Bianca Petzold

My doctoral thesis at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon is part of the RETAKE II project. The CO2 content in the atmosphere increases mainly due to the combustion of fossil fuels. The aim of the project is to investigate whether the reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere can be increased by increasing the alkalinity of the oceans through the addition of certain minerals. To this end, the general spatial and seasonal variability of alkalinity in the North and Baltic Seas will be investigated as well as the background pollution with heavy metals, whose concentration or mass fraction in the environment can be increased by the added minerals, which can result in possible toxicological effects for the affected ecosystem.

On the basis of multi-element analyses and stable as well as radioactive isotope tracers, an additional approach is to be established that allows the source allocation of corresponding measures to increase alkalinity.

My focus in the field of environmental and analytical chemistry lies in the following areas: