Interesting articles

Read here articles from the Centre for Geobiology (CGB) website about the major discoveries and achievements of the Centre.

Vents and deep sea

• Vent discoveries: shallow volcanoes and new hydrothermal fields
• The 2013 summer cruise was extremely fruitful: at least five new venting areas were located and a large shallow volcanic area was explored.
• A Visit from the Minister of Education: CGB present and future
• CGB awarded 46 million NOK for Robotics Facility
• A Visit from the Minister of the Environment
  August 1st, 2013 the Norwegian Minister of the Environment, Bård Vegard Solhjell, paid a visit to UiB to hear more about the Norwegian volcanoes that lie beneath the sea surface.
• Fann norsk Atlantis
  Fleire tusen meter under havet finst aktive vulkanar og varme kjelder. Her er også Lokeslottet, med store førekomstar av metall og eit rikt dyreliv. – Tanken på ein spektakulær, blå undervasspark er fantastisk, seier miljøvernminister Bård Vegar Solhjell.
• Kan bli Norges nye nasjonalpark
  Forskere ved UiB har nylig funnet fem nye varmekilder under havet. Nå må økonomiske interesser veies mot det unike dyrelivet som finnes rundt vulkanene.
• A waterworld of volcanoes
  At Loki’s Castle in the Arctic Ocean, researchers from the University of Bergen (UiB) have discovered a so far unknown world of volcanic activity underwater. They hope that this can become Norway’s new national park.
• CGB publishes a Nature Communications paper
  The paper presents the 2008 discovery of Loki’s Castle, the most northerly identified black smoker yet identified, and its unique vent fauna.
• A window to the sea
  A new ocean laboratory on the floor of the Norwegian Sea will provide scientists with real time data. The observatory can give us a better understanding of the ocean.
• Eit vindauge i havet
  Eit nytt havobservatorium på havbotnen i Norskehavet vil gje forskarane sanntidsdata rett inn på kontoret.
• Fremtidens havobservatorium
• Ekstrem opplysning
  Verdens nordligste varmekilde ble funnet utenfor Bjørnøya i fjor. I år vendte forskerne tilbake og fant et yrende liv i det ekstreme miljøet.
• Discovering new worlds on Earth
  Senior Researcher,Gretchen Früh-Green, and PhD student, Tamara Baumberger, from ETH (the Swiss Federal Institute of Research in Zurich), have visited CGB numerous times as well as having participated in numerous cruises.
• the Håkon Mosby mud volcano is another of CGB’s deep sea natural laboratories

CGB at the UN

UiB researchers help make Norway bigger
March 27, 2009 a UN Commission under the Law of the Sea decided to accept Norway’s application to extend the boundaries of its exclusive economic zone: Norway is now 10% bigger! Many UiB researchers from a number of different research groups at UiB, including CGB, have been involved in collecting and analysing the geological data that was used to support the application. The final convincing piece of evidence was gathered by CGB researchers during the research cruise summer 2008. Defining the limits of the continental shelf – CGB to the UN (page 5)

Deep Sea Biology

• Finding deep sea stepping stones
  A chance discovery of a sunken log on the seabed in the North Atlantic is providing concrete support for the idea that stepping stone habitats may help to explain the diffusion of populations of organisms across the deep seafloor.
• Sponges as nutrient sources and sinks in the marine ecosystem
  Sponges are major constitutes of coral reef and deep sea communities.
• New species discovered
  UiB researchers have discovered new species at the northern end of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
• Meet Dumbo, the deep sea octopod who hangs out around deep vents!
• Whale falls, sunken logs and other natural laboraties and stepping stones in the deep sea: BIO-CGB set up some whale falls to study 2007  2008  more on 2007

CO2 and Climate research at CGB

• Let`s talk about climate: engaging tomorrow`s stewards today
  Researchers and school kids with a mission: bridging the gap between climate science and society
• Bergen leads search for CO2
• CGB researchers are involved in a number of projects involving CO2 leakage
• measuring natural CO2 leakage at the Jan Mayen vents

Early Earth and Astrobiology research at CGB

• Study Reveals Early Microbial Feasting
• Seeking life on the early Earth and Mars: Earth’s oldest trace fossil reinvestigated
• The Emergence of Microbial Life in Archean Pillow Lavas
• Are We Martians?
  Studies of the earliest life forms on Earth can provide insights into how to look for traces of possible life on Mars.
• Life is found in deepest layer of Earth’s crust
• Volcanism and Astrobiology: Life on Earth and Beyond

Microbiology and Bioprospecting

• Taking microscopic steps forward
  Understanding the vast and complex microbial world around us is a difficult and complex process – we cannot see most of it!!
• read more about CGB activity in this area

Chemosynthesis

– making energy from chemicals: it is a process that makes life possible in extreme environments, such as the deep sea where the absence of sunlight makes photosynthesis impossible

• Deep sea stepping stones
• Håkon Mosby mud volcano
• learn more about life in deep sea environments