Metals in the Ocean

An Integrative Research Focus (IRF) of GEOMAR

The IRF "Metals in the Ocean" brings together GEOMAR scientists from all four Research Divisions and Core Themes working on metals in the marine environment. Metals in the ocean can serve as trace nutrients essential to all life in the ocean, as pollutants and/or toxins, as tracers of ocean circulation and mixing, and as proxies for the reconstruction of past climates and ocean processes. Metals are also sequestered into ores at the seafloor. Their economic value and the increasing global demand in critical metals increases the pressure on the ecosystems of the deep sea.

Given the current and future pressures of climate change, pollution, ocean acidification, ocean warming, and deep-sea mining, this Integrative Research Focus will be invaluable in providing new insights and information to promote action for a sustainable, predictable, clean, safe, productive, and healthy ocean in the future. 

The IRF “Metals in the Ocean” promotes interdisciplinary collaboration within GEOMAR and with other national and international experts, leveraging existing and building new resources to expand GEOMAR's leading role in this transdisciplinary thematic field.