Department of Marine Chemistry and Biochemistry of IO PAN

Head: Prof. Ksenia Pazdro

Department consist of seven sections, each performing independently research on properties of various components of the marine environment and processes taking place there.

Major topics studied in the sections are as follow:

• Marine Biochemistry Laboratory
  • factors influencing transport of metal ions (at present iron) through cell membranes, and distribution within cells
  • pigments of phytoplankton as ecophysiology and chemotaxonomy indicators
  • allelopathy in aquatic environments
  • short and long-term trends in phytoplankton of the Baltic Sea
  
  
• Marine Biogeochemistry Laboratory
  • geochemistry of heavy metals
  • geochemistry of natural organic substances
  • climate change influence on geochemical cycles
  
  
• Marine Geotoxycology Laboratory
  • speciation of heavy metals in sediments, water, and biota
  • ²¹⁰Pb dating of surface sediments
  • investigation of sedimentation and processes scavenging at the Barents Sea shelf
  
  
• Laboratory of Environmental Chemical Processes
  
  
• Laboratory of Contemporary Threats to Marine Ecosystems
  • dumped hazardous material on the seabed -reemission of contaminants from sediments
  • point source propagation of contaminants on the seabed
  • climate change impact on trace metals release in polar ecosystems
  
  
• Laboratory of Pollution in Polar Regions
  • Biogeochemistry of trace metals in polar regions
  • Biogeochemistry of natural and artificial radionuclides (²¹⁰Pb, ²³⁴Th, ¹³⁷Cs, ^239,240Pu, ⁹⁹Tc)
  • Biogeochemistry of persistent organic contaminants (PCBs, PAHs) in marine environment (Svalbard fjords)
  • Geochronology of contemporary sediments based on ²¹⁰Pb sediment datin
  • Biogeochemistry of heavy metals in the Baltic Sea and European Arctic Seas
  • Radionuclides as tools to study oceanographical processes
  
  
• Large Scale Processes Group
  • global carbon and biogeochemistry in situ and remote sensing observations
  • analysis of requirements and gaps in the current observing networks
  • performance evaluation and optimal design of the ship-based, moored and autonomous biogeochemical observing networks
  • observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) with the application of machine learning methodology
  • surface and interior ocean carbon data synthesis activities
  • detecting trends and patterns in basin-wide and global biogeochemical processes, and their effects on global ecosystem functioning