The marine Arctic has been an integral part of the history of our planet over the past 130 million years and contributes significantly to the present functioning of the earth and its life. The global cycles of a variety of materials fundamental to life and the state of the atmosphere depend to a significant extent on arctic marine processes.
The past decades has seen remarkable changes in the Arctic, of which we do not know whether these represent temporary perturbations, long-term trends, or a new equilibrium. The decrease of sea-ice extent and sea-ice thickness in the past decade is statistically significant. These alterations will directly affect food-web structures and ecosystem functioning.
Enabling the detection of expected changes in abiotic and biotic parameters in a transition zone between the northern North Atlantic and the central Arctic Ocean, the Alfred Wegener Institute established the LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) observatory HAUSGARTEN in the Fram Strait.
HAUSGARTEN observatory displays 21 permanent stations covering a water depth range of 250 to 5500 m water depth. Repeated sampling and the deployment of moorings and different free-falling systems which act as observation platforms has taken place since the beginning of the station in summer 1999. At regular intervals, a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) is used for targeted sampling, the positioning and servicing of autonomous measuring instruments and the performance of in situ experiments. Our 3000 m depth-rated Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) allows the sensing and sampling in the water column as well as large-scale observations at the seafloor.
Since 2014, HAUSGARTEN observatory is successively extended within the frame of the HGF infrastructure project FRAM (Frontiers in Arctic marine Monitoring).
Contact: T. Soltwedel, M. Bergmann, C. Hasemann, E.-M. Nöthig, I. Schewe
Reviews:
Soltwedel, T., Bauerfeind, E., Bergmann, M., Budaeva, N., Hoste, E., Jaeckisch, N., Juterzenka, K. v., Matthießen, J., Mokievsky, V., Nöthig, E.-M., Quéric, N., Sablotny, B., Sauter, E., Schewe, I., Urban-Malinga, B., Wegner, J., Wlodarska-Kowalczuk, M., Klages, M. (2005): HAUSGARTEN: multidisciplinary investigations at a deep-sea, long-term observatory in the Arctic Ocean. Oceanography 18(3): 46-61, doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2005.24.
Soltwedel, T., Bauerfeind, E., Bergmann, M., Bracher, A., Budaeva, N., Busch, K., Cherkasheva, A., Fahl, K., Grzelak, K., Hasemann, C., Jacob, M., Kraft, A., Lalande, C., Metfies, K., Nöthig, E.-M., Meyer, K., Quéric, N.-V., Schewe, I., Wlodarska-Kowalczuk, M., Klages, M. (2016). Natural variability or anthropogenically-induced variation? Insights from 15 years of multidisciplinary observations at the arctic marine LTER site HAUSGARTEN. Ecological Indicators 65: 89-102, doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.201510.001.
Publications featuring scientific results from the LTER observatory HAUSGARTEN
Conference contributions with results from HAUSGARTEN observatory
Established: 1999
Area: 78.5°N - 80°N, 05°W - 11°E
Sampling sites: 21
Water depths: 250 - 5500 m
Implementation:
annual and (partly) continuously sensing and sampling in the water comlumn and at the deep seafloor, visual observations, in situ experimental work
Primary contact: Thomas Soltwedel
Publications: ePIC
Data: Pangaea
Annual mean scientific output since 1999:
peer-reviewed publications: 9
Conference contributions: 14
Theses (BSc, MSc, PhD): 2
Expeditions to HAUSGARTEN: 30
2024 Polarstern PS143
2023 Polarstern PS136
2022 Maria S. Merian MSM108
2021 Polarstern PS126
2019 Polarstern PS121
2018 Maria S. Merian MSM77
2018 Polarstern PS114
2017 Polarstern PS108
2017 Polarstern PS107
2016 Polarstern PS99.2
2015 Polarstern PS93.2
2014 Polarstern PS85
2013 Maria S. Merian MSM29
2012 Polarstern ARK-XXVII/2
2011 Polarstern ARK-XXVI/2
2010 Polarstern ARK-XXV/2
2009 Polarstern ARK-XXIV/2
2008 Polarstern ARK-XXIII/2
2007 Polarstern ARK-XXII/1c
2006 Maria S. Merian MSM02/4
2005 L'Atalante Arctic Ocean 2005
2005 Polarstern ARK-XXI/1b
2004 Polarstern ARK-XX/1
2003 Polarstern ARK-XIX/3c
2003 Polarstern ARK-XIX/1
2002 Polarstern ARK-XVIII/1
2001 Polarstern ARK-XVII/2
2001 L'Atalante Arctic Ocean 2001
2000 Polarstern ARK-XVI/2
1999 Polarstern ARK-XV/1