Archive of News and Press Releases
Under Ice Life at Karasik Seamount
The second week of Expedition PS101 was dedicated to the discovery of the deep-sea ecosystem at Karasik Seamount. This giant seamount rises over 4000m above the Arctic basin and is teaming with life.
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Greenland loses more ice than assumed
The mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet is bigger than previously estimated. This is the result of a study by international scientists to be published in Science Advances. The work shows that up to now the so-called glacial isostatic adjustment, i.e., the uplift of the bedrock, was not correctly taken into account when measuring the glaciers’ mass balance with data from GRACE satellite observations. The new calculations by the team yield 272 Giga tons (Gt) of mass loss per year from 2004 to 2015 compared to previously calculated 253 Gt per year. Ingo…
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Tropical coral reefs lose two thirds of their zooplankton through ocean acidification
Tropical coral reefs lose up to two thirds of their zooplankton through ocean acidification. This is the conclusion reached by a German-Australian research team that examined two reefs with so-called carbon dioxide seeps off the coast of Papua New Guinea. At these locations volcanic carbon dioxide escapes from the seabed, lowering the water's acidity to a level, which scientists predict for the future of the oceans. The researchers believe that the decline in zooplankton is due to the loss of suitable hiding places. It results from the changes in the…
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PS101 KARASIK
The aim of POLARSTERN expedition PS101 is to study the geophysical, geological, geochemical and biological processes at seamounts and sources of hydrothermalism at Gakkel Ridge of the Central Arctic. Such integrated studies of ultraslow oceanic spreading zones are rare, because the most extensive of these systems, the Arctic Gakkel Ridge and the Southwest Indian Ridge, lie in poorly accessible areas.
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Open waters around the North Pole: Arctic sea ice in retreat
This September, the Arctic sea ice extent has shrunk to 4.1 million square kilometres (sq km)-the second lowest in the history of satellite measurements. It is exceeded only by the all-time record low of 3.4 million sq km in 2012. "Once again, a massive loss of sea ice in the Arctic," says Prof. Lars Kaleschke from Universität Hamburg's Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN). His colleague Prof. Christian Haas from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) confirms: "The trend continues." Currently, the Northeast and Northwest Passages are…
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The expedition comes to an end
Today we have completed our research programme at the Knipovich Ridge south of Fram Strait. We are now on the transit toward Tromsø, where we will arrive in the morning of 6 September.
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At the 79° Glacier
Yesterday we finished our investigations in the close vicinity of the 79°N glacier. Now R/V Polarstern is exploring the southern end of Westwind Trough on the inner shelf. We had already paid a visit to the outer part of this depression earlier in the expedition.
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The Potsdam Summer School starts with young talents from all over the world
How to avoid the unmanageable and manage the unavoidable will be the focus of the Potsdam Summer School from September 5-14, bringing together more than 40 early-career scientists and young professionals from all around the globe.
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Working in Norske Trog
Meanwhile R/V Polarstern has worked her way toward the inner shelf of Northeast Greenland. We have reached the transition from Norske Trough to Westwind Trough, which is where the 79°N glacier meets the sea. In this region, sea ice often prevails the whole year round.
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Back at the Greenland Ice Shelf
In sunny weather and light sea ice conditions we find ourselves once again on the shelf of Greenland –this time in Norske Trough. In the beginning of the week we were able to accomplish most of the oceanographic, biological and biogeochemical workload planned along the zonal transect through central Fram Strait along 78°50’N. Subsequently we added to the mooring array deployed along the Greenwich Meridian in the second week of the expedition the southernmost mooring at 78°10’N.
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