News archive for Department of Earth Science

Water, Ice and the Origin of Life in the Universe (29.06.2009)

CGB will be taking an active role in an Astrobiology summer school addressing these issues 29 June-13 July 2009. Professor Nils-Kåre Birkeland will be one of the lecturers, lecturing on the "Genetics of thermophiles" and the "Molecular basis of the stability of biomoleculees in hot environments". Researcher Ida Helene Steen and research assistant Solveig Hoem are leading some of the lab courses... Read more

Peatlands and heavy metal release and storage (26.06.2009)

Guest researcher and mineralogist Beata Smieja-Król says that peatland is only interesting when it is polluted!

Cruising in the South Pacific (24.06.2009)

Professor Lise Øvreås is participating in a research cruise in the Lau basin, east of Fiji, where scientists are investigating extreme organisms living around the hydrothermal vents found there.

Sponges as nutrient sources and sinks in the marine ecosystem (11.06.2009)

Written by Friederike Hoffman, Sars Centre. Sponges are major constitutes of coral reef and deep sea communities. They excrete high amounts of ammonium and, due to the activity of associated microorganisms, nitrite and nitrate; these are essential nutrients, and sponges are thus considered as important nutrient sources in the marine ecosystem.