Organic Geochemistry Lab
Despite its abundance, its importance in biogeochemical cycles and its sensitivity to global change, our knowledge of the composition, molecular structure and reactivity of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the oceans is still limited.
The foundational objective of the Organic Geochemistry Lab is to fill this knowledge gap by isolating DOM, analyzing its elemental composition and its optical, isotopic and structural properties, and tracing its alteration through photochemical and microbial processes.
Geographically, we focus on the NW coast of the Iberian Peninsula as a model for land-ocean interactions, including coastal upwelling, and for different degrees of human alteration, as well as on the NE Atlantic as a open-ocean model system.
Methodologically, we combine observation, experimentation, and parametric and inverse modeling to unravel the connection between molecular and microbial diversity in an ocean that is experiencing major changes.
The Organic Geochemistry lab also focuses on assessing the regulation and provision of ecosystem services by the highly productive large inlets along the Galician coast, the “rías”, including the quantification of fertilization mechanisms other than coastal upwelling.
We focus on largely underexplored biogeochemical hotspots for carbon (e.g., seagrass meadows, permeable coastal sediments) to advance towards a mechanistic understanding of coastal functioning.
We also assess the risks associated with global and climate change and promote the implementation of adaptation measures to secure coastal and marine goods and services in the forthcoming decades. These include the sustainable exploitation of living resources in the “rías”, for which we closely collaborate with other research groups at the Institute of Marine Research, thereby contributing to an ecosystem approach to the extensive aquaculture activities and artisanal fisheries in the area.