BIOS Oceanography

The department of Oceanography studies the pelagic/benthic ecosystems of the coastal, open and deep seas mostly within the framework of multi-disciplinary scientific projects which in addition to biology, involve physics, chemistry and engineering).

Specific aims include understanding the structure and function of the pelagic and benthic ecosystems and their dependence on the physical and chemical properties of the environment, the trophic webs and their interconnections to the pelagic and benthic systems and the mechanisms by which energy is transferred from lower to higher trophic levels and from the euphotic to the aphotic zone.

To accomplish this, the Department relies on the BIOS research vessel "BIOS 1" and its oceanographic equipment such as CTD, Niskin bottles (pelagic sampling) box- and multi- corer (benthic sampling), benthic landers and sediment traps. Further laboratory analyses make use of advanced scientific instruments, such as fluorescence spectrophotometer, scintillation counter and fluorescence microscopes.

In addition to this, the department recently acquired, within the framework of an international scientific programme, a benthic lander whose purpose is to record/measure benthic biological processes.

Most of this work is currently being concentrated in the Aegean and Levantine Seas (Eastern Mediterranean), the main study area of the department, however, work has also been done in the Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea.