biomass of three epibenthic invertebrates from the deep-sea observatory HAUSGARTEN (Fram Strait, Arctic Ocean). Marine Ecology Progress Series 602: 15-29. Taylor, J., Krumpen, T., Soltwedel, T., Gutt, J. [...] The vertically facing towed camera system OFOS (Ocean Floor Observation System) is used to assess large-scale distribution patterns of larger epi-benthic organisms and other objects (e.g. dropstones, garbage) [...] assessing temporal variations in benthic community structure, megafaunal composition and diversity at the Arctic deep-sea observatory HAUSGARTEN between 2004 and 2015. Deep-Sea Research I 122: 81-94. Taylor, J

current long-term observations Atlantic Water is the main oceanic source of heat, salt, and nutrients of the Arctic Ocean. It enters the Arctic Ocean through the Barents Sea or Fram Strait. In the eastern [...] recirculates to the western Fram Strait on timescales of several months while the rest enters the Arctic Ocean and follows a cyclonic circulation for years to decades. The AWI long-term observations in Fram [...] around 4°C since. Two anomalous warm events occurred in fall 2006 and in late winter 2012. In the deep ocean, it was also observed that the two water masses present there (the warmer Eurasian Basin Deep Water

from the Atlantic Ocean are transported to the Arctic Ocean, which contributes to the melting of sea ice. So if we want to know how much heat is transported from the Atlantic to the Arctic, we have to measure [...] release are lying on the ocean floor, 2,500 metres below the surface – definitely too deep for the robot to reach. Contact Dr Wilken von Appen The gateway to the Arctic Ocean The mooring is part of one [...] continues to flow northward, straight into the Arctic Ocean,” von Appen explains. Today, this system transports significantly warmer water into the Arctic than when record keeping began. According to Wilken

the Eurasian shelf seas. Ocean waters with salinities below the average salinity of the Arctic Ocean also contribute positively to the fresh water balance of the Arctic Ocean. Such waters flow in from [...] shows the total Arctic (liquid + sea ice) freshwater content (integrated in the area in blue on the map) freFresh water content cha (Graphic: T. Kovacs, Alfred-Wegener-Institut) The Arctic Ocean receives freshwater [...] interchange of waters between the Arctic and the Nordic seas results in in seasaw fluctuations in fresh water content between the basins. To reach an equilibrium, the Arctic Ocean must on averageexport freshwater

Observing System ( ArcticROOS ) working with ocean observation and modelling systems for the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas has been established within the EuroGOOS initiative. ArcticROOS will promote, develop [...] only open-ocean LTER site. LTER-D is a member in the international LTER umbrella organisation ILTER and in the European regional network LTER-Europe. Contact: T. Soltwedel ArcticROOS (Arctic Regional Ocean [...] Ocean Observing System) Project within the GOOS/EuroGOOS initiative Since 2006 Coordinator: Stein Sandven, Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (NERSC), Norway An Arctic Regional Ocean Observing

642-32235-8 Xu, X., M. Werner, M. Butzin, and G. Lohmann, 2013: Oceanic d18O Variation and its Relation to Salinity in the MPI-OM Ocean Model . In: "Earth System Science: Bridging the Gaps between Disciplines [...] Werner, K., Lohmann, G., Prange, M. and Stein, R., 2015: Holocene environmental variability in the Arctic Gateway . In: "Integrated Analysis of Interglacial Climate Dynamics (INTERDYNAMIC)". M. Schulz and [...] 2-32235-8 Pfeiffer, M, and G. Lohmann, 2013: The Last Interglacial as Simulated by an Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Model: Sensitivity Studies on the Influence of the Greenland Ice Sheet . In: "Earth

hemisphere are Svalbard, Greenland, northern Canada, Siberia and the Arctic Ocean. In the southern hemisphere we mainly investigate the oceans around Antarctica and the sub glacial geology of the continent, [...] to understand the processes that control the drift of the continents, how the opening of various oceanic gateways influenced global climate on long timescales. Our research in the polar regions is difficult

analyses is to determine how much carbon the ocean removed from the atmosphere and stored in its depths in the past. The permanently frozen soils of the Arctic store tremendous amounts of carbon in the form [...] not consumed by marine animals, including dead marine microorganisms, material transported to the oceans by rivers –the particles that trickle down are deposited layer by layer at depth. Ultimately, a unique [...] deposited on the seafloor, leaving clues that enable the AWI geoscientists not only to reconstruct the Arctic’s climate history, but also to understand the role of thawing permafrost in past climate changes.

are molecules once formed by plants or animals, which can still be found today in sediments on the ocean floor. Mollenhauer was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1972, and from 1993 to 1999 studied Geology and [...] Mollenhauer has taken part in numerous expe- ditions at sea and to the permafrost regions of the Arctic. Since 2006, she is head of a research group at the Alfred Wegener Institute, in which she and her

Biodiversity
Massive sponge gardens thrive on top of seamounts in the Central Arctic Ocean, one of the most oligotrophic seas on Earth. They appear to feed on the remnants of an extinct fauna. Micr [...] Communications . They stress the need for a better understanding of the diversity and uniqueness of Arctic ecosystems in the light of global and local change.