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In the past six weeks scientists aboard the research vessel “Polarstern“ have been searching for krill in the previously scarcely investigated Lazarev Sea. The expedition ended today in Cape Town. As a food source for whales, seals, penguins and seabirds, krill takes a key role within this ecosystem of the Antarctic. Very little is known about the distribution, biology, population dynamics and physiology of these shrimp-like crustaceans, either from this ocean region or about the time period between the Antarctic autumn and winter. The expedition was to…

In the world's oceans, considerably more of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide than previously suggested can be transported to the deep sea. This was pointed out in an article authored by scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven, and the Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche in France in the recent issue of the scientific journal Nature (see below). In their work, the scientists show that water-soluble sugar molecules produced by algae form particles in the process of aggregation. These…

Researchers have been successful in identifying the relationship between a reduction of arctic ozone and climate changes. Current observations show that the arctic ozone layer reacts much more sensitively to climate changes than predicted from earlier model calculations. A study published in “Geophysical Research Letters” (see below) demonstrates that, within the last 40 years, climate conditions in the stratosphere have facilitated the ozone decline in the Arctic. After analysis of ozone measurements from the past 12 years, researchers were able to…

Within the framework of the expedition ‘CryoVex 2004’ the aircraft ‘Polar 4’, operated by the Foundation Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), is on a 3 week Arctic trip to conduct ice surveys. The measurements are to be used in preparation for a mission by the European space satellite ‘CryoSat’ which will survey the polar ice caps and sea ice beginning November 2004. The satellite is to determine whether ice recedes or increases in response to global climate change.

An international team of scientists that recently carried out an experiment in the South Atlantic on board RV „Polarstern“ of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research has found that an algal bloom induced by iron fertilisation transported carbon dioxide to the deep ocean. The bloom also stimulated growth of zooplankton grazers such as copepods and krill that form the basis of food chains leading to fish stocks of commercial importance such as sardine and herring but also whales.

Researchers can now access one of the largest diatom databases on the Internet. With a current size of approximately 300,000 preserved samples and 80,000 microscope slide preparations, the collection is invaluable for science. Diatoms are unicellular photosynthetic organisms that occur both in marine and in freshwater environments. They are an important part of the food chain, and represent useful indicators for ecological and climatic change. Their unique feature is a cell wall constructed of silica organized in a characteristic structure. Diatoms are…

"Polarstern” begins new iron fertilization experiment

On January 21, 2004, the "Polarstern", research vessel of the Alfred-Wegener-Institute of Polar and Marine Research, will leave Cape Town for the third stage of the 21st expedition to Antarctica. Forty-nine scientists from nine countries will be aboard to investigate the effects of fertilizing the Southern Ocean on the carbon exchange between air and sea surface. Carbon in the form of carbon dioxide acts as a greenhouse gas, and plays a major role in global climate warming.

Ten years Dallmann Laboratory

On January 19, 2004, the Dallmann Laboratory on King George Island in Antarctica will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Biologists and geoscientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) use this laboratory, which is located on a shallow bay, for investigations of ice-free areas and nearshore shallow waters. This is only possible in few Antarctic localities since most of the coast is covered with thick shelf-ice or glaciers.

European ice core drilling project at Kohnen station retrieves old ice for climate research
At the Kohnen station operated by Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar- and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, the international drilling team reached a depth of 2000 meters on January 7 at 0210 hours. The ice from that depth is about 100.000 years old and yields information on climate conditions of the distant past.

Simulation of iceberg scraping: the first field experiment to test re-colonization of the seafloor in Antarctica

The 'Polarstern', research vessel of the Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research, has just started a long-term field experiment on Antarctica's seafloor. Scientists are investigating how bare patches of the ocean's floor are re-colonized after disturbance events such as scraping icebergs.