In the beginning of February 2017 another cooperation started with the University of Kiel in which geophysical methods such as Seismics, Geoelectrics and Ground-penetrating radar where used to gain knowledge about the subterranean coastal zones.
Shallow coastal peatlands are characterized by intense hydrological interactions between land and sea, comprising e.g. submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), inundations of the peatland with seawater as well as surface water runoff through channel constructions. Properties of water within coastal fens highly impacts comprising ecosystems and future sea level rise may alter biogeochemical processes in coastal peatland considerably. The coastlines constitute the converging interface between fresh- and saltwater environments but most of the dilution processes happening in the sediments and are therefore "invisible".
Geophysical surveys applied by the team of Ercan Erkul from the University of Kiel allow an indirect imaging of the sub-bottom characteristics, which are influenced by at least two water components: seawater from the Baltic Sea and freshwater from the Hütelmoor.
Author: Matthias Kreuzburg / Baltic TRANSCOAST
„Researchers from Kiel University apply geophysical methods (Seismics, Geoelectrics and Ground-penetrating radar) to investigate the sub-surface at the interface of the peatland and the coast. Picture: M. Naumann, Professur für Geodäsie und Geoinformatik, Uni Rostock, 01.02.2017
Left: Observation of the seismic signals, right: deployment of the cable for the geoelectric survey. Pictures: Miriam Ibenthal, University of Rostock, 01.02.2017
