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Methane from the bottom of the sea contributes more to global warming than previously assumed. Scientists of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research investigated a mud volcano located in the deep-sea between Norway und Svalbard.

The winged snail Clione limacina, a small mollusc floating in the water, is able to go without food for a whole year. Investigations at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research demonstrate that the snail’s ability to survive extended periods without nutrition is based on a combination of an extremely low metabolic rate, the breakdown of body cells and the utilisation of special lipids.

On January 17, 2006 an international team of scientists and technical staff under the leadership of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research has successfully completed the deep ice coring at the Alfred Wegener Institute’s Kohnen Station in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Reaching a depth of 2774 metres, first on-site examinations of the ice core indicate that the ice cored at the deepest 200 metres is very old.

Sea level rise due to increased melting of mountain glaciers and polar ice caps will be much lower in the 21st Century than previously estimated. However, decay of mountain glaciers in due to global warming will be much more rapid than previously thought. These are the major results of a study conducted in cooperation with the Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research, which is published in the scientific magazine Nature.
 

Vibrations originating from an iceberg were recorded seismographically at the Antarctic Neumayer Station by scientists of the Alfred Wegener Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and ‘Fielax’, a private business. The recorded vibrations produce harmonic sounds with up to 30 overtones. However, the sounds are not audible to the human ear because of the tones’ low register. The data might facilitate a better understanding of the processes in volcanoes where vibration patterns are similar.

Never before during the past 650,000 years, have concentrations of green house gases been as high as today. The warm climate periods between 650,000 and 420,000 years ago were characterised by even lower carbon dioxide and methane concentrations than subsequent warm periods. This is one of the conclusions drawn by a European team of researchers with contribution from scientists of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, after analysis of an ice core from Antarctica. The results extend previous data on historic concentrations of carbon…

On the occasion of Alfred Wegener’s 125th birthday and the 75th anniversary of his death, the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research commemorates the German polar researcher and geoscientist whom the institute is named after. Marking the anniversary, the Alfred Wegener Institute is hosting a scientific symposium from October 30th to November 2nd. A film series ‘Research and adventure on the ice – Alfred Wegener in film’ containing original footage of the 1929 and 1930 expeditions, will be shown at Atlantis cinema in Bremerhaven on October…

From October 30th to November 2nd, scientists will be gathering for the second International Alfred Wegener Symposium in Bremerhaven. During the three-day meeting, approximately 140 scientists from eleven countries will report on topical issues from various research fields, including plate tectonics, geosciences, meteorology, paleoclimatology, glaciology, history of science and geo-topics of the future.

Greenhouse gases threaten marine ecosystems

By consuming fossil fuels, every person on our planet produces a daily average of eleven kilograms of carbon dioxide which enters the atmosphere. Four kilograms of this amount are absorbed by the world’s oceans, a process alleviating the green house effect. Unfortunately, the carbon dioxide reacts with sea water to produce acid capable of dissolving the calcareous shells of many marine organisms.

How important are whales and seals for polar ecosystems?

Polar regions are among the most inhospitable on earth; however, they harbour the largest animals , albeit in the ocean. Until recently, a seemingly endless food supply in the Arctic and Antarctic appeared to explain the large stocks of whales and seals. Now there is increasing evidence that the large mammals may have survived as a consequence of the polar regions’ harshness and inaccessibility to humans, and that their distribution may have been much wider in the past. Furthermore, it is not…