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Seal Bulls in the Service of Science
“Gustavo” is an imposing bull always in search of the best feeding grounds. The elephant seal weighing 3 tons and measuring 4 metres in length belongs to a group of 14 animals that serve researchers of the Alfred Wegener Institute as scientific assistants since recently.
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Research vessel Polarstern returns from the Antarctic – First expedition through entire polar South Pacific
On coming Monday, 17 May the research vessel Polarstern is expected back in Bremerhaven. That will mark the end of the 26th Antarctic expedition of the research icebreaker after over seven months covering more than 68,000 kilometres (37,000 nautical miles). The expedition was divided into four legs, in which over 150 scientists from 15 nations took part.
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How does ice flow? – Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute present first results of a new measurement method in Antarctica
Currently the yearly General Assembly of the European Geological Union takes place in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Olaf Eisen from the German Alfred Wegener Institute presents results from an environmentally friendly measurement method that he and his colleagues used on an Antarctic ice-shelf for the first time in early 2010. It supplies data that are input to models for the ice mass balance and thus permit better forecasting of future changes in the sea level.
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Bayer Climate Award 2010 for Professor Peter Lemke
Professor Peter Lemke of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven has been awarded the 50,000 € “Bayer Climate Award 2010” by the Bayer Science & Education Foundation. He is being honoured for his groundbreaking research and pioneering contributions to the understanding of the role of sea ice in the climate system.
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Iceberg collides with the ice shelf edge near Neumayer Station III
Fragments of the Ross Ice Shelf, which drift past the edge of the Ekstrom Ice Shelf in Antarctica, have a long trip around the Antarctic continent behind them. Recently an iceberg collided with the ice shelf, dislodging a large chunk as well as causing extensive cracks of some distance in the ice shelf. Scientists of the Alfred Wegener Institute are expecting new and valuable insights with regard to ice physics.
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New underwater experimental field off coast of Helgoland
Today scientists at the Center for Scientific Diving of the Biological Institute Helgoland start a project that is unique thus far for the North Sea: “MarGate”, an innovative underwater experimental field. In future, scientists want to acquire marine biology data with a high resolution in terms of time and space there by means of state-of-the-art sensor technologies. These data will then be available online via the Internet.
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Antarctica: Neumayer Station III successfully raised
Hydraulic lifting devices prevent Neumayer Station III from sinking in the ice. The snow and ice surface in the Antarctic grows continuously so the research station has to be raised annually. The construction concept and technology prove effective right from the beginning.
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Private support organisation at Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven
The Institute established the organisation “Friends of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research” in 2009. All those interested can obtain information and support research financially and morally in the future.
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German research vessel Polarstern in New Zealand for the first time
On 26 January 2010 the research vessel Polarstern docked in Wellington, New Zealand for the first time. This marked the end of the two-month leg of an expedition with a marine geological focus that started in Punta Arenas, Chile. Representatives of the research community and the political sphere took advantage of the short stop in the port to share experiences and ideas and intensify the good cooperation within the framework of a reception on board.
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First comprehensive review of the state of Antarctica’s climate
The first comprehensive review of the state of Antarctica’s climate and its relationship to the global climate system is published this week by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).
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