Marine geology
The Marine Geology (English: Marine Geology ) deals with geological, geophysical, geochemical, sedimentological and paleontological investigations of the seabed and coastal areas. It is closely linked with the physical oceanography and plate tectonics.
The finds of marine geology made it possible, among other things, to prove the theories of seafloor spreading and plate tectonics in the postwar years. The deep ocean floor is one of the least explored areas of the world, and detailed maps are especially for the military ( submarines) and the economy (oil and metal mining ) is of great importance.
The Pacific Ring of Fire is its high density of active volcanoes and seismic activity a great danger in the form of earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions may. In order to develop possible early warning signs of these natural disasters, further research in the field of marine geology of the coastal and island arcs have to be operated.
Studies on the littoral and Tiefseesedimentation and the precipitation and dissolution rates of calcium carbonates in the various marine environments have a big impact on global climate change.
Other important research fields were and are the discovery and further exploration of volcanoes and hydrothermal vents of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which were first operated in the Red Sea and then along the East Pacific Rise and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The discovery of extremophile organisms that live in and around these hydrothermal systems, helped to better understand life on Earth.
Deep-sea channels are generally elongate, but relatively narrow recesses in the seabed. The deepest deep-sea channel is the Mariana Trench, a subduction zone where the Pacific Plate slides under the Philippine plate. The Mariana Trench is deeper than Mount Everest is high.
Standard equipment of the marine geology for the removal of sediment samples of the seabed include the gravity corer, the corer and box corer. In more recent times increasingly come ROV ( ROV ) for targeted sampling is used.