The Center for Geomicrobiology was established 2007 in co-operation between the Danish National Research Foundation, the German Max Planck Society, and Aarhus University. The Center is headed by Prof. Bo Barker Jørgensen and has by the end of 2009 twelve scientists and post-docs, two technicians, and five PhD and Master students. The research focuses on the deep sub-seafloor biosphere and prokaryotic life under extremely low energy flux. This requires development of new and highly sensitive techniques to explore the metabolic activity of sediment bacteria and archaea and their physiological and genetic potential. The Center also studies the biogeochemical processes in the seabed by which microorganisms drive the major element cycles.

Tasks

The principal coordinator of BALTIC GAS is Prof. Bo Barker Jørgensen. The Center for Geomicrobiology is responsible for the management of the project and for the dissemination of results and know-how. The Center works on the quantification of the production and breakdown of methane and on relevant key geochemical processes which control the fluxes and possible emission of methane. This involves the use of radio-isotopes to trace ongoing microbial key processes in the carbon and sulfur cycles and the use stable isotopes to trace the corresponding processes in the past. The Center is also responsible for the integration of the multidisciplinary research fields engaged in BALTIC GAS and for the synthesis and overall conclusions of the research.