News

Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute have researched the geology of the seabed in the Labrador Sea on board of the research vessel Maria S. Merian. They have studied the so-called Eirik Drift at the southern tip of Greenland, a structure of several hundred kilometres length formed like a ridge. They discovered a submarine mountain (seamount) at the south-western fringe of their area of investigation that indicates volcanic eruptions during the past few million years.

A new measurement system for the detection of whales is used for the first time on board of the research vessel Polarstern. Whales are usually difficult to spot. Visual sightings by marine mammal observers are therefore usually based on observations of the spout, the condensing and quite warm breathing cloud. It rises, depending on the whale species and wind conditions, between one metre and ten metres over the water surface and remains visible for only a few seconds. A thermal imaging camera specifically optimized for this purpose now uses the heat of…

Diatoms play a key role in the photosynthesis of the oceans and are therefore intensively studied. Together with international colleagues researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute have made a new discovery regarding the evolution of diatoms’ photosynthesis. Results are presented in the current issue of the periodical “SCIENCE”.

The German research vessel Polarstern, operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association, will begin its 24th Arctic expedition on Saturday, June 20th. 119 scientists from seven different nations will research the whole spectrum of current Arctic topics in three journey stages: climate history and current climate development, effects on the ecosystem ranging from bacteria to marine mammals, and also geoscientific questions regarding sediment structure and tectonics of the Arctic. Polarstern is expected…

Climate researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and KlimaCampus of the University of Hamburg participate for the second time in an international scientific competition. Some of the most renowned climate research institutes worldwide fathom possibilities for seasonal prognoses of Arctic sea ice cover by means of different methods and climate models. The declared aim of all participants is to find the best method for reliable prognoses. The German researchers agree upon a continuing negative trend. Another critical…

An international team of researchers from Russia, Germany, the USA and Austria has conducted a deep drilling program in the far northeast of Russia during the last six months to retrieve several hundred meters of lake sediments, impact breccias and permanently frozen soil. These make new insights into the climate history of the Arctic, crater formation of Lake El’gygytgyn and permafrost dynamics possible. A milestone has been reached at the beginning of May with the first results of the drilling campaign. The cores gained will help to answer crucial open…

Am 24. Mai 2009 wird das Forschungsschiff Polarstern mit dem morgendlichen Hochwasser um 3:00 Uhr von seiner 25. Antarktisexpedition in Bremerhaven zurückerwartet. Rund 180 Wissenschaftler aus 16 Ländern haben in den letzten sechseinhalb Monaten den Ozean mit seiner belebten und unbelebten Umwelt sowie seine Wechselwirkungen mit der Atmosphäre erforscht. Die Expedition teilte sich in fünf Fahrtabschnitte, die Besatzungen und Wissenschaftlerteams wechselten bei Hafenaufenthalten in Südafrika und Chile.
 

The Arctic campaign PAM-ARCMIP (Pan-Arctic Measurements and Arctic Climate Model Intercomparison Project) ended yesterday in Ottawa with the participation of the research aircraft Polar 5. The campaign which lasted four weeks yielded unique measurement data on sea ice thickness, trace gases, aerosols and meteorological parameters thanks to the great range of the aircraft and modern measurement equipment.

A scientist from the Alfred Wegener Institute will become the new Executive Secretary of the Antarctic Treaty system from August 2009. This was announced at the end of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) in Baltimore, USA. The majority of the 28 members entitled to vote for the new Executive Secretary of the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat decided on the German candidate Dr. Manfred Reinke who prevailed over competitors from Great Britain and Australia. The secretariat is seated in the Argentinean capital Buenos Aires.

Bremerhaven, March 30th 2009. Higher temperatures in Arctic permafrost soils alter the community of methane generating microorganisms and lead to an increased emission of methane. Microbiologists from the Alfred Wegener Institute come to this conclusion in the current issue of the periodical “Environmental Microbiology”. The researchers were able to examine permafrost from the ground of the Leptev Sea, a shallow shelf sea close to the coast of Siberia, for the first time.