicants de Beer, Dirk ;  Rullkötter, Jürgen ;  Wirtz, Kai )
• Budgets und Zustände der Wassersäule des Wattenmeers (Applicant Reuter, Rainer )
• Ereignisgesteuerte Stoffumsatz- und Transferprozesse in der Wassersäule des Wattenmeers: Kopplung von Mikrobiologie, Sedimentologie und Geochemie (Applicants Böttcher, Michael E. ;  Simon, Meinhard )
• "GESAMTMODELL WATT" - Modellbasierte Integration von biogeochemischen, ökologischen und hydrodynamischen Prozessen in Tidegewässern (Applicant Wirtz, Kai )
• Hydrodynamics and suspended matter budget of a tidal basin ot the East Frisian Wadden Sea (Applicant Flemming, Burghard Walter )
• Koordination der Forschungsgruppe 432 (Applicant Rullkötter, Jürgen )
• Methankreislauf im Watt (Applicant Cypionka, Heribert )
• Methankreislauf im Watt (Applicant Amann, Rudolf )
• Mikrobielle Besiedlung, Stoffumsatzprozesse und physiko-chemische Strukturanalyse von Schwebstoffen in Wattsystemen (Applicant Wittstock, Gunther )
• Modellierung der Schlüsselprozesse im Wattenmeer - Einfluss der tidalen Anregung (Applicant Feudel, Ulrike )
• Synergie von Beobachtungsdaten und 3D-Modellen: Dynamik und Schwebstofftransport (Applicants Flemming, Burghard ;  Reuter, Rainer ;  Wolff, Jörg-Olaf )
• Water column states and budget (Applicant Brumsack, Hans-Jürgen )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Jürgen Rullkötter