This study analyzed marine sediment samples from areas with and without minimal hydrocarbon seepage from reservoirs underneath. Depth profiles of dissolved chemical components in the pore water as well as molecular biological data revealed differences in microbial community composition and activity. These results indicate that even minor hydrocarbon seepage affects sedimentary biogeochemical cycling in marine sediments, potentially providing a new tool for detection of hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Coastal and shelf sediments are the most important sinks for organic carbon (OC) on Earth. We produced a new high-resolution sediment and pore-water dataset from the Helgoland Mud Area (HMA), North Sea, to determine, which depositional factors control the preservation of OC. The burial efficiency is highest in an area of high sedimentation and terrigenous OC. The HMA covers 0.09 % of the North Sea, but accounts for 0.76 % of its OC accumulation, highlighting the importance of the depocentre.

Rock cores down to 2250 m depth, groundwater-bearing fractures, and drilling fluid were sampled for DNA to characterize the subsurface microbial community. In general, microbial biomass was extremely low despite the employment of detection methods widespread in low-biomass environments. The described contamination control measures could support future sampling efforts, and our findings emphasize the use of sequencing extraction controls.

The NICA-BRIDGE workshop proposes a milestone-driven three-phase project to ICDP and later ICDP/IODP involving short- and long-core drilling in the Nicaraguan lakes and in the Pacific Sandino Basin to (1) reconstruct tropical climate and environmental changes and their external controlling mechanisms over several million years, (2) assess magnitudes and recurrence times of multiple natural hazards, and (3) provide baseline environmental data for monitoring lake conditions.

The newly established geodynamic laboratory aims to develop modern, comprehensive, multiparameter observations at depth for studying earthquake swarms, crustal fluid flow, mantle-derived fluid degassing and processes of the deep biosphere. It is located in the West Bohemia–Vogtland (western Eger Rift) geodynamic region and comprises a set of five shallow boreholes with high-frequency 3-D seismic arrays as well as continuous real-time fluid monitoring at depth and the study of the deep biosphere.