Lisbeth Fürst Sørensen

The importance of pressure in shaping microbial communities and the biogeochemical functions in hadal sediments remain largely unknown. The overall aim of my PhD project is to investigate the biogeochemistry in hadal sediments with a particular focus on pressure effects on anaerobic processes. I will investigate the effects of hydrostatic pressure on early diagenesis from shallow water sediment to deep sea sediments with a focus on oxygen respiration, nitrification, denitrification, anammox, and sulfate reduction. I will further explore the adaptations and succession of anaerobic microbial communities to elevated hydrostatic pressure by performing long-term pressure incubations. Ultimately, these insights will be compared to the anaerobic diagenesis and microbial communities in hadal sediments.