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Climatology
Long-awaited breakthrough in the reconstruction of warm climate phases
AWI researchers decipher the temperature indicator TEX86 and overcome a seeming weakness of global climate models
[18. July 2016]
Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) have overcome a seeming weakness of global climate models. They had previously not been able to simulate the extreme warm period of the Eocene. One aspect of this era that particularly draws interests to climatologists: It was the only phase in recent history when greenhouse gas concentration was as high as researchers predict it to be for the future.
New Technology
One year alone in the deep sea of the Arctic
First long-term mission of the AWI underwater robot Tramper from the research vessel Polarstern has begun
[18. July 2016]
Far from any controls, an underwater robot has been working for the past few days in 2,500 metres of water on the seabed of the Arctic, after the completion of a successful test run. Researchers and engineers of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) have deployed the deep-sea crawler Tramper for a year-round, fully autonomous mission for the first time. The mobile underwater robot, which has been developed within the Helmholtz Alliance Robotic Exploration of Extreme Environments (ROBEX), will now perform weekly oxygen measurements in the seabed.
Food web
Ice algae: The engine of life in the central Arctic Ocean
Algae that live in and under the sea ice also serve as a nutritional basis for animals living at great depths
[12. July 2016]
Algae that live in and under the sea ice play a much greater role for the Arctic food web than previously assumed. In a new study, biologists of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research showed that not only animals that live directly under the ice thrive on carbon produced by so-called ice algae. Even species that mostly live at greater depth depend to a large extent on carbon from these algae. This also means that the decline of the Arctic sea ice may have far-reaching consequences for the entire food web of the Arctic Ocean. Their results have been published online now in the journal Limnology & Oceanography.
Microbiology
In times of great famine, microalgae digest themselves
AWI researchers decipher the connection between nutrient availability and algae growth
[30. June 2016]
In a recent study, scientists of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) have determined the molecular mechanisms which microalgae apply in order to switch from rapid cell division to growth-arrest during times of acute nutrient deficiency. In laboratory experiments, the scientists have been able to observe that calcifying microalgae in a state of nutrient deficiency initially tweak their metabolism to be more economic and efficient before, out of necessity, they even partially digest themselves.
Nature study on ocean floor formation
Plate tectonics without jerking
AWI researchers are for the first time making detailed recordings of earthquakes on ultraslow mid-ocean ridges
[29. June 2016]
The earthquake distribution on ultraslow mid-ocean ridges differs fundamentally from other spreading zones. Water circulating at a depth of up to 15 kilometres leads to the formation of rock that resembles soft soap. This is how the continental plates on ultraslow mid-ocean ridges may move without jerking, while the same process in other regions leads to many minor earthquakes, according to geophysicists of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Their study is going to be published advanced online in the journal Nature on Wednesday, June 29, 2016.
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