Current projects
RAVE-Geology
Research at alpha ventus, geological concomitant research in the offshore test field of the alpha ventus wind farm
www.rave-offshore.de
GPDN
Geopotential Deutsche Nordsee (geopotential German North Sea), investigation of the seabed in the German North Sea, geotechnical properties and natural resources (e. g. sand and gravel) related to sediment structure
www.geopotential-nordsee.de
SGE-Baugrund
Shelf Geo-Explorer – geotechnical information system for the development of offshore wind energy and preliminary study for an update to the BSH Standard “Ground Investigations for Offshore Wind Farms”
AufMod-A
Development of integrated model systems for the analysis of long-term morphodynamics in the Ger- man Bight
http://kfki.baw.de / www.kfki.de
GEOLOGY
Structure and dynamics of the seabed
www.bsh.de | posteingang@bsh.de
BSH Hamburg
Bernhard-Nocht-Str. 78 · 20359 Hamburg
Phone: +49 (0) 40 3190-0 · Fax: +49 (0) 40 3190-5000
BSH Rostock
Neptunallee 5 · 18057 Rostock
Phone: +49 (0) 381 4563-5 · Fax: +49 (0) 381 4563-948 M25_002 Stand 10/11
Tasks
Marine geological studies of seabed sediment distri- bution, stratification of the seabed (i.e. of the upper 30–50 m of the seabed), and sedimentation dyna- mics are carried out periodically by the BSH, also in co-operation with other authorities, institutions, and universities.
Our tasks include:
• description of conditions on the sea floor and of sedimentation processes
• assessment of measures affecting the seabed
• localisation of potential marine habitat types
• assessment of general geotechnical properties
• assessment of the positional stability of submarine pipelines
Meanwhile, over 20,000 sediment samples from the bottom of the North Sea and Baltic Sea are available, as are approx
3,000 sediment cores
• storage of the cores at the MARUM storage facility of Bremen University
• vibrocore segments of 1 m length and historical sample material
• collection of foraminifera from samples taken in the 1970s
• Norwegian fjords (samples taken by the German navy in 1944)
Sustainable use of marine resources
The BSH’s geological expertise and advice on geological matters contribute to sustainable use of the oceans, e.g. within the framework of planning approval procedures for:
• the construction and operation of offshore wind farms
• laying of submarine pipelines and cables
• marine sand and gravel extraction projects
Its geological expertise also benefits:
• nautical hydrography
• oceanographic modelling
• marine research
• fisheries
• the German Navy
• marine environmental protection
• coastal and ocean engineering
• underwater archaeology
Marine geological data are stored in the “Shelf Geo- Explorer” expert information system and are made available to users, within the framework of the BSH’s geospatial data infrastructure (GDI), via GeoSea- Portal (www.bsh.de > Meeresdaten > GeoSeaPortal).
The portal also provides information on the location of wells, hydroacoustic profiles, sediment distribu- tion, and structure of the upper sediment layers of the seabed.
Anchoring of wind turbine to the seabed. The geolo-
gical structure de- termines the ground
bearing capacity.
VWFS ATAIR Technical equipment used
The BSH owns state-of-the-art technical equipment, especially research vessels which are used routinely for geological surveys of the seabed.
The equipment includes:
• side scan sonars
• multi-beam echosounders
• chirp sonar equipment
• boomers
• sparkers
• drilling equipment: vibrocorer (6 m and 3 m)
• bottom sampler: small and large box corers, Van Veen grab
• remotely operated submarine vehicle fitted with underwater cameras and a sampling arm
