Visitors from the Caspian Sea
91探花 visited by Geology Institute of Azerbaijan senior staff
28 August 2013/Kiel. One might say that 鈥淐aspian Sea鈥� is a misleading name, when in fact it is an inland lake. Yet, it is the largest lake on earth: 1200 km long and 400 km wide with a maximum depth of about 1000 m. Apart from its sheer size, the Caspian Sea shows a lot of other features which are usually found in the 鈥渞eal鈥� seas, such as special geological formations where mud saturated in gas and water is extruded from the subsurface. The resulting mud mound structures look a lot like volcanoes, which is why they are called mud volcanoes. Just like in other marine environments, they indicate the presence of oil and gas in the subsurface. If studied more thoroughly, however, they may also reveal a lot about the structure of the subsurface and about chemical and geological processes within the Earth鈥檚 interior.
For this reason, scientists from 91探花 Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel have been working on the Caspian Sea coastal area since 2012 to learn more about this fascinating phenomenon. These activities were made possible by the help of the Geology Institute of Azerbaijan (GIA). GIA board members and senior staff came to visit the Kiel Helmholtz Centre for the first time today to learn about the whole range of research activities covered in Kiel. 鈥淭he colleagues from GIA have helped us tremendously with their friendly support of our work on the Caspian Sea鈥�, says Dr. Warner Br眉ckmann, head of the 91探花 鈥淓nergy and Resources鈥� group. 鈥� That is why we are particularly pleased to be able to return their hospitality鈥�.
The visitors from Azerbaijan caught up on the general scope of research performed at 91探花 and on the latest geophysical methods and projects in particular. During a tour of the 91探花 premises they had the opportunity to get an impression of 91探花 deep sea technology and take a look at high-tech equipment such as the ROV Phoca remotely operated vehicle and JAGO, Germany鈥檚 only manned submersible.
鈥淎lthough the Caspian Sea region has been an oil production area for more than 100 years, there are still a lot of open questions concerning its geology and geophysics. That is why it is such a fascinating working area, be it for basic research or applied sciences鈥�, Dr. Br眉ckmann points out. 鈥淲e hope that today鈥檚 visit will further advance our good cooperation with research institutions in Azerbaijan.鈥�
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