Understanding the Interactions Between the Ocean and Life

Our oceans, seas and coastal areas are essential to life on Earth: they provide the oxygen in every second breath we take, regulate Earth's climate and sustain food sources and biodiversity. This is mainly due to the coupling —the interactions— of physical and geochemical processes with biological ones.

At the IIM, we study marine biogeochemical cycles because they are subject to metabolic processes within organisms, geochemical reactions and transport by currents, thereby connecting biological dynamics with geochemistry and physics. For example, phytoplankton, through its photosynthetic pigments, fixes CO₂, releases O₂ and uses nutrients to grow. Therefore, phytoplankton is linked to biogeochemical cycles, the fate of organic matter and oceanographic conditions. Conversely, this biological capture of CO₂ reduces the greenhouse effect, thereby mitigating Climate Change, which is altering oceanographic conditions.

We are interested in achieving a deeper understanding of these complex interactions through which the ocean and life are coupled, such as marine system productivity, larval dispersal, the spatio-temporal distribution of species and resource availability.