Welcome to Helmholtz Centre PotsdamGFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences

The GFZ is the national research centre for Earth Sciences in Germany. We investigate “System Earth“ at locations all over the world with all the geological, physical, chemical and biological processes which occur at its surface and in its interior.

The goal of our interdisciplinary research is to understand these processes on all scales of time and space, whether they occur at the level of atoms and molecules or galaxies, and independently of whether they take place faster than the blink of an eye in nanoseconds or if they happen infinitely slowly over billions of years. We not only investigate the processes within the planet itself, but also study the multitude of interactions between solid earth, the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the inhabited world. We also analyse how man, living at the Earth's surface, affects our planet. In sum, our research deals with the entire "Earth System" including the influence of mankind.

News:

 
Expanding the cooperation with India

On 9 May, Dr. Shaylesh Nayak, State Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) in Delhi, and his delegation visited the GFZ and the KTB deep laboratory of the GFZ in Windischeschenbach. The visit served the preparation of several cooperation projects between the MoES, the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) and the GFZ. ...more

24.05.2013 | Strong earthquake at exceptional depth

This morning at 05:45 CEST, the earth trembled beneath the Okhotsk Sea in the Pacific Northwest. The quake, with a magnitude of 8.2, took place at an exceptional depth of 605 kilometers. Because of the great depth of the earthquake a tsunami is not expected and there should also be no major damage due to shaking. ...more