GRK 2000: The German Baltic Sea Coast as Terrestrial-Marine Interface of Water and Matter Fluxes (Baltic Transcoast)

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Baltic TRANCOAST studies the physical, biogeochemical, and biological processes at theland-ocean interface. The coastal zone is heavily impacted by various human activities aswell as by geomorphological and climatic processes. Land-sea interactions at low lyingcoastal areas that are often dominated by peatlands are not well understood, hampering futureplanning and management. The core hypothesis of Baltic TRANSCOAST is that theshallow sea and the terrestrial peatland have a mutual impact on each other with farreachingconsequences for water and energy fluxes, matter cycling and the biota. The interdisciplinaryresearch focuses on the significance of flood frequency and duration on biogeochemicalprocesses by concentrating the investigations on three comparison sites. Common,central mesocosm experiments are designed to deepen process understanding andstrengthen interdisciplinary integration. A coupled ocean-groundwater model links sea-boundand terrestrial processes and enables analysing the impact of changing boundary conditions(such as climate and land-use) on low-lying coastal areas. The training program aims at educating‘experts of coastal areas’; it is clustered in six units and involves regular researchseminars. Workshops in Canada, Finland, Denmark and a session to be organized at an internationalconference enhance group dynamic and peer-to-peer learning. Two additionalPostdocs function as integrators for the PhD students and ensure interdisciplinary, highrankedjournal publications. The composition of the consortium as well as existing infrastructure(including office and seminar rooms, new research vessel, and the graduate academy)foster the fundamental research to deepen our system-based understanding of coasts andpromote structured training of PhD students. The Baltic TRANSCOAST occupiers a centralplace in the research strategy of the University of Rostock and the Leibniz Institute for BalticSea Research thereby allowing incorporation of new research ideas, approaches and infrastructureinto the research training group and ensuring integration and mutual enrichment ofthe coastal research agendas in Rostock area.