Dr Furu Mienis

My research fits at the interplay between sedimentology, ecology and physical oceanography. It focuses on understanding environmental conditions and dynamics that influence the functioning of often vulnerable ecosystems in the deep sea (cold-water coral reefs, sponge grounds, canyons). I mainly focus on the identification of transport and (food) particle supply mechanisms to the deep-sea.Using benthic observatories I measure vertical and lateral particle supply and transport in the benthic boundary layer near deep-sea ecosystems. Subsequently, the knowledge of recent conditions is applied to reconstruct environmental conditions in the past using sediment cores. In additon I work on the development of new deep-sea sampling and observational toools in cooperation with the NMF-department.