Archive of News and Press Releases
Six to ten million years ago: Ice-free summers at the North Pole
An international team of scientists led by the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) have managed to open a new window into the climate history of the Arctic Ocean. Using unique sediment samples from the Lomonosov Ridge, the researchers found that six to ten million years ago the central Arctic was completely ice-free during summer and sea-surface temperature reached values of 4 to 9 degrees Celsius. In spring, autumn and winter, however, the ocean was covered by sea ice of variable extent, the scientists explain…
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Back at the Chilean Continental Margin
After a successful second traverse of the Drake Passage for both the biological and geological work groups we once again approach coastal waters.
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The Drake Passage – Second Traverse
During the fifth week of our Polarstern expedition PS97 we left the Antarctic Peninsula area close to Elephant Island to start our second Drake Passage traverse toward South America.
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“Science Thrives in Open-minded Environments”
There is no place in Potsdam for hostility towards foreigners and those seeking refuge, argue the heads of educational and research institutes in Potsdam in an open letter published on 16 March 2016 in the Märkischen Allgemeinen, the Potsdamer Neuesten Nachrichten and other newspapers.
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Alfred Wegener Institute on Oceanology International
The Alfred Wegener Institute participates in the Oceanology International, one of the world's leading marine science and ocean technology exhibition and conference. It is held in London every two years and takes place in London from 15 to 17 March 2016.
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Sub-Antarctic Islands
The fourth week of our Polarstern expedition PS97 was entirely devoted to work on and surrounding the Sub-Antarctic Islands. For many of us this week will remain firmly engrained in our memories for the incredible views of landscape, icebergs and sea life.
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A glance into the future of the Arctic
Throughout the Arctic, ice wedges are thawing at a rapid pace. Changes to these structures, which are very common in permafrost landscapes, have a massive impact on the hydrology of the tundra. This is the result of a study carried out by an international research team in cooperation with the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), which will be published in the journal Nature Geoscience today.
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Drake Passage Traverse
After wrapping up our work along the Chilean continental margin on the 28th of February we embarked on our first Drake Passage traverse toward the West Antarctic Peninsula. Our route was located just west of the narrowest point between South America and Antarctica in the south Pacific. We covered approximately 500 nautical miles over a widely unstudied section of the open ocean (Fig. 1). The main focus on our first Drake Passage traverse was to take water samples, sediment coring and oceanographic profiles.
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AWI research aircraft lands at Bremen Airport for the first time
It was the first landing for Polar 6 at the Bremen Airport today. The aircraft is one of two research planes that the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) currently uses for scientific and logistical tasks in polar regions. Bremen Airport is the new home of the Basler BT-67 aircraft, which will come here regularly for instrument checks and re-fitting.
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Tierra del Fuego
The search for a geological station in the night from 21st to 22nd February, led us from the SW corner of Banco Namuncurá (also known as Burdwood Bank) into the deep sea in the northernmost part of the Drake Passage, along the NW continental margin and up again offshore the “Isla de los Estados”.
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