The Expedition ARK-XXVI/2

Longyearbyen - Tromsø (13 July – 3 August 2011)

The cruise will contribute to the EU projects HERMIONE, HYPOX, ESONET and his successor EMSO, and to the AWI programme PACES (Polar Regions and Coasts in the changing Earth System) with time-series studies at the deep-sea long-term observatory HAUSGARTEN where we investigate the impacts of Climate Change on an Arctic marine deep-sea ecosystem.

The proposed work includes studies on changing Arctic sea ice conditions and their impact on ecosystems and food webs. These changes will be addressed through a dedicated combination of long-term observations and modelling. Studies on the functional specialization of selected polar marine species, from algae to mammals, on polar climate regimes and associated living conditions qualify and quantify the responses of model organisms to ongoing warming trends at key functional levels, from molecular to ecosystem. The planned work will help to characterize the physiological and ecological background of species-specific sensitivities as well as the capacity of organisms and ecosystems to acclimate or adapt to change

The work plan is based on the use of the unmanned Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) "KIEL 6000” of the IFM-GEOMAR in Kiel. Among a standard sampling programme including exchange of moorings and free falling landers, here the ROV will be used for various in-situ experiments. We plan to have one short dive at locations around 400 m water depth west of Prins Karlsvorland where many methane seeps have been recorded recently with fishery echosounders. Further dives are planned at the Vestnesa ridge and finally at the central experimental site of HAUSGARTEN.