Dr. Claire Reymond: Galápagos sands- what lies beneath?

On January 21st, Dr. Claire Reymond, of ZMT, will give us an insight into her research on sedimentation on the islands of the Galápagos archipelago:

As in geology, the present is not always the key to the past, or the future. Understanding what was natural is important not just for historical curiosity, but for rational management and conservation of coastal oceans in the future. ~Jeremy B.C. Jackson (2001) In: What was natural in the coastal oceans? PNAS v. 98(10) 5411-5418.

Except for the transient fisherman, the islands of the Galápagos archipelago were largely uninhabited by humans until the beginning of ecotourism during the 1950s. Now it’s one of the largest world heritage areas spanning 133,000 km2 of protected water with over 180,000 tourists per annum. Often referred to as a natural laboratory, the Galápagos archipelago is a unique location as it is one of the only places in the world that offers a tropical oceanic upwelling gradient (cooler, nutrient and pCO2 enriched waters). However, little is known about the ecology, distribution and production of modern shallow water sediment and the modes of calcification. In this talk I will present an overview of the significance and future sedimentological work conducted in join collaboration between Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT) and the Charles Darwin Foundation. Perhaps changing the way the many people view tropical sandy beaches….

Dr. Claire Reymond, Leibniz Center for Marine Tropic Ecology