The project ‘Marine‐environmental development of Danish Waters’ at the Geological Survey of Denmark

Abstract

ABSTRACTResearch in marine geology at the Geologcal Survey is primarily related to environmental problems. At present several projects are concerned with sedimentation in the inner Danish waters during the Holocene. A primary objective is a subdivision of the sea‐floor into areas of erosion, reworking and accumulation. In the accumulation area the exact sedimentation processes and sedimentary environments are elucidated. Here, also, the organo‐chemical processes are investigated, especially with regard to the biological transformations and diagenesis of par‐ticulate organic matter, by utilizing well‐known techniques from industry.The aim is to explain the natural development of the environment at the sea‐floor and to get a better understanding of the elements of the oxygen consumption at the waterisediment interface. A primary objective is to produce a new measuring‐technique for organic matter diagenesis in the sea bed that will provide fast and reproducible results in the monitoring of the environmental parameters of the sea‐floor. Special attention will be given to the various potentials of different types of organic matter in relation to oxygen consumption during bacterial decomposition in the sediment.